Posted on June 25, 2010 - by Hubba

Little eChurch on The Prairie

A year or so ago, when he was still in the seminary, one of my chief delights on the interwebs was visiting the Saint Paul Seminary website to read the writings of now-Father Tyler Dennis.  Deacon Tyler (his station at the time) was in a stable of six or seven different contributors to the website, so he didn’t have to write every day.  And I eagerly awaited each of his missives.  It is unchristian but true to say that I never really enjoyed any of the other seminarians musings.  And I got to where I could tell them all apart.

Deacon Tyler’s writing, from a single sentence to several pages, was always profound.  He could write about a mystery of the Church, throw in a wry observation about country living or even a Baxter Black quote and wrap it all up in prose that bespoke years of reading and a ferocious intellect.

So when he was ordained a priest, while I was very happy for him, I was also bummed, because no longer being a seminarian he wouldn’t contribute to the Saint Paul Seminary website.  I asked him if he was going to start his own and he said “we’ll see.”

So it was with great joy that I received an email from Father Tyler directing me to his new blog (God Bless it, I hate that word!)

Fr. Tyler is now an associate pastor at the Cathedral of Our Lady Of Perpetual Help in Rapid City.  Of course, even for an associate pastor, the gig isn’t an hour of work on Sunday and then six days to write a sermon.  He’s got a full plate, and his writing, at least to me, reflects that somewhat.  It appears that Fr. Tyler has found that the working man’s life doesn’t afford as much time for flowery thinking (not that he had much extra time at the seminary) as the student’s.

But it’s Fr. Tyler nonetheless, and his writing bears the same signature.  This one seemed especially poignant to me, bringing up an issue I had never thought of.  I also liked the post about his parent’s changing tastes and experimenting with new and different cuisine (go to his website and scroll around ’til you find it, I don’t have time to link everything.)

Fr. Tyler would probably want me to say that visiting his blog is no substitute for attending Church.  But it’s an excellent supplement.

I’m happy to have you back on the interwebs, Father!