You may remember me mentioning to you that I am a member of the priestly fraternity in our Archdiocese called the Companions of Christ. One of our fraternity’s favorite scripture passages is Psalm 133. It begins, “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity…” Indeed, how good it is! The blessings and laughter continue to abound in the rectory of St. Mary’s church as we three priests seek to dwell in unity. I thought it would be a good time to give a little rectory update. Our common prayer life remains at the center of our household life. Most days of the week we gather for an hour of prayer in our house chapel for Eucharistic Adoration. This roots us in Christ and allows us to press onward and upward throughout the rest of the day. Our idiosyncrasies flare up, as it were, in the wee hours of the morning. Fr. Sandquist is generally orderly and quiet as a mouse (unless of course he’s making one of his breakfast shakes in the blender), Fr. Tom Niehaus is usually full of energy, even uttering loud cheering-like slogans, and I am usually dragging myself out of bed with eyes still half-shut. These characteristics tend to stand out also at the end of the day. As different as we all are in personality and disposition, it’s the Lord who unites us in prayer. The adventures continue in the house. A few months back we had a bug infestation. Not long after that we continued to see bats flying around the house. Fr. Sandquist still is basically a bat whisperer…he always seems to be able to “handle” the situation, even though he chooses to use my gloves to handle the bats. Just the other night Fr. Sandquist and I decided to do some laundry. Roughly 45 minutes after we began a load, hearing what sounded like running water, I decided to check on it. That running water sound was the sound of overflowing water pouring not only onto the floor but also leading down into the basement. About 2 hours later and roughly 20 gallons of water sucked up with the shop-vac, it was time for bed. We continue to share meals with each other at least twice a week during which the conversations oscillate between the mundane, the holy, the funny, and the practical. In this regard, we have been blessed by so many of you parishioners in your generosity toward us. You’ve provided meals, desserts, beverages, etc. for us time and again. Thank you so much! You have greatly contributed to the joy and sanity of our life together. Also, thanks to all of you who have invited us over to your homes whether individually or even daring to invite all three of us at once. Your hospitality is greatly appreciated! Finally, we do our best to keep the house in order. We rotate the responsibilities on various house duties. Fr. Tom Niehaus continues to admit that he basically doesn’t know how to grocery shop. Fr. Sandquist helps keep all of us lean when he’s on shopping duty because his idea of a well-stocked refrigerator is quite different from mine. Having said that, Fr. Sandquist is definitely the cook of the house. His latest masterpiece has been a fantastic chicken curry dish. I currently have the duty of keeping the kitchen tidy…let’s just say I rely a lot on my brothers for help. We know we are blessed to be able to live together, and we thank the Lord for it. It is somewhat of a rarity amongst priests these days. “How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity…” Thank you for allowing us to do it and for making our time together all the better through your prayers and generosity. God bless you!