Many of you may have been wondering, “What happened to Fr. James?” Well… a lot actually. As is often the case in Diocesan Priesthood, the ministry we do doesn’t always come in nice, evenly spaced out time periods. Most of the time its a “sprint and stop,” type of pattern. Since Advent, I’ve been experiencing a ministerial dead sprint. So, fear not my friends! I still love being an astro-nerd as much as ever and I hope to get back to being more regular with my posts!
One of the reasons you haven’t heard much from me is that I have been working on a new book. About a year ago, Our Sunday Visitor, a major publishing house in the United States, reached out to the Vatican Observatory to inquire about a book collaboration based on our Astronomy for Catholics in Ministry and Education Workshops.
I was humbled that, after a preliminary correspondence, it was determined that I should author the book. So, for the past year I have been putting together spiritual reflections along with astrophotography images for a book scheduled to be released in fall of this year. I’m happy to report that the writing is done, has been submitted and is now under theological review for what is called an imprimatur. An imprimatur is a designation given to Catholic texts that affirms a recognized third party has reviewed that text and it reflects authentic Catholic faith. Once that’s done, I’ll have a lot more to share with you!
In addition I’ve been doing the type of things Catholic Priests do: Mass, Weddings, Funerals, etc. Since I also do some administrative work for the local Catholic School System we’ve been working on a five year strategic plan for Regis Catholic Schools in Eau Claire and I’m also a part of a team doing strategic planning to help our local homeless shelter called, Sojourner House.
If you could, please say a prayer for our group that is meeting about our homeless shelter. There is a number of state and federal grants they have received in the past that have been denied and inflation has created an environment that is hurting donation levels. I trust that God will show us a pathway to continue to shelter the homeless and reverence the face of Christ is those who stay at the shelter. Still, the times we live in sometimes dampens that hope.
One of the weddings I had that was a rare treat was in Hawaii on the Island of Maui. One of my former students, Emily Hehli, reached out to me a little over a year ago to introduce me to her fiancé Nathan. Emily has long standing family ties on the Island of Maui and the parish of Sacred Hearts allowed us to have the wedding on the island. Amid the work and stress, it was a blessed time of celebration and rest.
One of the big treats is that the hotel I was in had a small observatory on the roof of the hotel! A small group of us were allowed to go on the roof one night to star gaze. Since Maui is tourist dependent, the light pollution was still an issue. Still, it was nice to have a restful night with like minded astro-nerds to simply enjoy the basics of observation.
So… Where do I go from here? What can you expect from me to write about? To be honest, I’m not sure! I’m probably going to ease back in with some “rest inspired reflections.” Milky Way Core season is fast approaching, so I think some quiet nights imaging our galactic home’s core will be on the way. I also feel a need to just get back to some naked-eyed observation too.
Whatever I choose to write about, I look forward to reconnecting with all of you. Sacred Space Astronomy is not only a blog, but a community. Thank you for being a part of that community. Thank you for allowing me to be a part of that community!
Cyber chat with you soon and enjoy this close encounter of the whale kind I had in Maui and some of our wildlife friends in Wisconsin! Spring is coming – Easter is coming – Hope is coming!
