Prominent on my mind these past few days is my vacation that starts as soon as we wake up and pack the car in the morning. Destination: #1 grandson and my North Carolina family. We will arrive Sunday because we make it quite the adventure getting from point A(here) to point B(there).
My schedule permitted me this Friday afternoon to leave work early and I dutifully attended to last minute errands including getting my tires rotated with only 30 minutes to spare before the shop closed for the day. Amazed that my errand running was done by 5 in the afternoon, I drove home, through the center of my little town of Abita Springs. The cars in the parking lot of beautiful old St. Jane de Chantal Church reminded me that today is the first Friday of the month. First Fridays are always special to me because that means Adoration & Benediction. Over the past nearly 5 years, many of those Fridays found me presiding at this important and holy devotion. For the record my currently assigned parish of Most Holy Trinity opted to cancel Adoration & Benediction on this holiday-like day after the 4th of July. Wait a minute; that means I can sneak into my old home parish, sit in the pews and adore Jesus and await Benediction. I did just that. And wait another minute; I walk in to the beautiful Abita Springs church and the newly arrived Priest is hearing confessions!!!
All of a sudden, my Friday evening, before leaving for vacation found me spending a long Holy Hour going to Confession, and doing part of my penance in front of the Eucharistic Jesus. On this wonderful day when our Catholic faith proclaimed two beloved Popes as the newest Saints, and Pope Francis released the encyclical begun by Pope Benedict, this evening felt like Catholic squared!
It was a wonderful way to spend my Friday evening; sitting in the Church where I heard the call to my vocation as a Permanent Deacon, adoring Jesus, going to confession and praying for my family and traveling mercies!
Sometimes beauty and peace come when you least expect it
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