+Getting Sold on SOLT

Hello again.

Just got back this Monday from my trip to Corpus Christi to visit SOLT.  It was great!  I was very impressed by the way they live;  they have brothers, priests, sisters, and lay families all living together.  Not all in the same house, of course, but all in the same compound.  They gather to eat, pray, work, and have fun.  In fact, the particular charism of the Society is to do everything in "ecclesial teams" – involving all vocations.

I could find it in me to envy the kids, growing up in that environment!  (There were two families there, one with two kids, six and seven.  They’re *adorable*. 🙂  Lots and lots of "aunts" and "uncles".

Besides the Office (which is a no-brainer for any religious), they have a communal Holy Hour in the morning, with Benediction.  They pray the Rosary together too;  that’s something I’ll have to get used to.  Oh, and the Angelus, which I’ve never really learned by heart.

Corpus Christi is where the brothers in formation take philosophy classes, so I went with them.  I found the classes stimulating and fun.  One of the professors, the one teaching beginning logic, was… eccentric. 🙂  He looks almost stereotypically like a philosopher;  short guy with a snow-white beard.  He teaches that logic class almost entirely in Latin. (And most of the brothers are just starting out in Latin!)  He also wrote the textbook… which is also in Latin.  Refers to himself as Walterius. 🙂  I honestly think the guy thinks better in Latin than in English!  (And he’s apparently completely fluent in Greek and French, too.)

For my sake, though, (or so I’m guessing) he taught the class in English that morning.  But, he said, "I’ve got all this new material I want to get into, and I don’t want to introduce new material in English!"  Br. Juan said, "It’s Friday, Wally, you can make a penance of it."  With a delighted expression on his face, "Great idea!!" 🙂  Oh, there’s also a class ritual to set cups out and get coffee percolating.  Wally needs his coffee in the morning, straight and black. 🙂

I got interviewed by three different priests:  The vocation director, the regional "priest-servant", and one of the priest-servant’s assistants.  The first and the third went pretty well;  the third guy in particular had a real gift for setting me at ease, I felt I could tell him anything.  (Reminds me of the Bishop that way.)  The priest-servant seemed to be trying to discourage me;  I got a bit defensive.  I didn’t entirely like myself in that interview.

Anyway, they’re concerned about pretty much the same things the Dominicans were concerned about… but they’re willing to give me a shot.  They’re still reaching a decision about me, but the way things are leaning, it looks like they’ll invite me to come for their six-month Lay Formation program to become more familiar with the Society and to see how I hold up in community.  If everything works out, we can then look at brotherhood.  However, the vocation director gave me a priestly application form rather than a lay-member one, "Since that seems to be the way we’re heading," which was encouraging.  I’m going to fill it out some more after I post this.

They really worked hard to break the Lay Formation bit to me easily;  so much so that I really think they misread me.  I said to the vocation director afterward, "I had the impression you guys thought I’d be really disappointed by that.  I’m not!  I’m delighted you’re not just saying ‘No’!  You’re giving me a way to move forward, and that’s a huge relief."

I got to know a couple of the brothers reasonably well, but don’t see any need to get into that here.  They’re great guys.

My chronic cough was noticeably better in Texas, and got progressively better the longer I was there.  That pretty much nails the cause down as allergies, in my eyes.  I picked up some Claritin today, and will see how it does.  (The cough returned almost instantaneously upon getting home.)  Picked up a mild bug my last day, though, and it’s still hanging on.  (I think I was slightly feverish during my final interview;  at any rate I have the impression I babbled a bit. 🙂

On the way back, I got stuck in the Houston airport for eight (8!) hours, due to a delayed flight.  That was not one of the most fun and stimulating days in my life. 🙂  On the other hand, I got upgraded to first class, which was a totally new experience for me.  Good grief, that seat was more like a throne than anything else!  Very comfortable.  The food was quite good, too.  But the service annoyed me even more than it flattered me;  I’ve never had anyone act so subservient to me in my life, and I found it profoundly troubling.  I’d rather they were just polite and courteous, like they are to the coach passengers – I don’t need anyone to bow and scrape to me.  Scarily, though, I can see how someone could get used to that, even addicted to it;  how they could start to think they actually deserved it.  Yuck.  (The free alcohol could cause addictions too;  the guy next to me was slurping down scotch-and-waters the whole flight.)

In all, even if I could afford first-class, I probably wouldn’t use it again.  Too hoity-toity for me. 🙂 (I hardly even knew what to do with the hot towel they brought me before dinner. 🙂  But the leg- and elbow-room would be very welcome on long flights, even if nothing else would.

Beloved, please guide my steps.  I just want to do your will.  If you want me to be part of Our Lady’s Society, then let them and me both acknowledge that.  If not, please give us the grace to mutually recognize it and part amicably.

Your will, Lord, your will be done.  I know my own can’t get me far.

P.S.  This trip has been a real shot in the arm, schedule- and prayer-wise.  I’m getting up at 5 AM again for the first time in eons, and it feels great!  Have revived some habits, especially regarding the Office, that I’ve let slide during these dog-days of unemployment.  So in any case, it was a terrific trip!