A New Home
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 family and was able to arrange to participate in the funeral on Thursday.
My brother, Steve, and I drove to Winona on Tuesday and, with the help of some wonderufl Cathedral parishioners, made fairly quick work of the packing. I haven'd found a couple things but suspect they may be packed in the boxes with my Santa collection. I may have to wait until Christmas to see if they show up. Fortunately, they are nto things that I need right away and even if they never show up they are easily replaced.
On Wednesday morning we headed to Owatonna where we had lots of help. Several couples and a group of eighth grade students got everything into the house in 30 minutes. They were great. My sister, Lori, came down to help with the unpacking. After Steve left we continued on until afternoon when she had to leave. That night Fr. Ed McGrath, the pastor of the other parish in town took me for dinner and showed me around town a bit. I am still unpacking - mostly things that need to go into some level of storage until I can get to really organizing them. I will be looking for some help to arrange pictures and such on the walls and then I will be set to go. The living space is above the offices - we call it the penthouse. It is a little open to the office area but plans are in the making to renovate the offices and reconfigure some things which will include segregating the living space more thoroughly.
The first weekend went well. I had a wedding on Saturday and the Masses (including my first Mass in Spanish) on Sunday. After each Mass was a little welcome reception. Now the trick will be to learn names - not one of my strong suits. This weekend I will be going to my other parish, Holy Trinity in Litomysl (about 11 miles away). A friend was pastor there some years ago so I am somewhat familiar with the parish and had a nice tour and discussion with one of the trustees this week.
I will be doing a few more posts in the coming weeks to share a few more pictures of my sabbatical and some pictures of the parish here.
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 family and was able to arrange to participate in the funeral on Thursday.
My brother, Steve, and I drove to Winona on Tuesday and, with the help of some wonderufl Cathedral parishioners, made fairly quick work of the packing. I haven'd found a couple things but suspect they may be packed in the boxes with my Santa collection. I may have to wait until Christmas to see if they show up. Fortunately, they are nto things that I need right away and even if they never show up they are easily replaced.
On Wednesday morning we headed to Owatonna where we had lots of help. Several couples and a group of eighth grade students got everything into the house in 30 minutes. They were great. My sister, Lori, came down to help with the unpacking. After Steve left we continued on until afternoon when she had to leave. That night Fr. Ed McGrath, the pastor of the other parish in town took me for dinner and showed me around town a bit. I am still unpacking - mostly things that need to go into some level of storage until I can get to really organizing them. I will be looking for some help to arrange pictures and such on the walls and then I will be set to go. The living space is above the offices - we call it the penthouse. It is a little open to the office area but plans are in the making to renovate the offices and reconfigure some things which will include segregating the living space more thoroughly.
The first weekend went well. I had a wedding on Saturday and the Masses (including my first Mass in Spanish) on Sunday. After each Mass was a little welcome reception. Now the trick will be to learn names - not one of my strong suits. This weekend I will be going to my other parish, Holy Trinity in Litomysl (about 11 miles away). A friend was pastor there some years ago so I am somewhat familiar with the parish and had a nice tour and discussion with one of the trustees this week.
I will be doing a few more posts in the coming weeks to share a few more pictures of my sabbatical and some pictures of the parish here.
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