First off, I’m sorry that it has been so long since my last post. As I have said before, life here is very busy, and I just didn’t get around to it last week.
So… after my last post I had a lot going on. I had the big Latin exam that I mentioned. It went pretty well. I made a couple of stupid mistakes, and there was some stuff that I just didn’t know well enough, but on the whole I was surprised. I ended up getting a B on it, so how can I complain.
I also ended up re-writing the paper that I had mentioned in a previous post. It was done, but I didn’t like it, and decided rather than chopping it up completely, which would be tough to make it flow, I just hit delete and started anew, it went pretty well, we’ll see what the grade did. I also had an essay exam for the same class last week; I feel that went pretty well too, I hope the priest that teaches it agrees.
Today I had an exam in my Catechism of the Catholic Church class. This was pretty easy. The priest in that class is teaching it as a fast paced overview into the Catechism, so that we know what is there to be able to look up details later. Because of this mentality the test was written to ensure that we retained the big ideas, very much geared towards my learning style, so I think that I nailed that test.
Aside from the tests and class work there have been a couple of cool things going on since I wrote last. On Wednesday of last week we had a Mass for the newly ordained. Those men who were ordained priests this past year returned (well most of them did, others had different obligations) for a Mass here. One of them was the presider at Mass, while another gave a wonderful homily tying the scripture readings to the experience of going through seminary and then being a new priest. It was wonderful to see the energy and enthusiasm that these men demonstrated. I think that one of the other great things about this Mass with the newly ordained was it being a reminder of what we are doing here. I often see guys making it appear as if the seminary is all that we are about… I don’t think that I’ve gotten to that point, but with the busy schedule it would be an easy trap to slip into. This Mass reminded us that there is a much greater goal in our time here, that of being out serving Christ and His people and bringing the Sacraments to them.
After that Mass I just had to get through the Thursday classes before having a three day weekend. I left right after my last class on Thursday and headed up to Stevens Point to spend time there. While I am truly loving my experience here, it is indeed nice to get away for a while. I got into Stevens Point about supper time, and got to hang out with my friends that I was staying with, and their two kids. I left after a while to go to supper with Fr. Tom, it was great to have that supper to talk about the experiences that I am having here at the seminary.
Friday I went to Mass at the Newman Parish and then spent most of the day just hanging out and relaxing, including a wonderful nap (it was great). I spent Friday Night with Fr. Tom and another priest going to supper again, and then going to a Play. I spent most of Saturday hanging out with the people that I was staying with and their kids. While I love their kids, and enjoy my time with them, I am not used to having a 1 and 2 year old running around, I excused myself for a while and met up with another great friend that I hadn’t seen in a while.
Sunday I got to go to both of the Newman Sunday Masses, it was great to be back with that community and talking to them about what is going on in my life. While I was talking to them I realized that I have absolutely nothing that I can complain about with my time here. My classes are wonderful, my classmates are wonderful, the living conditions are wonderful… I am amazed by the fact that everything is going so very well. It also kind of worries me, when I am I going to wake up from this dream? I hope that it continues this great, because I imagine everything being even greater after Ordination (still 6 years away, but I can think about it).
Well, with all the tests taking up class periods I don’t really have that much new material from my classes to talk about. I am preparing a presentation on Buddhism to give to one of my classes, a full 55 minutes. We are doing this with many other religions and other Christian denominations, just so that when we hear about them we have an idea of what is meant by each of these other faiths. It is not to refute their faiths claims or find ways to attack them, just to gain a better understanding of what they are about.
Oh, I almost forgot to mention. God has answered our prayers. The classmate that I mentioned previously who’s sister and cousin were kidnapped from their school in Uganda have been found and returned. I don’t know the extent of any injuries they might have received, but they are safely home, thank you to all who included these young ladies in their prayers.
Peace,
Adam
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