Welcome, March

Hi there, all. I would just like to express how happy I am that March is here. For several reasons. As I have already noted, my favorite liturgical season is racing toward its apex, for which I cannot wait. On top of that, the Solemn Novena to St. Joseph starts this coming Thursday, and does not end until the Feast Day Mass on March 15, the day before Palm Sunday. That's eighteen solid days of solemnity. I know I'm a Church addict, and this is like smack to me. So, I'm excited. In addition, my own feast day is coming up, which means all you posers are going to try and make yourselves part of the greatest race on earth, at least for a day. It's a good day to be a proud Irishman, even if it is displaced by Holy Week.

Besides the litrugical reasons for joy, I am also a big fan of the spring weather. Today was absolutely beautiful. I love this time of year, when it's sunny and cool. Not too long from now, though, Pennsylvania will remind me who's boss and suddenly become unbearably hot, which will continue from about May until October, by my reckoning. So, I enjoy the weather when I can.

I just came off of what has probably been the busiest weekend of my semester so far. That's appropriate, since March tends to be the busiest month of the seminary year. Busy, sure, but I love it.

And now, to the real reason I wrote this post: I never appropriately welcomed those of you hailing from other countries. Officially, as of now, the numbers tell me that we have visitors from the Philippines, Malta, the UK, and Italy, in addition to our usual American suspects. Welcome, to all of you.