[author’s note: from our time on deployment to Iraq.] August 15, 2010 Part of my current job is to play the bad guy. Oh sure, you know me as a meek, humble, quiet, unassuming man of God, but in the Army, when you’re the deputy anything you have to be the bad guy. It works […]
Read more "Rambling on Threats and the Assumption"[author’s note: from our time of deployment in Iraq.] August 8, 2010 Here in Iraq we try to make everything as “homey” as possible. That’s why there is a Burger King, Pizza Hut and Subway within two blocks of our chapel location. We even try to make the chapel and especially the Eucharist, the Mass, […]
Read more "Rambling on Practical Christianity"[author’s note: From our deployment to Iraq.] July 25, 2010 Last week one of our Chaplain Assistants, a young married Sergeant, had a brief crisis of conscience. Let me first say that he is Baptist. The more knowledgeable among you will say what kind of Baptist? To tell the truth, I’m not sure. The […]
Read more "Rambling on Hindu gods"So what do you do when two raccoons move into a grave someone else is supposed to occupy? In the rural town of Rockville, Nebraska (When you say Rockville, Nebraska do you have to say rural?), the Catholic Church has a small cemetery called St. Mary’s. The church itself was sold a few years ago […]
Read more "Ramblings on Raccoons and the 14th Sunday of the Year (A)"[author’s note: From our deployment to Iraq.] July 11, 2010 Unusual things happen at Cathedral. I’m not saying this to insult or compliment anyone; it is a fact that every priest in the diocese knows—unusual things happen at Cathedral. A few examples? Sure. There was the time two years ago I came back to the […]
Read more "Rambling on the Unusual"[author’s note: From our time on deployment.] July 4, 2010 One of the things I miss most is being in the US for the 4th of July. It is a great celebration with the rejoicing over our country’s freedom and prosperity. It’s a good time to be with friends and family and to reflect […]
Read more "Rambling on Fourth of July in Iraq"[author’s note: From our time on deployment.] June 27, 2010 I’m not a big coffee drinker. The stuff is all right but I only use it in winter or when I need to stay awake for something. Last week I was feeling really low energy, so I asked my chaplain friend about the coffee […]
Read more "Rambling on Honesty and Generosity"[author’s note: from our time on deployment.] June 20, 2010 You know, sandstorms aren’t as clean and neat as they look on television. Picture Moses, aka Charlton Heston, in The Ten Commandments; sure, he didn’t look so good but the sand looked pure and drifted into beautiful dunes. Our first two days here at […]
Read more "Rambling on Kuwaiti Sandstorms"Just try to grow a beard in the parish and the questions become endless: Why did you do that? Isn’t it too hot to grow a beard in the summer? How come you’re not wearing a flea and tick collar? You know you’d be less ugly without the beard? People mean well, but I always […]
Read more "Rambling on Corpus Christi (A)"[author’s note: From our time of deployment to Iraq.] By the time you read this I’ll be enjoying training in the country of Kuwait. We’ll be there about two weeks before we continue on to our assignment at Joint Base Balad, which is about 50 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq. The temperature at this […]
Read more "Rambling on Heat (10th Sunday of Ordinary time, C)"
Fr. Richard's Ramblings 