Chicago

I spent the weekend in Chicago with my friends TC & Romana whom I lived with in 2007. I've visited them once since, but not since they've been married. They now have a 6 month old baby too. It was a great weekend.

You often hear people say of old friends "we just picked up where we left off" or "it was just like old times". This wasn't. It was better. It was wonderful to see TC married, happy and settled, all the things he wasn't 5 years ago. For me it was a wonderful bit of nostalgia, to see the old building we used to live in, to walk along the lakefront of Lake Michigan where I used to jog in the snow, and to go to Mass at St Thomas' Church which I attended while I was studying.

Still, I'm equally happy to be back in Omaha, with the new friends I've made and the new opportunities this coming term holds. And as I have 8am classes tomorrow I'm signing off and going to bed now.


Comments

  1. Dominic10 July 2016 at 22:15

    This is nice. I think he could comment about you being a person you weren't 5 years ago too. Better for the journey and the experiences along the way.
    Good luck for term 2

    ReplyDelete
  2. Unknown16 July 2016 at 05:54

    Lovely photos Jim. That warm weather looks gorgeous. Glad to see you are soaking it up.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown29 July 2016 at 13:22

    Great catch up, glad you enjoyed it - lovely post. Interesting comment from Dom too, it would equally apply to all of us. Could this be a useful reflection for one of our Men's gatherings??

    ReplyDelete
  4. harada5721 October 2017 at 22:43

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Spiritual Exercises

Image
Any way of prayer or mediation may be considered a spiritual exercise. Just like physical exercise it helps to have a plan, a coach and some discipline. The Spiritual Exercises (notice the capitals) are a series of meditations and contemplations which 16th century St Ignatius of Loyola composed from his own prayer experience, and then taught to his followers, who became the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits). The Exercises are mostly contemplations of scenes in the gospels, where we are to use our imagination to place ourselves within the scene so as to meet Jesus intimately, allowing the gospel account to unfold as we watch, listen, feel and take part. Following the contemplation of the scene is a prayer dialogue with Jesus about whatever we experienced and learned. Woven throughout the program of gospel scenes which Ignatius chose are some specific meditations on sorrow for sin, choosing to follow Jesus, and then giving yourself wholeheartedly to Jesus. The Exercises can be don
Read more

Doing the Spiritual Exercises

Image
During my time in Omaha I studied the Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius . It is one thing to study them, but another to do them.The exercises can be done as a 30 day intensive retreat, or a week by week program. Much as I would love to, there isn't a spare month I could be away from the parish again, so I am doing the 30 week version. I receive spiritual direction via Skype from my director (referred from the Jesuit retreat centre in Pymble ). Each week she sends me a list of scripture passages to meditate on and other prayer exercises, and then in an hour conversation via Skype we talk just about how I have been praying. It has been a very focused experience of prayer thus far. In other experiences of spiritual direction in the past we have talked about a broader range of issues of life, prayer and ministry, but this is just about prayer, nothing else. I am praying with passages of scripture which of course I have known, such as Jesus' declaration of bringing good news t
Read more

Brian Wilson

Image
Brian Wilson was the brains behind The Beach Boys, who seem to feature in the soundtrack of most people's teenage years. Tonight I went to hear him in concert in Omaha as he played for the 50th anniversary of the Pet Sounds album, a record so groundbreaking that Paul McCartney cites it as inspiration for Sergeant Peppers. I wouldn't have known the concert was on except that The Beach Boys are my room mate Kevin's favourite band. I fell in love with Brian Wilson when I watched the biopic Love and Mercy last year. Wow. What  perfect concert. It was outdoors at sunset, but in a small amphitheater rather than a stadium. As befitting a concert by a 74 year old and attended by hippies of various generations it was over by 9pm so not a long late night (its a school night!) and close enough to walk the couple of miles home. Brian and his 10 piece band played the whole Pet Sounds album including the sublime God Only Knows plus all of the upbeat favourites like Good Vibra
Read more