For Roman Catholic clergy, the liturgical year with its seasons and feasts celebrating the unfolding of God’s plan for our salvation, is of paramount importance. After 34 years of priesthood, however, one can get burned out on the symbolism, music, prayers and scriptures associated with it. Hence, I feel a need to refresh those ancient wellsprings of grace by proposing a sabbatical, whereby using a Roman retreat center as a base of operation, I could take short study trips to:

1. Egypt, to retrace the Exodus story so integral to the celebration of Jesus’ Passover as the Lamb of God. It would also allow me to walk the lands St. Francis of Assisi traversed in his peacemaking mission to the Moslems,

2. Spain, to observe and participate in what is arguably the most lavish observance of Holy Week in the world. Celebrating "Semana Santa in Sevilla" would allow me to appreciate the unique cultural filter that translated the Biblical events into the liturgical tradition that so inspired the Roman Catholicism of the Spanish Colonial Southwestern USA,

3. Israel, to study the Biblical archaeology of the Holy Land, retracing the steps of Jesus of Nazareth in the cultural, social, and historical milieu from which he emerged.