Arrival

I was relieved of my pastorate of Our Lady Queen of Mercy Catholic Church on August 1, 2009. I baptized the baby of a couple of my former students at AU (and later parishioners at OLQM) the next day (Sunday, Aug 2) and packed my bags. I left Montgomery on August 3rd and traveled to Philly for 3 days (to visit some priest friends) and then on to Honolulu for 5 days to visit a couple of families that I know (and have a LOT of fun on the island paradise - including scuba diving and sky diving). Both were great stops on the way to my new life.

I arrived at the Kansas City airport on Wednesday, August 12 at about 8:20 AM. My brother, Barry, arrived about 2 hours later. My mother was scheduled to come, but was having trouble with her back and could not make the trip. Barry and I did a few things in KC - delicious lunch at BD's Mongolian BBQ, visited the Jazz & Negro Baseball League Museums (2 separate entities in the same building) and toured (newly renovated) Kauffman Stadium (where the Royals play) - before driving to St. Benedict's Abbey.

At the monastery, after 5 visits to Wal-Mart and a little detailing of my room, I got settled in. Barry got to see much of the monastic lifestyle. He prayed with the monks (even getting up both days for the 6:20 AM prayers), ate in the dining room, recreated with them and had many conversations with different ones. At the end, they asked him if he wanted to stay too - being part of a 2-for-1 deal. He declined.... for now. The good thing is that he has "been there, done that" and if you have questions, he can answer some of them.

Next... the acceptance...