Dear Friends,

  Half way through July as of today, the 15th!  Wow, time is flying fast!

  I am feeling much improved, although my doctor can do no better with my acidic stomach than to give me a daily pill to neutralize my stomach.  Tests confirmed my blood is fine, cholesterol is normal, EKG shows my heart is fine, further tests show no parasite or amoeba or aggressive bacteria inside me.  My energy  is back since increasing my physical exercise.  (Oh why do I have to be pushed to do that, regularly??!!) Still, a week ago and soon after I returned from the States three weeks ago, I was hit with dull headaches in the back of my brain and a lot of sleepiness.

  Today I had two Missionary of Charity sisters come to visit, each for an hour, one for spiritual direction, the other for supervision in her training to become a spiritual guide.  One is from Italy, the other from France.  Remarkable, truly admirable people they are.    As sisters from what Mother Teresa of Calcutta started, they are most amazing.  Our conversations were quite substantial and engaging.  I felt we were talking about the most fundamental, vital issues in the entire spiritual walk. Just a pleasure to talk about their life with God and see in them such a thirst to live for God, to give everything to the great Love of their life.

  I am very happy to say that the Study Week with the Carmelites last week went very, very well. thank you for anyone of you who prayed for us. I had as few as 32 and as many as 40 people attending.  The core group were young male seminarians, in their late 20s. Then there were also a significant number of young sisters and some nuns in their later years.  I think they were all amazed that a Jesuit was teaching them about the famous Carmelite, Teresa of Avila.  One said I was a Carmelite under the cloak of a Jesuit.  Ha!  Tomorrow I am joining them at their invitation for their mass and big meal for their big feastday, Our Lady of Mount Carmel.  I hope their food is better than what I experienced during the Study Week.  I was so glad to come home to the food we have here.  But what a great group of people.  I truly enjoyed meeting them and discussing Teresa's works for five days.

  The weather here now is rather cold, in the 50s or so at night with blustering winds too at times.  July is our coldest month!  The birds still come in numbers to my window sill as I feed them broken up pieces of white bread.  What special friends they are, some of them with really strikingly colored feathers.

  I don't have much to say beyond this, except to mention that a number of Kenyans are excited that Obama is coming to visit here a week from Friday.  The pope too is supposed to come for a visit here, one or to days after American Thanksgiving, in late November.

  OK, goodnight, friends.

Bernie Owens