Prodigal Blogger

Well, we got the job done! I was ordained a deacon on Thursday, October 5 -- almost two weeks ago. Everyone wanted to know "what it was like," and all I could say was that I felt like a new fish that, when you bring it home from the pet store, just sits there in its new home, looking around, not sure what to do next or what to think of things. It's hard to describe. I'm still figuring things out and getting used to the idea that I'm a deacon.

Part of the difficulty lies in the fact that there are now 35 deacons under our roof, and the duties for deacons in a seminary are not overly numerous. Of course, there is a deacon who assists at Mass every day (so, taking turns, I'm assigned about once a month) and presides at the Holy Hour and Evening Prayer. Also, we take turns serving at the convent, so that works out to be about once a month, too. So, if a couple times a month is all you get to "practice being a deacon," you can see how it might take awhile for the reality to sink in.

The Ordination Mass itself was really beautiful. It lasted two and a half hours, but (for me, anyway) the time flew by pretty quickly. If you want to see photos of the event, go to www.photo.va and click on "English version" near the top left corner. Then click "Simple search" on the left, and enter "ordinazione" in the box next to "photo caption in Italian." Enter the date as 05 10 2006 and start the search. The ordination photos begin about halfway through page 4. Sorry for the hassle. As other photos become available, I'll have to post some.

Prior to ordination week, I was on retreat in the hills outside of Rome. My class was split into two groups (about 18 each), and my group spent the week in an old monastery on top of a hill. The weather was great and the environment couldn't have been better. It was a really fruitful retreat -- one of the best I've had yet. There was a deep sense of peace going into diaconate week. ...and then the week began.

It was probably one of the most hectic weeks of my life, but it was a good kind of hectic, if there is such a thing. It was great to have so many family members, friends, and clergy of the diocese here to celebrate with me. I wish I had been a little more organized on a couple of counts, but all in all the week went pretty well. Aside from a few miscommunications (which are an integral part of the Roman way of life) everything went smoothly.

So now it's back to the semi-regular swing of things. Classes (all in Italian) started last week, and so far I'm managing pretty well. I just arranged to meet with an Italian language tutor for an hour a week, so that should help, too. One really nice thing about the program I'm in is that there is never class on Monday. Not bad. Of course, I'll be studying all day on Monday!

That's enough for now. I keep saying I'll try to be more consistent with posting to this blog, but sometimes it just doesn't happen. I'm sure you understand. Now that things are calming down a bit, I should be able to be a little more regular.