Hello, Katie and Branum!

My sister (Katie) and brother-in-law (Branum) are up visiting for a few days. Other than having had some great weather to check out the cherry blossoms, the hands-down highlight of their trip occurred this evening as they tried their hands for the first time at duckpin bowling. And a good time was had by all...

Extraordinary Form...

Came across one of the nicer videos I've found of a solemn high extraordinary form Mass. I'm watching it to jog my memory, since it looks like I'm going to be the subdeacon for one on Palm Sunday. I think the last one we had back home was at least 12 years ago.

Thanks to Maury...

About once a week a group of the guys here where I'm living get together on the patio after dinner to enjoy a drink and a cigar (we like to refer to it as "incense"). Thursday evening was particularly nice (mid-60's), and so was the cigar. A gift from a good friend back home (Maury), a "La Gloria Cubana - Artesanos de Miami." A new line of smokes from the popular cigar makers from "Little Havana" in Miami, FL. I highly recommend picking one up (or two...). Thanks Maury!

Pope reflects on New Generation, Priesthood...

In speaking about the establishment of a "year of the priesthood," Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the proper understanding of Vatican II as not being "a rupture with the past" and the centrality of an understanding of the unique role of the ministerial priesthood and its centrality in the Church. The text can be found HERE.

My point of reflection on this topic: One point the Holy Father makes concerns the dearth of priests available for ministry. This is something we are all familiar with. It seems that, by and large, the past twenty years has seen a dramatic decrease in the number of priests, but not a corresponding decrease in the expectation on the part of the faithful in the amount of ministry they receive. Father serves two, three, or more parishes as the pastor, but oftentimes the expectation is that the number of services provided will remain the same. The end result: father is burned-out after a few years, and the people by-and-large don't feel the sting of the decreased number of priests. While one response has been to "substitute" lay ministers in the effort to provide the same number of pastoral services (e.g. the so-called "canon 517 §2 pastoral minister"), the end result is a blurring of the proper lines between ordained and non-ordained ministry, with the result that ordained ministry is de-valued. The Holy Father seems to suggest that a decrease in the proliferation of lay ministers in roles more proper for the ordained (for example: pastoral leadership of a parish) would lead to a heightened appreciation for the ministerial priesthood, and an increased sense of haste on their parts to promote the priesthood and religious life within their own families. Interesting...

(you knew I would notice it: check out the fiddleback...)

Friday in Lent...

In honor of another Lenten friday of abstinence, I offer "friders:" deep fried White Castle burgers. I hate to admit it, but this one actually doesn't sound bad...

Happy St. Patrick's Day...

A friend of mine (Chris) sent me some photos from the St. Patrick's day parade from back home. Somehow, he apparently "finagled" his way into being "St. Patrick." I really underestimated how frightening it would be to see him dressed as a bishop...



And now, also in honor of St. Patrick's day, a photo from my own "pilgrimage" to a holy shrine:

Ninja Nuns...

It's been a while since I put some nun material on here... this comes from my Latin professor of all people... Enjoy!

C-A-R-D-S! Big East Champs...

ok, you don't see much by way of sports on here, but I can't help but put a celebratory note about the Louisville Cardinals winning the Big East Championship. Reminiscing about the glory days of the mid-80's and "Never Nervous" Pervis Ellison, Scooter McCray, Darrell Griffith... these are heady times. Made even sweeter by the fact that UK looks to be headed to the NIT's (but then again, UK is more of a football school anyway, right???!). Go Cards!

New Form of Confession?

OK, this is slightly scandalous ("slightly" you say???). My thanks to Teodore(The "Honorary Romanian Redneck") for passing this along, he seems to be quite fond of this new form of confession...

"Gloom, Despair, and Agony on Me!" Spring Break is Over...

But not before one last shot of humor... see if one of these tunes sticks in your head like it has mine.

First Sunday of Lent

A short video of Mass this afternoon... the choir did a nice job with the "Adoro te Devote" at communion.