Riverdance

Last Night all of the Seminarians from Manchester and two priests from the Seminary went out to celebrate St. Patrick's Day early. We went out to Slainte (Irish word for Cheers), a Baltimore Irish pub for dinner. The food was great and all authentic Irish cuisine. Following dinner we walked around the old port, Fells Point, and then headed back into the city to see Riverdance. I had never been to Riverdance before and loved it. It was really neat to see Irish dance on display, as well as the dances of many other countries around the world.

All in all it was an amazing night. It was nice to take a break from the "rat race" and enjoy good friends, good food and good fun.

As we get closer and closer to Easter the frenzy of papers, exams and works seems to be intensifying greatly. Please keep me in your prayers!



On another fun note the seminary was host today to 150 8th graders from a neighboring parish. I signed up to help give a tour and had a blast. It reminded me of teaching, something I still miss. I had a group of 25 students for 30 minutes. I arranged my tour so that rather than bore them with all the boring stuff (history, paintings, etc....) I would show them what the really wanted to see. In order to do it I needed to insist that we walk super fast, but it was worth it. I took the kids to the choir loft, the awesome study room in the library with rolling chairs on a tile floor..., the secret stairwell, the cafeteria, the lounge and for my grand finale, homemade-warm-chocolate chip cookies. They of course loved it and I was told when they left "you rock." None-the-less it was great fun and I was happy to bring a little life into the place.

I think for so many people the Church is always thought of has old and boring. I suppose some people in it might be, but I also know there is a lot of life in the Church. I really think the more we can bring life and joy back into the Church the more it will flourish. For me the Catholic faith is so rich and beautiful, I cannot imagine it ever being anything but full of energy. I still have a long way to go on my journey, but one thing I still have, and will never lose, is my passion for the faith and for life.