Apologia for a Blog

Commenting about his time in formation, a seminarian recently said, "The days are long, but the years go fast."  It was a sentiment with which I could easily resonate.  My own experience had been very much the same.  One year, five years, ten years in formation flew by and suddenly I had become a priest.  During those days of preparation, especially once I had entered the theologate, I found that writing offered a means by which I could recollect and give proper consideration to the events of a busy day.  Most often, this process was facilitated by means of contributing to the seminary's blog.


Now it has been almost a year since I last blogged, and though I find myself somewhat astonished to say so, I miss the daily routine of writing something.  Moreover, I find that each day brings some new experience that deserves more careful examination than the busy lifestyle I have adopted has heretofore afforded it.  So, this blog is as much for me as for any reader.  It helps me to pray better, to see more clearly where God is working, and to "decompress."  I suppose I could do this as easily in a journal.  But a journal, more than just personal, is private; a journal lends itself to narcissism, self-righteousness, self-pity, and isolation.  A journal is a means by which one addresses oneself without reference to another human.  A blog, in contrast, suggests that I am in conversation.  What I write here, I write for myself, but with the knowledge that others can and eventually will comment, thus deepening my own reflection and hopefully hastening my progress toward holiness.  

So, this blog, I hope, will be less about news and events and political discourse (there are plenty of other venues for these things), and more about God's continuing work of redeeming the world as embodied in one priest who wants to be a better priest and who wants to be holy.  To this end, I commend this work to the intercession of St. John Vianney and our Blessed Mother. 


Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us.  
St. John Vianney, pray for us.