A Month in Omaha

A month in Omaha has passed so quickly, and I'm amazed at how much I fit into a short period of time. My time teaching in the Spirituality program at Creighton continues to be rewarding. The class on "Prayer and Christian Spirituality" keeps getting better. Of course, having excellent students makes it that much more enjoyable.

Omaha is a city on the move. The Old Market is expanding northward and westward. Hotels are now lining the blocks near the stadia and performance centers, and the Capitol District is setting itself up to become a prime entertainment destination. The Farmer's Markets in the Old Market have really gained steamed and many patrons visit regularly.

I'm amazed at the amount of construction and renovation that is moving from the Old Market to Mid-Town. The Thursday night music festivals regularly attracts thousands of fans. I would imagine the corridor connecting the two sections of town will be a major boulevard of high-end shops in two to three years. Creighton, likewise, is expanding and filling in the property leading from the school down to the ballparks.

The city has about 400,000 residents with 8 Fortune 500 companies. A lot of money resides in this town, and of course, Warren Buffett continues to live in his modest once-suburban house. Many sections of town are highly desirable: Dundee, Benson, and the western edges of town. Creighton continues to be the big university in the town, though University of Nebraska has a large student enrollment.

St. John Church, a diocesan church run by the Jesuits, is the place to worship. Omaha is a big blue dot in the red state.

I stay with the Jesuits who live in Creighton Hall, the main residence, and Ignatius House, a smaller community of two townhouses. The space is well-designed and it is quite easy to interact with the guys in the community. They are very welcoming and hospitable and I just enjoy my time with them.
I like worshiping with them and having nice meals together.

The Dean of the program where I teach is a good friend, Eileen Burke-Sullivan. She is a good administrator and a wealth of ideas and counsel. She has assembled a good team of teachers and we work diligently at forming a community while we are present.

The students are a nice mixture of priests, sisters, and lay men and women. They are dedicated to the church and they travel internationally to participate in this program. While the CSP is forming hearts and minds, another group called the Institute for Priestly Formation runs a month-long program.

I met many friends in the city and we enjoyed some time together: from visiting a friend's home, to seeing the location of the Cloisters on the Platte and the Holy Family shrine, to eating at famed ice cream places, like Zesto's, Dolci, and Ted and Wally's, to eating burgers at local haunts, visiting artist galleries and museums, to seeing films at Film Streams, and of course, going to the zoo. There's much to do in town, and it is walkable, which I like to do.

I thoroughly enjoyed my students and I was very pleased they were moved by the prayer class. I returned home to Boston today, but there are many people for whom I will pray during this next year. I feel blessed to have run into so many neat people.