NYC visit

After the last Sunday Mass I will be heading to the airport in Burlington for a quick visit to New York. It's only an hour flight. I try and go every year for two nights. I will stay with my friend Fr. Joe, who is over the river in Jersey City. He has a magnificent Church, built by the Irish, with a beautiful High Altar, marble altar rails etc. Unfortunately, the area has seen better days and is very run down and quite dangerous. On Monday, I am hoping to have my annual audience with the great Fr. George Rutler at the Church of Our Saviour on 5th Avenue. Last year when I visited, he managed to fit me in between the President of Guatemala and Bill Buckley. Fr. Rutler is always great company, he came and spoke to our priests a year ago during Lent and was tremendous. Part of my job as Director of Continuing Education for the Clergy of the Diocese is to get decent speakers. But, as is usual in the Church, the budget is minimal, however Rutler made no demands about a set fee, which is admirable. I was expecting a nice cup of Darjeeling tea with him last time, as he is a great Anglophile, but instead we had a large glass of red wine on his roof terrace, which has one of the finest views in New York City. He has transformed his parish, his Church has been beautifully restored and vocations are pouring out of his parish. Why is he not a candidate to be the next Cardinal Archbishop? I think I know the answer to that one! The next post will contain a full report of the Rutlerian audience. Last night, our two deacons who will be ordained to the priesthood next month came for a visit. Despite what the dreary old leftovers from the 1970's say, the young priests are a real sign of hope for the Church in the USA. These two young men will make excellent priests; they are devout, sensible, manly and enjoy a good laugh. The kind Fr. Dwight, at Standing on my Head, has alerted more of the blogosphere to the hesitant and rather inadequate first attempts on this blog. He says he wants photos; I do too, the trouble is that a camera is usually a prerequisite for such things. I suppose I will have to go out and buy one. I feel a little like Kenneth Williams in 'Carry On Cleo' (only a certain number of very damaged individuals will admit to enjoying the 'Carry On' films) - "Infamy, infamy, they've all got it in for me."