Fr. Ron enjoys the Children at Christmas

For all those who are about to come to Gaming, Fr. Ron Mohnickey TOR is the director of the Austrian Program and a ham as well. He is well renowned for his beautiful liturgies, excellent spiritual direction, and keen sense of humor. He is practically a travel expert on just about anything and a wonderful homilist.

The list could g0 on an on....

However, one of the tidbits that people usually don't see from a distance is his great love for children and appreciation for family life.

This Christmas he paid us a family visit in the evening and ended up reading the children a bedtime story. Here is Fr. Ron in one of his more "tender" moments:

Snow, Snow, Snow

It was only a last week week that the first real snow of the season hit Gaming. With it being Christmas week, this raised the spirits of all as a carpet of snow enveloped our little village. The kids had a blast sledding, making snow angels and pushing each other in sleds.

Rewind to two weeks ago and it was in the middle of mid-terms. The students needed an outlet and we did too. So, we decided to head up to one of the nearby ski slopes which had some snow but still wasn't officially open.

Prof. Klapicova and her husband Stefan, female RD Jess Michaud, and my wife Niki and I packed three vehicles with students and cruised the 35 minutes to the base of the slope.

We then put on some layers and headed up the mountain on foot. We hiked to get a view of the area and then hiked around to the backside of the mountain where we got a beautiful view of a canon and the local mountain goats (gams). By the time we were back down the mountain, everyone was invigorated and ready to head back home.

Snow, its so refreshing, its so redeeming. Take a moment and thank God for snow!

"Little Vince" - Guitar Prodigy

For those that know the male Residence Director in Gaming, Vince Granando, you know he is a man of many talents and abilities. One of those is namely, the guitar. Vince travels around Europe assisting the Philippino community in retreats and praise and worship as well as serving the students here in Gaming with Praise and just fun campfire songs and "the works."

One of Vince's longtime favorites is the song "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz, a song that proved to be a theme song to many students this past fall.

It just so happens that Vince has inspired not only students but other little children as well:

Check out this perfect video (passed on by one of the fall students) of "Little Vince" jamming to the guitar.

Breakfast Under the Stars, Fall 09

For the past 3 1/2 years, the Austrian Program faculty and staff have been cooking breakfast for the students on their Reading Day, or free day before finals.

After 15 weeks of surviving off of Austrian breakfast -- bread, yogurt, muesli, deli meats, and fruit, its a nice and welcome change to have some extra cholesterol, namely the kind that clings to American Breakfast food: sausage, scrambled eggs, homemade waffles, syrup, fried potatoes (from real potatoes), and real fresh ground coffee.

How could it not be a huge success? Humorously, one student remarked, "this is the highlight of my semester!" We turned to him and wryly responded, "I hope not!"

See pictures below of the now infamous Austrian-American Breakfast night:

Thanksgiving for the gift of New Life

Today in America it is the great feast of Thanksgiving. In Europe, and in Austria, its business as usual.

The students even have class so the faculty teach and the staff work. So the real celebration takes place later in the day: Thanksgiving Turkey dinner, formal Austrian Dance, and more.

But as we work and celebrate from afar, our hearts are still uplifted in thanksgiving for the many gifts and blessings of God: the gift of family, friends, the gift of holy mother church, the gift of a work, children, and most of all, the gift of life.

Aptly to this last point, today especially we offer thanksgiving for the gift of new life. This week, Professor and Mrs. Asci welcomed their 6th child into the world, a beautiful little girl with a just as beautiful Italian name: Caterina Lucia Marie Asci. Now the family is evenly matched with 3 boys and three girls.

Mother and baby are doing well and now back at home. So, as a Kartause community, we have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving day, especially the precious gift of a new life.

To send a note to the Asci family, you can reach by e-mail at dasci@franciscan.edu

Baby pictures of Caterina Lucia Marie: