Corrupting the young priest

Last night the cast of characters in my dream included Barb, two students, Bruce and Jason, (two Northwest JVs), Jeff Yates (from Kenyon), and Kanye West. I went to bed kind of feeling antisocial because I had been out with people all weekend, but in my dream I had to go undercover and never speak to anyone I knew again. And I was so sad when I woke up thinking about never seeing those I loved again.

We've had a Jesuit novice staying with the priests for the last three weeks. He's 21 and used to be a marketing major, until his junior year when he switched to philosophy, and then dropped out of school to become a priest. He's been hanging out with us. He said his superior told him "Now remember, no ass, no grass, and go to daily mass." It's hard imagining him as a priest, because although he's really committed, in some ways he doesn't seem like the type. The father general of all the Jesuits in the world (known as "the black pope" for the power he has) came to Portland and James cornered him for half an hour. When the priests realized he was alone with the father general, two of them came running. James was asking him if he had a private plane (no), and if he really prayed for an hour and a half every day, "Because I usually skip some of that." the father general told him, "My whole life is a prayer".

James was getting a little bored in our small town and our priests, while wonderful, are still at least three times as old as him. So on Friday we took him out bowling at the VFW and drinking afterwards. He said his superior only said "no grass", nothing about alcohol. James was incognito, so it was amusing to see all the men fluttering around Donna watching her talking to James and getting jealous. Barb was invited to play with some league bowlers who were practicing for their game next week, and bowled the best game of her life (172) and beat them all. They were all joking that she was hustling them and what could you expect from a woman from Chicago? The bar was almost empty because it was basketball tournament time, so Maureen and I were able to have a pool table all to ourselves. All in all it was the best night so far at our favorite bowling alley/bar.

Then at closing time we made the 40 minute drive back home. It always seems longer leaving than coming. As we were talking in the car, we all decided that we must watch Zoolander right that minute, to fill Barb and Donna's shameful ignorance of the wonder. Then James crashed in one of our spare bedrooms, slept in, and missed mass on Saturday morning.