I have been trying to come up with a reason why I can remember the towns around Dyersville, Iowa. I didn't really live there. I just taught there. (I actually lived twenty miles away in Ryan, Iowa.)But I taught Spanish there, and we did an awful lot of dialogue . . . in Spanish.
One of the "practice discussions" we would have is this:
De donde eres? (Where are you from)
Soy de EEUU. (I am from the United States)
But the students liked to express their individuality and everyone in the class could say they were from the U.S. For that matter, they could all say they were from Iowa.
What was unique and interesting to them was which small town (and small parish) they belonged to. So the answers usually went like this:
Soy de Holy Cross.
Soy de Earlville.
Soy de Dyersville.
Soy de Farley.
And so, today I am praying for another priest and parish in the area of Beckman High School. On this, the fifth day of the third week of Advent, I am praying for Fr. Dennis Cain and St. Joseph's in Farley, Iowa. May those who live near this parish, though they are not Catholic, see the light of the St. Joseph's laity lived out in their community. And may the same Holy Spirit who overshadowed a Jewish girl named Mary and brought the Divine Light to a lost world . . . shine a light in this community that leads to the conversion of many souls.
God bless you on this fifth day of the third week of Advent!
Come, Lord Jesus!
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