Gaudete In Domino

This Sunday we heard the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. Knowing that, I was intriqued by this beautiful pulpit we saw in the Church of St. Gertrude in Nivelles. The original church was built in the 11th century and underwent a series of renovations over the years. The most recent restored it to its (more or less) original Romanesque qualities. It was quite austere but beautiful in its own way. I had been noting the magnificent carved pulpits in almost every church we've seen. On our tour of Brussels two weeks ago we learned that this was a response to the Protestant reformation's emphasis on Scripture alone and the critique many were making that the Catholic Church had abandoned the Scriptures. These incredible pulpits were to show that the Scriptures held an important place in Catholic thought and worship. The base and crown of this pulpit are marble and the rest carved wood. After Nivelle we went to the battlefield at Waterloo. As with so many battlefie

This week I am experimenting with adding pictures to my blog. I admit to being a little nervous just pushing buttons and trying things out but it seems to be effective. I thought I would include some pictures that link to my earlier posts so that you can see some of the things I have been talking about. At the right is a picture of one of my new parishes. This was taken on my visit with the present pastor before I left. There had been a terrible blizzard - closing a portion of I-35 in Owatonna - where this picture was taken. By the next day it was bright and sunny and I was able to make it to Owatonna. The name of this church is Sacred Heart. My other new parish will be Holy Trinity in Litomysl. I do not have a picture of that church. One of the students here at the American College is from the Czech Republic. I spoke with Libor about the Litomysl in the Czech Republic. I hope that I can make my way there during the course of my time here. Above that you will see my friends Fr. Tom Pet

It is now Monday and I thought I would post a quick update on our doings. Classes start tomorrow so I don't know what my time will be like. On Saturday we took the train into Brussels for a guided tour of the city. It was nice since the lousy weather kind of dampened my spirits for a lot of running around when I first arrived. We visited the Cathedral, the Grand Place, and the Royal part of the city. Brussels has a long history and many chapters in it. I would like to find a good book that goes through the history of this area. What little I have learned has been fascinating. We had beautiful, sunny weather. Temperatures were in the 50s so I thought it was great. All weekend and today have also been sunny and pleasant. Cool at night but nice during the day. Folks say this is unusual weather so I suppose we will be in for more rain and cold in the next few weeks. On Sunday we had a tour by the son of a couple who works at the College. He has lived in Leuven all his life

Yesterday, after 6 days of travel, I arrived in Leuven, Belgium, my home for the next three and a half months. Actually, that includes the time I spent in New York. It was fun to be in New York, with members of my classmate's family when the Giants won the Super Bowl. General rejoicing throughout the city. Unfortunately, I missed the ticker tape parade on Tuesday since my flight left Monday evening. It would have been fun to see. I had a wonderful time visiting with my classmates. Saturday we went to Connecticut to see Fr. Kevin Royal. Spent some time in the Norwalk area driving around to see the sites, taking in a movie and dinner. If I learn how to put pictures on this blog I will post one of us with Fr. Tom Pettei, my classmate from New York. Monday night I got on the plane, had a pretty smooth ride to Brussels in a less than full plane. No one in the seat next to me, and the guy in the center section had all four seats to himself. Actually, a fairly comfortable ride.

When the alarm rang at 3:30 a.m. on Friday I have to say that I was not all that excited to be getting up and ready for departure. But, I got showered, dressed and ready to go. I said goodbye to my parents and drove to my brother's house where my car will be stored. He took me to the airport. Didn't even mind getting up so early because, as he said, he would have beaten his raquetball partners in a couple of games by the time I took off. I made it to New York where the rain was coming down. My classmate, Fr. Tom Pettei picked me up and we headed into "The City." In the evening, we decided to go to Broadway for a show. By the time we arrived after our bus and subway ride we were soaked from head to foot. We got half price tickets to see "Curtains" which stars David Hyde Pierce (he played Niles in "Frasier"). It was great - fun story and music by the team that created "Chicago" and "Cabaret." By the time we came out of t