Tuesday --
Not particularly noteworthy. I did have a bunch of phone calls to make, in order to line up priests for confessions in Lent. Yes, Lent! About a month away; and hereabouts, priests-for-confessions get signed up early.
Also, Tuesday evening I was with the two gentlemen who are receiving instruction in the Faith. If all goes well, they will be received into the Church, confirmed, and make their first holy communion at Pentecost. Pray for them, and for me, their instructor.
Wednesday --
Up at 5 am for early-early Traditional Latin Mass. I think I'm actually getting the hang of it; I don't think I made any mistakes. Did I, folks?
Another Mass at 8:15 am.
At 10:30 am, I visited the nearby "Little Lambs" preschool. It was "P Day"; and as the parish priest, I was the star attraction! The children were in their pajamas! We talked about things the parish priest does, with emphasis on "p" words; I felt like Sylvester from the Loony Toons cartoons.
After lunch, I'm dragging. I wasn't much good the rest of the day.
Thursday --
Ah, a good night's sleep makes all the difference!
Mass at 8:15 am; later in the day, I assisted at a funeral for a family member of a parishioner at a nearby parish.
In between all this, I am working on my homily for this weekend. Saint Remy's feast day fell during the week; but because it's a solemnity for the parish, we can move it to the nearest unimpeded Sunday, which is what we did.
The truth? I didn't know anything about Saint Remy till I got here; so it was time to bone up. I'd been reading about him this week; and someone in the office brought me a book about Saint Clothilde, whose husband, Clovis, King of the Franks, Remy baptized. Fascinating stuff.
A wrinkle: when I planned to celebrate Saint Remy on Sunday, I forgot that this was the Sunday when we kick off the Archdiocese's "Catholic Ministry Appeal." My assistant reminds me, showing me the CD with the Archbishop's special homily. D'oh!
Well, in years' past, I've omitted playing a recording of the Archbishop's message, and instead worked his message into my homily. So now that was my task again. When you see the homily on this site on Sunday, let me know how I did.
Meanwhile, in the fridge was thawing a lasagna. Remember the two pans I made last month? This was the one I shoved in the freezer. Now I had to think a bit.
I had confessions from 7-8:30 pm, and Benediction following. I didn't want to eat beforehand, so I had to time the baking so it would be ready when I finished. Only I didn't want to overcook it, as I had the last pan. So I put it in the oven at 200.
It worked!
When I came back, I had a pan full of melty, tomatoey goodness. It was delicious! (Sorry, no photo, but I was hungry!)
Plus, my leg was smarting.
At the beginning of Benediction, just as I knelt down, I felt it in my right leg. Charleyhorse! What do you do? Normally, I'd jump up and walk it off. But I couldn't do that. I stretched out my leg a little (hoping no one noticed; although the server heard me sigh and noticed I hadn't started the prayers); it subsided. My mother's words came back: "offer it up." There above me, on the altar, was our Lord; behind him, the crucifix. So I started the Litany of the Sacred Heart.
It starts to feel better; after a bit, my leg actually feels good. Thank you Jesus!
Then I shift slightly. It starts all over; worse this time. "Desire of the Everlasting Hills...have mercy on us!"
I was hobbling a bit through the rest of it, afraid to genuflect, for fear of setting it off again. Not a big deal, but one of those things I bet you didn't know happened to deacons and priests during Benediction.
Friday --
Mass at 8:15 am. A larger crowd, because a 12-year-old boy, the grandson of some of our parishioners, was facing major surgery this morning. Yesterday, someone asked me, could I remember him at this Mass? Sure; so word spread that we would do that; and something like an extra 40 or so people came. Very encouraging!
After Mass, a quick bite to eat for breakfast, and then back to my homily.
...Which I just finished!
FYI, here's King Clovis, being baptized. I am amused to see he has his battleaxe at the ready.
1 comment:
For over 30 years, I have had to bill my time. That means accounting for everything you did and how long it took. My clients were primarily attorneys and insurance companies. So, imagine how those bills were scrutinized. It makes one very efficient. Your diary made me think of billing time. Did a bill just before coming out to San Diego for the winter. No time billing out here!
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