We'll meet again.

Last Friday, I finished my summer ministry at Catholic Charities. In a few minutes, I'll be on my way to the airport to once again leave San Jose. As I prepare to depart, I feel some of the sadness that I felt a couple years ago when I finished my Short Experiment here. At the same time, the end of this experience feels significantly different from the end of the time I spent at Catholic Charities as a novice. Two years ago, I felt sad in part because I didn't know when I would ever return to renew the relationships I had forged during my time in San Jose and to spend more time in a place I had come to love. Now that I've made it back to San Jose, I'm confident that I'll be able to maintain my ties to the Bay Area in the years to come. Feeling certain that I will someday find my way back here, I also feel oddly at peace with the fact that I don't know when my next visit will be or how long it will last. At the very least, I can say that I look forward to the day when I find myself back here again.

I'll be on the road for the next weeks, so blogging will likely be sparse (as admittedly it has been this summer - I'll definitely post more regularly when I'm back in New York). For the next week, I'll be up at Omena for the formation villa. Then I'll be in Detroit for First Vows, then I'll have a week in Chicago before returning to Fordham. My prayers are with those readers who will also be traveling this August, which tends to be a busy month (the busiest, perhaps, though I don't really know) for vacationers. Happy trails to you, until we meet again. AMDG.