Good Morning!
A very blessed and happy New Year to you all! Continuing the theme of blogging-from-exotic-places (here’s looking at you, Dan), this blog post is brought to you from the comfy confines of the Dublin airport. I’ve just gotten back from a week in the States, which felt like being home… up until I stepped off the plane just several minutes ago. Hence the title of this post.
Although it was admittedly a little strange to be back in the States (which was apparent from the beginning of the inflight movie, where I couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen, what with the cars on the wrong side of the road and all…), it was wonderful to be with friends and family again. Along with that came a good, albeit a little foreign feeling (at first), of simply being at Mass, sans responsibilities of musician, sacristan, lector, etc. I attended daily Mass several times, as well as Mass on New Year’s Eve, and admittedly struggled with the pace of responses, the priest’s inability to find the prayers in the Roman Missal, and the slight differences between Ireland and the U.S. of when to stand, kneel, or sit. In the midst of those miniscule struggles, though, was the grace of being able to sit next to the ones I love, the ones that I see in the Eucharist here in Ireland every time I go to daily Mass. A complementary grace was seeing in the Eucharist not only the worship community at Clonard Parish, the friends I’ve made here, but also those who pray for us and support us at Teach Bhride – a true sense of home. So I repeat: Who says you can’t go home?
May you have a blessed Monday and a wonderful beginning to your year.
God Bless,
Kurt
