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This meal we share on Thanksgiving is not too different from the meal Christ shared with his disciples. But this meal was more than ancient Israeli cuisine. Jesus said, “Take, eat; this is my body. ”Then he took a cup, and after giving thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you;  for this is my blood.” In these enduring words, Christ calls our attention to his Crucifixion. And yet, he gives thanks! How can he be grateful knowing he is in the face of unimaginable suffering?

Wednesday is my favorite day of the week. By all accounts it has no right to be, but late in the evening on Wednesday, deep in the suburbs of Bethesda, I get the opportunity to spend a little over an hour teaching sixth graders at Little Flower Parish about the Catholic faith. And in this unassuming assignment, God revealed to me a real, unexpected joy.

This summer I was preparing to enter medical school at Georgetown University when I began to seriously consider entering seminary. It was precisely this human love that prompted it all. True love multiplies. The love of my married friends begets a certain spiritual generativity--it opened my heart to a spiritual reality. Their love and their marriage is, in a very real sense, for the whole world.

The Nats were the oldest team in baseball, but given the fun they had down the stretch, they could have been mistaken for the youngest. The best priests are men who never "grow up.” They remain children at play, living only and always in their identity as beloved sons--completely dependent on a good Father.