This was my biggest fish of the trip. It is a King Salmon which the guide estimated at about 30 to 35 pounds. It was a great deal of fun to bring this fish in. Afer the photo, I placed the fish back in the water and it swam off to rejoin its pod. 

Here is the group of us six fisherman on the last day on the river. I am at far left and my dad is next to me. 

Our fearless guides from the AlaskaQuest river adventure company. They did a great job. The man on the left runs the business and offers many great Alaska adventures. If you want a great guide service, I highly recommend AlaskaQuest. Hit their link above and book your next river adventure!

RCIA Summit 2006
Many faithful readers may recall that back in June, Fr. Tharp and I gathered at an undisclosed location for several days of work and prayer on our parish RCIA programs. We called the gathering the RCIA Summit. It was a most fruitful gathering and we are very excited to implement our new ideas for RCIA. The photos below show three moments of the summit.

We began the RCIA Summit, evaluating the current state of RCIA programs as we know them and as we have run them in our various parishes. Here, Fr. Tharp's face shows his clear displeasure upon recognizing some of the deficiencies in the RCIA program which our summit set out to address and rectify. 

We spent time in prayer, imploring the Lord's presence in our work to provide good parish formation for people desiring to encounter Christ through his Church. Here, Fr. Tharp closes his breviary after one such moment of prayer. 

Here, Fr. Tharp is showing those pearly whites as we come to a very fruitful end of the RCIA Summit. You can just read on his face: I love it when a plan comes together! 

Where in the world has Fr. Hamilton been?
Sorry, folks, that I have not blogged in so long. I tried to post some of these photos earlier this summer but my computer wasn't cooperating. Then I went on vacation and then I have been swamped with many wonderful programs in the parish. So, here I am with a few minutes before Benediction and the computer is cooperating now. I'm still here and I have not decided to abandon the blog, despite my silence these many, many weeks. Below are some photos of the final (finally!!) stage of my moving into the parish I have served since August of 2005. Yes, it has taken that long to effect the whole move.

Back in June we moved the last bit of my predecessor's stuff out of the rectory and moved some replacement furniture in. The rectory stairwell is so narrow and steep that there is no way to move even average-sized things via the stairs. So... we had to use some parishioners' ingenuity to take things in and out of the second floor window of the rectory, using this tractor with makeshift platform. It all worked well, and took only about an hour to move the old bedroom furniture out and the new stuff in. I had been fretting about this adventure for close to a year (since I moved here in August 2005). I was just sure that furniture would get damaged and people would get hurt. Once I saw how sturdy the tractor platform was I felt much better. It proved to be a very smooth process with no problems whatsoever.

Here is a close up shot of the front end of the tractor with engineered platform. The expert parishioner drivers of this tractor were able to keep the platform level as we rode up and down on it with furniture. 

Where In The World Is Father Tharp?

Here I am coming to your town, Wichitonians! Tonight, I will drive to OKC, then spend the night with a priest friend who will be attending the conference with me. We leave around noon tomorrow and then the Ragemonkey Founder will be on the look out for rageworthy topics. You know the drill: if you see me and you are a reader, stop over and give an in-person shout-out!

Your Personality Is

Rational (NT) You are both logical and creative. You are full of ideas. You are so rational that you analyze everything. This drives people a little crazy! Intelligence is important to you. You always like to be around smart people. In fact, you're often a little short with people who don't impress you mentally. You seem distant to some - but it's usually because you're deep in thought. Those who understand you best are fellow Rationals. In love, you tend to approach things with logic. You seek a compatible mate - who is also very intelligent. At work, you tend to gravitate toward idea building careers - like programming, medicine, or academia. With others, you are very honest and direct. People often can't take your criticism well. As far as your looks go, you're coasting on what you were born with. You think fashion is silly. On weekends, you spend most of your time thinking, experimenting with new ideas, or learning new things.

The Three Question Personality Test

Okay, riddle me this, Batman and other readers

The pattern of these events seem to be increasing in frequency but that's not what has me puzzled. Why do these things happen in open water? Are they afraid that diocesan sacramental guerilla soldiers are going to break in and so they need to be in open water? I mean that's just silly; after all, if a diocese has ground troops, don't you think they are going to have marines?

Much Rejoicing And Many Prayers for a Speedy Recovery

Attention All Oklahoma Catholic Readers!

How this slipped past my media sense without it tingling I will never know? Apparently, when I wasn't looking, the Archbishop of Oklahoma City, Eusebius J. Beltran, was featured on Catholic Answers LIVE yesterday. He spoke on the Sacramentality of Marriage. You can find a link to this feature on the show calendar. It is on July 31.

Summon Mr. Spock To Calculate the Odds of This One

What I would love to figure out is how stupid the woman who passed this ID was/is.

He's one of my favorites: enjoy this homily if you were told to share this previous weekend

An Insider's Analysis

As a priest with a penchant for all things Dominican, I often make jokes (that are largely accurate) at the Jesuits'expense. That is why I found this interview interesting; it seems to confirm and dispell my suspicions all at once.

Well, this is disappointing to say the very least...

Sic Transit Gloria Mundi

What JFK couldn't accomplish, time will do for us. The history of Cuba is one of those that makes you cringe at all the missed opportunities, corruption, et cetera.

What I find interesting about this whole thing is two fold. First, apparently, recently, Castro invited the Holy Father to visit Cuba. Now, the invite will be turned down, I suspect, because of Benedict's age. At the same turn, however, could this be the sign of a heart who is tired of his flight from God?

Second, reports out suggest that his brother Raul, to whom Fidel relinquished his stranglehold of Cuba, is more radical than he is. Well, that remains to be seen. It sounds as though Fidel will be back on the job soon, but if Fidel should die, I think we might have a case of "the devil you do know is better than the devil you don't."