Hello everyone,
Here is the reflection that I will be giving at the nursing home tomorrow. As normal I have attached the readings for tomorrow after the reflection so that you can see what I am talking about if you wish.
I know that I haven't put up a post in two weeks. Sorry, but I was very busy last week with Holy Week stuff. I will try to write about that soon.
Peace,
Adam
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Although these readings are obviously great stories of joy I always find them a bit of a downer during this Octave of Easter. While they both have great results they also both contain some quite disturbing and sad pieces. The first reading from the Acts of the Apostles has a man who has suffered his whole life with a crippling disease. For this whole time he has had to be carried by his friends, probably not a joyful task for them, so that he could beg for the meager gifts from those going to pray.
Jesus, rather than simply talking to the disciples on the road to Emmaus about the glory of God and the meaning behind the resurrection points first to the suffering that He had to endure.
There is an old saying that we wouldn’t enjoy the beautiful weather if not for the cold, the snow, and the rain. But the good days don’t come about because of the bad, they are good in themselves.
The crowds in the first reason weren’t amazed just because of seeing a crippled man; this is an all too common occurrence in our world. They were amazed to see him walking.
In the case of Jesus, we don’t gain our salvation through His suffering; we are given this wonderful gift because of His resurrection.
This is true, but He did have to suffer, because we have earned this suffering through our sins and He wanted to pay this price for us.
The glory of Easter is in the rising, but it follows closely from the suffering. We can do this too. There is a theological understanding that we are able to offer our pains and sufferings for others. When we are in pain, yes, we want to get rid of it. However, while it is there you can ask God to show you the Grace to suffer with dignity. You can ask Him to use the Grace from suffering with dignity to open the hearts of others to His love.
Our suffering isn’t the cause of this joy; we can do this same thing through our prayers. Our suffering isn’t the cause, but it can be turned into a good, just as the resurrection of Jesus or the crippled man’s ability to walk.
We are still in Easter time, let us celebrate that, and if we are suffering we can offer it for the salvation of all the souls.
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Wednesday in the Octave of Easter
Reading 1
Acts 3:1-10
Peter and John were going up to the temple area
for the three o’clock hour of prayer.
And a man crippled from birth was carried
and placed at the gate of the temple called “the Beautiful Gate” every day
to beg for alms from the people who entered the temple.
When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple,
he asked for alms.
But Peter looked intently at him, as did John,
and said, “Look at us.”
He paid attention to them, expecting to receive something from them.
Peter said, “I have neither silver nor gold,
but what I do have I give you:
in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk.”
Then Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up,
and immediately his feet and ankles grew strong.
He leaped up, stood, and walked around,
and went into the temple with them,
walking and jumping and praising God.
When all the people saw him walking and praising God,
they recognized him as the one
who used to sit begging at the Beautiful Gate of the temple,
and they were filled with amazement and astonishment
at what had happened to him.
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Lk 24:13-35
Gospel
That very day, the first day of the week,
two of Jesus’ disciples were going
to a village seven miles from Jerusalem called Emmaus,
and they were conversing about all the things that had occurred.
And it happened that while they were conversing and debating,
Jesus himself drew near and walked with them,
but their eyes were prevented from recognizing him.
He asked them,
“What are you discussing as you walk along?”
They stopped, looking downcast.
One of them, named Cleopas, said to him in reply,
“Are you the only visitor to Jerusalem
who does not know of the things
that have taken place there in these days?”
And he replied to them, “What sort of things?”
They said to him,
“The things that happened to Jesus the Nazarene,
who was a prophet mighty in deed and word
before God and all the people,
how our chief priests and rulers both handed him over
to a sentence of death and crucified him.
But we were hoping that he would be the one to redeem Israel;
and besides all this,
it is now the third day since this took place.
Some women from our group, however, have astounded us:
they were at the tomb early in the morning
and did not find his Body;
they came back and reported
that they had indeed seen a vision of angels
who announced that he was alive.
Then some of those with us went to the tomb
and found things just as the women had described,
but him they did not see.”
And he said to them, “Oh, how foolish you are!
How slow of heart to believe all that the prophets spoke!
Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things
and enter into his glory?”
Then beginning with Moses and all the prophets,
he interpreted to them what referred to him
in all the Scriptures.
As they approached the village to which they were going,
he gave the impression that he was going on farther.
But they urged him, “Stay with us,
for it is nearly evening and the day is almost over.”
So he went in to stay with them.
And it happened that, while he was with them at table,
he took bread, said the blessing,
broke it, and gave it to them.
With that their eyes were opened and they recognized him,
but he vanished from their sight.
Then they said to each other,
“Were not our hearts burning within us
while he spoke to us on the way and opened the Scriptures to us?”
So they set out at once and returned to Jerusalem
where they found gathered together
the Eleven and those with them who were saying,
“The Lord has truly been raised and has appeared to Simon!”
Then the two recounted what had taken place on the way
and how he was made known to them in the breaking of the bread.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Praying for Matt
Wow, what a week.
Last week started out as normal as can be. I was writing papers and preparing for and taking midterm exams.
On Thursday that all changed. When I got done at the library a little before 4:30 I was looking forward to a night of cramming for my medieval philosophy exam when I got a phone call. I answered it and was surprised that the first words out of the guys mouth were, “Adam, have you heard the news?” Needless to say, that got my attention. When my friend on the phone told me that another of my close friends had been working out and had a heart attack I think I swore at him that you shouldn’t kid about something like that… sadly he wasn’t.
Matt, one of my Diocesan Brothers (what we call others from the same diocese) had been working out on the exercise bike when he just fell over with no pulse and no breathing. He doesn’t work out real, hard, he even reads while working out so it seemed particularly odd. Thank God that there were others down in the workout room while he was there, we have all been talking about how often we are alone down there, depending on our schedules.
One guy immediately started CPR while another ran to get help, from the school nurse and calling 911. As Grace would have it the one going to get help ran into a seminarian who had been a doctor before starting here, and he grabbed the AED off the wall and went down. The doctor had just happened to get out of class early at that time. Matt had to be shocked twice with the seminaries AED and once with the paramedic’s AED here and then twice again at the hospital. The paramedics were here very quickly since the fire station is close by.
In addition to immediately starting CPR and sending the doctor down a priest was sent down to perform Anointing of the Sick, one of the sacraments of the Church. This sacrament is often called “Last Rites” but that is a secular misnomer. Anointing of the Sick is for healing as well as a blessing at the time of death, whichever way God wills it. It is simply a sacrament of God’s Grace. This would have been a part of a total of last rites given at the bedside of a dying person, along with a final sacrament of Reconciliation and a final reception of the Eucharist. That is why society misunderstands this sacrament.
Prayers for Matt started immediately, a group of seminarians were praying the rosary in the hallway as the paramedics were working on Matt. All of us took a break from whatever we were doing to say a prayer for him. We were all calling people, e-mailing people, and posting to our Facebook pages asking for prayers for Matt. Through connections that I’m not sure that I follow how they all happened Matt was an intention in the Mass offered by the Pope on Friday morning. Matt has been in seminary at various levels for a long time, so he has many connections. A Cardinal from the Vatican called the hospital to get an update on Matt, so prayers were very abundant.
I went over to the hospital at about 6:30 Thursday evening and was able to see Matt in his room in the ICU at about 8:40. He had been put into an induced coma so that his body wouldn’t be straining while trying to recover.
I saw him a couple of more times on Friday while trying to also go about a somewhat normal day. Friday evening we had a special holy hour for praying for Matt. The vocation director, Fr. Hirsch, from the La Crosse Diocese came down to lead that. We were told on Friday that at about midnight they would start trying to bring Matt out of the coma.
On Saturday morning I went over to the hospital and while pulling up in my truck I saw Matt’s mom walking in. I asked her how he was doing and immediately knew that it hadn’t gone well. The doctors hadn’t liked what they saw in Matt’s numbers so they put him back into the coma. I didn’t go see him then because I figured it was best for just his family to be with him. The same thing happened once more on Saturday. Sunday morning they were able to bring Matt out of the coma.
When I went over on Sunday I was told that he had been able to flutter open his eyes, but not keep them open. Another La Crosse seminarian and I went into the room and talked to Matt a bit, but he didn’t wake up so we went to just praying silently. After a while he opened his eyes. We talked to him for a minute about how well he was doing before telling him to go back to sleep and rest. A while later one of Matt’s good friends came in and woke Matt up on purpose. He had him try to squeeze his hand, and he could do it!! He could only do it with one hand due to swelling, but it was very exciting. The next thing he asked Matt to try was to wiggle the toes on one food. He could do that, and even follow directions of right and left. I was so overjoyed to see that.
After that it has been a steady rise up for Matt. They pulled out the ventilator tube and the first question out of his mouth was, “Can I still be a priest?” Because he is more alert now, but still weak they are asking for no visitors. Matt is the kind of guy that won’t rest when people are there because he wants to entertain them… so it is good to avoid it and let him rest.
Tonight we had a scheduled address by the formation dean here. Instead of that he brought in the chief nurse from the ICU to talk about Matt (with the family’s permission). She said that his recovery so far has been the best she’s seen in 34 years of nursing and truly gives the prayer credit for that. She was very excited at the way that this all is going. Tonight Matt is scheduled to be moved from ICU to a regular room. They will see where it goes from there if he can go home or has to go to a rehab center.
Matt is by no means fully recovered yet so any prayers are appreciated. But at the greatness of his recovery we can sure see that the prayers so far are being answered.
Peace,
Adam
Last week started out as normal as can be. I was writing papers and preparing for and taking midterm exams.
On Thursday that all changed. When I got done at the library a little before 4:30 I was looking forward to a night of cramming for my medieval philosophy exam when I got a phone call. I answered it and was surprised that the first words out of the guys mouth were, “Adam, have you heard the news?” Needless to say, that got my attention. When my friend on the phone told me that another of my close friends had been working out and had a heart attack I think I swore at him that you shouldn’t kid about something like that… sadly he wasn’t.
Matt, one of my Diocesan Brothers (what we call others from the same diocese) had been working out on the exercise bike when he just fell over with no pulse and no breathing. He doesn’t work out real, hard, he even reads while working out so it seemed particularly odd. Thank God that there were others down in the workout room while he was there, we have all been talking about how often we are alone down there, depending on our schedules.
One guy immediately started CPR while another ran to get help, from the school nurse and calling 911. As Grace would have it the one going to get help ran into a seminarian who had been a doctor before starting here, and he grabbed the AED off the wall and went down. The doctor had just happened to get out of class early at that time. Matt had to be shocked twice with the seminaries AED and once with the paramedic’s AED here and then twice again at the hospital. The paramedics were here very quickly since the fire station is close by.
In addition to immediately starting CPR and sending the doctor down a priest was sent down to perform Anointing of the Sick, one of the sacraments of the Church. This sacrament is often called “Last Rites” but that is a secular misnomer. Anointing of the Sick is for healing as well as a blessing at the time of death, whichever way God wills it. It is simply a sacrament of God’s Grace. This would have been a part of a total of last rites given at the bedside of a dying person, along with a final sacrament of Reconciliation and a final reception of the Eucharist. That is why society misunderstands this sacrament.
Prayers for Matt started immediately, a group of seminarians were praying the rosary in the hallway as the paramedics were working on Matt. All of us took a break from whatever we were doing to say a prayer for him. We were all calling people, e-mailing people, and posting to our Facebook pages asking for prayers for Matt. Through connections that I’m not sure that I follow how they all happened Matt was an intention in the Mass offered by the Pope on Friday morning. Matt has been in seminary at various levels for a long time, so he has many connections. A Cardinal from the Vatican called the hospital to get an update on Matt, so prayers were very abundant.
I went over to the hospital at about 6:30 Thursday evening and was able to see Matt in his room in the ICU at about 8:40. He had been put into an induced coma so that his body wouldn’t be straining while trying to recover.
I saw him a couple of more times on Friday while trying to also go about a somewhat normal day. Friday evening we had a special holy hour for praying for Matt. The vocation director, Fr. Hirsch, from the La Crosse Diocese came down to lead that. We were told on Friday that at about midnight they would start trying to bring Matt out of the coma.
On Saturday morning I went over to the hospital and while pulling up in my truck I saw Matt’s mom walking in. I asked her how he was doing and immediately knew that it hadn’t gone well. The doctors hadn’t liked what they saw in Matt’s numbers so they put him back into the coma. I didn’t go see him then because I figured it was best for just his family to be with him. The same thing happened once more on Saturday. Sunday morning they were able to bring Matt out of the coma.
When I went over on Sunday I was told that he had been able to flutter open his eyes, but not keep them open. Another La Crosse seminarian and I went into the room and talked to Matt a bit, but he didn’t wake up so we went to just praying silently. After a while he opened his eyes. We talked to him for a minute about how well he was doing before telling him to go back to sleep and rest. A while later one of Matt’s good friends came in and woke Matt up on purpose. He had him try to squeeze his hand, and he could do it!! He could only do it with one hand due to swelling, but it was very exciting. The next thing he asked Matt to try was to wiggle the toes on one food. He could do that, and even follow directions of right and left. I was so overjoyed to see that.
After that it has been a steady rise up for Matt. They pulled out the ventilator tube and the first question out of his mouth was, “Can I still be a priest?” Because he is more alert now, but still weak they are asking for no visitors. Matt is the kind of guy that won’t rest when people are there because he wants to entertain them… so it is good to avoid it and let him rest.
Tonight we had a scheduled address by the formation dean here. Instead of that he brought in the chief nurse from the ICU to talk about Matt (with the family’s permission). She said that his recovery so far has been the best she’s seen in 34 years of nursing and truly gives the prayer credit for that. She was very excited at the way that this all is going. Tonight Matt is scheduled to be moved from ICU to a regular room. They will see where it goes from there if he can go home or has to go to a rehab center.
Matt is by no means fully recovered yet so any prayers are appreciated. But at the greatness of his recovery we can sure see that the prayers so far are being answered.
Peace,
Adam
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Class retreat
Hi everyone,
It is midterm week, and I have exams in three of my five classes and another exam next week. So, needless to say my nose is in a book most of my free time.
Last Friday my class went to a convent in Racine, WI for a short retreat. Most of the seminarians here have a cam retreat (remember, a cam is the hallway that people live on). Since the first year Pre-Theology guys like me all live on two cams, and some years one, ours is done as a class retreat. It was a very, very short retreat. From the time that we left until the time that most guys got back was only a bit over 21 hours… and two of those hours were driving, plus sleep time.
The convent that we went to is called the Siena Center, at least on the side that is open for retreats, other than that it is the motherhouse of the Racine Dominican Sisters. It is a very nice set up for a retreat.
We ate supper and prayed evening prayer together at the seminary before heading out. When we got to the convent we took a little bit of time to organize our rooms and then met for a talk by a couple of my classmates. The theme of the retreat was “Who do you say that I am?” which is a quote from Jesus talking to St. Peter. The first talk was on the biblical images of Jesus.
After that we had a bit of free time and then prayed night prayer together. After night prayer I was leading Taize prayer. This is a musical prayer in which a simple verse of prayer is repeatedly sung as a guide towards meditation. Some of the guys had never prayed using Taize prayer, they seemed to like it. Taize is one of my favorite forms of prayer so I was glad that I could lead that.
Some guys went to bed, while some took a walk down to Lake Michigan which the convent’s property touches. A few of us just sat around playing cards and relaxing in each other’s company without school or obligation time immediately hanging over our heads.
In the morning we prayed Morning Prayer and had Mass before going to breakfast. After breakfast was another talk, this one on the priestly image of Jesus. We followed that by a break for relaxation and games. I went and sat by the lake for a bit in prayer before returning to the group room and joining in a game of charades. We all gathered together and prayed a rosary together while going for a walk outdoors. The rosary ended right about the time for lunch. After lunch was one more talk on where we are going in our growth towards trying to be as much like Christ as we are able. The retreat ended with a short closing prayer.
Since I was in Wisconsin already I had decided that I would go and visit one of my good friends for a bit after the retreat. I went over and had some homemade chili and watched a bit of the semi-final game before heading back to the seminary to study.
Sunday I was visited by a good friend. She had been not too far away visiting some family so decided to stop in at the seminary for Mass on her way through. We also went to breakfast at the refectory and I gave her a tour of the campus before she headed home and I went back to my studies.
Aside from prayer time, class time, work at the library, and studies the only other thing that I give quite a bit of time to is working out. We have a nice little weight room on campus and a gym with an indoor pool too. In addition to that the loop around the lake on campus can be either 2.5 or 3 miles depending on if you go the outer loop or not. As I have said I had gained quite a bit of weight with the thyroid cancer a couple of years ago. I am happy to say that I had lost 10 pounds from my peak before coming here and as of this morning I have lost 30 pounds since being here. I had hoped for a bit more, but at least it is going in the right direction.
Well, back to the books.
Peace,
Adam
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Reflection 3rd Wednesday Lent Year 1
Hi everyone,
Here is the reflection that I will be giving tomorrow at the nursing home. As in the past I am including the Scripture readings for the day below it.
Peace,
Adam
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In today’s first reading we heard Moses telling all the people to obey the Law. Then in the Gospel Jesus told us that He didn’t come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.
So the Law is important right? Yes, it is. Sorry, but I am not going to leave it at that point, I am going to go on a bit longer. Is it the Law that is important or what it comes from and the point of it? Both. Jesus wants us to obey the Law in the commandments, not necessarily in the dietary and purity rules, but in the stuff that affects life. However, when thinking about following the Law I was reminded of a quote from the book The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. The quote says:
“There have been men before now who got so interested in proving the existence of God that they came to care nothing for God Himself… as if the good Lord had nothing to do but exist! There have been some who were so occupied in spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ.”
That is the old issue of missing the forest for the trees. Jesus doesn’t want us to see the Law as simply an end in itself, but as a means to that end. The Law will bring us closer to Him. When we don’t worship false idles it isn’t because we don’t do this that makes God happy, it is the fact that we know that He is the one. When we don’t covet our neighbor’s goods it isn’t because he is that worried about those material things, it is that by coveting our neighbor’s goods we are disrespecting our neighbor, failing to love him or her. We are also disrespecting God when we do this because our neighbor was made in God’s image, just like we were.
So it while it is important to follow the details, the point isn’t in the details, it is in doing what is right for our faith.
-------------------------------------------
Reading 1
Dt 4:1, 5-9
Moses spoke to the people and said:
“Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees
which I am teaching you to observe,
that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land
which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees
as the LORD, my God, has commanded me,
that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.
Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,
who will hear of all these statutes and say,
‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’
For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?
“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard
not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen,
nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live,
but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”
Ps 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20
Responsorial Psalm
R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
He spreads snow like wool;
frost he strews like ashes.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Mt 5:17-19
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
Here is the reflection that I will be giving tomorrow at the nursing home. As in the past I am including the Scripture readings for the day below it.
Peace,
Adam
-----------------------------------------------
In today’s first reading we heard Moses telling all the people to obey the Law. Then in the Gospel Jesus told us that He didn’t come to abolish the Law but to fulfill it.
So the Law is important right? Yes, it is. Sorry, but I am not going to leave it at that point, I am going to go on a bit longer. Is it the Law that is important or what it comes from and the point of it? Both. Jesus wants us to obey the Law in the commandments, not necessarily in the dietary and purity rules, but in the stuff that affects life. However, when thinking about following the Law I was reminded of a quote from the book The Great Divorce by C.S. Lewis. The quote says:
“There have been men before now who got so interested in proving the existence of God that they came to care nothing for God Himself… as if the good Lord had nothing to do but exist! There have been some who were so occupied in spreading Christianity that they never gave a thought to Christ.”
That is the old issue of missing the forest for the trees. Jesus doesn’t want us to see the Law as simply an end in itself, but as a means to that end. The Law will bring us closer to Him. When we don’t worship false idles it isn’t because we don’t do this that makes God happy, it is the fact that we know that He is the one. When we don’t covet our neighbor’s goods it isn’t because he is that worried about those material things, it is that by coveting our neighbor’s goods we are disrespecting our neighbor, failing to love him or her. We are also disrespecting God when we do this because our neighbor was made in God’s image, just like we were.
So it while it is important to follow the details, the point isn’t in the details, it is in doing what is right for our faith.
-------------------------------------------
Reading 1
Dt 4:1, 5-9
Moses spoke to the people and said:
“Now, Israel, hear the statutes and decrees
which I am teaching you to observe,
that you may live, and may enter in and take possession of the land
which the LORD, the God of your fathers, is giving you.
Therefore, I teach you the statutes and decrees
as the LORD, my God, has commanded me,
that you may observe them in the land you are entering to occupy.
Observe them carefully,
for thus will you give evidence
of your wisdom and intelligence to the nations,
who will hear of all these statutes and say,
‘This great nation is truly a wise and intelligent people.’
For what great nation is there
that has gods so close to it as the LORD, our God, is to us
whenever we call upon him?
Or what great nation has statutes and decrees
that are as just as this whole law
which I am setting before you today?
“However, take care and be earnestly on your guard
not to forget the things which your own eyes have seen,
nor let them slip from your memory as long as you live,
but teach them to your children and to your children’s children.”
Ps 147:12-13, 15-16, 19-20
Responsorial Psalm
R. (12a) Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Glorify the LORD, O Jerusalem;
praise your God, O Zion.
For he has strengthened the bars of your gates;
he has blessed your children within you.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He sends forth his command to the earth;
swiftly runs his word!
He spreads snow like wool;
frost he strews like ashes.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
He has proclaimed his word to Jacob,
his statutes and his ordinances to Israel.
He has not done thus for any other nation;
his ordinances he has not made known to them.
R. Praise the Lord, Jerusalem.
Mt 5:17-19
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets.
I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.
Amen, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away,
not the smallest letter or the smallest part of a letter
will pass from the law,
until all things have taken place.
Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments
and teaches others to do so
will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven.
But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments
will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven.”
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Third week of Spring quarter 2010-2011
Hi again everyone,
So somehow it seems that not much has happened since I wrote last, but at the same time it seems like so much has happened. What has happened is pretty routine for the life here at the seminary.
I guess one thing that happened which doesn’t happen every week, but does go on twice a year here is that Cardinal George, the Archbishop of Chicago came out and gave an hour long talk last Wednesday and then celebrated the Wednesday afternoon Mass.
Cardinal George was talking about mainly was “listening”. He talked about the different ways that a priest is to listen. These ways would include (in no particular order): listening to his staff about what is going on in the parish, listening to his parish council to understand what the parishioners want, listening to his finance council to see what they can afford to do, listening to the local bishop in regards to what he wants done, listening to the larger church in regards to what is taught throughout the world and in tradition, listening to God in the Sacred Scriptures, listening to God in his private prayer time, and among the more important listening to individual parishioners when there is something they want to say.
Classes are very busy, I counted it up last week and I spent well over 50 hours between time directly in class and time studying. This doesn’t include my time at field education, meals, Mass, group prayer, or other meetings. When I say that seminary is like college on steroids I mean it. I do observe that it seems to get better after this year, meaning that the class load gets lighter, but they also seem to possibly have more work per class, so we will have to see.
Over the weekend I did take some time away and went to the driving range with 3 other guys in my class. One of them is a pretty regular golfer so he was giving the other three of us tips the whole time which was great. I didn’t do nearly as well as I had been at the place that I went with my mom over break, but I had fun and will try it again. After the break I had almost thought I could start going out on a course right away… not so much, the driving range it is for a while.
My class of eleven made it through the first two quarters with everyone staying in seminary. One guy decided to leave after the second quarter. He didn’t speak English well so although I could be nice to him and tried to talk to him I didn’t get to know him very well. I do hope that if language difficulties were the reason he decided to leave that he pursues seminary studies back home, because he is a great guy. If he just discerned that the priesthood wasn’t for him than God Bless him for being open to it and figuring out to some extent what God wants.
This past week another from my class announced that he was leaving. He doesn’t know for sure that seminary isn’t right for him, it just isn’t right for him at this time. I know that he didn’t take this decision lightly and I wish him great Blessings in whatever he chooses to do. He has given it a shot and is open to wherever God takes him, so you can’t ask for more than that. This will be more difficult on my class because he is a very outgoing and well liked guy, one that was always able to organize some fun activities and keep the group having a good experience. We all wish him well and told him to stay in touch since he lives not too far from the seminary. He will be gone completely within a day or two. I am kind of surprised that he doesn’t just finish out the quarter, but he wants to try to get on with whatever God is calling him to.
One thing that I have thought of with these two leaving is being thankful for modern technology. I’m not positive but I would imagine that without it a lot of time wouldn’t have to pass before I would lose touch with them. Because of modern technology I can have their contact information even as they move. Even more specifically I have them both as friends on Facebook, so I can see what they put up. Maybe someday I’ll even read Spanish so that I can read what the first is posting.
Well, I guess that a lot did happen. I hope you all are having a good Lent which is drawing you closer to God.
Peace,
Adam
So somehow it seems that not much has happened since I wrote last, but at the same time it seems like so much has happened. What has happened is pretty routine for the life here at the seminary.
I guess one thing that happened which doesn’t happen every week, but does go on twice a year here is that Cardinal George, the Archbishop of Chicago came out and gave an hour long talk last Wednesday and then celebrated the Wednesday afternoon Mass.
Cardinal George was talking about mainly was “listening”. He talked about the different ways that a priest is to listen. These ways would include (in no particular order): listening to his staff about what is going on in the parish, listening to his parish council to understand what the parishioners want, listening to his finance council to see what they can afford to do, listening to the local bishop in regards to what he wants done, listening to the larger church in regards to what is taught throughout the world and in tradition, listening to God in the Sacred Scriptures, listening to God in his private prayer time, and among the more important listening to individual parishioners when there is something they want to say.
Classes are very busy, I counted it up last week and I spent well over 50 hours between time directly in class and time studying. This doesn’t include my time at field education, meals, Mass, group prayer, or other meetings. When I say that seminary is like college on steroids I mean it. I do observe that it seems to get better after this year, meaning that the class load gets lighter, but they also seem to possibly have more work per class, so we will have to see.
Over the weekend I did take some time away and went to the driving range with 3 other guys in my class. One of them is a pretty regular golfer so he was giving the other three of us tips the whole time which was great. I didn’t do nearly as well as I had been at the place that I went with my mom over break, but I had fun and will try it again. After the break I had almost thought I could start going out on a course right away… not so much, the driving range it is for a while.
My class of eleven made it through the first two quarters with everyone staying in seminary. One guy decided to leave after the second quarter. He didn’t speak English well so although I could be nice to him and tried to talk to him I didn’t get to know him very well. I do hope that if language difficulties were the reason he decided to leave that he pursues seminary studies back home, because he is a great guy. If he just discerned that the priesthood wasn’t for him than God Bless him for being open to it and figuring out to some extent what God wants.
This past week another from my class announced that he was leaving. He doesn’t know for sure that seminary isn’t right for him, it just isn’t right for him at this time. I know that he didn’t take this decision lightly and I wish him great Blessings in whatever he chooses to do. He has given it a shot and is open to wherever God takes him, so you can’t ask for more than that. This will be more difficult on my class because he is a very outgoing and well liked guy, one that was always able to organize some fun activities and keep the group having a good experience. We all wish him well and told him to stay in touch since he lives not too far from the seminary. He will be gone completely within a day or two. I am kind of surprised that he doesn’t just finish out the quarter, but he wants to try to get on with whatever God is calling him to.
One thing that I have thought of with these two leaving is being thankful for modern technology. I’m not positive but I would imagine that without it a lot of time wouldn’t have to pass before I would lose touch with them. Because of modern technology I can have their contact information even as they move. Even more specifically I have them both as friends on Facebook, so I can see what they put up. Maybe someday I’ll even read Spanish so that I can read what the first is posting.
Well, I guess that a lot did happen. I hope you all are having a good Lent which is drawing you closer to God.
Peace,
Adam
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
start of spring quarter 2010-2011
Hello again,
So my third quarter of seminary is off to a pretty good start, a crazy sort of busy, but I think that I’m starting to find out that that will be par for the course here. Speaking of par, I forgot to mention in my last post that while on break I swung a golf club for the second time in my life. I enjoyed it and thought that I did pretty well. I asked my step-father, who golfs a lot, if he had some old clubs that I could bring to the seminary since we get to use the golf course on the seminary owned property (independently managed) for free… I haven’t gone out with them yet, but we’ll see how that goes.
So, I have a 17 credit load again this quarter, two credits for my field education and 3 for each of my 5 classes. My classes seem pretty interesting on the whole, so I am excited.
My first class on Mondays and Thursdays is Latin III. We switch instructors this quarter which I find a bit odd after the first two with the other instructor. This is my first class taught by a lay person at the seminary, but there will be others. I enjoy the new instructor’s style and look to finish out my study of Latin forever after this quarter.
After Latin III I have the priest that taught Latin I and II now teaching “Intro to the Old Testament”. I enjoy scripture study so I am looking forward to this course a lot. One of the first things that was clarified, although I’ve read this before, was the truth behind the different stories of why Catholics and Protestants have different lengths to the Old Testament. The truth is that neither truly dropped or added books. Since the Old Testament is the Jewish Scriptures it would be easy to look at what they use. The problem is though, that by the time of Christ the Jews had two different sets of scriptures, one in all Hebrew with 39 books (what Protestants now use) and one in Greek with those 39 plus another 7 (what Catholics now use). The authors of the New Testament reference all but one of these 7 books in a scriptural context since they were mostly in Greek speaking territory (or evangelizing to Greek speaking territory). The canon (list) of books used fluctuated a bit for the first 400 years or so of Christianity but was pretty well standardized after that until the Protestant Reformation at which time Luther decided to go back to the Hebrew text for the Old testament.
My last class on Mondays and Thursdays is Metaphysics. This is kind of the basis for all philosophy, often summarized as the “Study of Being”. It is looked at in the processes used by St. Thomas Aquinas.
Tuesdays and Fridays I start with the class “Intro to the New Testament”. This will talk about the whole New Testament, but it seems like we are going to focus pretty heavily on the Gospels, especially the Gospels of Mark, Luke, and Matthew since they are what is called the “Synoptic Gospels”, meaning that they line up and it is actually thought that the authors of Luke and Matthew based some of their writings on the already written Gospel of Mark, but added in the oral tradition from the area that they were writing for.
My last class of the quarter is Medieval Philosophy. This is going to be an overview of writers form St. Augustine, to St. Thomas Aquinas as far as I can tell. It will be good to see the development of Christian thought in this period, so I am actually looking forward to this class somewhat.
So as this quarter started we also started Lent, it doesn’t always work that way with Lent being based on the date of Easter which is movable. I shared the reflection that I had written for the nursing home for Ash Wednesday. It turns out that in addition to there I ended up giving the reflection at the parish of the Deacon from the nursing home since he was running the Ash Wednesday service at Noon there.
I went over to the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois on Friday into Saturday to visit some of my friends from when I lived there. Other than that the quarter is pretty much picking up where I left off before break.
Peace,
Adam
So my third quarter of seminary is off to a pretty good start, a crazy sort of busy, but I think that I’m starting to find out that that will be par for the course here. Speaking of par, I forgot to mention in my last post that while on break I swung a golf club for the second time in my life. I enjoyed it and thought that I did pretty well. I asked my step-father, who golfs a lot, if he had some old clubs that I could bring to the seminary since we get to use the golf course on the seminary owned property (independently managed) for free… I haven’t gone out with them yet, but we’ll see how that goes.
So, I have a 17 credit load again this quarter, two credits for my field education and 3 for each of my 5 classes. My classes seem pretty interesting on the whole, so I am excited.
My first class on Mondays and Thursdays is Latin III. We switch instructors this quarter which I find a bit odd after the first two with the other instructor. This is my first class taught by a lay person at the seminary, but there will be others. I enjoy the new instructor’s style and look to finish out my study of Latin forever after this quarter.
After Latin III I have the priest that taught Latin I and II now teaching “Intro to the Old Testament”. I enjoy scripture study so I am looking forward to this course a lot. One of the first things that was clarified, although I’ve read this before, was the truth behind the different stories of why Catholics and Protestants have different lengths to the Old Testament. The truth is that neither truly dropped or added books. Since the Old Testament is the Jewish Scriptures it would be easy to look at what they use. The problem is though, that by the time of Christ the Jews had two different sets of scriptures, one in all Hebrew with 39 books (what Protestants now use) and one in Greek with those 39 plus another 7 (what Catholics now use). The authors of the New Testament reference all but one of these 7 books in a scriptural context since they were mostly in Greek speaking territory (or evangelizing to Greek speaking territory). The canon (list) of books used fluctuated a bit for the first 400 years or so of Christianity but was pretty well standardized after that until the Protestant Reformation at which time Luther decided to go back to the Hebrew text for the Old testament.
My last class on Mondays and Thursdays is Metaphysics. This is kind of the basis for all philosophy, often summarized as the “Study of Being”. It is looked at in the processes used by St. Thomas Aquinas.
Tuesdays and Fridays I start with the class “Intro to the New Testament”. This will talk about the whole New Testament, but it seems like we are going to focus pretty heavily on the Gospels, especially the Gospels of Mark, Luke, and Matthew since they are what is called the “Synoptic Gospels”, meaning that they line up and it is actually thought that the authors of Luke and Matthew based some of their writings on the already written Gospel of Mark, but added in the oral tradition from the area that they were writing for.
My last class of the quarter is Medieval Philosophy. This is going to be an overview of writers form St. Augustine, to St. Thomas Aquinas as far as I can tell. It will be good to see the development of Christian thought in this period, so I am actually looking forward to this class somewhat.
So as this quarter started we also started Lent, it doesn’t always work that way with Lent being based on the date of Easter which is movable. I shared the reflection that I had written for the nursing home for Ash Wednesday. It turns out that in addition to there I ended up giving the reflection at the parish of the Deacon from the nursing home since he was running the Ash Wednesday service at Noon there.
I went over to the Quad Cities of Iowa and Illinois on Friday into Saturday to visit some of my friends from when I lived there. Other than that the quarter is pretty much picking up where I left off before break.
Peace,
Adam
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Finishing "spring" break 2010-2011
Hello again,
I hope that everyone’s Lent is off to a great start, that you are using this time to come closer to God. I can’t believe that it has been a week since I last posted, and over two weeks since I’ve really written about what is going on in my life. I need to finish up what I had done on my last break before I can get into the goings on thus quarter.
I think that I had stopped on Thursday morning of the first week of break, after the all night prayer vigil had ended. I took a long nap on Thursday since I didn’t have anything really to do anyways. I probably slept for 4 or 5 hours, plus the hour I had gotten early in the morning. When I finally woke up I noticed that I had missed several phone calls (I had put my phone on silent). The staff at the parish was trying to get ahold of me to invite me to lunch, it turns out that a good friend from when I was in college was in town. His wife had some convention for work so he took off and came up with her to have a mini vacation. I had missed the call but did end up getting to see them for a late lunch on Friday after my next talk at the middle school and after her conference ended. Thursday night I went to a UW-SP men’s basketball game, it was the semi-finals for the WIAC, the conference for most of the public universities in Wisconsin.
My talk on Friday went well, it was in my friend’s classroom and actually it probably was the least of my talks since the students just didn’t give me as good of answers to work with, or questions. After the talk I had the lunch that I previously mentioned and then went over to the Newman Parish for a bit. Father Tom was taking a college student part way towards a “come and see” weekend at a convent in Eastern Wisconsin so he invited me and a retired priest friend to ride along and have a nice dinner in Appleton where we were meeting up with this girl’s parents who were taking her the rest of the way.
Saturday I got to go to another Pointer’s basketball game. This was the WIAC final which Point won very handily. To make the game even better my friend who I used to go to many of the basketball games with and her boyfriend drove up to watch the game with me, and then we went out to dinner and conversation at one of our favorite restaurants from our college days. These two have been dating for a while and I could tell that something was up by talking to her boyfriend and he did indeed propose to her less than a week later, so I am very happy for them.
Sunday I went to both of the Masses at Newman, I was the server (altar boy) for the Sunday evening Mass. I really enjoy the opportunity to do that when I back there, as I have said we aren’t allowed to serve or read at first here at the seminary because of the installations of acolytes and lectors.
Monday I had another talk at the middle school that I think went the best of all of them, and then I hit the road to head towards my mom’s. As far as I remember I took Tuesday as a down day, I think that I only went out to go to Mass at 12:10 in Winona. Wednesday I went to the morning Mass in Holmen and after that I met up with Fr. Malin for a light breakfast and to talk for a bit over an hour. It is great to see him when I am able to; he has had such an influence on my life. Some sad news that I found out when I was with him was that one of his brothers had recently died, so it was a bit of a toned down conversation, but still great none-the-less. Wednesday night I met up with my mom, her husband, my brother and sister-in-law, and my nephew for pizza. There is a unique restaurant in La Crosse that makes all sorts of pizzas with crazy topping combinations and brings them around as samplers, so we went there. I used to like it a lot, but all of that is a bit over the top for me now but my nephew enjoyed it.
Thursday I don’t remember what I did during the day but in the Evening I went to the house of some good friends for dinner and to spend time with them. We went out for a drink and then I headed back to my mom’s. Friday I packed up to head back to the seminary. I was meeting the same guy whose bachelor party had been about two weeks before and his fiancé for dinner before heading out. I am very much looking forward to their wedding this May. I picked up the same guy who I had given a ride home to and we headed out at about 6:30 I think to come back to the seminary. We had some rain to drive through and since the temperatures were hovering right about the freezing mark I took it easy in case it froze but we made decent time anyways.
Saturday was still break and I took the opportunity to head up to Madison to experience the historic protests against the so called “budget repair bill”. I am very glad that I was able to make that trip and stand up for what is right. I think that everyone acknowledged that all people have to give in on some financial matters, but simply that this bill went too far. I didn’t stay all that long as I had stuff to get done, but I really enjoyed my time at this protest.
Well, that pretty much finishes out my break, I will write about the classes for the new quarter soon. In fact, I may write it now and just wait a day or two to post it so I’m not overloading.
Peace,
Adam
I hope that everyone’s Lent is off to a great start, that you are using this time to come closer to God. I can’t believe that it has been a week since I last posted, and over two weeks since I’ve really written about what is going on in my life. I need to finish up what I had done on my last break before I can get into the goings on thus quarter.
I think that I had stopped on Thursday morning of the first week of break, after the all night prayer vigil had ended. I took a long nap on Thursday since I didn’t have anything really to do anyways. I probably slept for 4 or 5 hours, plus the hour I had gotten early in the morning. When I finally woke up I noticed that I had missed several phone calls (I had put my phone on silent). The staff at the parish was trying to get ahold of me to invite me to lunch, it turns out that a good friend from when I was in college was in town. His wife had some convention for work so he took off and came up with her to have a mini vacation. I had missed the call but did end up getting to see them for a late lunch on Friday after my next talk at the middle school and after her conference ended. Thursday night I went to a UW-SP men’s basketball game, it was the semi-finals for the WIAC, the conference for most of the public universities in Wisconsin.
My talk on Friday went well, it was in my friend’s classroom and actually it probably was the least of my talks since the students just didn’t give me as good of answers to work with, or questions. After the talk I had the lunch that I previously mentioned and then went over to the Newman Parish for a bit. Father Tom was taking a college student part way towards a “come and see” weekend at a convent in Eastern Wisconsin so he invited me and a retired priest friend to ride along and have a nice dinner in Appleton where we were meeting up with this girl’s parents who were taking her the rest of the way.
Saturday I got to go to another Pointer’s basketball game. This was the WIAC final which Point won very handily. To make the game even better my friend who I used to go to many of the basketball games with and her boyfriend drove up to watch the game with me, and then we went out to dinner and conversation at one of our favorite restaurants from our college days. These two have been dating for a while and I could tell that something was up by talking to her boyfriend and he did indeed propose to her less than a week later, so I am very happy for them.
Sunday I went to both of the Masses at Newman, I was the server (altar boy) for the Sunday evening Mass. I really enjoy the opportunity to do that when I back there, as I have said we aren’t allowed to serve or read at first here at the seminary because of the installations of acolytes and lectors.
Monday I had another talk at the middle school that I think went the best of all of them, and then I hit the road to head towards my mom’s. As far as I remember I took Tuesday as a down day, I think that I only went out to go to Mass at 12:10 in Winona. Wednesday I went to the morning Mass in Holmen and after that I met up with Fr. Malin for a light breakfast and to talk for a bit over an hour. It is great to see him when I am able to; he has had such an influence on my life. Some sad news that I found out when I was with him was that one of his brothers had recently died, so it was a bit of a toned down conversation, but still great none-the-less. Wednesday night I met up with my mom, her husband, my brother and sister-in-law, and my nephew for pizza. There is a unique restaurant in La Crosse that makes all sorts of pizzas with crazy topping combinations and brings them around as samplers, so we went there. I used to like it a lot, but all of that is a bit over the top for me now but my nephew enjoyed it.
Thursday I don’t remember what I did during the day but in the Evening I went to the house of some good friends for dinner and to spend time with them. We went out for a drink and then I headed back to my mom’s. Friday I packed up to head back to the seminary. I was meeting the same guy whose bachelor party had been about two weeks before and his fiancé for dinner before heading out. I am very much looking forward to their wedding this May. I picked up the same guy who I had given a ride home to and we headed out at about 6:30 I think to come back to the seminary. We had some rain to drive through and since the temperatures were hovering right about the freezing mark I took it easy in case it froze but we made decent time anyways.
Saturday was still break and I took the opportunity to head up to Madison to experience the historic protests against the so called “budget repair bill”. I am very glad that I was able to make that trip and stand up for what is right. I think that everyone acknowledged that all people have to give in on some financial matters, but simply that this bill went too far. I didn’t stay all that long as I had stuff to get done, but I really enjoyed my time at this protest.
Well, that pretty much finishes out my break, I will write about the classes for the new quarter soon. In fact, I may write it now and just wait a day or two to post it so I’m not overloading.
Peace,
Adam
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Ash Wednesday 2011
Here is the reflection that I am giving tomorrow at the nursing home. As with other reflections I've posted I am including the readings for the day afterwards if you are interested. I know that I still have to write a post about the rest of my break and starting back up here, I hope to do that soon.
Peace,
Adam
-------------------------------------
March 9, 2011
Ash Wednesday
Here we go again… another Ash Wednesday means another Lent is starting. In just a few minutes you will all be marked with ashes on your forehead.
The readings for today all tell us how to go about our Lent, it is clear to us why the Church gives us these readings for today. The second line of the first reading says that we are to return to the Lord with all of our heart, this is the essence of all that we do during Lent: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These are the keys to Lent to help us return to the Lord with all of our heart.
But Lent isn’t just about showing that we are in Lent, and returning to the Lord for just these 40 days. It is about returning to him, turning away from our sin, for all of our life. We all stray, God welcomes us back, but hopes that we don’t stray again. However, when we do, He will indeed welcome us back again.
Go about your Lent in a way that is an example to others. The idea that Jesus talks about with not being flashy with our prayer, our almsgiving, and our fasting isn’t that others shouldn’t notice it, but rather that we shouldn’t flaunt it and make it seem like we deserve something for doing it.
God wants us to use this time to prepare for Easter, and for the rest of our lives. If you flaunt what you do, that is unsustainable, live your Lent in a way that you can continue in the future. Live your Lent so that your life can be an example for others.
Today we are being marked with ashes so that we can signify that we are in Lent. What about tomorrow or the next forty days, will people notice a difference in you? Will they see that you are improving in Lent? Find a way to make this Lent special and to move forward with it into the rest of your life.
Reading 1
Jl 2:12-18
Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion!
proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the people,
notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
gather the children
and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.
Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
2 Cor 5:20-6:2
Reading 2
Brothers and sisters:
We are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
Working together, then,
we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:
In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.
Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms,
do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
Peace,
Adam
-------------------------------------
March 9, 2011
Ash Wednesday
Here we go again… another Ash Wednesday means another Lent is starting. In just a few minutes you will all be marked with ashes on your forehead.
The readings for today all tell us how to go about our Lent, it is clear to us why the Church gives us these readings for today. The second line of the first reading says that we are to return to the Lord with all of our heart, this is the essence of all that we do during Lent: prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. These are the keys to Lent to help us return to the Lord with all of our heart.
But Lent isn’t just about showing that we are in Lent, and returning to the Lord for just these 40 days. It is about returning to him, turning away from our sin, for all of our life. We all stray, God welcomes us back, but hopes that we don’t stray again. However, when we do, He will indeed welcome us back again.
Go about your Lent in a way that is an example to others. The idea that Jesus talks about with not being flashy with our prayer, our almsgiving, and our fasting isn’t that others shouldn’t notice it, but rather that we shouldn’t flaunt it and make it seem like we deserve something for doing it.
God wants us to use this time to prepare for Easter, and for the rest of our lives. If you flaunt what you do, that is unsustainable, live your Lent in a way that you can continue in the future. Live your Lent so that your life can be an example for others.
Today we are being marked with ashes so that we can signify that we are in Lent. What about tomorrow or the next forty days, will people notice a difference in you? Will they see that you are improving in Lent? Find a way to make this Lent special and to move forward with it into the rest of your life.
Reading 1
Jl 2:12-18
Even now, says the LORD,
return to me with your whole heart,
with fasting, and weeping, and mourning;
Rend your hearts, not your garments,
and return to the LORD, your God.
For gracious and merciful is he,
slow to anger, rich in kindness,
and relenting in punishment.
Perhaps he will again relent
and leave behind him a blessing,
Offerings and libations
for the LORD, your God.
Blow the trumpet in Zion!
proclaim a fast,
call an assembly;
Gather the people,
notify the congregation;
Assemble the elders,
gather the children
and the infants at the breast;
Let the bridegroom quit his room
and the bride her chamber.
Between the porch and the altar
let the priests, the ministers of the LORD, weep,
And say, “Spare, O LORD, your people,
and make not your heritage a reproach,
with the nations ruling over them!
Why should they say among the peoples,
‘Where is their God?’”
Then the LORD was stirred to concern for his land
and took pity on his people.
Ps 51:3-4, 5-6ab, 12-13, 14 and 17
Responsorial Psalm
R. (see 3a) Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Have mercy on me, O God, in your goodness;
in the greatness of your compassion wipe out my offense.
Thoroughly wash me from my guilt
and of my sin cleanse me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
For I acknowledge my offense,
and my sin is before me always:
“Against you only have I sinned,
and done what is evil in your sight.”
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
A clean heart create for me, O God,
and a steadfast spirit renew within me.
Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
Give me back the joy of your salvation,
and a willing spirit sustain in me.
O Lord, open my lips,
and my mouth shall proclaim your praise.
R. Be merciful, O Lord, for we have sinned.
2 Cor 5:20-6:2
Reading 2
Brothers and sisters:
We are ambassadors for Christ,
as if God were appealing through us.
We implore you on behalf of Christ,
be reconciled to God.
For our sake he made him to be sin who did not know sin,
so that we might become the righteousness of God in him.
Working together, then,
we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.
For he says:
In an acceptable time I heard you,
and on the day of salvation I helped you.
Behold, now is a very acceptable time;
behold, now is the day of salvation.
Mt 6:1-6, 16-18
Gospel
Jesus said to his disciples:
“Take care not to perform righteous deeds
in order that people may see them;
otherwise, you will have no recompense from your heavenly Father.
When you give alms,
do not blow a trumpet before you,
as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets
to win the praise of others.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you give alms,
do not let your left hand know what your right is doing,
so that your almsgiving may be secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you pray,
do not be like the hypocrites,
who love to stand and pray in the synagogues and on street corners
so that others may see them.
Amen, I say to you,
they have received their reward.
But when you pray, go to your inner room,
close the door, and pray to your Father in secret.
And your Father who sees in secret will repay you.
“When you fast,
do not look gloomy like the hypocrites.
They neglect their appearance,
so that they may appear to others to be fasting.
Amen, I say to you, they have received their reward.
But when you fast,
anoint your head and wash your face,
so that you may not appear to be fasting,
except to your Father who is hidden.
And your Father who sees what is hidden will repay you.”
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Break February 27, 2011
Hello everyone,
Break is flying by, as those things tend to do. It is always amazing how slow time can seem to go at some points and so very fast at others.
I finished up the quarter pretty well. I think that my tests went about as I expected them to if not a little bit better. I won’t know my grades from last quarter for a while, but they haven’t called and said that I failed out, so that is a good sign.
After my last final on Friday I waited a little bit for one of my classmates to get done so that I could give him a ride home too. We had to go a bit out of our way so that I could pick up something at the Newman Parish in Stevens Point that I was borrowing for the weekend. I was still able to drop him off at home at about 7:30 and I managed to get to my mom’s at about 8:15 or 8:30 at night, truly beginning break.
My nephew had spent the night at my mom’s house and it was great to see him and play with him for a bit both Friday night and Saturday morning before I got to take him home. He is so much fun to be around, I really enjoy the time that I get to spend with him.
After taking Alex home I spent a good part of the day preparing for a friend’s bachelor party that I was hosting since I am going to be the best man in the wedding. Obviously when you have a seminarian planning your bachelor party it is going to be fairly low key, but that is what he wanted anyways. It was a bunch of fun to get together with him and some of our other friends.
Sunday was pretty much just church and hanging out with my mom and her husband. On Monday I got up and went to Mass in La Crosse with a wonderful lady, the one who helped me to be able to begin seminary this year. It was great to be able to see her and attend Mass with her. I didn’t get to spend much time with her because I had a doctor’s appointment to get to. This was my big check to make sure that the cancer hasn’t come back. Due to switching insurance companies when I left my job I had to switch hospitals so the doctor spent a bit of time getting to know me and what has gone on and then I had an ultrasound of the area that the cancer had been and some blood-work done. Everything came back clean, so that is great.
On Tuesday I went to St. Elizabeth’s in Holmen for Mass and then stopped at my old office in La Crescent, MN to see people before heading over to Stevens Point for a while. It was great to get back to Stevens Point and see the wonderful people here.
I didn’t do a whole lot on Tuesday but on Wednesday I gave the first of three talks that I am giving to the eighth graders at St. Peter’s Middle School. I have a good friend who is an eighth grade teacher and asked me to come in and talk to her class so I am talking to all three of the eighth grade religion classes. Since they meet at the same time it has to be on three separate days. I gave one on Wednesday, but Thursday is the school Mass so that takes the place of religion class so I gave my second one on Friday and will give another one on Monday. My talk is just a general vocation talk, for people to figure out what vocation is right for them and I also take some time to tell them a bit about the life of a seminarian. The kids really seem to get into it, so that is fun.
I ended up substitute teaching for the religious education at the Newman Parish on Wednesday night, another fun experience for me. Wednesday night also has the late-night Mass which is attended by somewhere between 40 and 60 students from the University. I really enjoy the energy and enthusiasm at that Mass. The parish had an all-night prayer vigil for peace and justice in the world after the Mass. There was adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with Exposition (meaning you can see the Body of Christ while praying). I was asked to spend the whole night incase someone who had signed up for an hour didn’t show in the early morning hours. We had some organized prayer times throughout the night such as a period of Taize prayer, night prayer, the Rosary, Memorare, the Magnificate, and morning prayer. The vigil ended with Benediction (taking down the exposed sacrament) and the morning Mass on Thursday. I had been up all night but when more people started showing up at about 5:00 am I started thinking about taking a quick nap. I went upstairs at about 5:30ish and was planning on getting up at 6:25 since I was scheduled to do a reading during morning prayer. I know I set my alarm, but am not sure if I didn’t turn it on, or if I turned it off without fully waking up but I woke up at 6:59 and raced downstairs for the 7:00 morning prayer, cutting it very close.
I think this is long enough, I’ll write more in another post in a couple of days.
Peace,
Adam
Break is flying by, as those things tend to do. It is always amazing how slow time can seem to go at some points and so very fast at others.
I finished up the quarter pretty well. I think that my tests went about as I expected them to if not a little bit better. I won’t know my grades from last quarter for a while, but they haven’t called and said that I failed out, so that is a good sign.
After my last final on Friday I waited a little bit for one of my classmates to get done so that I could give him a ride home too. We had to go a bit out of our way so that I could pick up something at the Newman Parish in Stevens Point that I was borrowing for the weekend. I was still able to drop him off at home at about 7:30 and I managed to get to my mom’s at about 8:15 or 8:30 at night, truly beginning break.
My nephew had spent the night at my mom’s house and it was great to see him and play with him for a bit both Friday night and Saturday morning before I got to take him home. He is so much fun to be around, I really enjoy the time that I get to spend with him.
After taking Alex home I spent a good part of the day preparing for a friend’s bachelor party that I was hosting since I am going to be the best man in the wedding. Obviously when you have a seminarian planning your bachelor party it is going to be fairly low key, but that is what he wanted anyways. It was a bunch of fun to get together with him and some of our other friends.
Sunday was pretty much just church and hanging out with my mom and her husband. On Monday I got up and went to Mass in La Crosse with a wonderful lady, the one who helped me to be able to begin seminary this year. It was great to be able to see her and attend Mass with her. I didn’t get to spend much time with her because I had a doctor’s appointment to get to. This was my big check to make sure that the cancer hasn’t come back. Due to switching insurance companies when I left my job I had to switch hospitals so the doctor spent a bit of time getting to know me and what has gone on and then I had an ultrasound of the area that the cancer had been and some blood-work done. Everything came back clean, so that is great.
On Tuesday I went to St. Elizabeth’s in Holmen for Mass and then stopped at my old office in La Crescent, MN to see people before heading over to Stevens Point for a while. It was great to get back to Stevens Point and see the wonderful people here.
I didn’t do a whole lot on Tuesday but on Wednesday I gave the first of three talks that I am giving to the eighth graders at St. Peter’s Middle School. I have a good friend who is an eighth grade teacher and asked me to come in and talk to her class so I am talking to all three of the eighth grade religion classes. Since they meet at the same time it has to be on three separate days. I gave one on Wednesday, but Thursday is the school Mass so that takes the place of religion class so I gave my second one on Friday and will give another one on Monday. My talk is just a general vocation talk, for people to figure out what vocation is right for them and I also take some time to tell them a bit about the life of a seminarian. The kids really seem to get into it, so that is fun.
I ended up substitute teaching for the religious education at the Newman Parish on Wednesday night, another fun experience for me. Wednesday night also has the late-night Mass which is attended by somewhere between 40 and 60 students from the University. I really enjoy the energy and enthusiasm at that Mass. The parish had an all-night prayer vigil for peace and justice in the world after the Mass. There was adoration of the Blessed Sacrament with Exposition (meaning you can see the Body of Christ while praying). I was asked to spend the whole night incase someone who had signed up for an hour didn’t show in the early morning hours. We had some organized prayer times throughout the night such as a period of Taize prayer, night prayer, the Rosary, Memorare, the Magnificate, and morning prayer. The vigil ended with Benediction (taking down the exposed sacrament) and the morning Mass on Thursday. I had been up all night but when more people started showing up at about 5:00 am I started thinking about taking a quick nap. I went upstairs at about 5:30ish and was planning on getting up at 6:25 since I was scheduled to do a reading during morning prayer. I know I set my alarm, but am not sure if I didn’t turn it on, or if I turned it off without fully waking up but I woke up at 6:59 and raced downstairs for the 7:00 morning prayer, cutting it very close.
I think this is long enough, I’ll write more in another post in a couple of days.
Peace,
Adam
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Finals week winter 2010-2011
Hello again,
So it has been an interesting week and a half since I last wrote. We are now in finals week so I had a lot of papers to write and many other things to get done… which is the reason that it has taken so long.
One important thing that happened since I last wrote was of course the Packers winning the Superbowl. Every year one of the cams on campus hosts a Superbowl party in one of the recreation halls. They had both the normal big screen TV that is in the room and they rigged up a projector with a sheet on the wall to watch to, giving more space. It was very cool, they ordered in a bunch of pizzas and had snacks and iced cream for all that wanted it (I didn’t partake more than a couple of slices of pizza because I am trying to lose weight). I am sure that the party would have been even bigger if the Chicago Bears had made the Superbowl, since they are the hometown team, but there are many Packers fans here too, plus the guys who just like football in general it was great fun to watch the game with a big group.
I spent a lot of time writing papers over that weekend and since as I said. One of the more interesting papers that I wrote was analyzing the use of the atomic bombs during WWII based on the Principle of Double Effect. The Principle of Double Effect is a method in which one can systematically look at an action and determine if a negative effect is allowable from the performance of an action. It includes 4 points to analyze, each of them must be met. The four points are: 1) The act must be good in itself or at least neutral 2) The good outcome may not be obtained directly because of the evil effect 3) The evil must not be intended for itself but only tolerated 4) The good must be proportionally grave to outweigh the evil. As I said, an act must meet all 4 points to be justifiable, I found that the use of the atomic weapons could reasonably be seen to meet points 1 and 3 but failed on point 2. I determined that the 4th point was completely in doubt and too murky to know, and a neutral on one of the points equates to a fail. So in my paper I argued that the use of the atomic weapons was not justifiable, however, that is easy to say in hindsight and may have been different at the time based on what was known.
The flu really hit the seminary hard over the last two weeks or so. I guess that is to be expected with us all living in such close quarters and so many of us going to hospitals and nursing homes for field education. I had gotten the flu shot last fall, and thought that I wasn’t getting the flu. I did end up being pretty sick Thursday through Sunday but am pretty much over it now. Last Wednesday the guy that I go to the nursing home with was down sick so he didn’t go, rather than risk infecting those that we are ministering to. He had been scheduled to give the reflection during the communion service, so I had to figure out something to say on Wednesday morning. I didn’t have time to write it out word for word as I have shared here in the past, but I put down a few notes on the thoughts that I had and I think that it turned out pretty good. I may try to reconstruct it out of my notes so that I can share it, but I’m not sure if that would work so well… we’ll have to see.
Last Wednesday we had a Mass to install Acolytes. For the most part people would know acolytes as servers or altar boys/girls. There is a bit more to the official ministry of Acolyte. An acolyte is primarily one who assists in preparing for the celebration of the Eucharist and in the purification of the sacred vessels after the distribution of the Eucharist (communion). As I discussed in the post where I talked about the installation of Lectors many of these duties are allowed to be performed by laity now, but it is still an important time for those who receive this installation on the way towards priesthood. A unique fact about Acolytes is that at least in the old Canon Law (I’m not sure if it still is or not, but I think so) they are allowed to bless fruit. I assume that this goes back to blessing the grapes that would be turned into the wine for consecration, but it is allowed for all fruit.
Tomorrow I am going to the nursing home again, but am going to allow Matt to give the reflection since he missed out last week. I have 2 final exams on Thursday and 2 more on Friday before being able to go on break. It is nice to be able to look forward to another break so soon. It will be a great chance to catch up with people and just relax. I am hoping to be able to go in to the class room of one of my friends who teaches at a Catholic middles school and talk with the students. I am not sure yet what she will want, if she will want me to give a vocation talk, talk about life in the seminary, a combination of both, or something else altogether, but that is exciting to look forward to as well.
Well, I’m going to get back to studying, I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Adam
So it has been an interesting week and a half since I last wrote. We are now in finals week so I had a lot of papers to write and many other things to get done… which is the reason that it has taken so long.
One important thing that happened since I last wrote was of course the Packers winning the Superbowl. Every year one of the cams on campus hosts a Superbowl party in one of the recreation halls. They had both the normal big screen TV that is in the room and they rigged up a projector with a sheet on the wall to watch to, giving more space. It was very cool, they ordered in a bunch of pizzas and had snacks and iced cream for all that wanted it (I didn’t partake more than a couple of slices of pizza because I am trying to lose weight). I am sure that the party would have been even bigger if the Chicago Bears had made the Superbowl, since they are the hometown team, but there are many Packers fans here too, plus the guys who just like football in general it was great fun to watch the game with a big group.
I spent a lot of time writing papers over that weekend and since as I said. One of the more interesting papers that I wrote was analyzing the use of the atomic bombs during WWII based on the Principle of Double Effect. The Principle of Double Effect is a method in which one can systematically look at an action and determine if a negative effect is allowable from the performance of an action. It includes 4 points to analyze, each of them must be met. The four points are: 1) The act must be good in itself or at least neutral 2) The good outcome may not be obtained directly because of the evil effect 3) The evil must not be intended for itself but only tolerated 4) The good must be proportionally grave to outweigh the evil. As I said, an act must meet all 4 points to be justifiable, I found that the use of the atomic weapons could reasonably be seen to meet points 1 and 3 but failed on point 2. I determined that the 4th point was completely in doubt and too murky to know, and a neutral on one of the points equates to a fail. So in my paper I argued that the use of the atomic weapons was not justifiable, however, that is easy to say in hindsight and may have been different at the time based on what was known.
The flu really hit the seminary hard over the last two weeks or so. I guess that is to be expected with us all living in such close quarters and so many of us going to hospitals and nursing homes for field education. I had gotten the flu shot last fall, and thought that I wasn’t getting the flu. I did end up being pretty sick Thursday through Sunday but am pretty much over it now. Last Wednesday the guy that I go to the nursing home with was down sick so he didn’t go, rather than risk infecting those that we are ministering to. He had been scheduled to give the reflection during the communion service, so I had to figure out something to say on Wednesday morning. I didn’t have time to write it out word for word as I have shared here in the past, but I put down a few notes on the thoughts that I had and I think that it turned out pretty good. I may try to reconstruct it out of my notes so that I can share it, but I’m not sure if that would work so well… we’ll have to see.
Last Wednesday we had a Mass to install Acolytes. For the most part people would know acolytes as servers or altar boys/girls. There is a bit more to the official ministry of Acolyte. An acolyte is primarily one who assists in preparing for the celebration of the Eucharist and in the purification of the sacred vessels after the distribution of the Eucharist (communion). As I discussed in the post where I talked about the installation of Lectors many of these duties are allowed to be performed by laity now, but it is still an important time for those who receive this installation on the way towards priesthood. A unique fact about Acolytes is that at least in the old Canon Law (I’m not sure if it still is or not, but I think so) they are allowed to bless fruit. I assume that this goes back to blessing the grapes that would be turned into the wine for consecration, but it is allowed for all fruit.
Tomorrow I am going to the nursing home again, but am going to allow Matt to give the reflection since he missed out last week. I have 2 final exams on Thursday and 2 more on Friday before being able to go on break. It is nice to be able to look forward to another break so soon. It will be a great chance to catch up with people and just relax. I am hoping to be able to go in to the class room of one of my friends who teaches at a Catholic middles school and talk with the students. I am not sure yet what she will want, if she will want me to give a vocation talk, talk about life in the seminary, a combination of both, or something else altogether, but that is exciting to look forward to as well.
Well, I’m going to get back to studying, I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Adam
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