The Claretians

Last night was one of those previously mentioned nights where I had to figure out how to be in three places at once. And I won't give away my secrets, so just take it for given that I succeeded.

One of the places was a mass with the Claretians. They're having their General Assembly this week, so all the priests and brothers in the Eastern Province are here, discussing things liks, Should we let Kati and Michael stay longer than two years? And other pressing concerns, too, I'm sure.

The mass last night was in celebration of three of the priests in the province who are sharing their 50th anniversary of Claretian Priesthood. 50 years. One of them, Fr. Moran, is the priest we're going to Guatemala with in July. Fr. Todd is currently at St. Paul, where I'll potentially be working next year. And Fr. Ted is, well, honestly I don't know him too well, but he gave us a talk at our mid-year retreat about service, and man oh man, he's led an interesting 50 years of priesthood.

Anyway, what struck me most upon arriving at the mass was how close I feel to an awful lot of these men. I guess that after serving with them for two years, and eating holiday meals with them, and drinking holiday drinks with them, well... Somewhere along the lines they really did start to feel like family to me. I'm so happy seeing the Claretians who serve in Jamaica and Juarez whom I haven't seen in months, and even the Claretians who serve in S. Chicago and Hyde Park and the Loop whom I just don't see as often as I'd like.

And I had missed the mass the night before because I'd had to be in two places at once that night, and so last night everyone kept saying how they'd missed me. I mean, everyone noticed I'd not been there, and wanted to make sure I realized that my absense had been felt. It felt really good that they all made a point to let me know they were glad I was there.

Fr. Steve, who serves in Jamaica, but who was at Holy Cross when I first arrived in Chicago, was sitting behind me in mass. He leaned forward before the service started and said, "Alright, I get to put bunny ears on you!" And he did. And Fr. White, who was next door at the rectory at St. Michael's till it closed last year, gave me a huge surprised hug when we ran into each other in the communion lines. And Manny tapped my right shoulder while ducking around to my left side. And Martin expressed his hopes that we get to stay. And Fr. Moran gave me a hug and was immediately talking about Guatemala. And Brotee (Br. Tom = Bro T. = Brotee) sat with us and welcomed us and passed hugs around. And, and, and...

And I had to go be in another place right after mass and Daena and I couldn't stay for dinner. And I didn't realize how disappointed I'd be that I couldn't stick around and hang out with all these priests and brothers and novitiates and Claretian workers. And it occurred to me that if we leave Chicago, that's one more group of people I'll miss terribly that I hadn't considered before. I've considered missing my teens, and my coworkers, and my community. But there's all these other people who have touched my life in the past two years, and somehow I hadn't really thought about having to say goodbye to them.

But maybe I'll be able to put that off awhile yet. Let you know.

peace,
kati