II. P. Sherman, 42 Wallaby Way, SYDNEY!!

(Giphy.com)

“Just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming” ~Dory

It was those words—and multiple rosaries—that powered me through to Sydney. The flights were fun, but they were long.

Random thoughts:

-What happens to the Sunday mass obligation if a traveller traverses the international date line in such a way that they skip over Sunday?

-One metaphor I hope to not be able to make is “I left my baggage at home.” Good to do with emotions and anticipations, bad to do with luggage!

Along the way, I was reminded of the fact that the world is a really small place when you have a proclivity to make friends. Before I took off from Boston, God introduced me to a very kind woman with an incredibly calm demeanor from Vermont (the home state of OJ, one of my best friends of all time). We started chatting about why we were both flying… you know, the usual flight banter. During a lull in the conversation, I broached a touchy subject for some Vermonters: the name for soft serve ice cream. If you know any Vermonters, and if they are true Vermonters, they will claim that you call them “Creemees.” No. It’s soft serve. Just soft serve… unless it’s maple, then you may call it a “maple creemee.”

But I digress, as I probably will a lot in this blog, so I hope you will forgive me; I promise there is a point!

You see, when we finally introduced ourselves, I learned this wonderful woman’s name: Martha.

My family members reading this will need no explanation as to the significance of the name of my very first friend I made on my journey. But for everyone else, Martha is the name of my late grandmother. This woman matched my grandmother (the mother of my father and his eleven older siblings) not only in name, but also in demeanor. She spoke incredibly well, with authority, but not harshly, and I left our conversation with a great feeling of serenity. The next 21+ hours of flying is going to be okay. God pulled strings for our paths to cross, that is for sure.

Once I landed in LA, I knew I needed to find something to eat, and so I did some research with my connection in LA, and settled upon a family establishment, one that I frequented for a little over a week when I was last in LA, called the D’Ambrosio’s. My uber driver was very friendly, and his generous parents fed me well! (Thank you Sebastian, Isabella, Helen, and Andrew!).

Again, none of this was planned in advance, but it did make me reflect on the bigger community that I am a part of.

This, as I was told by Fr. Michael, a Solomon Islander studying at (and just graduated from!!) PC, is the Solomon way. The Solomon Island community has a large family feeling, which is appropriate when I consider where I am traveling from. The McIntyre clan is over 60 strong at this point, and most live in Eastern MA, which means that we are incredibly fortunate to see a lot of each other around the many holiday and graduation parties. The Friar Family at Providence College, which needs no major introduction, has also been a phenomenal support system, as I am headed to live with Archbishop Christopher Cardone, OP, a Providence Alum himself. In light of this community feel, I would like to invite all of you, my beloved readers, to enter into the Solomon Community with me. Please, please, please feel free to ask me questions during my journey in the comments below, and share any prayer intentions as well! And I would like to invite anyone reading through the comments to also keep the shared intentions in their prayers! The more we pray for and with one another, the closer WE too can grow as a community united by our faith!

After writing all of that above, I can’t help but to think that, by landing in Honiara in about a week, I will be coming home in a way. Sure, it’s a different culture with different customs, perceptions, and foods, but it’s the same Eucharist, the same Jesus, and the same church. I find that strikingly reassuring and comforting. Where I can find A Cross, I know I can rest My Heart.

God bless.