Many have asked me how I am doing. I can in all honesty say that I am doing well. I am sleeping well; I am eating well; I am exercising well; I am praying well; I am relating to people well. In all the key aspects of life, I do believe I am doing well.

That being said, I do find myself in an odd, unsettled phase of life. I currently have no home (I am grateful to Fr. Scott for housing me during this transition). I don’t have a job per se (no parish assignment), but I still have plenty to do. I know where I am going, but I can’t go there yet. Most tasks have been completed, but there are still some outstanding. I am eager to be on my way, but sad about what I am leaving behind. It is just a weird time in my life.

It feels weird to be homeless. Jesus told the would-be disciple that “Foxes have dens and birds of the sky have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to rest his head.” (Luke 9:58) What else should a disciple expect than to follow the Master? Yes, I do have place to lay my head, but for now I have no home. It is not a bad feeling, but it does feel weird.

I love being a priest, I love doing priestly things. While I am still praying the Office and celebrating Mass every day, I am not pastoring any people. There is plenty to do, don’t get me wrong. It is amazing how the days go by as I go from one project to the next. None of them is particularly large, but each of them just takes time, and before you know it the day is mostly gone. This is my job right now. It is my job to make sure I am physically, mentally, and spiritually fit. This isn’t bad, it just feels weird.

I could keep going through the list, but all of it sums up with feeling weird. I know that all transitions, what some might call a liminal space, feel in some measure weird. I have made many transitions in life: leaving home for college, entering seminary, several different parish assignments. All transitions feel a little weird.

This one feels particularly weird, though. I may simply be more attentive than I was in my oblivious youth. Then again, this transition is very different from all those that I have been through before. How do I get through it? One day at a time, one step at a time, one task at a time. Whatever it feels like, eventually I will be through this, and on to a new adventure.