The Musical Priest

When I was a kid, Memorial Day weekend was sort of the un-official start to my summer. While there were at least two more weeks of school, the two "kick off" feiseanna of the year were Akron (held on Saturday) and Cleveland (held on Sunday). So it was nice, in a sense, to spend this year back in Cleveland at the feis. And yet, I can't help but smiling when I consider that this, the un-official start of summer, actually points me in the direction of Peru which is in the heart of its winter. I guess I'll enjoy the three weeks of summer ahead, embrace the five weeks of winter of Peru, and then emerge to enjoy the end of July and the month of August! All in all, the feis yesterday wasn't terrible. Granted, my stage (#2 which was a championship/prelim) stage didn't start until 11:00 and ran until 6:00. I could dissect what I see as the difficulties with the event, but I'll spare the rant - just know that one day I will chair a feis of my own and it will be a tr...

As you can see on the right, I finally learned how to post links to my website. Should you feel so inclined, I invite you to investigate them at your leisure.

I don't often post homilies on here, but I thought I'd put the one I delivered today up on the net. It may be helpful to read today's gospel to get a sense of where I'm coming from, so I've included that, too: John 15:26-16:4a Jesus said to his disciples: “When the Advocate comes whom I will send you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, he will testify to me. And you also testify, because you have been with me from the beginning. “I have told you this so that you may not fall away. They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me. I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you.” I am ashamed to say it, but I have never had much of a devotion to the Holy Spirit. Sure, it is easy to pray to Jesus: we have got the gospels, major mot...

In an effort to re-capture elements of his childhood, Drew's taken to wearing a baseball uniform and standing against fences at baseball games. This picture was taken at the end of the first game of the double-header where UD High won 6-5.

Here's the Ford River Rouge Plant touring group: (From Left to Right) Lukas Laniauskas, Adam DeLeon, Drew Marquard, Ryan Duns, and Mike Singhurse. Lukas is the newest member of the Detroit Province. Originally entering the novitiate in Lithuania, he has returned to the US and will take vows in Cleveland this September.

Since I'm facing the prospect of typing into an Excel spreadsheet a whole slew of names of people to invite to vows, I figured I'd employ a slight dilatory tactic and update my blog. This has been a surprisingly full week. After our return on Tuesday, I went to see the absolutely horrible "American Haunting" which one novice aptly described as a glorified Lifetime flick. On Wednesday I went to see the Cavs play at a local watering hole. On Thursday I prepared a steak dinner for the Tertians who were staying here at Loyola House. (Note: Tertians are not extraterrestrial beings who've landed at Loyola House in search of a steak dinner. They are, in fact, Jesuits in their final stage of formation and the "tertian year" is basically a third year of novitiate. Soon these men will be called to make "Final Vows" and then they'll be fully incorporated into the Society of Jesus.) Yesterday I went to see Ford's Rouge Plant located in Dearborn. In...

I'm Back! Just a quick note - I'm typing this and talking to my mom at the same time. Retreat is over and I'm getting settled in back at the novitiate. Congratulations are in order for Mike and Brian: Mike placed 2nd on the whistle (15-18) and Brian 1st on the whistle (12-15) and 3rd on the flute. Ok, I'm off to do some unpacking. We're going to the movies tonight, too, to see some strange horror movie. More later!

I'm heading off on retreat tomorrow evening. Please keep me and the other novices in your prayers and know that I'll keep you all in mine. If you have any interest in being invited to my vows, please drop me an email/post a comment and I will include you on the list. Pray, too, for Mike and Brian and all the competitors at this year's Fleadh. Let's hope for the best! Cheers!

Today's my last day of work. It's been looming all week (and who would ever think of Friday as looming?) and now that it's here, I'm just about ready to head back to Detroit. We celebrated my CPE journey at the hospital yesterday afternoon with a gathering of chaplains over many different types of pie (cake is cliche) and last night we celebrated Eucharist, had a community faith-sharing, and then enjoyed a lovely dinner. Upon learning that tomorrow would be my last day, one of the nurses took the time to inquire about what it was, exactly, that I did for a living (given the varying schedule of the nurses, some don't know that I'm a Jesuit). I gave a good explanation and she seemed utterly exasperated to learn how much traveling I've done this last year. And, as I look back upon my blog, I really have been all over the place - literally, in terms of geographic location, and affectively, in terms of emotion and processing. This has been a graced experienced, a...

I received last night the official word from my superior that I will be allowed to play for the 2006 Cleveland Feis. This is a semi-big deal insofar as it was my first feis when I was cutting my teeth on jigs and reels and my family has had a long time affiliation with the event. It's meaningful, too, as it'll be the last pre-vow feis I play and will probably be the last time I play a feis in the mid-American region for quite some time. I have three days left at the hospital. It's going to be very hard to say good-bye. Just today, for instance, I met several patients who expect to be with us for over a week and it was sort of difficult for me to tell them that I'd be following them up until Friday and then turning them over to another chaplain. Often people focus on the vow of poverty as having only to deal with fiscal resources. This is an example of how such a narrowly construed understanding of our vows is limiting: right now, I face the dearth of choice (attached al...

So today marks the beginning of my last week at LUMC. After a long weekend of socializing and entertaining (we had to Open Houses to welcome guests to our new house) I return to the trenches of pastoral care. With the way my schedule works, I only have to go to 'group' on Thursday allowing me, fortunately, to spend the rest of my time with patients. I'm not especially keen on going back to Detroit. I like what I have taken to calling "Big Boy" life: I like having responsibility, a job, a home. One of the difficulties of Jesuit life, as I am coming to realize, is that ours is a life etched with the mark of itinerancy...we are always on the road. And so tonight I'll begin packing to make my return to the novitiate; this week I'll say my goodbyes to my friends at the hospital. That's all I have to say about leaving at this time. I think I'll start my final week with a trip to Enstein's for a bagel and coffee and I should make it to work *just* in ...