Home on this summer Monday morning thanks to sinus flare-up #2 for the summer of 2013. I suspect allergies and fear that it may be from whatever is in the grass. I had the opportunity to ride the tractor yesterday for over 3 hours and woke up today with what I suspect is a sinus infection. Taking a Monday off is something I personally detest because I hate when I'm fielding those phone calls from staff. Of course, having a pretty rock solid staff, this does not happen too often. So here I am, alone in the house, wide awake, unable to sleep and fighting off this crud. I do cherish this day off however as I can recover from this ailment and recover from my spiritual exhaustion of these past few days!
Sunday was the Deacon's weekend to preach and I delivered my homily at the 9 and 11 AM masses. I worked all week on this homily because the Gospel really spoke to me. I wound up with a pretty good finished product, or so I thought, until I awoke Sunday morning at 5:30 and was inspired to rewrite the whole thing. Remarkably, my re-write was exactly what was needed and I was able to practice it before Mass began so I was able to deliver it with a minimum of reading. I am always aware of the Holy Spirit's influence in preparing and delivering homilies but perhaps never before with such clarity. And yesterday's Gospel and homily came on the heels of a long Saturday spent with family, many of whom left the Catholic faith. I sometimes wish, in general conversation, I could speak of my love for the faith and my experiences as a Catholic Deacon, but sometimes it's just best to avoid all things faith-based, and I could add politics to that as well!
Usually, after a good Sunday preaching, I find myself physically, and spiritually spent. When possible, I opt for a quiet Sunday afternoon, perhaps a nap and just a lot of relaxation. Recent weather patterns has made it most difficult to keep up with the grass on these 10 acres so Sunday afternoon resulted in 3 hours of cutting grass. I still have about 3 hours of grass to cut, but I guess that now waits for another day.
When we arrive at this time of August, it is usually killer hot an we all keep an eye toward the Gulf of Mexico or the Atlantic Ocean. We have endured some hot weather, but all in all, this has really not been one of those killer hot summers. But we remember here in the south, summer for us lasts until the first few days of October so we still have plenty of opportunity to feel the heat. It has been very wet though and that makes for some difficulty; humidity, mosquitos to name a few. But it beats the high heat. Hurricane activity has been just the way we like it; non-existent but again, hurricane season does extend until the end of November. Look how late Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast just last year. Katrina caught us in very late August, Rita was a month later and in 1965 Hurricane Betsy was in September. We will continue to be watchful but so far so good.
As I recover today I remember that this is indeed a busy week. We are now two weeks in to our adult faith formation program that meets every Tuesday night at MHT. We are studying the Book of Revelation and the interest in this program is off the charts; we actually have a waiting list. Wednesday and Saturday will bring prison ministry activity as we continue to minister to the men at Rayburn Correctional while planning a Kairos retreat this fall. Thursday night brings some formation activity for our diaconate program here in the Archdiocese of New Orleans.
So this is my Monday; recovery mode! Maybe I can catch up on some reading and preparation for ministry. It's still a great day to be a Permanent Deacon!
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