This week has seen the homecomings of Patrick, Clarisa, and myself, and a few visitors as Notre Dame’s Christmas break wraps up. It’s also been the week where things have started to return to normal after the interruptions by the weather and the holidays. School schedules have resumed, the parish is running on all cylinders, and we’ve returned to the office and our regular routines. I hadn’t realized how much I really love our parish and what we’re doing there until I returned to it from this time away. It’s been a full week, too, with lots of opportunity to look ahead to the special events coming up. We’ve had meetings preparing for Confirmation sessions (and the beginning of discussions about the ceremony itself). We’ve begun work on the parish celebration of the feast of St. Brigid, a service obviously very dear to this community. We’ve reunited with both the choirs we sing with, and will have a full schedule of Masses this weekend. And we’ve worked to reschedule some school events that were cancelled due to the snow.

And the week isn’t over yet! Just today, we have scheduled a meeting with another parish’s priest to discuss ideas for youth ministry, an interview with a national Catholic newspaper, a lunch with the parish staff, and a trip to Dublin to participate in and provide music for Mass for the ACE community there.

All in all, we’re finding this week, the first real work week of the New Year, to be full of promise and hope. Please keep us in your prayers as we dive back into this work we’ve come to love, and know that you, our supporters and friends, are always in ours!