Gaudete In Domino

It has been my tradition to write a Christmas letter every year to share with friends and family some of the highlights of the past 12 months. This year I thought I would use my blog since it will allow me to share pictures as well as reflections. Some will be new and others will be repeats from earlier posts. I encourage you to look over previous posts if you want more information on my experiences while on sabbatical in Leuven, Belgium. The New Year began with my annual New Year's Eve party. I try to take a different country or style of cooking each year. I enjoy researching recipes and trying new things. Since I was going on sabbatical I decided to do some Belgian specialties. I started with Mussels, continued with a Carbonade (a beef stew made with beer) and a chicken in beer. To accompany them I made Belgian Fries which are fried twice at different temperatures. The finale was Belgian cream puffs which I bought. Belgian beer was served. Everyone seemed to have a good time. The...

Well, I made it home from sabbatical and I am now one week into my new ministry in Owatonna. It has been a hectic week. I joke that I am the most popular person in town right now - it seems that everyone wants to see me! It has been interesting meeting with people, learning what the parish offers and how it operates, and getting the lay of the land. Folks have been wonderfully welcoming - even to the point that every couple of days a plate of food or some goodies appears. I hope I don't have to give back those two belt holes that I gained while in Belgium. The trip home was fairly uneventful until my big bag got lost somewhere between Minneapolis and St. Cloud. Luckily, I had packed in such a way that I had clothes to wear for a couple of days and the luggage got to me the next day. I spent a couple of days at my parent's house before making the move. During that visit my godfather, Marvin Lahr, passed away fairly unexpectedly. I was able to spend some time with the fam...

On Monday, four intrepid pilgrims left Leuven early in the morning (5 a.m.) to visit Mont St. Michel in northern France. We had rented a vehicle and set out on what was to be a 6 hour journey to our destination. All of us had heard of the Mont and all were excited to visit. Two of our number, both Australians and therefore used to driving on the "wrong" side of the road, shared driving duties. Except for a brief momentary lapse in the first moments of the trip they did exceptionally well. Since the vehicle was standard transmission I did not feel comfortable driving myself and so was grateful for their willingness. We started out following GPS directions which stopped just a half hour into the journey. Luckily, we also had printed off Google Map directions. At one point we got off course but that was quickly corrected. Considering that none of us was familiar with the route I felt we did pretty well. We arrived around noon and spent the next couple of hours exploring...

No wonder I feel worn out. As I reflect on the last weeks I realize how much we have done. The Sedes Sapientae program here is an intensive two week renewal course. The sabbatical students were able to participate in all of the activities and most of us took part in the majority of them. Included were both classes and opportunities to travel. After our trip to Maastricht a week ago Saturday a group of us went to the opera in Liege. We saw Maria Stuarda by Donezetti (for those of you who are opera lovers). Unfortunately the soprano singing Elizabeth I was ill so a portion was left out in which she figures prominently. One of the other cast members sang her part in the wonderful "Confrontation Scene" which closes the first act. On Monday we went to Antwerp. It was a civil holiday (Pentecost Monday) so most shops were closed but we were able to see some churches, the harbor and many other sites. It was an interesting visit. The picture is from a fountain in the main sq...

It seems that as the end draws near time is flying faster than ever. We have had a busy two weeks with participation in the Sedes Sapentiae program here at the American College. It is designed as a two week rather intensive series of talks and experiences designed as a way of updating oneself in various contemporary themes in theology. The speakers, from the Catholic University of Leuven, have been excellent. This semester they are all professors that we did not have an opportunity to take class from. They are considered some of the best theologians in the faculty so it has been really interesting to hear what they have to say. Last week we heard presentations by Jack Dick, an American who also works at the College on the religious reality of Beligum as well as some thoughts on the political background of what we are hearing in the news. Then Martin Stone presented an overview of the history of the University and some of the contributions made by the theologians who taught here....

I made it back from Paris. Only three weeks left of my sabbatical. It has been great but, of course, I would love more time. I spoke with the Bishop a couple weeks ago and wanted to ask for another two months but thought I better not press my luck. After a long, dreary winter spring is finally here. Temperatures in the 70's and lots of new life. This is the view from my window today. Compare it to one of my first posts and you will see the difference. But, back to Paris! I was disappointed to discover along the way that the batteries for my camera were not charged so I was not able to take any new pictures. What you see here are from my Easter time in Paris. After the first few days of rain the weather changed and the last several days were quite beautiful. I am glad that I rearranged my schedule a bit to leave some of the more outdoor things to the end of the stay. In my last post I mentioned that I had gone to the Medieval Museum of Cluny. Included were some stained ...

Since I did not get a post out earlier this week, I thought I would do a posting from Paris where I am spending the week. This is a holiday weekend in much of Europe (Labor Day and Ascension Thursday). I arrived on Monday afternoon and made my way to the Montmartre area of Paris. I am staying in an apartment of the friends of one of the employees of the College. It is a bit out of the middle of things but in close access to the Metro and bus lines so I am having no trouble getting around. The bigger challenge has been the rain. It has been falling every day for a good part of the day. This has put a little crimp in my plans but with a little rearranging it is working out fine so far. I had only a few things I wanted to do. I have accomplished a couple already. On Tuesday I took a cooking class. A small group (4 of us) in the instructors apartment. I had trouble with a closed metro line and so arrived a little late. Two of the others ran into the same problem and arrived aft...

Another week has past rather quickly. It seems like I have just made a posting when another Monday rolls around. I am increasingly aware of the short duration of my remaining stay. The weather has finally begun to turn. It has been in the 50's and low 60's with rather cool evenings. It is supposed to warm up this week. We are all hoping it does. It seems that the weather at home is far better than it has been here these last few weeks. I am getting jealous! This week will be a regular school week. But on Wednesday we will be touring the InBev brewery in the afternoon. If any of you know Belgian beers you know that there are somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 different beers. Many of them are brewed in the abbeys by the monks. The ones which seem to have penetrated Minnesota to some extent are Stella Artois, Leffe, and Hoegaarden. The InBev brewery is where Stella Artois is brewed. It actually originated in Leuven. That should be fun. On a side note, while in Bu...

Boy, time sure goes fast over here. I can hardly believe that its been a week since my last post. I had hoped to do it sooner. Oh well, here goes. After my days in Budapest, Fr. Bernie and I went to Rome. We stayed at the North American College where I had been a student. We stayed on the fourth floor, hospital wing which had been my home for three of the four years I was in Rome. I was just down the hall from my old room. Our arrival was uneventful, my train and Fr. Bernie's plane arrived at about the same time. I waited for him to take the airport train into the city and we then took a cab to the College. We spent the afternoon just kind of getting situated and doing laundry. We both needed fresh clothes. That evening we went for dinner with Deacon Tom Niehaus, a seminarian for the Diocese of Winona. This visit to Rome was about showing Fr. Bernie the sights and returning to some old favorite places. Tuesday we simply walked around the city, stopping at all of the tou...

Well, I have made it back "home" to Leuven after two great weeks on the road. I will share my adventures in a couple of posts over then next few days so none of them get too long. After my wonderful experience of the Easter Vigil at Notre Dame in Paris I headed East for Easter Week. Destination - Budapest, Hungary. I had never been to Hungary or any of the Central European countries except Austria so it was a new experience. I began with an overnight in Cologne, Germany. Unfortunately many things were closed on Monday and I only had a short afternoon in town. In addition, the weather was cold, rainy and I woke up to light snow on Tuesday morning. This picture is the famous Cologne Cathedral which is one of the few buildings not heavily damaged by bombing during World War II. It houses the relics of the Three Kings who came to adore the infant Jesus. (Check Matthew's Gospel if you want the whole story!) It is very dark on the outside but is typical of Gothic archi...