Since the end of the semester I've spent the majority of my time away from Washington, away from studies, and obviously enough, away from the blog. I've been SO busy that I haven't even had the time to blog about my adventures!
Right after I finished up the last paper of the semester, I drove to Staten Island for a week of R&R with Mom and Dad. My itinerary was decidedly low-key and I enjoyed the unstructured time with my family. I then drove from Staten Island to Notre Dame, where I spent a week doing research in the library and in the University Archives.
My research this summer will focus on Catholic Boy Magazine which was published by the Holy Cross Fathers from 1947 to 1970. There are several interesting angles I'm contemplating for my study, but the topic that first interested me is what the young male readers of this magazine were being told about the qualities required in a Catholic man. The wonderful cover art produced by Charles Kerins is itself a fabulous source for such an investigation.
While in South Bend, I also had the chance to catch up with a few friends. Most especially, I spent some great time with my classmates Frs. Pete and Jim ... and together, we traveled to Chicago to see the Cubs and the Mets at Wrigley. We were hosted by my friend Kirk who is a doctoral candidate at Notre Dame.
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't exactly cooperative ...
Between Kirk on the left, and Jim on the right, you can see that Pete needed to find a Snuggie to get through the game! Then to add insult to injury, the lowly Cubs beat up on the even more lowly Mets. On the way home to South Bend, Jim, Pete and I took solace and warmth in a cocktail or two, and in a fabulous Chicago style pizza!
After my time in South Bend, I returned to Bethesda were I continued my rather intensive work with Catholic Boy Magazine. I also had the privilege of concelebrating the Wedding Mass of two of my fellow graduate students at Catholic University. Seth and Mary are both doctoral candidates in the history department and have been so welcoming to me in my first here at CUA. It was a very happy occasion to celebrate with them.
After the wedding, I was back on the road for a few more days vacation and then for lots of community meetings. I joined three C.S.C. friends, Frs. Gerry, Nate, and Steve for some days of vacation on the Jersey Shore. We had an absolute blast relaxing on the beach, swimming, and visiting Atlantic City and Cape May. The weather was absolutely perfect and the beaches were gorgeous. I even beat the guys in miniature golf!
Unfortunately, all of the wonderful pictures I took were lost when my hard-drive crashed a few days ago. The pictures you've enjoyed here come to us courtesy of Fr. Nate. Thankfully, I didn't lose any of my academic files or homilies, and the lovely people at the Apple Store here in Bethesda had me back up and running with a new hard-drive in a matter of minutes. I then retrieved all of my data, other than those vacation pictures, from my back-up external hard drive. So, in the end it wasn't a disaster, but it was a great reminder to keep backing up regularly!
Our vacation in Stone Harbor, N.J. was followed by Baby Priest Camp. If you can't recall what that's all about, you can refresh your memory here. My classmates and I have been ordained for four years now, so we are among the "senior" members of the group - which is really crazy to imagine! It was wonderful to be with such a great group of guys.
After a weekend in LaPore, we all drove to Notre Dame to join with all the other members of the Indiana and Eastern Provinces of the Congregation for an Assembly. Every five years all the members of the Province gather for a "family reunion" involving prayer, a few conferences, lots of food and drink, with a premium on time to relax and to reconnect with "family members" we sometimes go a long time without seeing.
This year, our Assembly marked the merging of two Provinces: the Indiana and Eastern Provinces will become the United States Province of Priests and Brothers on July 1st, the Feast of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. You can read more about the Assembly here.
Finally, at the conclusion of our Assembly I made yet one more day-long drive across I-80 and returned to Staten Island for Father's Day weekend. This trip made it possible for me to attend a family reunion for my Mom's side of the family, to attend the Presidential Dinner for Holy Cross High School in Queens, N.Y. where my friend Fr. Walter Jenkins, C.S.C. is taking over the presidency, and finally to celebrate Mom's last day of teaching before her well-deserved retirement!
It might be a little bit of a stretch to say that I felt guilty about all of this time away from work, but I definitely did feel a bit out-of-sorts after awhile, and I am glad to be back into a routine. Back in D.C. I'm continuing to work on my Catholic Boy project, and I'm also trying to bone up on my French to fulfill one of the requirements of my graduate program. But I promise that there'll be some more summer fun to report on in the days ahead! ;)
3 comments:
Welcome back, Stephen!
Koeth, I can't see what the father is reading on the Catholic Boy cover. He looks a bit serious compared to the boy's eagerness to drive! I'm sure both parent and child can relate.
Thanks, Ginny!
Michael, I'm pretty sure I remember it being his auto insurance policy :) That would explain his dour look!
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