The last time you heard from me I was sharing resources for the 2026 ACME Workshop. As you know, major knee surgery grounded me and I was unable to attend. The injury I sustained was a complete rupture of the quad tendon. I will refrain from sharing all the details of what that actually means. Every time I try to explain it, all it does is make people’s faces cringe.
The healing time for this type of surgery is about six months. I’m just entering month five and I am happy to report that my physical therapist feels I am not only doing well, but am a little bit ahead of schedule. I have never had major surgery before so I just trust my medical team when they share these reflections.
I originally thought that being restricted to my living room comfy chair would provide me a lot of time to write posts for Sacred Space Astronomy. Hypothetically, it did! However, I also underestimated the mental stress of healing. I began to realize I needed to “shut down” not only physically, but also mentally and emotionally. (I do plan on continuing to share my experience with online astronomy – I did have some fun during the healing process!)
I am happy to report that I am starting to come out of “shut down.” I’m started to have a whole litany of firsts: First time walking without a walker, first time walking without a cane, first time preaching a homily standing up, first time being able to drive again, first time being able to visit my family, first time to go to my priest support group and so forth. In that spirit, I offer my first post since I felt a need to shut down.
Now… what do I write about. I must admit, I have had a lot of ideas over these past months, but every time I tried to put thought to pixel I felt a deep mental exhaustion. That combined with global conflict and its safe to say that motivation has been waining.
As of late, however, some events have chosen my first post for me. I was quite humbled and thankful that the Catholic Faith Network out of New York asked to interview me about my latest book, Behold the Heavens. After a timezone hick-up (thank you for your forgiveness), we were able to do a brief interview on their live broadcast. I want to express my deep thanks to Catholic Faith Network for supporting my book. Click here to learn more about Catholic Faith Network!
A second nudge to write this post came from a brother priest and a periodical. Fr. John Parr, a brother priest and the vocation director for our Diocese when I entered seminary, gave me a review of my book done by the Vermont Catholic.
The publication comes from the Diocese of Burlington, Vermont and one of its staff writers, Kay Winchester, wrote a very kind and flattering review of my book. I want to thank Kay for her beautiful review and I encourage the readers of Sacred Space Astronomy to check out the Vermont Catholic Magazine!
These two occurrences in prayer nudge me to offer some reflections on my book, but also explore some things I feel God may be calling me to write down for another book. Its always awkward to “promote my book,” since priests are discouraged from acts of self-promotion. For me, however, I never feel like sharing my reflections is an act of self-promotion. I just see them as sharing a beautiful part of my spiritual journey that God has blessed me with. Therefore, I look forward in the months ahead to get back on the horse and talk a little bit more about my book and start musing on what God is placing on my heart next.
For now, I would invite you to read Kay’s book review and start tuning into Catholic Faith Networks live broadcasts (they do a great job on world news). Thank you again Kay and CFN! Also, feel free to spread the word about Behold the Heavens! Take some time to contemplate the night sky and practice the spiritual work of mercy of Contemplating God’s Creation.
