The Group

I would just like to say that I am so very fortunate to lead a discernment group who actually want to listen to the Lord's voice, and be the voice of the Church.

That being said, the Group of college students that I lead continue to amaze me . . . and support me. Instead of me driving to the college campus this week to hold the meeting, the Group came to the seminary. They joined us for evening Mass and dinner. The college connected to the seminary, along with the parish on campus, hosted a Festival of Praise, to which some of the Group's members were coming to anyway. So, following Mass and dinner, we joined in the P&W with Adoration for the evening. Following the FOP, we went to a local restaurant for dessert and fellowship. Wow. Just, "wow". It was great food and greater conversation. These students know how to connect with the Church, and with each other.

I've noticed, especially through this Group, that there are young people willing to listen to the calling of the Lord to a deeper relationship with Him, even though if they're not positive on where that calling will lead them. They, like many, are open to test the waters of discernment, only if this means that they discover that religious life isn't for them, or that married life is for them, but there's still something deeper to that call. The joy of leading this Group for the past year has allowed me to venture into different avenues of explaining the faith in new - and sometimes quite different - ways.

I've also become more secure in my own discernment through this Group. Their support of me and of my vocation has been an outstanding testimony to know that there are people who support you, who are even excited for your vocation, because, perhaps, they see themselves serving the Church in a similar fashion.

As we enter Holy Week, I pray that they - and all of us, for that matter - take the time to reflect on the selfless offering of Christ's love exampled to us by His death on the Cross. I look forward to entering the Paschal Mystery in a deeper, more reflective mode. I want to enter it for those I lead - and for those I will one day lead, God-willing.

We adore You, O Christ, and we praise You . . . for by Your holy Cross, You have redeemed the world.



Enjoy the journey . . .

Ummm......

I really don't have that much to say, but felt that I needed to post something . . .

Ummm........

This week has been good so far, and I'm excited that we're getting closer to Easter Break. I'm looking forward to being back at my assignment parish for the final time (officially) before ordination and I get a new assignment. Life has been good, and I'm glad for that.

I made up my mind tonight to go to iPraise, a weekly event that is held on the college campus here. I don't ever really decide to not go, but by the time it rolls around, I often forget. But not tonight. And I'm glad that I went. I needed that time to just sit and be. (Well, I stood the whole time, but you get the point.) It was an awesome experience, and I'm glad I set aside that time. With papers, projects, assignments and exams looming in the not-too-distant-future, I needed that hour outside the set time of community prayer to regroup and re-energize myself. (Not that I don't do this on a regular basis, but iPraise helps me regroup in a different way . . .) I feel calm once again, and ready to finish the week of classes tomorrow.

I just want Break to be here, so that I can be in the parish again. I really miss it. That's where I belong. Ultimately. Right now, I need to be where God has me.

Enjoy the journey . . . .

Things I've learned

God's been humble in teaching me new lessons and reminding me of old ones recently.

One of the lessons I've been reminded of and am constantly being retaught is about being able to trust in the Lord. I've been having my doubts as I approach my Diaconate ordination, and have been having a difficult time in turning over what I need to to the Lord. I had a few dark days a little over a week ago, but things have been better, and I'm happy for that. And I still get my moments of doubt, but I believe that the Devil's trying to get me away from here, and to not follow my vocation. I'm still here, and I'm not planning to go.

Another lesson is not to be judgemental of people. Not that I sit there and think things about other people, but I sometimes don't give them the benefit of the doubt. Recently I re-connected with a high school classmate on the (infamous) Facebook. I posted a link about the storm that's arisen over the Pope's comments about the use of condoms to prevent HIV/AIDS in Africa. My classmate made a comment about the link, and I thought, "Hmm. That's odd. I wonder what he exactly means by that." I checked out his page, and noticed the one group that he belongs to is a pro-life group on Facebook. I was a little shocked, to be honest. I mean, he and I were not the closest of people in high school: we were classmates who occasionally had a class or two together, and I didn't often think about where he stood on every issue. Honestly, it never crossed my mind. But I guess that I never associated him with a pro-life position because we had never really talked about it. It was a pleasant surprise to find out that he is pro-life, but I should not have jumped to any conclusions or presuppositions in my head, even if it was not even thinking about it in the first place.

Yes, God's been challenging me, but I need this. It's all for His will and work here on earth.

We're under the 70-day waiting period for ordination. I still have a few things to do before I really worry and focus in on it. But it will be there when I'm ready.


Enjoy the journey . . .

Break time

I'm taking a break from preparing for my Eucharist exam tomorrow. There's A LOT of information to remember, and my brain needs a moment to rest from re-reading my notes. (At least the ones that make sense.)

This semester is turning out a little different than what I expected. On paper, the schedule looks great. However, after actually living it, it's a bit hectic. It feels a little disconnected to me, and doesn't give me a good solid block of time to do things, except on Tuesday mornings and Fridays, which is difficult for me since I'm not a morning person, and end up falling asleep while reading or preparing other projects. I'm dealing with it - and, in reality, it's not horrific, just a little disconnected in the way I was hoping this new schedule would run. But it is what it is.

Well, back to the grind. I think I'll do okay on the exam if I can just remember how this information goes together.

Oh, well . . . .



Enjoy the journey . . .

Congratulations . . .

. . . to the Pittsburgh Steelers on their historic sixth Super Bowl victory!

One of the good . . . um . . . GREAT guys

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, C.Ss.R., pictured above, is one of my favorite modern guys who is on his way to canonization. I first learned about him in 2000, when he received his Beatification - the only North American to have this done in the Jubilee Year. He was a contemporary of Saint John Neumann, and both served in the Pittsburgh area at the same time. A local connection, yes - but it becomes a little more personal for me as he was the founding pastor of my first assignment parish, Saint Joseph Parish in O'Hara Twp. (The parish was founded in Sharpsburg in 1845, and relocated to O'Hara in 1960.)

A little bit about Blessed Seelos . . . (taken from a prayer card):

Blessed Francis X. Seelos, C.Ss.R., arrived in America in 1843. Having studied for the priesthood in Germany, he asked to be admitted to the Redemptorists with a view to future work in America. He was ordained in 1844. Three years after ordination, he was appointed Master of Novices and spent one-third of his priestly life training future priests. In 1860 the Bishop of Pittsburgh (the Right Reverend Michael J. O'Connor) wanted Father Seelos to be his successor. Father Seelos asked to remain a humble priest and his request was granted.

He was stationed in Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Annapolis, Cumberland (MD), Detroit, and New Orleans. He preached missions and retreats throughout most of what was then the United States. Transferred to New Orleans in 1866, he contracted yellow fever and died October 4, 1867. Many miracles are attributed to his intercession during his life and after his death.

I have placed my seminary formation under his intercession. I believe his prayers to be working for me. I received a first-class relic of him recently, and I now count it as one of my prized possessions. It's awesome to get to know this "humble priest", and I do pray that he will, one day soon, be canonized and recognized for the good he has done for the people of Pittsburgh, and the United States.

Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos, pray for us!

A prayer:

Bountiful God, in Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos You have given Your people a model for those who labor joyfully in Your earthly kingdom. May his smile dwell on those who find life burdensome. In him, our eyes continually behold the gentleness of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Amen.

All information presented here, and any further information, can be found at http://www.seelos.org/.

Enjoy the journey . . .

Thursdays

Thursdays . . . honestly, they've never been my favorite day of the week. (As Auther Dent says in Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, "I could never get the hang of Thursdays.") But I've learned to live with them. I mean, they're not going away any time soon, are they?

I realized tonight, however, how much I had missed attending our seminary's Adoration / Night Prayer / Benediction on Thursdays. Last semester, the Vocations Discernment Group that I lead met on Thursday evenings, and that wasn't a bad thing over all, but I did miss the coming together in prayer with my brothers. It didn't really hit me until we were singing the hymn for Compline. Something inside me breathed a sigh of relief hearing the guys sing. I was home.

I guess that I need these Thursday nights . . . it gives me a break in the week to be in community and in the presence of the Lord in a way that's slowed down and relaxed. It gives me a chance to just be in the midst of the insanity of seminary life. I allow myself to reflect upon the cup, the chalice that the Lord is asking me to drink from, and, on most occassions, I can say, "Yes". And, with diaconate ordination only 125+ days away, I was able to pray a song-prayer from my youth this evening, and truly understand the depths of the message:

Lord, make me like you.
Please make me like you.
You are a servant,
Make me one, too.
O Lord, I am willing;
Do what you must do
To make me like you, Lord.
Please make me like you.
Whatever you do, Lord,
Please make me like you.

Can I drink the cup that the Lord is asking me to drink from? At this moment, I believe I can . . . and that feeling grows each day. Some days the will and ability is strong than others. But, when it comes down to it, I just need to have faith in God and His will for me.


Enjoy the journey . . .