20061001
Two Week Update
I have been in Balad, Iraq for two weeks now. I really have no idea what to say, really. There are basically two sides to my life right now. On the weekends, I am like a regular parish priest. I have three Masses (one Saturday evening at two Sunday morning). During the week, I am the chaplain for about 750 soldiers in my battalion. The third part of my job is still in the process of being worked out. That part is to visit places that do not have a Catholic priest permanently assigned to them. For reasons that sometimes frustrate me and that I will not get into here, I have not yet begun to visit those bases. It has been a month since many of those bases have seen a priest, so I am anxious to get started. Hopefully that will begin soon. Mostly, I am settling into life here. Here is an average day for me: 5am--I get up, exercise, and get ready for the day, about 7am--I get to my office to pray, do homily preparations, check email, the rest of the morning I do administrative stuff like attend battalion meetings, in the afternoons I am available for counseling and I visit the batteries (those 750 soldiers) that I am charged to take care of, at 5pm I say Mass with the Air Force priest at their chapel, and then in the evening I do more counseling, help with an RCIA class, or attend more meetings. On top of all of that, I am on call 24/7 for hospital duties and other emergencies. Counseling is probably the biggest thing that I do right now. Soldiers are dealing with a lot of stuff. They are far from home and they are sometimes witnesses to some pretty nasty things. There are a lot of problems but at the same time it is a real time of grace for them. The worse life seems to get, the more God seems to be present. Well, I hope that gives you a little better insight into my life right now. I will try to include a few more pictures. Feel free to write or email me any time. Any touch of home is appreciated. God bless all of you.
