Busy week-end...
Martha, Chuck and I had a wonderful Saturday attending the Institute on Religious Life meeting at Mundelein Seminary near Chicago. Chuck was a little hesitant but I convinced him that this was too good an opportunity, too close to home, to pass by. I also offered to give him ‘school credit’ for attending. Fr. C. Frank Phillips from St. John Cantius is Chicago gave a two part presentation on Gregorian chant. (Extra Latin credit right there!)

Byzantine Abbott Nicholas gave a fascinating (though we were starting to lose Chuck) talk on the “Importance of Culture in the Catholic-Orthodox Dialogue.” I tried to convince Martha to pull out a pen, take some notes and whip up a great extra credit paper for her World Civ class. That subject, combined with Fr. Mitch Pacwa’s presentation on evangelizing to Muslims, covered a lot of territory that could have been worked into something appropriate to hand in at the local public high-school. Oh, well, I led the thirsty little souls to water.......but I can’t make them compose a tome on the what they learned. (I suppose I could with Chuck, but with Martha I’m just that pushy mother....)

Lunch was fun. We shared a table with several nuns. Fun for Martha and me.
A bit on the painful side for a shy 13 year-old who is not terribly at ease around strangers, especially ‘girls,’ - religious or not. For all her protests that I can take her to this event every year, but I’ll never turn her into a nun (but that’s not my job, really, is it?) Martha has a good time chatting with the sisters and visiting the exhibits set up by various orders. There were some interesting vendors there, too, and the kids convinced me to treat myself to a new scapular (because the old one is getting ‘ratty’ - like anybody sees it?), some holy cards and a reprint of a prayer book issued to the US Marines during WWII. My father had that book, but it is too worn to carry around with me. This reprint is a nice reminder of Dad plus it has all the basic prayers I’d like to tote in my purse at all times in a nice purse-friendly size. (Don’t tell the Marines I said that.)

After lunch Fr. Robert Barron talked about the liturgy. He was, as always, fascinating. I heard him speak at our parish on Wednesday night. This morning, Martha ran into my room to tell me that he was on Channel 7. This was getting to be a bit much for Martha, provoking her to ask if he is stalking us or are we stalking him? Neither. Just a really, really good coincidence.

The highlight of the day would have been Mass celebrated by Cardinal George. I’m sure it was the highlight of the day for others. Martha started to get a migraine and the Imitrex was at home. I decided that the prudent thing would be to leave before Mass, not to wait and then drag her out half-way through. Both kids were wailing that it was important to ‘tough it out for me,’ and I was telling them I was making this trip for them.

If I had let Martha go to Mass with an incipient migraine, it probably would have been for my own ‘pleasure.’ Not just to be at Mass celebrated by the Cardinal, but to bask in the smug glow of my children singing in Latin. At this point, I knew it was time to go home. Smug-Ellyn was getting out of control, starting with the morning’s first chant session. I took just a bit too much pleasure in hearing Chuck and Martha intone the Pater Noster in their most flawless Latin. At any moment, I was expecting a beam of light to enter the auditorium and focus (ever so softly, of course) on my head.

Was it more than coincidence that I turned on AMC at bedtime finding Mommy Dearest at the moment when Joan Crawford’s paramour asks why everything has to be a contest with her? Ouch. Double ouch. Ten days after the ‘Pange Lingua nosebleed’ and I’m back to me old tricks.

Ego issues notwithstanding, we had a delightful day. We all learned a lot. We ran into people we knew and met some new people. I even met a woman whose name I recognized from one of the homeschooling e-mail lists to which I subscribe. It was a very good day. And I went for a full 7+ hours without once saying to Chuck, “Wouldn’t you like to go to school here?”