The Very Merry Month of...September

Well, it's September now. That means no more fantasies of desperately holding on to the last shreds of summer. Classes have begun, the St. Rocco's processions is a distant memory of an entire two weeks gone by (pictures will be forthcoming, if I ever get them), and the annual Labor Day Triduum and Feast in honor of St. Joseph the Worker has come and gone. We're down to the nitty-gritty now, time to put the ol' nose to the proverbial grindstone, for whatever reason that may ever have been done.

In all honesty, though, I can say that I'm enjoying my classes, I'm looking forward to the semester, and I appreciate the increased sense of order and routine that the school year brings to my life. (Those comments not withstanding the maddening monotony which I am sure to decry before the end of November.)

I would like to take a moment (just sit right there), however, to point out that this is indeed NOT the case for everyone. Take, for instance, my kid brother, Tim. I received word yesterday that, after just over a week living on campus and "doing the college thing," he has begun to give in to the whims of peer pressure. That's right, I am shocked to see my brother running with the crowd and trying to blend in by...

Purchasing a breviary so that he can say the Liturgy of the Hours with his room-mates! While it is still the beginning of the semester, this does somewhat give me the imporession, perhaps entirely mistaken, that I do not need to worry about my brother going off to any keggers and making "bad decisions," nor about him becoming addicted to anything that an older brother wouldn't want him to be addicted to. On the contrary, it appears that, ideed, Franciscan University of Steubenville may well be a place where he can grow intellectually while having his faith cultivated and strengthened. Try finding that at your run-of-the-mill "Catholic" university.