GADDING ABOUT…

Recently at dinner, some parishioners were teasing me (gently!) about becoming a “gad-about pastor.” It’s true in a way, though not too terrible, I hope.

I have been (and continue to be) in and out this summer, it’s true. What have I been up to, this summer, after all? The fact is that most of the time that I’m gone it’s not vacation by any stretch, unfortunately, but work.

This was true right from the beginning in early June, for our priests’ retreat at Manresa in Louisiana, where I was responsible for organizing and leading the music for all the liturgies.

The ecumenical conference in Baltimore was a working conference to be sure (sleeping in a dorm unit shared with 3 others I never met before was not exactly a “Holiday Inn Express” moment!). It disappointed me that the schedule was so tight I didn’t have a chance to re-connect with a former student and her family (we tried; we couldn’t make it work). But it was a conference on a worthwhile topic: ethical disagreement between denominations and its impact on ecumenical dialogue.

I have 2 more weddings this summer, beyond the one I just did in Montgomery a couple of weekends ago. They will be in Grand Rapids, MI and Tallassee, AL. Who are these people?

The past one was a young woman whose brother’s wedding I officiated at, 5 years ago, and whose Father I buried around the same time. Early August and Grand Rapids will have me with a fellow I’ve known since he was in diapers, running around his house as his folks and a group of us gathered for prayer meetings. And late September in Tallassee (“Church in the Pines,” actually, at Lake Martin) is for a young woman whose parents I taught (!), and whom I first met in Reconciliation. So it’s about relationships (the kind we’re building here at Our Savior too, thanks be to God).

This month has had me away for Catholic Heart Work Camp with our teens—why? It’s very simple, really: they’re worth it! Our youth group young people are outstanding, and while they may be the “future” of the Church, they are also the “present” of the Church (you can take that word in a couple of ways—consider them both).

Attention also needs to be paid to our sister-parish, and special circumstances (another new priest, and also a new bishop for the area) require me to have some face-time to make sure everyone in Temascalapa understands the nature of our program and its funds and is on board with it. It sounds clericalistic to say that what is needed is “clergy speaking to clergy,” but that’s the reality. So I’ll be part of our pilgrimage at the end of the month.

After the wedding in Grand Rapids I’ll finally take some vacation (hooray!). Other than a couple of days after Christmas/New Year, and a day after Easter, this will be the first vacation time in over a year (thanks to my knee surgery this past October). It’ll be time spent in Chicago visiting family, and especially my annual visit to our family cemeteries.

“Gadding about”? Yes; and, I hope, all to the good.