Wednesday, July 14, 2010

11 months...

11 months ago today (Aug 14, 2009) I entered the Postulancy here at St. Benedict's Abbey. On December 7th I entered the Novitiate. I am doing well... as I anticipate making first vows and becoming a junior monk on December 8th - less than 5 months away!

Monthly update:

1. I actually remembered (with a little help from their godmother) my twin goddaughters birthdays on the day!! One more to go next week and I'm homefree for another year!!

2. We were the site of the LifeTeen Leadership Conference in late June/early July. There were about 450 first-class teens here (plus chaperones). They received some excellent talks and seemed to enjoy themselves very much. It was also a lift to many of the monks - seeing the vibrant faith of these youngsters!

3. A couple of visitors over the past month - Fr. Jack Riley (former classmate from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philly) spent a night as he passed through on his way to join the staff at the Augustine Institute in Denver (an excellent Catholic grad school!) and Julie & Greg Alexander (of Marriage Works in Christ fame) made their 2nd stopover and shared lunch with the monks (afterward we got a little time together before they had to move on toward their home in San Antonio).

4. Speaking of my alma mater in Philly, a classmate of mine, Fr. Shaun Mahoney, was recently named rector of that venerable institution! That was fantastic news - to me, if not to him! Please pray for him in this most important assignment!

5. We celebrated the Feast of St. Benedict last Sunday (July 11th) with some extra festivities - meaning "I ate more food than I needed"!

6. This weekend is the annual Amelia Earhart Festival in Atchison (her hometown). I have heard that our small town of 10,000 will balloon to about 50,000 for the festivities. The fireworks show on Friday night is one of the highlights. I hear that we watch it from on top of one of our buildings and I look forward to seeing it.

7. And finally, mom is holding steady. I talk to her regularly and look forward to seeing her when I get my home visit in December.

That is about it from here. Keep me in your prayers and be assured of mine for you!!

God bless,
FrJDD

No comments:

Post a Comment