Dear friends and family,

Advent has rolled around again with that combination of reliving the
birth of the Incarnate Word from Mary and expecting his return as universal
Lord, before whom all rulers will bow to receive their judgment.

The year has been dominated by Judy’s heart condition, first diagnosed
in Sep 2015. Her cardiologist is pleased with her progress, but she still tires
easily and there have been ups and downs in her medication. Still, she is alive
and able to serve the Church in spiritual direction and pastoral counseling, so
we have much to be thankful for.

Partly due to Judy’s heart condition Gwen and Brent and their boys
drove down over their spring break to visit – a crazy trip, but one we
welcomed. We were even more thankful in that this is the first time any of our
children have visited us with their families. We are hoping for a family
reunion here next summer.

Judy did go to Canada in July, and Peter joined her for a part of that
visit. She did not do the cross-Canada tour she has done in previous years, but
remained based in Calgary, with Ian and Buffi and children coming to visit her
there. Thus  we did get to see all of our children and grandchildren (ages 2 – 19) during the year.

There were also some ministry trips: in March Peter went to Washington
DC and Baltimore for the annual Chrism mass of the Ordinariate, getting to
visit his brothers and family as bonus. Then Judy went to Little Portion
Hermitage in Arkansas in April for the BSCD Leadership Retreat; she and Peter
returned in late September for the BSCD Gathering, at which we were both
involved in ministry. A day or so later Peter flew to Boston for the National
Conference of Diocesan Vocation Directors, a very profitable conference. He had
flown to Omaha in July for the Institute for Priestly Formation retreat for
seminary formators (a lovely mostly-silent retreat). Then in October, just
after NCDVD he and Judy flew to Buffalo and were driven to a retreat center in
Niagara Falls, Ontario, for the annual clergy retreat of the Personal
Ordinariate of the Chair of St Peter, at which Judy led the track for the wives
of clergy. Then in late November Peter drove to San Antonio for the Society of
Biblical Literature meeting – he wonders if it will be his last time to attend.

[You can order Judy’s book directly from her – email is below]

But most of the year we have kept busy right here in Houston. Judy does
spiritual direction and pastoral counseling in the office next to Peter’s on a
two-day per week basis. She leads the BSCD cell group out at St Clare Monastery
on Tuesday evenings. Peter is still a priest-in-residence at Our Lady of
Walsingham and Director of Clergy Formation for the Ordinariate, which means he
is handling applicants for both the priesthood (both former Anglican priests
and celibate younger men) and the diaconate (a “from scratch” cohort will start
formation in January). His job finishes when he certifies to the bishop at
their ordination that the Church has found them “worthy” for ordination. He
also supplies in various parishes (and even for a Vineyard church), holds a
weekly service at a hospital (and then takes sacraments to patients on the
floors), and helps at St Clare Monastery. And he has churned out a series of
articles and kept up with editorial jobs for the Word Biblical Commentary. No
grass growing under our feet.

While we would like Judy to “get back to normal” (which one doubts will
ever be the case), we are in general quite pleased with our life here in
Houston. We would like to be more involved in the lives of our children and
grandchildren, but Judy does spend an afternoon or so weekly with her sister. And
so we look forward to what God will do in our lives this coming year – he is always
coming to meet us, not just as our incarnate Lord, but also as our reigning
king, whose promised “well done” is that for which we live our lives.

Grace and peace this Advent and Christmas season,

Peter and Judy Davids

1202 Seagler Rd., Apt 117

Houston TX 77042 USA

713-314-7886 (Peter) or 832-392- 9519 (Judy)

pdavids@icloud.com or jldavids@me.com