One of the many blessings of my 52 Masses travels was the interest others have shown in my experiences. And this latest example is truly humbling.
I was invited by the Augustine Institute in Colorado to deliver their monthly talk for June. Each month, the institute which exists to serve the formation of Catholics for the New Evangelization, invites someone to do a 45-minute talk that it shared with parishes and Catholics on CD and mp3s.
My talk is currently available for order at the site, if you’re interested. You can also check out any of the Institute’s other inspiring programming, including books and videos.
I hope all of you are doing well. I thought I would share this video done by Jennifer Nadeau and Father John Gatzak with the Archdiocese of Hartford for ORTV’s Crossroads Magazine. Most of their stories are local, so they shoot video at the site. Fortunately, they were interested enough in my experience to invite me to converse by Zoom while using some of the photos I took along the way. Thanks so much to Jennifer and Father for their interest.
I’m going to change gears a little hear for a personal story.
My oldest son Ian recently arrived in Tanzania, completing a three-continent journey that started in San Francisco. He’s there not to sample the great spices of Zanzibar or explore the wildlife in Serengeti National Park but as part of his new assignment with the Department of Homeland Security.
Having spent the previous two-plus years working in immigration services for DHS, Ian has taken a position as a refugee resettlement officer, a role that demands he travel to various camps around the world to vet and aide those men and women seeking refuge from war, oppression, famine and other life-threatening hardships. This first assignment will likely bring him in contact with refugees from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the same group I encountered post-relocation at St. Peter Claver in Lexington, Kentucky. I’m sure Ian has been brushing up on his Swahili in preparation for the assignment.
As you can imagine, we’re a little nervous about this new role (particularly his mom), especially when we learned one of the classes refugee resettlement officers take is an “offensive driving course.” But, for me at least, the trepidation is more than offset by the tremendous pride I have in him for taking on this most Christ-like of responsibilities.
“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me. I was ill and you comforted me, in prison and you came to visit me.” Matthew 25:31-36
52 Masses 