Well hello mid-July, and I guess mid summer. Hell, we have at least two more months of summer and then some. You all know I hate summer time and another reason to not like summer is all this crazy Catholic vacation mentality. I guess it comes with the culture. Perhaps too I am guilty of same although my recent week long vacation, to get some in person time with the grand kids was well worth it but also very demanding. From July 3rd until this past Sunday, the 9th, I was on the road. Wendy and I, and Wendy's mom Lynn, drove up to North Carolina, visited with family, played with the kids, celebrated Katelyn's 2nd birthday(I know; already) toured my son Jimmy's equine hospital(he is a great equine vet) and just enjoyed time with family we see in person so rarely. Because of work demands, we also loaded up the car and left this past Sunday at 5 a.m. our time and pushed, and pushed to arrive home at 7 p.m. All so I could be at work this past Monday morning. While demanding, I'm actually quite satisfied and proud that we did it! And I had a pretty productive day at work on Monday.
The good news for Wendy and I is that we are headed back in September to be there for Calvin's 5th birthday. Saying the words Calvin and 5 years old is mind blowing. Truly, it seems like yesterday that our first grandchild was born. What a joy to see him grow up all these years and now to be an excellent big brother to little sister Katelyn.
In the meantime, yours truly remains incredibly busy especially since I remain a full-time banker working through this big bank conversion and transition since the failure of my predecessor bank. I must admit things are getting a little smoother after multiple 50+ hour weeks, working 3 and 4 Saturdays in a row and helping guide all of our clients through the transition. I always joke since I've been in banking I've only changed jobs once and have worked for 5 banks; a nasty reality of the industry in which I am employed.
And we all know that another source of busy times, not to mention great joy, is the ministry of my diaconate. In all honesty, I feel like my ministry has not been as robust and effective as I would like it to be due to all the work stuff and on-going issues with my bad knee and arthritis. In fact just the other day I took a pass on my weekly visit to the prison since they did have a priest and a lay minister already on the way. Hopefully this all will pass soon and I will be back in the groove!
Despite all this I can say that things are not boring around the ministry at St. Jane de Chantal. Just this week we hosted three families in the Family Promise Program. Families that find themselves homeless come and stay with us for a week and receive bedding, meals and fellowship during the week. This is a great program that our parish is privileged to be involved. Another big event is our hosting of a large youth group from Texas while they do mission work in New Orleans. They will be involved in several evening events including an evening of Adoration, Benediction and Mass. How cool is that. Later this month I will be one of the Deacons assisting at our Archdiocese Cathedral at the Sunday Mass. And it's not too soon to remember that in August we begin our latest Bible Study for adults, this one based on the Book of Acts of the Apostles!
By the way, I've noticed with this so-called Catholic vacation mentality comes some drop off in visitors to this blog effort that I love so much. Now surely, I am not complaining about still having about 700 visitors a day, but that is about a 400 visitor drop off from several recent months. Yes, I have been posting less recently, and even less personal reflections. I will try and remedy that as we move on. In any event, I always appreciate my many visitors and hope that what I write and what other articles I select to present here are of great value to you as we embrace the Catholic faith, journey together on our path of salvation and grow in holiness.
Glad we caught up. I promise to keep it going!
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