Back to reality

Last evening I returned to the parish from a De Colores (similar to Cursillo or to Teens Encounter Christ [but for adults]) retreat with a group of ladies from the area. I hadn't been on a retreat like this for quite a long time.

The weekend afforded ample opportunity for teaching and inspiring others in the ways of faith, and for this I am very grateful. Some of the candidates were parishioners and they were able to see a side of me that they have not yet seen as I gave several talks on the weekend.

Many people only see me at Mass (and maybe say "good morning" to me as they shake my hand and walk by) and somehow presume to know me and what I am like (they do the same with other priests, too). This whole notion is very strange to me. I don't presume to know what a parishioner is like from a lone conversation in the grocery store or from one chance meeting at a wedding or funeral. It takes several different conversations in different settings to begin to get an idea of someone's personality.

At any rate, some of the ladies were pleasantly surprised to find in me a priest who can joke around and have a good time. It just goes to show that if you really want to know what your priest is like that you ought to spend some time talking with him.

The personality of the priest is to diminish in the Liturgy of the Church and so trying to "get to know" a priest by seeing how he celebrates the Mass is a poor idea. You might be able to pick up a few characteristics or traits, but a full personality you will not get. Remember that he wears sacred vestments to "depersonalize" himself. But I digress.

It was an enjoyable weekend, though a tiring one. The retreat was held at a camp about twenty minutes away from the parish, where I stayed each night and celebrated the early Mass before returning to the retreat. Driving back and forth can make one tired, but for an introvert few things are more draining than being surrounded by a large number of people for so long a time. There seems to be no way around this. As enjoyable as such retreats are, they are tiring. I was able to spend part of today in "recovery mode" as I sat around chatting with a couple of people and firming up plans for my forthcoming pilgrimage to Washington, D.C.

As good of a weekend as it was, I must say that I prefer TEC weekends to a De Colores, though this may be because my first such retreat experience was a TEC (#162). TEC holds a dear place in my heart because of the many graces I received from the Lord that weekend. I was supposed to be the Spiritual Director this summer for a Great River TEC retreat but had to back out because of the WYD 2008 pilgrimage (sorry Sharon!).

Today, in addition to recooperating and working on some much delayed correspondence, I helped a couple of our high school students clean the attic of the church. This is a project undertaken by a few of them recently that will take a good deal of time to accomplish. I'm not really sure if anyone remembers the last time it was thoroughly cleaned!

I also - finally - purchased my plane ticket to Washington, D.C. to attend the Papal Mass next week. I am glad I waited because now I will be able to be with our Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering (WYSE) kids at their State competition in Champaign, Illinois on Monday before flying out of Indianapolis.

It's been a good day, but a seemingly odd day, for reasons I can't quite seem to put a finger on. One of these days I'm just going to have to get used to the fact that I'm not likely ever to accomplish everything in the day that I want too.

This long post might make it seem like it was a thoroughly busy day, but it really wasn't. It was a relaxing day and a refreshing one.

The sun was shining for the third day in a row (it's about time!) and the temperature was in the upper sixties and may have even hit seventy; simply put, it was glorious!

Tomorrow, though, as I return to the "war room" for a meeting of the Priests Personnel Board - of which I am a member - in the See City, the rain and thunderstorms are said to be returning. The drive to Springfield isn't too bad on a warm day with the windows down, but when it's raining the whole way there it's a bit of a boring drive.