Where to begin ...

I haven't forgotten abaout the blog, it's just been ... well ... busy.

Mom's 70th Birthday was on March 8th, so after Mass on Sunday the 9th I drove up to Toledo to surpise her. Dad didn't know I was coming, either ... only Kathy knew, and I forbad her to even tell Butch. The ruse built up for days with phone calls, the last of which was made as I was within blocks of the house. I had made a big batch of czarnina (duck soup) that weekend and told Mom that maybe I'd swing by and drop some off ... ha, ha, yeah, yeah ... then a few minutes later I pulled in the driveway and got the cooler out of the trunk. Mom greeted me at the door with a kind of "What the hell are you doing here?!" look, and I said "I told you I'd drop off some soup ... Happy Birthday" Both Mom and Dad were very surprised ... mission accomplished.

With the Archbishop's treatment regimen he's pretty much confined to his house so as to avoid germs, and subsequently was unable to preside at the Holy Week Liturgies in the Cathedral ... that means I got to. At the Easter Vigil I Baptized two adult men and received six other adults into Full Communion. Easter Sunday we had First Communion for five of our young people. Of course I had my own suggestions and ideas on how to do things ... and some of them were actually well received (which means others were NOT).

Easter evening (after my nap) I went to supper at a parishioner's home ... it was nice and low key, and no little kids running around.

Dad's 72nd birthday was Holy Saturday ... I told him ahead of time not to expect any surpiose visits, as I was kind of occupied that weekend.

This past few days the NCEA national convetion was here in Indy ...about 8000 people. Since the Office of Education for the Archdiocese was the official host, other Archdiocesan agencies were enlisted to help. The Office of Worship coordinated the major liturgies ... the opening Mass in the convention center had 3000 people, the closing Mass was much more intimate ... only 1500. As Director of Liturgy it fell to me to figure out, among other things, how to distribute Communion (under both forms) to 3000 people in an orderly and timely manner. We did it, and the powers-that-be seemed pleased. Before all these liturgies could happen we had to pack up and haul down to the convention center everything needed for Mass with 3000 people ... Altar, linens, books, vessels, candles, and much more. And, becuase this was the convention center, we had to take stuff that was proportionate to the size of the space ... BIG altar ... BIG cnadlesticks ... LOTS of vessels ... you get the idea.

Tomorrow I have my first wedding here at the Cathedral ... the Bride is from Jasper, and the Groom is Polish (both parents 100%) from Columbus, OH. We're made for each other. They invited me to the Rehearsal Dinner to have the meal prayer, so I started out with the Sign of the Cross in Polish. The Groom's Busia was thrilled. After the 2:00 Wedding, I click into weekend mode with the usual schedule. But inbetween ...

I have to finish planning/coordinating a priest's funeral for Monday morning.

Today I received an email from one of my Monastery classmates who left a few years back. He started out something like "Well, I guess the big news is that I had a heart attack on Palm Sunday then triple bypass surgery on Monday of Holy Week." He's one year older than me ...

So it's been with me ... but I'm having fun and most people are great, and that makes it all very worthwhile.

Alleluia, y'all.

Laetare Sunday

Just got back from a few days away .... I took off last Sunday after Mass and started making my way to northern Michigan. Yes ... I WANTED to head for the snow. I got as far as South Haven, MI, (just south of Holland) and decided to stop for the night. All was well as I snuggled into my hotel room ... until I awoke around midnight in extreme discomfort and GI distress. That means I was sick as a dog. For the next several hours I was back and forth between bed and bathroom. Come daylight, things had "settled down" a bit, and I was faced with some decisions. I heardly felt like getting back in the car, and I still had three hours to drive to get to my destination. If I wanted to stay another night, I'd have to change rooms because the room in which I was holed up "was already sold" for the night. AND the forecast had a big snowstorm coming through lower Michigan (where I was) later that day. So my options were to plug ahead, get snowed in at a Hampton Inn in South Haven, or turn around and go home. In the end, I medicated what needed medicating, sipped some herbal tea, and decided to push on. All things considered, the day's drive wasn't so bad (with the help of some Vernors and a nap at a rest area) and I amde it to Bear Lake somewhere around midafternoon.

The rest of the week was spent between the bed, the couch and the kitchen ... because that's what I had planned to do, nondisirregardless of my GI distress. That's the way I spend my vacation (I'm a very dull guest). From the couch I looked out over a spruce grove drifted with snow, and could watch the wind swirl about the snowy fields as I snuggled up with the dogs.

But now I'm back ... for the Fourth Sunday in Lent. Unfortunately, we don't have a rose vestment, and I haven't had time to whip something up. Maybe for Gaudete.

Have I mentioned that I'm going to New York City in April when the Pope is there? The Archbishop (of Indianapolis) invited me to attend the Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral for Priests, Deacons and Religious. It will be me and several thousand others, but not nearly the Yankee Stadium crowd. A friend has an apartment not too far from St. Patrick's, so that will be convenient. I won't be surprised if we have to go through a security check to get OUT of the airport that weekend ....

For now, I have mail and messages to finish going through before looking to the afternoon Confessions and Mass.