Major Happenings

Coming up on a week here with the detox.  All is fine save the daily headaches from what I assume to be my body crying out for a caffeine fix.   I WILL NOT surrender!  And if my scale can be trusted, I've lost 10 pounds over the last 6 days.

Here's a pic of (part of) last night's epic detox dinner, co-prepared by a best friend of mine from minor seminary:

Who knew chicken and asparagus could be so awesome with only olive oil, salt, and pepper?

In ATL news, we just hosted our annual Eucharistic Congress at the Georgia International Convention Center.  Yours truly was MC for the young adult event on Friday evening, hosting greats such as Bishop Luis Rafael Zarama, Fr. Leo Patalinghug ("The Cooking Priest" from public TV), Mother Mary Assumpta (a Dominican nun of Oprah fame), "Pip" Arnold from "The Voice", and Fr. Liam Cummings, an Irish missionary to Kenya with the Josephite Fathers.  

I admit that that the night went WAY TOO LATE, but it was, overall, an excellent evening.  +Zarama gave a great introduction to the evening, stressing that young adults need to grow up, owning their mature adulthood, built solidly on the foundation of the dignity that is theirs in Jesus Christ. He speaks from the heart, like a father to his kids.  We are blessed to have him here in ArchATL.  Mother Assumpta shared a few anecdotal re-tellings of scripture and brought (as her picture will testify) a great sense of joy to the evening.  Fr. Leo stole the show and drove home the message that to be a missionary, you must be holy yourself.  To be Christian is to be a missionary, proclaiming a God whose nature is love to a world so caught up in itself.  To be a good young adult, a faithful Christian, you must submit your freedom to the awesome power of God.  Pip was amazing--he covered Switchfoot's "On Fire" and stunned the crowd with his vocal clarity and expressiveness.  I personally appreciate that he rocks the bow tie.

I wasn't able to attend any of the main event on Saturday, but I did get to pop in and punch Satan in the face through the Sacrament of Reconciliation.  The lines were humongous!  About 20-30 priests were on hand to extend the powerful mercy of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ to the (my estimate) 200 people waiting for confession--and that's just the estimate for the hour that I was in the box.  Sin got a beat-down this weekend, thanks to Jesus Christ in the Holy Eucharist.

Onward we go.

A good representation of the US Bishops are gathering in the ATL right now for their spring meeting.  Religious Freedom is at the top of their priority list, as is a 10-year update on the charter for the protection of children and vulnerable individuals.  Perhaps I can sneak down there in my sharpest clerical suit and pick up on the Whispers in the Marriott . . .