Goodness, are we into the Third Week after Easter already?
Pope Francis has now been Pope for just over a month. I'm now slowly getting used to this fact. Unlike the first few days and weeks where I read everything about what he was doing, saying, (wearing), I now no longer pay much attention. Rather like normal, I suppose. With Pope Benedict, I read what he was saying and doing only intermittently, too. I just can't keep up with it all. I imagine this is the case for most people.

There have been a number of happenings since my last post. Most notably, I went to the Eternal City for five days, which was a wonderful yet exhausting experience. More on that in a bit.
Secondly, it was the end of Lent and Easter, which is always rather intense.
Thirdly, it looks like I'm set to move out of my parents' place into a flat with two friends.

First, my trip to Rome.
For long and convoluted reasons, I was lucky to attend a Church conference held in Rome. This meant some brilliant privileges such as a tour of the crypt to see the tomb of St Peter, and prime seats at Palm Sunday Mass in St Peter's Square. Fantastic. The conference itself was very interesting, though the days were long (12 hours) and things often ran late. More on that soon as it develops (and I figure out whether I can give more info).

Second, Easter.
Since my parish shares a priest with another parish, it was our turn to have the Triduum. This meant being drafted in for serving, singing and a bunch of other stuff*. In one way, this turned out to be a blessing, as I will explain later. I served Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and the Easter Vigil (getting out the thurible for the Thursday and Saturday!), while serving on Friday seemed largely pointless. Finally, I imposed myself on everyone for the last time on Easter Sunday, where I sang the Sequence**. In Latin. The good thing is that many people complimented me on it. I'd volunteered myself for it so people didn't expect me to sing it (I'm not a cantor or singer at my parish). I think the element of surprise actually helped as it was refreshing.

Third, moving out.
This is partly related to the previous point. Despite the relative success of the Triduum, the whole experience shed light on where my parish is and how it is faring. And also on how little can actually be done without the PP being on board. Or even on the same page. Comments during the Easter Vigil highlighted his hermeneutic and it crushed my spirits completely. The joy of the feast got me through it but I couldn't cope with it afterwards. This is convenient. I'm moving out at the end of the month into civitatem ipsam. This means that I'll be leaving my parish too. Time to move on. There's some excellent news in this respect. But that's for another time ;-)

*oh, alright, I admit I volunteered myself for everything!
**I love the Easter sequence Victimae paschali laudes