mysterium dei

Catching Up

2008-08-21T18:34:00.016-04:00

Damn, it's been a long time since my last post, but life has been very crazy! So here are a few random thoughts and updates...

#1 - We had baby! Lillian (Lily) Paige Ponchak was born on 8/5/08 and weighed in at 6lbs, 0oz. Mom and baby are doing well and we're still trying to adjust to less sleep.

That's four girls for those of you keeping score at home. I am humbly accepting donations to the Ponchak Daughters Wedding Fund.

#2 - We sold our old house & bought a new one! That's a picture of the new house. With another family member coming on the scene we've officially outgrown our current house (3BR/2BA, 1400 sqft).

We put our home on the market in early July and got an offer within 2 weeks. In this market, that is truly an act of God. We are excited about our new house (4BR/2BA, 2600 sqft) because it has plenty of room and a pool. We are set to close on both the selling & buying in early September.

#3 - It's been a year since we return to the Catholic Church. I have to admit that the transition has not been as smooth as I would have thought. We are struggling for a lack of meaningful community. It took 10 months before someone at our parish came up to us after mass and welcomed us. I've let some of our relationships with folks from our Matthew's House days slip away & become neglected, but I just have hard time finding time to reconnect, mostly due to points 1 & 2 above.

Well, that's all for now. I suppose I could offer some comments on the current geo-politcal goings on or our home town of Lakeland's recent "revival" or some other deep theological thoughts, but I've got to go help my tired wife take care of our infant and toddler and help my middle schooler and high schooler with their homework.

I'm Number One!!!

2008-05-12T21:08:00.004-04:00

My oldest daughter, Anna (14), and her friends are planning a trip to the movies this weekend to see Prince Caspian. They were all told that the only way they could go is if an adult went wih them. Teenagers that they are they planned to have someone's older cousin be their chaperone. The problem is she's only 19 and some parents were not totally comfortable about that. So, they were discussing their dilema at lunch today and one of Anna's friends said, "We could ask Anna's dad to come. He's not that bad."

Apparently I am the least embarrasing parent in the group. I rock!

(Editor's note: According to Anna my blogging about this has cost me the title of least embarrasing, but I don't believe her because none of her friend's are un-cool enough to actually read this blog.)

I don't even know where to begin...

2008-04-24T21:02:00.000-04:00

Pope got it right, but did the Apostles?

2008-04-21T20:09:00.004-04:00

I think Benedict had a very fruitful visit to the US. I was very impressed with the way he addressed the sexual abuse scandals head-on from the outset of his trip--on the plane before even arriving on US soil. I think it was healing to hear the pope say that he was "deeply ashamed" by what happened. He could have ignored it or brushed it off like so many Catholics as a media created problem. Instead he owned, embraced it and sought reconciliation for it. He met with victims and heard their stories. Very powerful, very healing.

On another note...

Yesterday's first reading at mass was from Acts 6:1-7. It's the story of the first deacons. Apparently, there were some issues between the Gentile & Jewish Christian widows not being treated fairly in the distribution of food. The Apostles gathered everyone together and said, "It is not right for us to neglect the word of God to serve at table." Then they asked for the community to nominate trustworthy men to handle this task so the could "devote themselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word." So my question is, "Did the Apostles get it wrong?"

Let's face it, the bible is full of stories of God's chosen leaders making mistakes. Abraham had Ishmael before Isaac. Moses struck the rock twice instead of once. Saul took a census. David had the Bathsheba affair. The Apostles themselves continued to miss the point throughout their time with Jesus. They argued over who was greatest among them. They tried to send the crowds away before Jesus fed them with a few loaves and fish. They tried to keep the children from Jesus. They grumbled when the woman anointed Christ's feet with oil. Peter cut off the servants ear then denied Jesus. All of them fled. Peter and Paul argued over treatment of Gentile converts.

So, why should we assume that in this instance they got right? In fact, this could be a case of them acting as they did with the crowds and children. Their actions seem to be very different that what we know of how Christ acted. He tried to teach them the importance of serving the "least of these". He wrapped the towel around his waist and washed their feet--to the dismay of Peter--to demonstrate the importance of leading through serving. They always seemed to be caught up in the leading thing, but not so much the serving thing. Is that what was at work in this decision? It seems like they were saying "We're too important & our time is too valuable to get caught up worrying about how the widows are cared for or how food is distributed to the poor so let's delegate this to someone else to worry about."

Is this the start of the separation of clergy & laity? Is this the birth of the idea that pastors are the ones primarily responsible for the "spiritual" jobs in the church? Protestant, Catholic or Orthodox, every denomination has this attitude seemingly built in to the congregation. Professional ministers are somehow more special than the rest of us & we need to set things up for them to devote all of their time to spiritual things. Is this a hand-me-down from the Apostles? Were they wrong to separate the spiritual and temporal? Am I wrong to question this?

Sometimes it sucks to be me

2008-04-02T22:06:00.002-04:00

My paying, day-to-day job is working as a claims manager at a local auto insurance company. About 6 weeks ago the management team was informed that our corporate office had decided to "reduce staffing" in our office. This was going to impact every level within the claims department from support staff to managers. I've had to spend the better part of the last six weeks going over the numbers and reworking staffing models all the while not even sure if I was going to be a part of the company's future. I've had to work with people everyday knowing that some of them were going to be "separated" from the company and they didn't have a clue. It was only just a few days ago that I learned that I was "safe" and would be retained. Today was D-Day. I had to meet with eleven people from my department that I've been working with closely for the past several years and deliver the bad news to them. I had to spend the evening, after everyone else had gone home for the day, packing up the personal belongings of those who had been "impacted" by the company's "reorganization" earlier in the day--they were not allowed to return to their desks. Today sucked.

Easter Reflections

2008-03-23T22:07:00.003-04:00

Well the kids are in bed & the in-laws have gone home. I'm sitting on my porch enjoying a quiet Florida spring night by candlelight with a nice glass of wine. I guess it's a good time to reflect on Easter 2008.

This was our first Easter since coming back to the Catholic Church. Every year I would always miss being Catholic at this time of the year. There's just something about celebrating the Triduum that ministers to my soul. I would try to recreate as much of it as possible with our home church. In fact, it was just last year when our community was featured on the front page of our newspaper (and in a related story on our local cable news channel) for their Easter Sunday edition. However, nothing I put together could compare with the beauty of the Triduum liturgy.

It's really one liturgy in three acts celebrated from Holy Thursday night to the Easter Vigil. I love how the different liturgical acts--including the appearance of the church itself--invite us to re-live Jesus' final moments and his resurrection. While speaking with my dad today he said. "If you don't attend the Vigil, it's like you haven't really experienced Easter." I couldn't agree more.

Of course last night was made all the more special because I was the sponsor for Jacob, a single guy from our former community, as he was baptized and confirmed. Our two oldest daughters also made their First Communion last night as well. It's like we've finally truly completed our journey back to Catholicism.

While I'm at it...

2008-03-08T22:45:00.002-05:00

Upon further reflection of my last post I realized I forgot to mention another little issue I'd like to see the Catholic Church change...requiring spiritual discipline under penalty of sin. I think that setting aside special days of observance (holy days) or designating days for fasting (Friday's in Lent), but I really just don't get the obligation part of this. This just seems to have much more in common with the Pharisees than with Jesus. The message of the OT prophets consistently pointed out that God was more concerned with mercy & justice than with obligatory worship. I just really don't get this at all. I didn't understand it before I left the Church. I didn't understand it during my time away from the Church, and I still don't get it.

Faithful Dissent?

2008-03-04T21:45:00.004-05:00

Can there be such a thing as faithful dissent, or is that simply an oxymoron? I'd like to think it's possible to be a faithful Catholic while respectfully disagreeing with certain practices and policies. Typically those embrassing dissent come primarily from the extremes of the Church--both conservative and liberal. I tend to see myself pretty much in the middle (ok, maybe slightly right leaning) but here are some of my pet peeves:

Celibacy Requirement for Priesthood. The first thing to keep in mind here is that this is a discipline not a doctrine of the Church. It is primarily the Latin Rite that maintains this requirement and even in the Latin Rite there are married priests. Pope Benny can wake up tomorrow morning in his Vatican apartment and decide to end this discipline. Perhaps that's what is so frustrating. A man who is raised Anglican (or even Lutheran in some cases) and married & ordained in his denomination can convert to Catholicism and be ordained as a priest. The church will allow this for a convert, but if you're unfortunate enough to have been born Catholic this is not a possibility for you. I'd be at the seminary door tomorrow if this rule were changed. This is one of the primary reasons I left the Church to begin with, because I felt called to marriage and pastoral ministry (priesthood). I'm holding out hope for change. It needs to change; not because of a shortage of priests, nor because of the recent sexual misconduct scandals, but becuase I firmly believe God is calling men to both vocations and the Church is acting as a barrier. It is ironic that men who left the priesthood to get married have been treated more harshly by the Church than those guilty of abusing children. Don't tell me that God won't call you to both because they are not mutually exclusive.

Public Recitation of the Rosary. Ok, this may seem a bit odd, but bear with me. I am all for the Rosary and I'm all for public or group prayer. The problem is that the Rosary is best used as a means of mediative prayer--you're supposed to meditate on the mysteries. This is best done in private. I'd like to see devote Catholics learn and use the Liturgy of the Hours in public prayer as this is the public prayer of the Church. In fact, the Council Fathers emphasized the importance of the Hours in Chapter IV of Sacrosanctum Councilium even stating that laity "are encouraged to recite the divine office." Of course, this leads me to my next pet peeve...

Overemphasis on Mary & the Saints (boardinging on idolatry). This is one of those areas where the Church's formal teaching is correct, but there are a wide range of abuses that need clearer correction from the Magisterium. I believe in the communion of the saints. I have no problems with seeking their intercession. Mary as Mother of God is due a special honor by the children of the Church. Unfortunately, in reality there is a good amount of practical idolatry; and I'm not just talking about the weird crap that goes on in Latin America. It's been my expereince that many Catholics have an image of God as a taskmaster Judge keeping score of our rights & wrongs and generally disappointed with us. There's an unhealthy fear of God that causes many to feel that they must go to Mary & the Saints because they don't feel worthy of going to God directly. This causes people to worship Mary rather honor her. I've even heard of people developing a personal relationship with Mary while never thinking the same relationship is possible with Jesus. Too often the Church is too quiet or too slow to correct abuses and superstitions. Only when you have a healthy understanding of God can you have a healthy understanding of the communion of saints.

Technophobia. I know, this one isn't exactly a theological problem, but it's still a problem. Have you actually seen what passes as websites for some dioceses and parishes? OMG! It's the 21st century people, get with it. People do not rely on the Yellow Pages and phone calls to get information about your organization whether its a church, school or business. They rely on the internet and your online presence is often your first impression. I don't even think this is on the radar for most churches. My own parish's website (when it's up) is still advertising events for the fall of 2006! The Vatican's site actually isn't bad, and there are some dioceses and parishes that do a good job, but they're the exception to the rule.

Spectator Mentality. This is my last one (for now). There's an institutionalized segregation between the clergy & the laity, between the saints & the rest of us, that leads to a spectator mentality for most pew warmers. Now, this isn't necessarily confined to Catholicism. There is the old 80-20 rule--20% of the people do all the work while 80% consume it. However, by emphasizing the role of the clergy most lay people feel that doing ministry is not for them. By emphasizing stories of the Saints it's implied that only super-holy people have access to God for their prayers to work miracles. The Church needs to open up areas of non-sacramental ministry to the laity and actively train them & encourage them.

One of "Them"

2008-02-26T20:31:00.001-05:00

The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life released the results of a study it conducted examining the religious affiliation of more than 35,000 Americans. The study was reported by various media outlets like this one and this one. One major finding of the study is that more than a quarter of Americans have changed their religious affiliations.

I’m one of them.

Raised in a faithful Catholic family, I was active in my faith in my youth. As a young adult I earned a degree in theology from a Catholic university and spent several years working at the parish level and teaching at a Catholic high school. Then my wife and I left Catholicism for a nondenominational Evangelical church.

We didn’t leave because we were at odds with any particular teaching of the Church, nor were we upset or offended. Simply put, we were looking for something more. In our early to mid twenties we desired to be part of a close-knit community of like-minded people. Our faith was very personal and real to us, and we wanted to be with others who shared a similar devotion. At the same time, I could not shake the feeling that I was called to pastoral ministry and didn’t see much of an opportunity as a layperson.

So, we joined a nondenominational evangelical church with a touch of charismatic flavor. I became involved in youth and young adult ministry while also learning the ropes as a pastoral intern. After several years of being an understudy I was finally given the opportunity to plant and pastor my own church. My wife and I intentionally chose to adopt a house church format. We became involved in the emerging church scene—a grassroots movement within Evangelicalism emphasizing relational ministry, shared leadership, and nontraditional approaches to church.

Following a model we saw reflected in the New Testament, we met in homes and reached out to others through building relationships and eating meals together. We had finally achieved our goal of creating a small Christian community built on sharing our lives with one another. Only then did my wife and I realize that there was still something missing. Community for community’s sake without a connection to the depth and richness of the historical church fell short of what we hoped to achieve.

We began exploring our options. We researched other traditions and denominations such as Orthodoxy, Anglicanism, and various offshoots of Catholicism. Finally we came to the conclusion that what we needed to do was to go home to our Catholic roots. We wanted our children to have the same depth of faith that we experienced. Most of all, we desired the sacramental life of the Church.

And so, after ten years away we have come home to Rome. We are changed and hopefully better for our sojourn in the varied religious landscape of America. I look forward to being able to share the insights gained from being involved in a nontraditional church with the tradition rich parish to which we now belong.

The Pew study revealed that 10-percent of Americans are former Catholics. These have left for various reasons from disenchantment in the wake of the recent scandals in the Church to those seeking more personal experiences of faith and community. My experience has taught me that there is plenty of room within Catholicism to welcome back those who have left and to draw in those who are searching for a place to experience their faith in a deeply meaningful way.

What do "they" know?

2008-01-12T22:14:00.000-05:00

We just watched Amazing Grace, the story of Wiliam Wilberforce & I highly recommend it, especially for all those who think that a politian's faith shouldn't impact their politics. Wilberforce's commitment to seeing a peaceful end to slavery is a testament to the power of faith and perserverance and a stark contrast to America's handling of the same issue.

Here's the trailer for the film...

Yep, We're Catholic

2008-01-06T21:16:00.001-05:00

and now...

Baby #4 is due this summer. Please pray for Lisa to have a safe & uneventful pregnancy.

Happy 2008

2008-01-03T19:21:00.000-05:00

I'm back from a self-imposed hiatus from blogging & blog reading. I'm looking forward to being more active with this going forward & hope both of my regular readers are still with me.

pardon the interruption

2007-10-15T20:25:00.001-04:00

Well it’s been awhile (again) in between posts. We were on vacation one week, our middle daughter, Mary, was in the hospital with viral meningitis another week (she’s fine now), and the normal day-to-day craziness just conspired to keep me away from the old Blogger for a while. We’ve been back in the Catholic Church now for about 3 months now after our ten-year hiatus while on a sojourn through non-denominational, Evangelical Christianity and I have a few observations and/or rants:

1. Ratzinger has turned out to be a pretty good Pope & I really like his book, Jesus of Nazareth

2. I really did miss the sacraments; like rain on a hot summer’s day

3. It seems to me that nuns are the migrant workers of church ministry: cheap, available labor

4. I still don’t get nuns that don’t wear habits, or at least a veil. If you’re going to make the sacrifice at least look the part.

5. We’ve got some pretty good priests at our parish & I’m glad we decided to go with St. Joe’s.

6. The state of religious ed./faith formation at the parish level leaves much to be desired. Actually, the same can be said to some degree at the diocesan level too.

7. RCIA doesn’t work as a universal, catch all program. You can have one person with no prior relationship with God or church and another with a graduate degree theology in the same group. How can one class/group possibly meet the needs of both?

8. There are not enough young adults in ministry/lay leadership roles. By “not enough” I mean there are none. Where is the whole generation or two born after the conclusion of Vatican II?

9. I think it’s safe to say that several of the Evangelical, non-denominational churches I’ve been involved with were driven by worshipping worship itself.

10. You can have charismatic, lively worship in the Catholic Church too but it tends not to be so focused on the act of worship itself that it loses its context.

11. It’s cool to see the excitement in those I know who have decided to follow us into Catholicism.

12. All things being equal, I would love to work in the Church again in the area of faith formation either at the diocesan or parish level, but the reality is there’s just not enough money there to support my family. That makes me sad.

13. I really like having the lectionary & knowing that those readings are set and are not based on what I want to hear or how I feel or what cultural events/trends are happening. They’re just there for me to take in and let them change me. They’re like vitamins rather than candy.

Remembering Rich

2007-09-19T20:46:00.000-04:00

Ten years ago today the Lord called Rich Mullins home. Rich was more than a Christian recording artist; he was a poet and a prophet. He was inspired by the example of Francis of Assisi and did his best to follow Christ with Francis as his rolemodel. During my sophomore year at Franciscan University our student activities committee scheduled a concert with Rich for the fall semester. It was an intimate evening with just Rich & Beaker in the campus chapel, more of a worship night than a concert. In the follwing spring our student activities committee got a call from Rich. He said he was going to be near the school while on tour & had an open night in his schedule. They told him that they already had their spring concert and had no money left in the budget. Rich told them he'd come for free along with the rest of his band just because he remembered how great that fall concert had been.

Rich didn't profit from his fame. He took a modest salary and donated the rest of his income to his church & helping the poor. The last few years of his life was spent living on an Indian reservation in the Southwest teaching music to children. One of his final projects was assisting some of his friends with a musical based on the life of St. Francis set in the American Old West called the Canticle of the Plains. They called themselves the Kid Brothers of St. Frank.

The video below is for one of my favorite songs by Rich, "Hold Me Jesus". Everytime I hear it it cuts to the heart almost as if my spirit is praying the lyrics through while I listen.

so much to say, so little time to say it

2007-09-11T23:19:00.000-04:00

I've been wanting to blog for some time now but just can't manage to find the time. Between my hour long commute and the girls' hectic after school schedules and starting RCIA classes (as a sponsor) it's usually pretty late by the time I can get a few moments alone with the computer. Even then it can be hard to get up the will to do anything with it after working on a computer all day long. Well, here are a few topics for discussion I hope to explore soon:

In light of the recent gospel readings over the past couple weeks, Jesus' "hard sayings" just don't jive with so much of Westen Christianity, especially evangelicalism and/or Pentecostalism.

I've been thinking about a line from a Caedmon's Call song Faith My Eyes: "But I get turned around/And I mistake my happiness for blessing/But I'm blessed as the poor/Still I judge success by how I'm dressing". That's got me thinking about what it really means to be Franciscan, and how to live out that calling in a secular setting while trying to raise my girls and give them the best I can.

On the sixth anniversary of 9/11 I'm still trying to figure out how a Christian responds to terrorism and rampant patriotism.

Here's a nice quote from Benedict XVI from his book Jesus of Nazareth:

"At the heart of all temptations, as we see here, is the act of punishing God aside because we perceive him as secondary, if no actually superfluous and annoying, in comparison with all the apparently far more urgent matters that fill our lives. Constructing a world by our own lights, without reference to God, building on our own foundation; refusing to acknowledge the reality of anything beyond the political and material, while setting God aside as an illusion--that is the temptation that threatens us in many varied forms."

Isn't it ironic?

2007-09-05T23:13:00.000-04:00

I'm sitting in my living room watching this episode of Good Eats on the Food Network. The topic for the episode is making cocktails. As they went to a commercial break they showed a screen shot with the symbol for the United Methodist Church and the voice over said that tonight's episode of Good Eats was being brought to us by the United Methodist Church whose opinion on alcohol is pretty well known. Can you say ironic?

Great Quote

2007-09-02T21:44:00.000-04:00

I was talking with a friend who was telling me about how he described his attraction to Catholicism to his non-Catholic friends. When asked about why he would want to get involved with such traditions and such his response was simply, "I found beauty there." I wish I had thought of that quote.

Simpsonize Me!

2007-08-30T22:17:00.000-04:00

I went to this site & found out that this is apparently what I'd look like as a character on The Simpsons. Good times.

Mother Teresa

2007-08-26T21:49:00.000-04:00

Jesus has a very special love for you. As for me, the silence
and the emptiness is so great that I look and do not see, listen and do not
hear.— Mother Teresa

Here's an observation or two after reading this article about a new book from Mother Teresa's confessor. The new book shares her deepest spiritual struggles and reveals that she endured a dark night of the soul lasting for nearly 50 years with little relief. In fact, in corresponded with the entire time she conducted her ministry in the slums of Calcutta even as her ministry grew and expanded in numbers and recognition. I can't count the number of times I've heard teachings from leaders within Evangelical circles that were completely contradictory to Mother Teresa's experience. So often the popular version of spiritual discernment relies completely upon our feelings. If you just don't feel God leasing you, or you don't feel his presence then you must be going in the wrong direction, you've got to be outside of his will. In think this is the direct result of a theology & soteriology that is completely egocentric. When your theology begins with your personal experience of God then using your feelings for spiritual direction seems only logical.

This is one thing that would drive Lisa & I crazy. Not thinking in this way also one of the hardest things to try to get someone to understand who had been raised in the Evangelical world. In the end (as it was in the Beginning) it's just not about me, its all about Jesus.

PS - My wife & kids were hasseling me about having an ugly blog so I've changed the template.

If Jesus is the answer, what's the question?

2007-08-21T19:06:00.000-04:00

I recently saw a bumper sticker that read "Jesus is the Answer". I commented to Lisa that Jesus isn't the answer, he's the Question. What do we do with him? How do we respond to him? What was his message & how do we respond to it?

The Gospel reeading from mass this past Sunday is one of those "hard sayings" of Jesus that make us squirm and question our preconceived ideas about him"

"Jesus said to his disciples: “I have come to set the earth on fire,and how I wish it were already blazing! There is a baptism with which I must be baptized,and how great is my anguish until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to establish peace on the earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. From now on a household of five will be divided,three against two and two against three;a father will be divided against his sonand a son against his father,a mother against her daughterand a daughter against her mother,a mother-in-law against her daughter-in-lawand a daughter-in-law against
her mother-in-law.” - Lk 12:49-53

So much for gentile Jesus, meek & mild, eh? I was reminded of this passage as I read this quote from the dust cover of my new reading project, Jesus of Nazareth by Pope Benedict XVI:

"What did Jesus actually bring, if not world peace, universal prosperity, and a better world? The answer is very simple: God. He has brought God. He has brought the God who formerly unveiled his countenance gradually...He has brought God, and now we know his face, now we can call upon him. Now we know the path that we human beings have to take in this world. Jesus has brought God and with God the truth about our origin and destiny: faith, hope, and love."

It's so tempting to get caught up in finding the right sound bite & bumper sticker slogan. Unfortunately, we so often miss the forest for the trees. Jesus didn't come to make me happy, he came to make me whole--by following his example of emptying, humility, and self-sacrifice--so that I can know God. He came to reveal the Father and call us to be sons in the Son, filii in FIlio. When we finally begin to wrap our heads around the idea that the Gospel isn't about us, that salvation isn't about us, that being a Christian isn't about us, but about God then we can really start to understand what it means to be a disciple, to be a community, a family of God.

Looking back on the road

2007-08-19T21:12:00.000-04:00

Did we miss something? As we've journeyed back to Catholicism that's one of several questions Lisa and I have struggled with. Sometimes it seems like we were on this ten year detour just to end up where we left.

Before leaving the Church Lisa and I were very active and involved in ministry. I have a degree in theology from the Franciscan University. I was working as a religion teacher at a Catholic high school in MI and actviely involved in youth ministry for the diocese on the side. I was planning a career in the Church, hoping to land a diocesan level position in faith formation or as a principal. Part of me looks back at the last ten years & I have to wonder what might have been if we had stuck with it.

Then again, "God works all things together..." We've learned much and gained a greater, deeper appreciation for both Catholicism and the wider Body of Christ. I've been blessed with good, well paying jobs--more than full time ministry pays--that has given us the ability to pay off debt (from our ministry years). Most importantly, I think our journey has given us the chance to understand who we are, and now we can be true to ourselves.

People have asked us why we've decided to go back to Rome. The simple answer is that it's who we are, who we've always been. I've been watching My Big fat greek Wedding on TV while typing this. At the end of the movie the main character, Tula, says that she came to the realization that her family was big and loud, but they were her family & would alsways be there for her. I think that is part of the realization that I've had during this process. She may have her warts but Rome is my home, my family & it's where I belong.

Back Where I Began

2007-08-16T23:16:00.000-04:00

After ten years in exile Lisa & I have finally crossed the Tiber back to Rome. The years spent in Protestant pastures have been quite an adventure. If I've learned anything during our sojourneying it's that the grass is not necessarily greener on either side of the fence. There is much that Catholics can learn from their separated brothers and sisters and vise versa. Having said that, I'm convinced that the best show in town is in the Catholic Church in spite of its own weaknesses and shortcomings.

It has been a difficult journey back to Rome, yet now that we've made that choice and been received back into communion it feels like a giant weight has been lifted off my shoulders. We've come out of the Catholic closet to just about all of our friends and have been blessed by their encouragement. I still don't know for sure what will happen to our community, Matthew's House. For our part we've decided to continue gathering on Sunday evenings with our small group and continue sharing our lives with one another while supporting each other in our pursuit of Jesus.

We've been warmly welcomed back into the fold by Fr. John Caulfield at St. Joseph's here in Lakeland. I'm sure there could have been a temptation for some finger wagging & "you should've known betters" but that didn't happen. He has been very understanding and encouraging to our great relief.

My hope & resolution is to stay more current and consistent with this new blog, althoughI think I've made that promise before with less than encouraging results. I want to post about our experiences over these past years to share what we've learned and how it translates into where we're going. Of course, I also want to be a little more proactive on posting about theology and current events as well. The name of the new blog, Mysterium Dei, loosely translates as the "Mystery of God". I can't help but think that it will come into use again if/when we ever realize our dream of developing an lay monastic community--yet another blogging topic.