7 Years Ago Yesterday

Late August must be a popular time for entering religious communities or making vows.  My Facebook feed has been full of young nun friends marking their anniversary dates.  This made me pause and look back at the way back machine that is this blog.  Guess what! It turns out that yesterday was 7 years since I was received as a novice and became "Sister Susan."

Here's a walk down memory lane from that auspicious day!

Well folks, it was an amazing day. I'm a bit at a loss for words so I'll use pictures to tell the story... We gathered in our Chapel at St. Mary-on-the-lake. Our sister Novice  had been received earlier in the day in New Jersey. Chero & I were received by our own groovy province out west. We shared our hopes for the novitiate ...We got our Peace Crosses (our symbol of identity with the congregation)...
We received our own copies of our Constitutions (so I can now return my long borrowed copy) ...
In addition to the many groovy sisters and associates in attendance, I had my own cheering section. Here's Kim &  Jackie taking pictures ... My friends Sr. Pat & Sr. Sharon from my parish also came as a surprise! ...
I cried a lot ... happy tears. I'm a poignant moment crier, and today was a special day in my life. Alexandra gave an amazing reflection - a letter from our foundress Margaret Anna Cusack to the new novices. That started my tears of joy and gratitude rolling ...
The new novices .... notice our Peace Crosses! (and accidentally color coordinated outfits).
There was a party after in the dining room. Lots of visiting, treats and fun. Afterwards Jackie, Kim & I went back to my house. I'm spending the next week and a half (until I fly to New Jersey to enter the Congregational Novitiate) living with the sisters I spent my groovy sister reserves with this past year. We went to Saturday vigil mass, had a yummy bbq dinner on the deck, and then I opened my cards and gifts. A good day, even if I have some adjusting to do to this ...
Mostly I'm deeply happy and grateful to God for this invitation and the whatever it took to finally say yes. Not to mention this amazing community of friends I have found to journey with. Wow .... But for now, BED!!

CSJP Novices

I was unable to make photos upload from my mobile phone onto the blog when I was in the UK.  Here is  a picture of the women who are in our Congregation Novitiate (now located in London) that I was visiting with last week. Please keep them in your prayers as they continue with their journey of initial formation.

CSJP Novices: Sister Katrina, (yours truly--not a novice!),
Sister Sheena, and Sister Juliana

Founders Day

Today is a feast day in my religious congregation. In 1899 on this day, our founder Margaret Anna Cusack, known in religion as Mother Francis Clare, breathed her last.

It was a blessing to join with our CSJP Congregation Novitiate community today to celebrate this special day. This morning we prayed a special prayer in our office book for Margaret Anna. It was moving and I felt her presence. Sister Alexine, my former London housemate and now congregation novice director, created a lovely prayer space in the chapel.

This afternoon we went out for a celebratory feast day meal before I headed on a train back to Birmingham for the first leg of my journey back to Chicago.

These two week with our CSJP UK region has been very special. The time has both flown by and yet not. Perhaps it is all the deep conversations and renewed connections that contribute to that quality. In any case, my visit is almost over. Hopefully I will not have to wait another six years to come back to this side of the pond.

Companions

I am blessed to be spending this week in London with our Congregation novitiate community. We are working together on a project and in the process getting to know each other better.

It is amazing to me how God works in our lives and in our community. I clearly remember, when I first considered religious life in general and the CSJP community in particular, being concerned about the reality of diminishment and lack of vocations. How could I join my lot with this group? Yes thry are amazing women. But who would be my companions 15, 25, 50 years down the line?

Yet my heart was already caught up in love for the CSJP charism and community, and so I took the plunge. As luck (or God) would have it, I ended up entering with a group. Four of us made first vows within a few years of each other and now we have a new group of three in the novitiate discerning their call as Sisters of St Joseph of Peace.

It is an honor to hear their stories, both their lives until now and their first connection with our community. Like myself, each of them first connected with us via our website and then fell in love with our Sisters. The charism is very strong in the three of them in very unique ways. I am filled with gratitude and hope.

Please join me in praying for my new companions on their novitiate journey. And pray too for all women and men discerning a call to the crazy wonderful experiment that is religious life.

UK Bound

Tomorrow evening I head to the UK to spend some time with my CSJP Sisters across the pond. I haven't been there since my wonderful three month sojourn as an apostolic novice.  I will only be there this time for two weeks, but I am so looking forward to seeing our Sisters and Associates in the UK.  I'll also see some of my US CSJP friends as well who are also making the trip.

My first stop will be our regional center, Sacred Heart Convent in Rearsby, Leicestershire.  Our house there (pictured to the right) is located in the countryside on the outskirts of a quaint village.  It is such a lovely spot, and the women who live there are just as lovely.

After a few days at Rearsby, I will join 40 other CSJP Sisters and Associates for a contemplative retreat experience.  Our CSJP Congregation has made the commitment this year that every Sister and Associate who is able will attend one of three congregation retreats.  The other two retreats in the States took place during my spring Semester, which is why I have the wonderful opportunity to head to the UK to join the last retreat there.  From everything I've heard, I am sure it will be a transformative experience.

After the retreat, I am heading down to London to spend a few days with our Congregation Novitiate.  This also happens to be the same house where I lived for my three months as a novice so it will be like coming home in a way.  I'm really looking forward to visiting with Sister Alexine, who I lived with as a novice and who is now the novice director, and also getting to know the three women who have joined our Congregation as novices.  I'll also be doing a technology workshop of sorts with them, but I'm most excited to just be spending some time with them.

My two weeks will be over before I know it! I might blog from the UK, depending on how technology and timing work out.  If not, rest assured I will share all about it when I get back.

The Three Hour Tour with Sister Anthony Marie

One of the major blessings of my novitiate sojourn to the land called New Jersey was that I got to know our elder Sisters at our retirement community next door.  They were so happy to have the novices on the grounds and we were treated to many stories and trips down memory lane.

One day, I met Sister Anthony Marie on the elevator.  I was coming from the tower where I used to go to get away and pray--you can see the NYC skyline from up there!  Anyway, I met Sister Anthony Marie and she was so very excited to see me.  "Would you like to see my room?" she asked.  I had a little bit of time before I was expected back for dinner at the Novitiate house so I accepted.

Well ... I barely made it back for dinner!  The tour of Sister Anthony Marie's small room did not exactly take three hours, but it did definitely take longer than I had expected!  Every drawer she opened, every holy card she touched had a story attached ... a very entertaining but very long story.  I remember one particular story had something to do with a former student of hers at the School for the Blind who worked for the New York Yankees and invited her to a game and on to the field.  I could see the love she had for those she had ministered with over the years in her gleaming eyes, as well as her love of baseball!  

It was great, but I admit I was a bit worried that my novice director was going to start wondering where I had gotten away to. Perhaps Sister Anthony Marie sensed my worry and hesitation.  Before she sent me on my way, she gave me a souvenir.  I think it was a holy card and medal of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.  If nothing else, it helped me to prove where I had been when I returned and sure enough my housemates and novice director were wondering where I had gotten away to!

I got word this week that Sister Anthony Marie passed away at the age of 95. Goodbye Sister Anthony Marie!  Thanks for the tour and your faithful joyful presence!

Sister Mary Rose loved her brownies

During my novitiate years, I baked ... a lot.  Baking therapy has always been a good coping mechanism for me.  The beauty of living at east coast groovy sister hq for the majority of my novitiate years was that I had a ready made audience for my baking therapy.  I baked cookies for the maintenance staff, cakes for the elderly sisters next door, and brownies for Sister Mary Rose.

Sister Mary Rose was a lovely (and somewhat mischievous) Sister who lived in the infirmary next door to the novitiate.  Each day she would write little jokes on the white board in the pantry to entertain the Sisters and staff as they got their morning cup of coffee.  She was also deeply prayerful, faithfully taking her walker into the chapel for daily office, liturgy, and just to visit with Jesus for a while.

While we were living next door as novices, we were invited to join the Sisters for their Sunday afternoon meal each week.  Most times, we would bring dessert.  I had discovered a brownie recipe (which, truth be told, comes mostly from a box mix) for triple chocolate brownies.  The first week I made them, Sister Mary Rose wheeled her walker over to the table where we were sitting and said, dramatically, "Which one of you made these DELICIOUS brooowwwnies." (She was born in Brooklyn so add the accent for full effect).  I confessed.  She smiled, winked, and walked away.

From that day forward, she was always sure to let me know how much she appreciated it when the dessert selection included the triple chocolate brownies.  Even when it didn't, she'd politely thank me but tell me it was nothing like those brownies.  After I left New Jersey to start ministry in Seattle, whenever I would come back to east coast groovy sister hq for a meeting she'd be sure to stop by and tell me how much she missed me .... and my brownies.

Well, Sister Mary Rose passed away on Sunday at the age of 92. As I read her obituary, I remembered that her baptismal name was Susan.  We'd bonded over that one day ... the fact that she's a Susan turned Mary Rose and that I was baptized a Susan Rose.

I found the little essay on our website that she wrote on the occasion of her 70th Jubilee a few years back.  Here's an excerpt, typical of her mix of class and mischief:

My seventy years in religious life have made me strong as stone and fragile as a rose. I entered from Brooklyn in 1936 and continue to appreciate the beauty of religious life. ... Now that I am older and a retiree, I experience slow motion at times. I depend much on God's grace. My goal is to live and die in peace. Only this lends meaning to my life and death. Since this year celebrates the Jubilee Sabbath, the following quote from Sabbath Presence best describes what I strive for as a Sister of St. Joseph of Peace, “ . . . A relationship with God, with others, with the created world and with the inner self.” 

Goodbye Mary Rose.  Enjoy the brownies in heaven.  I hear they are all you can eat.

September Anniversaries

Today is the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, aka Mary's Birthday. Four years ago today, I entered the Congregation Novitiate in New Jersey. What a difference four years makes!

We have a new housemate living with us here at Grace House, from a religious community in Vietnam. She will be studying at Seattle U and living with us this year. Her community has a Marian spirituality, and today is their Founding Day and Congregation Feast Day. It's nice to celebrate both the birthday of Mary and the birthday of her Congregation today!

The 9th Anniversary of September 11th is coming up on Saturday. I am so saddened by the fear and hate that seems to be percolating around that day, particularly as regards our Muslim brothers and sisters. I also find hope, however, if the grassroots efforts of tolerance, love and peace that are also growing. More reason to pray on this day to Mary, Queen of Peace, to ask for her guidance and intercession for our broken world.

Welcoming Sr. Sukyi

This morning we welcome our newest Sister into our community, as Sr. Sukyi was received as a novice! We were a smaller than expected crowd in our Chapel - icy weather kept some away - but it was a joyous occasion to be sure!

Here is Sr. Sukyi getting ready to process into the Chapel!


Here she is being blessed by our leadership and entire community.


And here are our 4 newest Sisters!


Sukyi will travel to New Jersey in January where she will enter our Congregation Novitiate. Please keep her in your prayers, and join me in praying for more vocations to our community!

Saturday morning thoughts

Happy Saturday everyone! Saturdays were a glorious invention, especially when they are not filled with meetings and other "have to" things. It's COLD here in Seattle, which means the wet stuff coming down from the sky might actually turn into snow. I'm kind of hoping that doesn't happen, because I've got plans to go to the movies with one of my groovy sister friends and then I'm taking another groovy sister friend to the airport.

Tomorrow is going to be a big day here at groovy sister hq - it's Reception Day for our newest novice! I remember my own reception day very well - over two years ago - and I'm sure that Sunday will be just as special for Sukyi, even if it's a snowy day. She will become "Sr. Sukyi," receive her Peace Cross and CSJP after her name! I'll be bringing my camera and will try to get some good pictures to share!

In the mean time, here's a picture of the four of us in formation with the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace that was taken this summer at the Novitiate in New Jersey. I feel very lucky to be journeying with these smart, creative and faith-filled women!

L to R: Me (temporary professed), Dorothy (2nd year Novice),
Chero (temporary professed), Sukyi (soon to be 1st year Novice)

Leavin' on a Jet Plane

Well, almost 2 years to the day that I arrived here at the Novitiate house in New Jersey, I'm headed back to Seattle. I'll still be a novice until Vows on October 11th, but I'll be transitioning from the Novitiate to active ministry. I start work on Monday! I'm sure I'll check in sometime tomorrow.

Peace,
Susan

Tuning In: The Moving Edition

Well, my bags are packed and my room is mostly clean. I've got a few little projects to finish up tomorrow and some folks to visit before I head back to Seattle on Tuesday evening! On the one hand it seems like ages ago that I started the Novitiate. On the other hand it seems like just yesterday. It's a bit hard to get a handle on my feelings at this transition time, so I thought I'd rely on the old random music generator to lead the way ...

Song #1: Punchlines by Mates of State (Watch/Listen on You Tube)

It's not the same without you around
It's not the same without you

We took my fellow 2nd year novice to the airport today ... she's a bit ahead of me in her travel plans. On the drive home I saw a billboard for ... I kid you not ... and advertisement for iwantoutofnj.com. It's a website for a real estate development in South Carolina of all things. Talk about odd. In any case, it caused me to realize that ready as I am to return to the Northwest and start ministry and get ready for vows, I will miss it here. I'll miss reading the NYT everyday and access to good pizza. Granted there are many things I won't miss (traffic and humidity to name two!), but I have spent two years here. Mostly I'll miss the people. I've made some good friends, and it won't quite be the same without them around.

Song # 2: Daytripper by the Beatles (Watch/Listen on You Tube)

One way ticket, yeah
It took me so long to find out
and I found out

I do in fact have a one way ticket back to Seattle. We came here two years ago on a one way ticket, and it certainly took me so long to find out ... about myself, about my relationship with God, about my call. I had a funny moment when I was on retreat, when I realized that I've been traveling on a spiral of sorts. I'd been working on this end of novitiate self-reflection and was spending some time with what I feel called to. I came to this brilliant realization, only to look back at my journal from four years ago and realize I'd traveled around the spiral to the same place I was when I started looking seriously into religious life! Although, to be fair, it is a deeper place now. And is likely to be deeper and deeper (God willing) as I continue to travel the spiral of the life of faith and vocation.

Song #3: 1234 by Feist (Watch/Listen on You Tube)

Oh, you’re changin’ your heart
Oh, you know who you are

I'm going back a changed woman. I've been on a heart journey these past two years, a journey which has brought me closer to God and to myself. I can't wait to see where the journey takes me next!

Song #4: May the Road Rise to Meet You by Lori True (Listen to a snippet here)

May the road rise to meet you.
May the wind be at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon
your face, upon your face.
May the rain fall softly on
your fields,
And until we meet again,
may you keep safe in the
gentle, loving arms of God.

Honestly, this is the song that came next! All I have to say is .... Amen!

Dancing

I am not a dancer. And yet … I woke up early the first morning of my retreat dancing! Only in my dreams of course, but it was marvelous and wonderful and I was so filled with joy! I could have gotten out of bed then and there except that it was something like 4:30 in the morning and not a civilized hour in this time zone. So I gently and happily went back to sleep, to good dreams that were not quite so memorable.

Later that morning I remembered seeing a dream dictionary in the retreat house bookstore. This is the insight it gave on the meaning of dancing in your dreams:

“A dream about dance evokes movement, freedom, joy and a time of happiness. It also indicates liberation from constraints and a deep connection with your current emotional state.”

That sounds about right!

transitions

I've sorted through all but one drawer of my desk. In the bottom of the top drawer, I found the handmade card I received at my work going away party two years ago - it's handmade by a friend and has everyone's wishes for my adventure inside. It's a treasure that I think I'll be keeping for a bit longer ...

Sorting through my possessions and finding mementos like this one has me thinking about what's been and what's to come. It's almost been two years since I closed up shop at work and my apartment and moved to NJ for the adventure of novitiate. On the one hand, it seems like eons ago. On the other hand it seems like just yesterday. And in just three weeks from today I'll be flying back to Seattle for the next phase of the journey!

I say flying "back," but really this will be my first time living and working in the Seattle area. I've got good friends 4 hours south in Portland, and groovy sisters & associates in the Seattle area. But for the most part, it will be a new place for me - new living situation, new ministry, new everything.

Including, I think, a new me. In the midst of my sorting through stuff, I found notes from one of our classes during our first year of novitiate on personal integration with Don Bisson, FMS. My notes tell me that "formation creates a new person to the outer world" that needs to be reintroduced to others and is associated with new life patterns and energy of service.

At the time, I don't think I paid much attention to that bit - I was focused more on what I was going through at the time (the messier bits). But now that I find my self at this juncture, ready to move from the novitiate to active ministry I find that it rings true. I'm still me, but I'm more me if that makes any sense.

In any case, this transition is more peaceful internally than the last one. I just reread my mid August 2006 blog entries. There was a melancholy mixed with excitement. Now, there's more a sense of rightness and readiness for what lies ahead!

third times the charm

My two years in the Novitiate are almost up, which means my two year stay in New Jersey is almost up as well. Those of you who know me or who have followed my journey here may have noticed that I came here with a bit of "east coast angst." You see, I was raised on the east coast (Maryland to be exact), but ran away to the Pacific Northwest for college and never looked back. I believe I may have actually said something like I'd "NEVER" live on the east coast again. You know what they say about never saying never!!

Well, many things have happened during my two years of novitiate. One of those things, is the lessening of my east coast angst. Don't get me wrong. I am very much looking forward to heading back to the Pacific Northwest in September. I've missed the rain (which only a northwesterner could say with a straight face!). I've missed my friends. I've missed the way of life that is particularly "left coast." But, shocking as this may be to some of you who know me and have experienced my east coast angst first hand, I think I might actually miss this place. I'll definitely miss the people. Hence, I'm thinking of it more as a "see you later" than a "goodbye."

This is all a preamble to my updated score on the quiz, "How New Jersey Are You?". This is my third time taking the quiz. The first time I scored 31%. Six months after my arrival I scored 51%. And now?

You Are 59% New Jersey!

You've definitely got some Jersey in you. Congratulations, it's a great thing to be. However you're score could certainly be a lot higher!

How New Jersey Are You?
Make Your Own Quiz

Religious Life in the Age of Facebook

I find it a wee bit ironic that the latest issue of America includes an article titled, "Religious Life in the Age of Facebook," .... and it's only available online to subscribers!

I have the advantage of living in a religious house that subscribes to America, so I can let you know a bit about the article. You'll need to find a paper copy to read the whole thing.

The article begins with the perennial question:

Why aren’t young men and women entering religious life today?

The irony bit is because of reason #4:

4. Young adults live in a media world unfamiliar to most priests and religious. DVD’s, Facebook, Myspace, Halo 3, Wii, cell phones, Madden football—these are the constant companions of young adults, as familiar to them as Notre Dame football, “The Bells of St. Mary’s” and foreign missionaries were to Catholics of the 1950s and 1960s. When we tell a young person we do not know how to take a picture with a cell phone, we are communicating not only that we are “out of it,” but that we fall on the spectrum somewhere between imbecilic and incompetent.

Hence, if you want young folks to enter this discussion, you'd want to post the article for free online so everyone could read it. But hey, what do I know??? I'm only a young adult for another 24 days (when I enter the dreaded "36-50" demographic category).

Ok, semi-rant over! I'm happy to report that the author, a Jesuit named Richard Malloy, does make a number of points which I think make a lot of sense. His 2nd reason for example:

2. In the past one entered a novitiate with people who were culturally similar and found the process easy. ... Most people thinking of entering religious life today are much older than in previous eras; they are of various ages, and as a group they are more diverse. They are concerned about what will happen to their 401(k) account, cell phone contract, apartment lease, car, dog and more. To enter a novitiate, they are being asked to break off a set of adult relationships and responsibilities that might be five, 10 or 15 years old.

Check. That list is a pretty good start I think of the realities facing folks who are crazy enough to consider this wonderful way of life these days. The particular challenge is in working with formation personnel who are at various stages of awareness of the fact that it's different than leaving your parents home at 18 and entering the convent. I've had some struggles with this, and have documented some of them here - read this post for an example.

It's also true that novitiate groups today are very diverse. For example, we have one woman in her 20's from Kenya who is a student. One American woman in her 30's who worked as an elections administrator (moi). One American woman in her 50's who is a very well respected nurse. We have a woman entering next year who is a medical professional (I think she's in her 40's) from Korea. So yes, it's very diverse. In general, I think this is a good thing though, and probably actually attractive to most folks thinking of entering. Yes it's challenging in terms of daily living, but I think that younger people are more excited about our global reality.

In my experience a big part of the challenge here is more in terms of formation programs learning how to celebrate the gift of diversity among us. This relates to the author's point about how we no longer have homogeneous novitiate programs. Again though, there are varying levels of awareness. As a younger person in religious life, I think it's hard to feel like you're always "pushing the envelope". At a certain point you want it to be easier. But if I want to be treated like an adult, than I think that probably means some amount of living with the tension and helping the community to grow and learn. (This paragraph probably makes more sense to the younger religious and especially those in formation reading this.)

His other reasons are very interesting and thought provoking. It would be worth getting a copy if you're thinking of religious life or are already in religious life.

I must say that I'm happy the author ended on this note:

Nonetheless, there is some hope.

I don't know if I agree with his reasons for finding hope, but there is hope to be found nonetheless. Just take a look at the poll results to date for this little corner of the blogosphere! Not to mention the folks who flock to my friend Julie's blog. And the two of us blogging nuns aren't even officially in the vocation business!

Ok, random thoughts over for the evening. I'd love to hear what you all think (especially if you happen to have a copy of America lying around)!

prayer with a tree theme

I've been re-reading my journal entries for the past couple of years. This is an old habit of mine. Periodically I will take a few days to reread all of my diaries and journals from childhood to today. Sadly, most of my journals are in storage in Portland. The farthest back I can go on this trip down memory lane is back to the spring before I entered the novitiate.

Today I found a little prayer I wrote during my first weeks of the Novitiate.

Root me in your love
Plant seeds of hope
of patience
of love
of joy
of compassion.
Nourish these seeds
so that I may grow strong and tall
in faith, hope and love.
Let my fruits fall freely
to feed and nourish body and soul.
Bend my branches.
Blow my leaves in the wind,
so that I will know and experience
the constancy of your love.
In all. Through all. With all.
Amen

It's amazing to me how much trees have played a part of my spiritual journey these two years!

As to the prayer, all I have to say is be careful what you pray for! ;)

Chipmunk in the Convent

An imagined conversation over the dinner table tonight at a New Jersey home:

Wife: How was work today, honey?

Husband: Well, you know that job, cleaning the air ducts and vents at that big convent on the Pallisades?

Wife: Yes ... you've been there all week, rigt?

Husband: Yup, it' a huge building and today we were supposed to finish with the last little bit.

Wife: Supposed to?

Husband: Well, we'd left the front door open in this one little part of the house to air everything out downstairs.

Wife: And?

Husband: We were upstairs finishing the job when one of the young nuns came up to tell us that a chipmunk had come through the open door and was in the living room.

You can imagine the rest. I was of course the young nun, who had come in the wide open front door and caught movement out of the corner of her eye in the living room. Bigger than a mouse, smaller than a squirrel. I'm pretty sure the little critter was a chipmunk.

I then spent the next hour sitting in the hallway as the 3 guys from the duct cleaning company were in the living room trying to coax the little guy out. The door was closed, I heard lots of noises and thumping. One of the guys came out and said only, "He's quick" with a look of exasperation that said much more. They then opened the door and set up a little path with a wall of boxes from the living room door to the outside door. Then they made lots more noises and tried to chase him out. We think he went out ... can't find him anyway.

In any case, the guys have to come back tomorrow to finish their real job, as operation chipmunk took over an hour. We're going to leave the living room door closed today in case he's still there!

I've written about chipmunks before, but having them in your house is another thing!

Chipmunk update. Apparently he spent the night in our living room and when the guys opened the door this morning, he ran outside!

for the curious

A friend asked me what I'm up to these days now that I'm back at the Novitiate house. Well, I've got a million things to do, and yet our time here these days (until our General Chapter at the end of July) is fairly unstructured.

First and foremost I have a million books I want to read. You think that you'll have all this time to read in the novitiate, and yet somehow you don't. Now I do, so that's good.

I want to look over my notes from the courses and workshops I've taken the past two years - as well as sort through what to take with me when I leave and what to send to recycling heaven.

I need to sort through my stuff, figure out what to give away, and start packing boxes to ship back to Seattle. It's absolutely frightening how quickly things - mostly books and paper - accumulate!

I want to spend some more time reflecting and writing about my experience at the UN and the workshop I attended last week on the vows and the new universe story. Not to mention the vows in general!

There are a few sights in the NYC area I never made it to ... I'm hoping to check those out.

Lots of little and big things on the list, plenty to keep me busy while I wait to hear back on vows (I sent my letter requesting vows earlier this month). I'm also waiting to hear back about a job for September.

All in all, a good summer. This is probably the biggest block of unstructured time I'm going to see in a long, long time, so I'm planning to make the most of it!

blog break

I'm going to be away from the blog for a week or so. I'm headed to Ossining, NY for a course at the Maryknoll Mission Institute on the Vows and Creation.

I'll probably check back next weekend.

Have a good week!