Ireland

Ah, the ancestral home of my family!  Although an American, I know I have come home when I visit Ireland.  So green.  So lush.  So beautiful.  So peaceful.  So Catholic!!  And, if not for my annual Lenten fast, so much Guinness!  Imagine being in Ireland and not being able to drink Guinness.

I am 100% Irish — both of my parents were born in this incredible country.  I love everything about being here, most of all seeing family.  Yep, I have first cousins in Ireland.  Because my parents were the youngest of their families, my first cousins, once removed, are closer to my age.  I will be spending part of my visit with my cousin, Meghan, her husband, Ronan, and their family.  We will reminisce about our childhood antics during my family’s visits to the ancestral home or when her family visited us in the USA.

Ireland is in my blood — I have joked that my blood runs green.  Without being too specific about where I grew up, let’s just say I think my grandparents settled where they did because it reminded them of Ireland.  Rain.  Green.  Ocean.  Catholic churches established by missionaries of long ago.  Home.

I am taking a semester-long sabbatical from my teaching position.  It is the first sabbatical I have had — never taking more than a one month vacation from teaching/preaching, of which two weeks of that summer vacation is always spent on retreat in a Catholic Abbey.  I have filled my time with family and prayer.  I have contemplated where God is leading me as I ponder retirement.

Contemplative prayer — In a few days, I will enter a Jesuit retreat center where I will reside for an undetermined length of time.  Maybe a month, maybe more.  I do not need to be back in the USA until August.  I have spent most of my adult life in front of a classroom — teaching.  Teaching theology at the high school level, teaching ancient Christianity and world religions and all things relating to Religious Studies at the university level.  I love teaching.  I love teaching about God.  I love teaching about Christianity.  I love learning about other religions so that I can teach about them.  God led me to the classroom, and there I have been for over 30 years.

As I approach retirement age — although not mandatory — I need to figure out the next phase of this journey called life.  Thus, the extended retreat where I will be cloistered for part of the time.  God has a plan that only He knows.  As a child of God, I need to listen to Him and follow His guiding hand.  Where will He lead me next?  Each summer, when I am on retreat — for a short two weeks — it has become more difficult to reenter the world.  I am drawn to a life of contemplation.  I have spent my career being “public,” speaking before groups, socializing with fellow academics or fellow priests or congregations.  In reality, I am the ultra-introvert.  I prefer to be alone.  Quiet.  What I hope to discern during this extended retreat is whether I would serve God well by being a spiritual director at a retreat center.  Should I trade my absent-minded professor garb for my clerical garb?

I have much to pray about over the next several weeks — not just about my future, but prayers for my family, prayers for my friends, prayers for the world.  I know a few people who are hoping I will blog about St. Patrick — after all, I am in Ireland, I am Irish, and I was born on St. Pat’s Day!  However, I will be cloistered so I doubt if I will write anything about the patron saint of the land I love.

Until I return — my prayers to all of my readers.  Please pray for me, too!

God bless . . . .