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A little more good news for the new year

Happy New Year!

As 2008 rolls around, I'm giving thanks for many things. Among those, of course, is that this will be the year of my ordination to the priesthood. Today we had the initial meetings about the ordination liturgy, which will be in New Orleans on June 14. Above you can see the happy two to be ordained, Jose Fetzer on the left and me on the right. Please keep us in your prayers. I will be praying that the new year brings all of you many blessings!

Dancing Through Life

Wow! I was right when I said it might be a while before I got back here.

I have been more or less taking a break from my virtual life. I haven't really read a blog in weeks! I'm trying to stem the tide of "senioritis" as much as possible. So, I've been taking away some of my typical ways of distracting myself. My Netflix queue has stalled, so much so that I'm think of taking a leave of absence from Netflix. On the immediate horizon are four papers, which I must complete in the coming weeks. I'm also hoping to get off to visit some of the schools which I have applied to once the new semester begins--meet me in South Bend!

The last couple of weeks have been crazy but wonderful. I served as a deacon at my nephew's Confirmation two weeks ago. I got to be there right next to the bishop when he conferred the sacrament on my nephew and about 60 others. It was an exciting moment, a long moment.

Last weekend, I made a two-day trip to New Orleans to serve as deacon at the wedding of two of my former students. Check out my America magazine article from a couple of years ago--it was the wedding of two of the students I describe there as "Alex" and "Laura." I'm thinking of writing a sequel to my article, something like "Alex and Laura Get Married." The wedding was beautiful, and again I got to be right up there front and center as the two of them made their commitment to one another. I can't tell you how happy I was to be there. I also got to proclaim the Gospel, which was an honor! The wedding also provided the opportunity to see a lot of the other students who I haven't seen in a while, and most of the ones I wrote about in my article!

So, it was a consoling week of deaconing.

I have a formation meeting coming up in Louisiana, and on the agenda is some planning for my ordination as a priest in June. I will be ordained with one other man from my province, and I'm looking forward to sitting down with him and others who will be involved with the ceremony. I'll also be talking to my provincial about plans for next year which, unless there's a dramatic change (or I don't get accepted anywhere), will be studying at one of the schools to which I've applied.

My academic work in the coming weeks will have a lot to do with probing the theological perspectives arising during and after World War II, especially with regard to the question of doing theology "after Auschwitz." It's an important topic, and I think this will just be the beginning of my work in this area.

I will also be exploring the evolution of the New England Patriots from "America's Team" to the team everyone loves to hate (not really, I'll just be enjoying their pursuit of the perfect season, and hoping they don't choke in the playoffs). And, as I've made it to the final four, I'm hoping Tom Brady will help propel me to my fantasy football league championship!

Wishing everyone a Blessed Christmas, as I don't know when you'll find me here again! Peace be with you!