How I Spent Four Hours On A Yellow School Bus Today

Thankfully, I had the foresight to bring a book along with me today on the field trip. My new son-in-law passed it along to me on Sunday, and I grabbed it as I headed out the door this morning a little after seven AM. Peggy Noonan's inspiring prose is elegantly woven together in a complete work entitled John Paul the Great. Like the title and the beloved pope, the books itself is great.


It is appropriate to leave you with a quote, taken from JPII himself, on his first visit to Poland after being named pope (found on page 32).


As a bishop does in the sacrament of Confirmation so do I today extend my hands in that apostolic gesture over all who are gathered here today, my compatriots. And so I speak for Christ himself: "Receive the Holy Spirit!"


I speak, too, for St. Paul: "Do not quench the Spirit!"


I speak again for St. Paul: "Do not grieve the Spirit!"


Now, just days before we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, these words of John Paul II are as appropriate as ever.


And if you have four hours to pass on a big yellow school bus with some sixty elementary-aged kids, I highly recommend taking along Ms. Noonan's book. It almost turns a field trip into a pilgrimage - almost.

How I Spent Four Hours On A Yellow School Bus Today

Year of St. Paul Intersects with Year of Priests

Pope Benedict XVI announced that the Church will celebrate a special year for priests beginning on June 19, 2009. The year will commemorate the 150th anniversary of the death of St. Jean Vianney, Cure of Ars.


Last year, Pope Benedict XVI declared that the Church would observe a celebration in honor of St. Paul the Apostle, from June 28, 2008, to June 29, 2009.

From June 19, 2009 to June 29, 2009 we will be celebrating two incredible things: St. Paul and all priests. It's like the part of a Venn Diagram that intersects. You know, that part in the center where two significant things come together.

I don't know about you, but I think those 10 days hold so much possibility. Maybe consider setting aside that time for a novena. A special novena. Perhaps a novena for priests to rise up with the kind of zeal of a St. Paul and faithfulness of a St. Jean Vianney.

That's what I plan to do. See you there - where two fantastic years intersect!

Year of St. Paul Intersects with Year of Priests