Remember me? I used to write on this blog.

It was after a recent funeral that a Deacon who reads this blog made the comment that I hadn't really written anything on here in a while. Checking out my own blog, I realized it had, indeed, been more than six weeks since I put anything of significance out into cyberspace (the pictures and links notwithstanding).

First, let me note that today is the 150th anniversary of the death of Philadelphia's own St. John Neumann (although, to be more precise, it's more like "Bohemia's, New York's, Niagara's, Pittsburgh's, Baltimore's and Philadelphia's own Neumann"). While our current Year for Priests perhaps got its impetus from the 150th anniversary of the death of St. Jean Vianney in 1859, it is significant to note Bishop Neumann's anniversary this year. Last year I wrote a blog entry about Neumann and his ties to New Jersey (including my own diocese), and you can read that by clicking HERE.

Now, about me absence from the blogosphere. Being Administrator of a parish for the first time (as well as being the only priest here), it amazes me how much faster my day goes! Each day I wake up early (though I should get up earlier and go to the gym, but that's for another entry), have a cup of coffee, head to the church, say Mass, come back here, and then it seems like I blink and the Angelus bells are ringing at 12 noon. I think to myself, "Let me just finish this one thing before I eat lunch", and suddenly it's 2pm! I grab lunch and a riposo (a holy priest once told me, "A good priest wakes up at 5:30... TWICE a day!"), and then it's time for evening meetings, whether with individuals, couples, or parish organizations.

What it means is that some things take a back seat, and amongst them has been this blog. Unfortunately some of my friends have also suffered, since I don't really get to see them or spend time with them as I used to. Certainly my waistline has suffered, since I've been eating weird hours and usually the food that is the most convenient to get quickly. In the meantime, I've also been spending my computer time tweaking my parish's new website, and time I spend doing that takes away from blogging.

But with a new year comes new optimism. So I begin to reorganize my life and catch up on things. Today, in writing a blog entry, I can check another thing off of my list of "things I need to start doing again".

There, I feel better.