Catching up . . . A LOT has happened!

A lot has happened since I posted here in April. And until recently, and rather unfortunately, this blog has been put on the back-burner because of things and goings-on in my life.

The one thing that has been the biggest change in my life has been a transfer from my parish assignment of Saint Alphonsus in Wexford to my current assignment of Saint Teresa of Avila Parish in Perrysville. I found about the change in late June, and it took effect on Wednesday, 15 August 2012. (I remain the Chaplain at North Catholic High School.) 

While it was, in a variety of ways, difficult to leave Saint Alphonsus, I gladly accepted the new challenges that would come moving to Saint Teresa's. And while I do miss the people of Wexford, the people in Perrysville have been just as welcoming, and I do enjoy ministering to this portion of the people of God. And though I've only been here about three-and-a-half months, I've been keeping busy with different projects that the pastor has asked me to oversee, while still trying to work with the Youth Ministry program here, and also trying to develop some type of Young Adult ministry within the parish.

One of the strange blessings that has come with this assignment has been the staff. Not to say that the staff at Saint Alphonsus didn't provide me with blessings, but having traveled with the youth minister to Spain and doing some regional youth ministry projects with her while in Wexford, it was a great moment to know the quality of the the program that I was walking in to. Also, the music minister here is a classmate of mine from high school. It has been wonderful to reconnect with him, as well. And since we share similar ideas on liturgy and its practice, it's been great to have that camaraderie.

(A funny thing about the musical instruments here is that our music minister is from the same area of Allegheny County that I was raised in, and so he knew that the parish that I spent my final two years of high school was closing, and that the church buildings were to be demolished. [It was a merged parish, with multiple church sites.] He was able to save elements of the pipe organs from two of the churches, which included pipes from my original home parish which was closed in 1993. They purchased the pipes and the console, and installed the pipe organ here at Saint Teresa's, dedicating it last October [of 2011], and I was able to be present for the dedication. The piano which they purchased from the now-suppressed Saint Martin de Porres Parish was the piano which my parents donated to the church from our family home. So it's been somewhat of a treat to play the piano I played growing up in the parish where I'm now assigned. [And the same could be said about the organ.])

Before the move, however, I had the opportunity to visit a little town called Patzun in Guatemala. It had been six years since I had been there. And while some things had changed, a lot still looked the same. I was able to head down and do missionary work there with some friends, and truly enjoyed my time being back there. And though I got sick coming back (which seems to be a bad habit with me when I leave the country as of late), I really had a wonderful experience serving the people of that town.

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The day began awhile ago, and I need to keep it moving. Hopefully will have the chance to update a little more soon, and a little more often!


Enjoy the journey . . .