Just returned from my C.O.M. meeting - many thanks to all of you out there who held it up in your prayers. It went very smoothly and was a very non-anxious meeting. All the C.O.M. members were friendly and inviting and the whole of the meeting was conversational rather than interrogative. We talked about all sorts of good and useful things and now I have a much clearer picture of how the next year and a half will proceed for me, academically, canonically, and vocationally. The result: The chair of the C.O.M. said that basically right now, I was doing all the things a Candidate does and should be doing, I lacked only the formal title which the Bishop grants. I was told to write a letter to the Bishop requesting Candidacy and to get a letter of support from my home parish. After that gets in, they'll make their recommendation and it'll happen. I am quite relieved after this meeting, given the stories many of my colleagues have told and some of the general rumors about "how C.O.M.'s are". I found mine to be very helpful, pastoral, and encouraging. Overall, it was a good experience. They also said there is no such thing as a silly diocesan requirement that I work Summer Camp this summer and that if need be, he'd put that in writing. Woo-hoo!!! I don't have to give up my last summer in Chi-town!! So, I'll be looking for a job for the summer somewhere in Chicago.

Everything on the home front is good. We got new carpet at the house and it is both attractive and comfortable to walk and roll around on. Church on Sunday was great! It's always good to come back home and worhip, but it's also interesting to note how I have changed since coming to seminary and how I am continually being changed and shaped. Very interesting stuff going on there. Tomorrow, I have an opportunity to plunder the back bay area with a spinnin' rod, so I look forward to that. The pool has been lovely so far and I am losing my Chicago pallor. In fact, I've renamed the pool the E.R.Z. - the Eskimo Recovery Zone - after my Mother informed me of my northern/winter skin tone. I believe I'll retire to a Lazy Boy now and finish off my book.

Again, thanks to all of you who held this meeting in prayer and continue to hold me in prayer. May God bless you!

-R