Sorry for the Delay

We haven't had internet access at home for about three weeks, thus the delay since my last post.  I got sick of Comcast repeatedly trying to raise their rates for cable and internet without offering any additional service.  Why would anyone in their right mind pay more money for the same amount of the same thing?  The only exception to the obvious answer is if you are paying for a limited (or more to the point, diminishing) commodity, which of course cable and internet are not.  So, we switched to DirecTV and Verizon FiOS.  And so far, we're happy.

So, what can I say about the last three weeks?  On Sunday, June 8th, Jeannie and I got confirmed at the Cathedral Basilica of Saints Peter and Paul.  Archbishop Charles Chaput conducted the confirmation.  Just before it was my turn, I bowed slightly before the cathedra (throne, or chair, where the archbishop was sitting).  After the archbishop confirmed me, he shook my hand, to which I said, "Thank you, Your Excellency.  May God bless you."  Jeannie was confirmed right after me.  It was a very nice ceremony, though it lasted a very long time due to the large number of mostly children receiving their confirmation.  Afterwards, knowing that it was too late to go home and cook dinner, Jeannie, Seva and I went to dinner at Asia on the Parkway.  It was a beautiful evening, so we dined al fresco.  Mentioning Seva reminds me that she slept through the entire ceremony; that in itself was a blessing.

But the spotlight was on Seva just one week later, on Sunday, June 15th, when she was baptized by Father Ed at our church, St. Charles Borromeo.  Once again, though, even with the spotlight on her, Seva did a great job of maintaining grace under pressure.  Father Ed gave a warning to us that the baptismal water was cold, which initially shocked Seva, but only five minutes later she was sound asleep.  It was pretty funny.  Also funny was Father Ed's comment to us afterward, saying something to the effect of "you've run out of sacraments."  It's true that we've made a nice run on sacraments in the past few months: our marriage, Jeannie's first communion, our confirmation, and Seva's baptism.  I guess we get to be regular parishioners now.

The other recent event that's been exciting has been the 2014 FIFA World Cup.  I could go on and on about the World Cup matches so far, but I'll avoid that temptation for now.  All I'll say is that I've very much enjoyed watching the matches.