To Europe and back

Well, at long last I again return to writing in this little blog. I apologize for such a long absence. For the past month of so I have been in Europe and that made things a bit difficult. Of course I am aware that a good number the people who actually read this were there with me, but I am sure there are also some who were not.

The reason for my trip, aside from a bit of badly needed R&R, was that two of our sisters were to make their consecration to enter formally into our community and receive their habit. It just so happens that one of the two is my little sister – OK, not biologically but I have known her since she was thirteen. Sr. Mary Nichole is also from Muscatine, IA and she and her family are about as good friends as anyone could ever hope for.

As such I headed off to Rome on an airplane that could never meet FAA standards in a lifetime, with an airline that was in the process of going bankrupt, and in the dark because none of the overhead lights were working. For all that, I arrived just fine and began a pleasant odyssey with the group of around thirty Americans who had also come for the occasion. I say odyssey because in spite of how wonderful a trip it was, we packed an ungodly amount of things into a very short span. I am not sure if there are record kept as to who has received the most indulgences in a given time span, but I am sure we could at least hold our own!

The vestiture itself was beautiful and very grace filled. We followed that by trips through Rome, a Papal audience, a trip to Assisi, Lanciano, Monte San Angelo, and San Giovanni Rotondo. When all was said and done, I could honestly say that it was a truly beautiful trip with some of the most wonderful people I know. That being said, I don’t think I could have made it much longer no matter how much fun it was.

After they left I headed up to Germany to stay with a wonderful family I know there and expand my waistline even further. It was in Donaueschingen, that same town where I filled in at the parish for six weeks a couple of years ago. I was somewhat surprised at how warm a welcome I still received. I guess it means I made some kind of an impression. At the very least, they still have adoration there every week on Friday as a result my being there. I can’t even begin to tell you how much that pleases me.

After a few days with them there I headed on to our annual retreat in Slovakia. I have to say that I was more than a little surprised at how happy and joyful I was to see everyone. I guess I hadn’t realized just how much I had missed the rest of my family. Don’t get me wrong, we have a wonder community life down here in Uruguay and I love them all dearly, but they don’t replace the rest of my brothers and sisters. It was so nice to see my fellow priests and my brothers having just finished the agony of exams. How well I could still relate! The retreat itself was truly beautiful and inspiring; the theme was “Jesus’ most loving homily, His last words on the Cross”. To say that I needed a retreat is an understatement. It is such a help to ‘fill up’ again before having to return to daily life of always giving spiritual food rather than getting it.

So it is that I am back again in Uruguay I have just finished a whole set of weekend Masses and am accordingly tired. But it is a good tired and I am truly happy to be back. I have many ideas of things I would like to do or to start and now, with renewed strength and spirit, I hope to get about it.