My nightmarish return to the USA

I had a wonderful time in England seeing friends and meeting new people.  It was also great to use the new, corrected English translation of Mass.  Mind you, I would rather use the 1962 Missale Romanum, but the new translation is a vast improvement. I now have both experiential knowledge as well as theoretical knowledge.

The flight home to the US was just what you want from an intercontinental flight over the icy North Atlantic: boring.

However, on my arrival home the nightmare began.

First, I had a real nightmare of an exorcism that goes very wrong and wouldn’t end.  Very nasty indeed.

Second, after touching down I had great Chinese food for supper with one of my best friends of many years, but I, predictably, got a platitude cookie again.  I hate platitude cookies.

20111018-184303.jpg

Third, and worst, I had to use the lame-duck ICEL translation for Mass this morning.  Brrrr.

Oh Lord, have mercy.  Give me rest and peace and save us from platitudes!

27 November cannot come swiftly enough.

In the meantime, here is shot of Greenland, which most of us don’t see everyday.

20111018-184208.jpg

20111018-184237.jpg

20111018-184257.jpg

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
This entry was posted in Lighter fare and tagged . Bookmark the permalink.

23 Comments

  1. AnAmericanMother says:

    Father,
    Heartfelt prayers for you in your troubles. I’ll make sure to put you on my Rosary for tomorrow. Continue to pray for your intentions.

  2. Elizabeth D says:

    I think this must be your way of saying you highly enjoyed your trip! But soon you will set your own 1962 Missale on its stand, tie on your own maniple, and all manner of thing shall be well. [By the purification of the motive /
    In the ground of our beseeching.]

  3. ipadre says:

    Agreed! Can’t wait to be rid of this old Missal for the new translation on November 27th!

  4. thickmick says:

    Great shot, father. I am a big fan of pics from airplane windows and that is a great one!

  5. APX says:

    Ah, but I bet you didn’t fly Air Canada, so at least you never had to worry about the looming possibility of an airline flight strike. That just screams nightmare.

    I’ll make your nightmare a little better. I’ll make a biggish Mystic Monk order, and I’ll use your link.

  6. Phillip says:

    “First, I had a real nightmare of an exorcism that goes very wrong and wouldn’t end. Very nasty indeed.”

    So that’s what priests’ nightmares are about.

    As far as platitudes go, that one wasn’t TOO bad. Kind of inspirational in a mawkish sort of way.

    Can totally commiserate about the insane boredom accompanying transatlantic flights, though – and also about being kind of happy to see Greenland because I mean it’s just one of those places you sort of forget exists, and then you see it and you’re, like, “Oh. Now I’ve seen Greenland. Cool. Back to this abomination of an in-flight movie…” My last trip back from England I started to watch the second “Twilight” film just to see what all the fuss was about. About ten minutes into it I decided to force myself to watch the whole thing in a kind of ironic test of manly fortitude. It was, and I’m not exaggerating, the worst movie I have ever seen. EVER. So hopefully you at least had a good book or two to keep you company.

  7. danphunter1 says:

    Father, did you perform an exorcism en route, or where you referring to a morphean battle?

  8. tianzhujiao says:

    Welcome back home, Father.

  9. BaedaBenedictus says:

    I love seeing Greenland on my way back from the UK. It’s second only to flying over the Alps for me.

  10. pm125 says:

    … wonder if it was about a 6th grade boy in a catechism class upon whom I want to, out of love for the group and his place in it, somehow kindly lower a boom of hourlong quiet …
    Maybe verses from the Bible in fortune cookies.
    Thank you for the pictures and travelog bits.

  11. wanda says:

    Welcome home, Fr. Z. The pictures are beautiful. Glad you’re back safe on this side of the pond. Continuing prayers.

  12. Charivari Rob says:

    A platitude, perhaps, but powerful enough to be an irony cookie.

    Phillip – “…the worst movie I have ever seen. EVER. “

    In the in-flight category, I would nominate Copland. In that case, the “flight” was scheduled interstate bus service between Boston & NYC and the sound was put over speakers (so no option to simply not plug-in headphones). I can’t remember now if that was the same trip that the drive got on the public address system and said to the passengers “Does anyone know the way to the Manchester bus station? I’m lost.”

    I still shudder whenever I think of that movie.

  13. Supertradmum says:

    Why don’t you move to Dear Old Blighty, please….we need some good bishops.

  14. Peter G says:

    You will have to come and visit us here in Australia Fr.
    We can guarantee you top shelf hospitality

  15. benedetta says:

    I am glad that you had an enjoyable and inspiring visit to England, Fr. Z., in spite of the nightmares.

  16. Rich says:

    Father, one man’s trash is another’s treasure. First, that is the funniest platitude cookie I have ever seen. It’s as if the people who wrote it knew it was so utterly meaningless that perhaps it was too platitudnous to be included in the catalog of platitudes. Second, I within the past couple days have talked about the nature of Greenland vs. Iceland with my students, showing images from Google Earth to show how the former is white with ice and the latter green, and may even show your real life images to them today or tomorrow. I could not agree with you more about November 27, though. And, I am sure that neverending exorcisms are scary, as are nightmares about them. How one may muster hope in nightmares I am not sure, subsisting as they are within the realm of the subconscious. Perhaps we may learn to make subconscious acts of hope.

  17. Marius2k4 says:

    First, I had a real nightmare of an exorcism that goes very wrong and wouldn’t end. Very nasty indeed.

    Are you quite serious? If so, laudetur Deus that there’s a bishop willing to offer apostolic permission for this. Might I ask, was it a stateside ordinary or your patron from Rome? I’ve known people with issues in the past (and had some demonic oppression problems of my own) and have never been able to find anyone to take these sorts of things seriously. I’ve had a cousin lifted into the air by her heels after her parents experimented with the occult, etc… It would be good to know, in the future, where to turn.

  18. irishgirl says:

    Glad to know you’re safely back home, Father Z, and that you enjoyed your visit to Old Blighty.
    Those pictures of Greenland are really cool!
    I’ve been through a few nightmarish transatlantic flights myself, all due to labor disputes on the ground. Both times it was when I went to Lourdes (1986 and 1993). The last one in 1993 was the worst. Air France was going to lay off a lot of employees, and they went nuts on the tarmac at Charles deGaulle Airport, burning tires on the runways. At first it was thought that all the stranded passengers were going to be put up in hotels until the 24-hour strike ended; no deal, because nearly all the Paris hotels were booked for trade shows. But after some extended teleconferencing on the part of American Airlines (the carrier I was traveling on), both my New York flight and a Chicago flight were a ‘go’ for takeoff. Earlier, my flight was already seated and ready to leave, but after an agonizing wait (my poor seatmate, recovering from chemotherapy, was suffering horribly), we had to get out bags, go back to the airport, have lunch, then LATER ON got back on the plane for home. It was utter chaos. I missed my connection for home, and I either spent the night in an airport hotel in New York or got a later flight home.
    I was exhausted–and it didn’t help matters that I had my monthly ‘curse’ at the same time!

  19. Athanasius says:

    Third, and worst, I had to use the lame-duck ICEL translation for Mass this morning. Brrrr.

    Give me the demons any day!!!
    You need one of those old military chaplain’s 1962 Missals that are but a little larger than a hand missal yet still legible on the altar so that you can permanently rid yourself of such a problem!

  20. PostCatholic says:

    There are some very worrying fortune cookies out there, all right:

    http://is.gd/uKZU0i

  21. mike cliffson says:

    Tough about the nightmare, but praise our Lady of Loretto for a safe flight

  22. James Joseph says:

    My dad lived in Greenland when he was a young man.

    Cool eh?

  23. Fr Jackson says:

    “Those who wish to sing always find a song”. You know, I don’t this this is a platitude. I think it means that those who have an axe to grind always find something to complain about. Apply it to the liberal response to the new translation: they know it’s not that bad, but they will find many vocal reasons not to like it!

Comments are closed.