One foot on the runway

One week from today, Monday, I will board an early train and end my time in Rome.  It has been such a blessing to spend the last three months here.  There have been interesting classes, some fantastic tours, great experiences and a time of renewal.  I am glad I had this opportunity.  Although I will not return to the States until May 6 there is a real feel of transition.  Two of our group have already left and another is due to leave tomorrow and one on Thursday.  Most of us will vacate the premises on Monday.  It is bittersweet.  Today I packed my big suitcase and shipped it home.  That way I won't have to lug it around Europe and can travel a bit lighter.  I just hope I have enough room in the bags I have left to carry everything I kept with me.

On Sunday I went to Mass at the College Chapel.  I had planned to go into town but it was rainy and I decided just to stay.  A little later I met Msgr. Tom Cook, a priest of our diocese who is working at the Congregation for Clergy, for lunch.  We first got together on my birthday which was just a week after arriving.  We both commented on how quickly the time has flown.  Sunday evening, the seminarians of our episcopal region had a gathering and invited all the priests from Minnesota, North and South Dakota for pulled pork sandwiches, cole slaw and apple crisp.  Very tasty and a nice taste of home.

I am going to do a couple of posts dedicated to specific activities of the last week.  It will keep them a bit shorter and will be a little easier for me to organize. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Underground

Image
Today we began, as always, with prayer.  My liturgy group (made up of 6 of us) was responsible for leading today.  I took on the role of presiding at Morning and Evening Prayer.  Heading down for the latter shortly. We then headed back to St. Peter's for a tour of the excavations under the basilica.  I had done this when I was a student but it was every bit as fascinating as I remembered.  Our tour guide was a seminarian from Seattle who did an excellent job.  They are required to a lot of study and are tested and certified by the Vatican to be official guides.  Some of the men at the College in my time did this as well so it seems to be a well established tradition.  We began in the area that once was the Circus of Nero.  It had been a marshy area that was unused and Nero wanted to build a circus.  Since there was no more room in Rome proper he built it on the unused Vatican hill.  In the Circus was an obelisk that was later mo...
Read more

A beautiful Roman winter day

I am praying for all my family and friends back home as they endure what looks to be brutal weather.  Deep cold on top of the recent snow in some spots.  Today finally dawned bright and clear.  Still crisp but a beautiful day. I had a great birthday yesterday.  We had our first presentations and then the afternoon free.  I spent some time reading with a short siesta.  Love that tradition.  In the evening I went out with Msgr. Tom Cook from our diocese who is working over here for a couple of years.  We went to a nice restaurant that he recommended and had a terrific meal.  I had been saving some of my Roman favorites for my birthday so started out with Spaghetti alla Carbonara which is my favorite.  I remember thinking, when I first came over for studies in 1981 (yikes!), that I wasn't sure how I would survive on spaghetti and meatballs every day for the next four years.  Little did I know.  Such a variety and so many new fav...
Read more

My Weekend

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 ...
Read more