What happens in Gloucester stays in Gloucester . . .

so don't expect a blow-by-blow account of the Long Retreat on these pages. I'll admit that making the Spiritual Exercises was an intense and unforgettable experience, but I can't say much more than that - partly because I'm still trying to make sense of it all. To reference the title of a classic Jesuit vocation book, I've begun the "Fifth Week" - i.e., Jesuit life post-Long Retreat. Sorry if this all sounds a bit trite, but I'm still a bit disoriented by the transition back to normalcy - that is, if the frequent transitions entailed in novitiate life can be considered characteristic of normalcy. This week's schedule is a perfect example. Last night we got back from Gloucester, today we basically hung around the novitiate getting reacclimated, and tomorrow we start teaching at Our Lady of La Salette School across the street. As noted in a previous post, the first-year novices will spend the rest of February and part of March teaching religion to the students at La Salette - I've got the seventh grade, which happened to be my first choice. I'm sure I'll have more to say about that and other topics in the coming days. For now, let me just say that it's great being back at Loyola House, it's great being able to post these Notes once again, and it's great being a Jesuit novice. AMDG.