Back At It

And you thought that it was a long time since Hillary Clinton met the press in a no-holds barred press conference. It's only been 267 days since I last posted on my blog.  That one was a quasi-review and commentary on the movie "Spotlight" just before Christmas 2015.   I later sent the piece to our local paper, New Castle News, and they were kind enough to publish it.

Where have I been?  Right here in New Castle, still working alongside the fine people of Mary Mother of Hope Parish, St. Joseph the Worker Parish, St. Vincent de Paul Parish and St. Vitus Parish.  We did get a change in parochial vicars.  In the spring, Father Larry Adams was appointed administrator of St. Ursula Parish, McCandless.  To replace him the bishop was kind enough to send Father Joe Codori, most recently serving in St. Thomas More Parish, Bethel Park.  One good one for another.  And we welcomed a second retired priest, Father Nick Spirko, to our parishes, to join retired Father Joe Pudichery.  Father Bill Siple is now into his fifth year working with me and us.  We were blessed with a seminarian, Kristian Sherman, who interned with us over the summer.  Kristian is now a first year theologian at St. Vincent Seminary, Latrobe.  And I marked my fifth anniversary in New Castle on August 1.  

Why have I not been posting?  God only knows, and God isn't sharing.  A few days moves into a few weeks moves into a few months, and wham!  it's 267 days, and I say, geez, how I have let the time pass by.  

Why am I coming back?  Because the "creativity bug" still resides somewhere in my soul.  Because I miss it.  And because there are still so many things to comment on.  Certainly it's not for the money (none), fame (a blessed 43 long-suffering friends) or attention.  

So, tonight I'm not thinking of what might have been.  I'm taking advantage of today.  And looking forward to new opportunities to write, reflect, rejoice and return the favor of God's love in my and our sin-filled world.  

A few Sundays ago at 6 a.m. I was trying to get out of bed to go say Mass.  On my radio, from the NPR affiliate in Youngstown, Ohio, WYSU, was "On Being," an interview show with host Krista Tippett.  Krista was interviewing a poet whose name I've forgotten.  She was reflecting on her work, and happened to mention that at age 12 she began to "see" the world around her.  She tried to write down in a journal three things she "saw" each day.  It was the beginning of a poet's life.  Now over 60 (I think) she still keeps to that discipline, which became and becomes the food for her writing and work.

I thought as I listened, yes, that's what I feel.  I "see" things each day, and sometimes am moved to write them down, reflect on them, share them, and even give thanks to God for them.  So, if Christianity is a religion of "second chances," let me begin again.