I am nestled into my bed at St. Joseph Seminary, north of New Orleans, Louisiana. Tomorrow morning I am going to speak at the fourth-annual Abbey Youth Festival.

My plane landed in New Orleans at eleven tonight. A seminarian named Mike from Baton Rouge picked me up. It was late and we didn’t have much time to bang around the French Quarter or swing by my old Real World house.

We drove across the 25-mile Causeway Bridge over Lake Ponchatrane. When we were filming the Real World, Jamie borrowed a Plymouth Prowler and cruised over the bridge one sunny afternoon. With the top down and water everywhere, he had to feel like he was on a boat.

The bridge is perfectly straight for all twenty five miles. So use your cruise control and prop your knee against the steering wheel, and you don’t have to do anything for the next half hour. There are actually signs that demand, “No Reading While Driving.” You’d have to see it to believe it.

We arrived here at the Abbey tonight at midnight and I had a plateful of New Orleans food waiting for me. After not having a meal in 30 hours, it could not have tasted better. It’s the kind of meal that you want to eat with your eyes closed.

I had dinner with four seminarians. They were such genuine, fascinating people.

This place holds a special place in my heart. It’s a seminary where young men discern whether or not God is calling them to become priests. There is such a vulnerability and openness with each guy you meet. They are putting it all out there. It’s heroic.