Busy, busy!

Happy Solemnity of Christ the King! The past two weeks have been busy, yet again, with lots of school work and meetings.

Yesterday was a day of recollection for us, though only two of us postulants were here for it; one went home to visit family and attend a wedding. Fr. Sean Morris, OMV came to give us a couple good conferences. He spoke about how to make a good day of recollection by maintaining a good schedule and anticipating distractions. The day was also centered around the theme of "Preparing for the Second Coming of Christ", which is very appropriate at this time of the liturgical year.

We had some good rain last week and it has also been fairly windy most days. Daytime temperatures stay in the 40s most days, with low 30s overnight. Most of the deciduous trees are now bare and lots of shrubs are clearly ready for the winter. The locals have told me that the abundance of acorns and the condition of the squirrels show us that this will be a long and cold winter. As for me, I am here to experience something new, an environment I have not experienced before, so I am not here to judge that it is impossible or difficult to adjust; after all, millions of people live in this climate, so it cannot be all that bad, right?

Confirmation classes continue to go better and better; our little kids need all the prayers they can get, and we can only imagine that many other places have a similar situation with children who have not been adequately instructed in their faith and have not had a transforming experience of God's love. These are the civil leaders of tomorrow, and the young people who will compose the living Body of Christ for the rest of their lives - pray that they are strong!

Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca