Day 8 at the Genesee Monastery

I have been here at the Abbey for 8 days. It is a wonderful experience. The Monks are very kind gentle souls. They pray hard and they work hard. I am especially edified by how much they care for the senior monks. This is a concern for lots of religious communities nowadays and a real sign of the health of community life. Getting up at 2:00 AM for Vigils is really not hard at all. Actually it is really kind of nice to rise with the monks and sing the psalms.  The hard part is going to bed at 7:00 PM to be able to get up at 2:00.
I have been doing a lot of praying, reading, walking, and thinking. The whole experience has been very moving. My transfer to St. Paul's in Kensington CT has been voted on and will be announced this weekend. I already received a very nice note from a parishioner welcoming me.
Lest you think I am getting holy or something. Today for the first time I left the Monastery and went into Genesso to have a McDonalds Hamburger and a chocolate kiddie cone. Somethings never change. The food is great here but the monks eat healthy and there is no meat in their diet. You know me and eating healthy are not usually in the same sentence, hence the escape to McDonalds.

Peace and Prayers
Fr. Bob
By the way for all you skeptics who said "the poor monks" when you heard I was coming here. I have been able to keep quiet and not disturb the peace.