Ordination: It Is Beginning to Sink In

 Since formation classes ended, many people have asked me if I am excited about the upcoming ordination to the diaconate and my answers has always been that I am not sure I realize it yet.  I have been either too busy or should I say too sick to think about it (literally I have had the "crud" since formation classes ended over four weeks ago).

But that perspective on ordination changed this morning.

We just got word that some dear friends will be traveling from Cologne, Germany to join us for this event.   The history of our relationship is another story but I will say that these two people are an important part of our life and are as close to us as family.  They are also a testament to the Catholic faith in Germany and we have learned more about the Church's history from these two than we could in any class (primarily because they have taken (or guided) us to places where we could feel it and experience it).  Things like: 

• Going to a 12th century church in the middle of a busy city to listen to evening prayer being sung by a new religious order of both men and women (it was like being in heaven).  
• Taking us into a church and surprising us with the crypt of St Albert the Great where John Paul the Great prayed during a visit to Cologne. 
• To walk through the history of a city that has been Christian since the 4th Century and has the churches and martyrs to prove it.
• To learn about the history of church architecture and the crosses that hang in them to learn what the Church is saying about God as well as what is happening in the lives of the people.

It is real and it is glorious.

So today, that reality tapped on my shoulder and said "its happening".