So this happened last night.
I got a text from my friend Elizabeth Scalia with one word: “Congratulations!”
Attached was this screen grab, from the online edition of The Catholic Journalist, the publication of the Catholic Media Association (CMA).
To make a short story long: my bi-weekly column of scripture reflections for OSV News won First Place in its category at last night’s CMA Awards in Atlanta.
I’m speechless.
The judges wrote:
These columns are well-written. They are very much accessible to the average reader, and they are engaging in their use of plain-spoken language. The topics are at once timely and timeless. These are the types of column that someone would look forward to reading in each edition of the newspaper.
OSV picked up several other awards — Elizabeth took home a prize for her column — and the newspaper itself won First Place in its newspaper category.
You can find a listing of all the winners here.
Among other things, I was proud to see my old friends over at CNEWA got a big basketful of awards for ONE. Its blog took top honors, too.
I’m humbled and grateful beyond words. I think I need to invest in this tee shirt.
And then I need to give a big shout-out to Gretchen Crowe and Elizabeth Scalia, who had the idea of asking me to do this column in the first place. And here we are. I’m blessed.
(FWIW, here’s my latest scripture column, for this Sunday.)
Meantime … It’s early Saturday as I type. It’s going to be another hot day in Florida. I think I’ll go for a walk. Then I have to get back to work. I have two deadlines looming, and I have to start thinking about a homily for next weekend. We’re still unpacking boxes from last fall’s big move, so there’s a stack of cardboard in the garage still to be flattened. It’s laundry day here, so that’s waiting for me. And then we have shopping to do at Publix and later I have to head to the parish, to serve at the 5 pm Vigil Mass.
Life is good.