I'm still around!

It's been a few days since last I posted and I have no real excuse for it save laziness.

I'm now in Springfield where I'm spending the week with a few friends that I used to spend significant portions of the summer with. It's good to be with them again, simply chatting and laughing the evenings away.

Originally I was to be on retreat this week, but plans changed with good cause which need not be explained here and I decided to keep the week away from the parish.

Being away from the parish is proving to be useful both for resting and for catching up on reading. Yesterday on my way into Springfield I stopped in at Barnes & Noble - which is always a risky affair - and picked up two books on Oahu (so I can prepare plans for the WYD pilgrims), two books on soccer (so I can be a useful coach this fall) and a one-volume collection of the Lord of the Rings (so I'll have something to read over the coarse of the WYD pilgrimage; I'll be a couple of books by the Holy Father, too, and the writings of St. Francis of Assisi). I've already finished one book on Oahu and I finished a book of sermons of St. Bonaventure on Jesus. We'll see what I finish tomorrow.

One month from today my pilgrim group leaves for World Youth Day 2008, and I'm really beginning to get excited. Packing plans are under consideration (I've already tried several packing methods) and I'm looking into the locations of parish churches and other such sites.

This evening much of central Illinois is under a series of tornado and severe thunderstorm watchs, both of which bring me great pleasure. I've just spent the past four hours with a few good friends sitting outside listening to the booms of thunder and the patter of rain (as only the midwest can produce) and watching the brilliant streaks of lightning across the sky.

I'll try to keep posting throughout the next couple of days, but we'll see if anything particuarly interesting happens.

I forgot to post last weekend's homily before I left; I didn't bring that file with me, so I'll have to post it on my return to the parish sometime Friday or Saturday.