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.”
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
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
Friday, February 4, 2011
Blizzard of 2011
Hello again,
This has been a very fast week and a half. I am surprised that it has been that long since I’ve written this time.
This past weekend was a very cool event. There was an inter-seminary basketball tournament held here at Mundelein Seminary. I think that it was eleven or twelve other seminaries from across the Midwest that participated. It was a great deal of fun to watch my brother seminarians both from Mundelein and other seminaries enjoy this friendly competition. Mundelein seminary has won the tournament each of the last three years, however, this year they lost in the semi-final round. Mundelein was able to win the losers bracket game very handily to finish third in the tournament.
The Mass on Sunday was a great experience. With so many seminarians from so many places it was very energetic and just a wonderful Mass.
There had been predictions about a big snow storm coming in over the weekend that made people a little nervous with the teams having to return to their home seminary after the basketball games, however this storm didn’t come in until Monday afternoon and really didn’t get to full force until Tuesday mid-day. This turned out to be the third largest snow storm on record for Chicago. Lake County, where Mundelein sits actually closed all of its roads on Wednesday so that the crews wouldn’t have to deal with traffic when trying to clear the snow.
On the seminary we had a great time with the snow. Everyone chipped in on shoveling the walks as we were able. Field education was canceled on Wednesday since we couldn’t drive anywhere so I was able to get a bit of my homework done and to help with shoveling some times. The parking lots were very snowed in. The maintenance crew’s first priority was of course to work to make the campus accessible for emergency vehicles, followed by clearing the parking lot of the conference center so that the visitors could get out and return to their lives away from the seminary. With my truck being a four-wheel drive I was able to drive around in the parking lot, but didn’t have a major need to go anywhere so I didn’t do that too much. It was fun to see the guys all working together to dig out everyone’s cars once the plows made a path through the seminarian’s lots so that we could move our vehicles to another lot while they finished in our seminarian lots.
Tonight I was going to go to a “casino night” fundraiser here on campus. Every year one of the cams hosts this fundraiser for some charity that is picked. In it people buy in for a certain amount and get a set amount of “casino night cash” which can then be wagered on table games as well as a faculty boxing tournament (using a Wii now, but historically using a rock ‘em sock ‘em boxing game). At the end of the night any gains can be used to bid on donated items. I ended up not going to this because one of the other guys who was scheduled to work at the library was asked to do something at his home parish this weekend and wanted to travel there tonight. He could not find anyone else to cover his shift so I said that I would. So I am sitting here with almost nobody in the library but it is open for the couple of guys that are here.
The charity that is benefiting from the casino night this year is a charity to help the “gunpowder children”. I believe that this one is based in Guatemala. I don’t know a ton about this, but from what I know it is a charity that helps to provide tuition and nutrition for kids in Guatemala. These kids live in such poverty that often their families can’t afford tuition or food. Many times these kids will have to quit school to work assembling fireworks. This is obviously a dangerous task, which pays very little. This charity helps to provide for the needs of these children so that this isn’t their only option.
Well, that is all I’m going to write for now. I hope you have a great weekend.
Peace,
Adam
This has been a very fast week and a half. I am surprised that it has been that long since I’ve written this time.
This past weekend was a very cool event. There was an inter-seminary basketball tournament held here at Mundelein Seminary. I think that it was eleven or twelve other seminaries from across the Midwest that participated. It was a great deal of fun to watch my brother seminarians both from Mundelein and other seminaries enjoy this friendly competition. Mundelein seminary has won the tournament each of the last three years, however, this year they lost in the semi-final round. Mundelein was able to win the losers bracket game very handily to finish third in the tournament.
The Mass on Sunday was a great experience. With so many seminarians from so many places it was very energetic and just a wonderful Mass.
There had been predictions about a big snow storm coming in over the weekend that made people a little nervous with the teams having to return to their home seminary after the basketball games, however this storm didn’t come in until Monday afternoon and really didn’t get to full force until Tuesday mid-day. This turned out to be the third largest snow storm on record for Chicago. Lake County, where Mundelein sits actually closed all of its roads on Wednesday so that the crews wouldn’t have to deal with traffic when trying to clear the snow.
On the seminary we had a great time with the snow. Everyone chipped in on shoveling the walks as we were able. Field education was canceled on Wednesday since we couldn’t drive anywhere so I was able to get a bit of my homework done and to help with shoveling some times. The parking lots were very snowed in. The maintenance crew’s first priority was of course to work to make the campus accessible for emergency vehicles, followed by clearing the parking lot of the conference center so that the visitors could get out and return to their lives away from the seminary. With my truck being a four-wheel drive I was able to drive around in the parking lot, but didn’t have a major need to go anywhere so I didn’t do that too much. It was fun to see the guys all working together to dig out everyone’s cars once the plows made a path through the seminarian’s lots so that we could move our vehicles to another lot while they finished in our seminarian lots.
Tonight I was going to go to a “casino night” fundraiser here on campus. Every year one of the cams hosts this fundraiser for some charity that is picked. In it people buy in for a certain amount and get a set amount of “casino night cash” which can then be wagered on table games as well as a faculty boxing tournament (using a Wii now, but historically using a rock ‘em sock ‘em boxing game). At the end of the night any gains can be used to bid on donated items. I ended up not going to this because one of the other guys who was scheduled to work at the library was asked to do something at his home parish this weekend and wanted to travel there tonight. He could not find anyone else to cover his shift so I said that I would. So I am sitting here with almost nobody in the library but it is open for the couple of guys that are here.
The charity that is benefiting from the casino night this year is a charity to help the “gunpowder children”. I believe that this one is based in Guatemala. I don’t know a ton about this, but from what I know it is a charity that helps to provide tuition and nutrition for kids in Guatemala. These kids live in such poverty that often their families can’t afford tuition or food. Many times these kids will have to quit school to work assembling fireworks. This is obviously a dangerous task, which pays very little. This charity helps to provide for the needs of these children so that this isn’t their only option.
Well, that is all I’m going to write for now. I hope you have a great weekend.
Peace,
Adam
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Christian Unity Week 2011
Hello again, time for another post,
This has been an interesting week here at the seminary. The first interesting thing since my last post was last Wednesday we had the “Reader Mass”. During this Mass the men in first year theology studies are installed as “Lectors”. This doesn’t mean as much now as it did in the past. Throughout much of Church history it was only the Ordained who could proclaim the readings from Scripture. Over time and I am not sure exactly when, it was seen that this could also be done by a man in training for the ordained ministry. So along the way they had what are termed “minor orders” or steps in what you are allowed to do in the Mass. The two most visible ones that we still talk about at all are “lector” or reader, and “acolyte” or server.
The Church no longer limits the reading of Scripture during Mass to men who have received this minor order (it isn’t really an ordination, but an installation)… but we still have a special Mass for these men in the seminary and try to follow the use of only those installed as much as we can here. It was nice, and is a nice pick-me-up for the guys that received this installation since it is another step in the process.
For the past week (ending today) the Catholic Church has celebrated “Christian Unity Week”. This is the week when we make extra prayers for understanding and commonality amongst all Christians (interreligious week is at another time). To emphasize this point we even has Mass on Sunday celebrated in the Byzantine Rite. A Rite is more than just another way of going about the process of Mass. A Rite is another tradition, but in communion with the Pope in Rome. This is different from other denominations that don’t recognize when Christ appointed St. Peter as the leader of the Church and his successors. There are 5 main rite that are accepted within the Catholic Church and Byzantine is the second largest (after the Latin Rite, which is what most people in the US are familiar with). One of the priests on campus is “bi-ritual” meaning that he is authorized to celebrate Mass in either the Latin Rite or the Byzantine Rite. He set up to have a Byzantine choir come to lead us, as well as giving us a worship guide and setting up the sanctuary. It was a great experience. I hope to pray in this form again some time, as I felt that I did miss out on some of the prayerfulness due to the novelty of it.
Sunday afternoon was of course the important Packers-Bears game. Living in the Chicago Archdiocese I was a minority rooting for the Packers, but they are of course heading to the superbowl.
Also over the weekend into today a large group of guys was gone to the annual March for Life in Washington D.C. This is the event to commemorate the Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court which made abortion legal throughout the US. This sad decision has cost the lives of at least 38 million babies, and some estimates put that number as high as 55 million in the last 38 years. I went to the March last year, so I decided not to go this year. Hopefully it won’t be needed next year, but if it is I may go then… we’ll see what my class schedule is looking like.
Peace,
Adam
This has been an interesting week here at the seminary. The first interesting thing since my last post was last Wednesday we had the “Reader Mass”. During this Mass the men in first year theology studies are installed as “Lectors”. This doesn’t mean as much now as it did in the past. Throughout much of Church history it was only the Ordained who could proclaim the readings from Scripture. Over time and I am not sure exactly when, it was seen that this could also be done by a man in training for the ordained ministry. So along the way they had what are termed “minor orders” or steps in what you are allowed to do in the Mass. The two most visible ones that we still talk about at all are “lector” or reader, and “acolyte” or server.
The Church no longer limits the reading of Scripture during Mass to men who have received this minor order (it isn’t really an ordination, but an installation)… but we still have a special Mass for these men in the seminary and try to follow the use of only those installed as much as we can here. It was nice, and is a nice pick-me-up for the guys that received this installation since it is another step in the process.
For the past week (ending today) the Catholic Church has celebrated “Christian Unity Week”. This is the week when we make extra prayers for understanding and commonality amongst all Christians (interreligious week is at another time). To emphasize this point we even has Mass on Sunday celebrated in the Byzantine Rite. A Rite is more than just another way of going about the process of Mass. A Rite is another tradition, but in communion with the Pope in Rome. This is different from other denominations that don’t recognize when Christ appointed St. Peter as the leader of the Church and his successors. There are 5 main rite that are accepted within the Catholic Church and Byzantine is the second largest (after the Latin Rite, which is what most people in the US are familiar with). One of the priests on campus is “bi-ritual” meaning that he is authorized to celebrate Mass in either the Latin Rite or the Byzantine Rite. He set up to have a Byzantine choir come to lead us, as well as giving us a worship guide and setting up the sanctuary. It was a great experience. I hope to pray in this form again some time, as I felt that I did miss out on some of the prayerfulness due to the novelty of it.
Sunday afternoon was of course the important Packers-Bears game. Living in the Chicago Archdiocese I was a minority rooting for the Packers, but they are of course heading to the superbowl.
Also over the weekend into today a large group of guys was gone to the annual March for Life in Washington D.C. This is the event to commemorate the Roe v. Wade decision by the Supreme Court which made abortion legal throughout the US. This sad decision has cost the lives of at least 38 million babies, and some estimates put that number as high as 55 million in the last 38 years. I went to the March last year, so I decided not to go this year. Hopefully it won’t be needed next year, but if it is I may go then… we’ll see what my class schedule is looking like.
Peace,
Adam
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Reflection for Wednesday 19 Jan 2011
Hi everyone, here is the reflection that I will be giving at the nursing home tomorrow. I hope you enjoy it. There are some things that I may or may not change, and if I do I will post an updated version. As I ussually do, the readings for the day are below the reflection, incase you are interested.
Peace,
Adam
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jesus heals, Jesus turns water into wine, Jesus raises people from the dead, but most importantly Jesus saves. He saves us from the evils of the sins we have committed.
When does he do this?
WHENEVER WE NEED IT!!
Many people have pointed to this Gospel reading, and the one we heard yesterday about the disciples of Jesus picking grain on the Sabbath to eat, as a way to show that the rules of faith don’t matter. Those people would be wrong in reading this in that way.
Jesus isn’t telling us to disregard the teachings; in fact, I think that he is telling us just the opposite, that the teachings on loving one another and providing for another’s needs are also in play.
Jesus was concerned about the Sabbath rule and didn’t want to ignore it. However, He wanted to make the point that the Law was to be applied in a loving way.
In the first reading today we find the story describing the priest Melchizedek. It talks about another priest who is to be raised up “not by a law expressed in a commandment concerning physical descent, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.” This obviously refers to Christ, but did you know that it also applies to you, and to me. You all know that Matt here and I are studying to become priests, but we all are already priests.
When we were all Baptized we were Baptized to be priests, prophets, and kings. We are kings in our inheritance of the eternal kingdom, we are prophets in that we are supposed to talk to others about our God and our faith, and we are priests in our service to God and his people.
A priest isn’t just one who knows about the faith, it is one who serves, and we all do that and are supposed to do that, it is what we are called to do through our Baptism. Jesus shows us the example of this in the Gospel. He was doing good to be in the synagogue on the Sabbath, but he saw the need of his ultimate priesthood to serve someone in need.
You and I may not have the power to work great miracles as Jesus did, but we need to think about what we can do in service of our God and our fellow children of God. We need to do these things whenever we are able. How are you able to help one another through your priesthood of the Baptized and from the example that our Lord gave to us.
Reading 1
Heb 7:1-3, 15-17
Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High,
met Abraham as he returned from his defeat of the kings
and blessed him.
And Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything.
His name first means righteous king,
and he was also “king of Salem,” that is, king of peace.
Without father, mother, or ancestry,
without beginning of days or end of life,
thus made to resemble the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.
It is even more obvious if another priest is raised up
after the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become so,
not by a law expressed in a commandment concerning physical descent
but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.
For it is testified:
You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Gospel
Mk 3:1-6
Jesus entered the synagogue.
There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up here before us.”
Then he said to the Pharisees,
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
But they remained silent.
Looking around at them with anger
and grieved at their hardness of heart,
Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel
with the Herodians against him to put him to death.
Peace,
Adam
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Jesus heals, Jesus turns water into wine, Jesus raises people from the dead, but most importantly Jesus saves. He saves us from the evils of the sins we have committed.
When does he do this?
WHENEVER WE NEED IT!!
Many people have pointed to this Gospel reading, and the one we heard yesterday about the disciples of Jesus picking grain on the Sabbath to eat, as a way to show that the rules of faith don’t matter. Those people would be wrong in reading this in that way.
Jesus isn’t telling us to disregard the teachings; in fact, I think that he is telling us just the opposite, that the teachings on loving one another and providing for another’s needs are also in play.
Jesus was concerned about the Sabbath rule and didn’t want to ignore it. However, He wanted to make the point that the Law was to be applied in a loving way.
In the first reading today we find the story describing the priest Melchizedek. It talks about another priest who is to be raised up “not by a law expressed in a commandment concerning physical descent, but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.” This obviously refers to Christ, but did you know that it also applies to you, and to me. You all know that Matt here and I are studying to become priests, but we all are already priests.
When we were all Baptized we were Baptized to be priests, prophets, and kings. We are kings in our inheritance of the eternal kingdom, we are prophets in that we are supposed to talk to others about our God and our faith, and we are priests in our service to God and his people.
A priest isn’t just one who knows about the faith, it is one who serves, and we all do that and are supposed to do that, it is what we are called to do through our Baptism. Jesus shows us the example of this in the Gospel. He was doing good to be in the synagogue on the Sabbath, but he saw the need of his ultimate priesthood to serve someone in need.
You and I may not have the power to work great miracles as Jesus did, but we need to think about what we can do in service of our God and our fellow children of God. We need to do these things whenever we are able. How are you able to help one another through your priesthood of the Baptized and from the example that our Lord gave to us.
Reading 1
Heb 7:1-3, 15-17
Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High,
met Abraham as he returned from his defeat of the kings
and blessed him.
And Abraham apportioned to him a tenth of everything.
His name first means righteous king,
and he was also “king of Salem,” that is, king of peace.
Without father, mother, or ancestry,
without beginning of days or end of life,
thus made to resemble the Son of God, he remains a priest forever.
It is even more obvious if another priest is raised up
after the likeness of Melchizedek, who has become so,
not by a law expressed in a commandment concerning physical descent
but by the power of a life that cannot be destroyed.
For it is testified:
You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.
Gospel
Mk 3:1-6
Jesus entered the synagogue.
There was a man there who had a withered hand.
They watched Jesus closely
to see if he would cure him on the sabbath
so that they might accuse him.
He said to the man with the withered hand,
“Come up here before us.”
Then he said to the Pharisees,
“Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath rather than to do evil,
to save life rather than to destroy it?”
But they remained silent.
Looking around at them with anger
and grieved at their hardness of heart,
Jesus said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.”
He stretched it out and his hand was restored.
The Pharisees went out and immediately took counsel
with the Herodians against him to put him to death.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Midterm Week Winter Quarter 2010-2011
Hello again,
Well, I am halfway through my first year at Seminary. We had midterms this week in the classes that are having midterms. I only had two midterms, plus a paper, so it wasn’t too bad. The oddest part about it for me was coming back, only having two days of classes last week (due to ministry seminar and field education) and then getting into finals week. I tend to prefer to be a bit more into the swing of things before taking tests, but it wasn’t too bad.
The midterms that I had were in Latin and Ancient Philosophy. Latin is Latin is all that I can say about it. I feel like I am understanding it when in class, but the minute I get on my own to study I am so lost that I feel like I’m spinning my wheels. However, when I look at what I do know I realize that it isn’t as bad as I think. The Ancient Philosophy exam was pretty much what I expected, so I think it went well.
I guess I’ll reflect a bit on the seminary experience after halfway through this first year. I will start by saying that it is pretty much what I expected, but in a better way than I expected. I anticipated the busy class schedule, the busy schedule of times for other activities, and all that is going on for actual activities and such. It is better in all of the intangibles.
The people that I am with are far better than I expected. I think that I have mentioned this before, but it still fits, especially in my class (those that I know the best). I had expected that there would be good guys here, I mean, who else would be expected to be in seminary. I did expect however, that there would be some people that I could only “get along with”, but that I wouldn’t really want to be friends with. That is the real world, so I don’t think it is a pessimistic view, simply reality of life. I have found however that at least in my class I could see myself being friends with everyone in my class for the long term, what a great feeling that is to be spending so much time with such wonderful people.
I can’t really describe the nature of why this is. I think that it definitely isn’t that we all are the same person. It is more that we all respect where we have differences and are fine with it. We all seem to be pretty decent at reading people and knowing what is appropriate for each different guy. The guys aren’t all uptight as you may be imagining, we relax and joke around as everyone else does. We all know that this isn’t a competition; we are trying to help each other. If we find that one guy is struggling with personal issues or academics or anything else we see what we can do to help, and people are willing to allow themselves to be helped, it is amazing. When I first started paying attention to seminary and considering it I heard people use the term “brother seminarians” and I thought it was some sort of old cliché, but I have found that it truly fits. It is incredible.
The faculty here is great as well. For many of the same reasons as above, they want to help us to succeed, they are real people and not uptight overly pius people. I find that they take a true interest in each of us and want to know if they can be of assistance in any way. They don’t make the classes too tough (this is important of course). The material that they cover in class is challenging, but by no means unachievable.
The Masses are faithful but with a relaxed feel. I had worried about the Masses here being overdone and not fitting what we find in the real parish world, but it is indeed what we find in the real world. This is seen in the music selection (I would have some difference with it if I picked it, but it is still good), it is seen in the faith and belief seen in the homilies, they aren’t all stellar homilies, but on the whole they are pretty good, it is seen in the way that we celebrate the Eucharist, a faithful reverence without any distracting trappings.
So, in short I am still very happy with my choice to enter seminary. I ask you to keep me and all seminarians in your prayers. If you know a young man considering this as a life path please be encouraging (but not pushy, it isn’t for everyone). Please pray for a willing response to God’s call by those that He picks.
Oh, one story to make you smile before I end. Obviously one aspect of Christianity that is important is charity. We do many little charity things during the year, I haven’t mentioned them much. A humorous one this week that we have is an “Underwear Challenge”. Got your attention with that didn’t I? One way to focus donations for the needy is to be direct in what is needed. When you think about it, most donated clothing is used, and people aren’t likely (I hope) to donate used underwear, so that is something that is actually a desperate need. So, by cams we are competing to see who collects the most new underwear. My cam decided to collect money and then go out and pick up underwear. I volunteered to do the money collection with one other guy and go out and buy the underwear. So a couple of hours ago I was in the Target (cheaper than Walmart for this) buying 14 packages of underwear, this is 100 pairs, you can imagine the looks I got from other customers.
Peace,
Adam
Well, I am halfway through my first year at Seminary. We had midterms this week in the classes that are having midterms. I only had two midterms, plus a paper, so it wasn’t too bad. The oddest part about it for me was coming back, only having two days of classes last week (due to ministry seminar and field education) and then getting into finals week. I tend to prefer to be a bit more into the swing of things before taking tests, but it wasn’t too bad.
The midterms that I had were in Latin and Ancient Philosophy. Latin is Latin is all that I can say about it. I feel like I am understanding it when in class, but the minute I get on my own to study I am so lost that I feel like I’m spinning my wheels. However, when I look at what I do know I realize that it isn’t as bad as I think. The Ancient Philosophy exam was pretty much what I expected, so I think it went well.
I guess I’ll reflect a bit on the seminary experience after halfway through this first year. I will start by saying that it is pretty much what I expected, but in a better way than I expected. I anticipated the busy class schedule, the busy schedule of times for other activities, and all that is going on for actual activities and such. It is better in all of the intangibles.
The people that I am with are far better than I expected. I think that I have mentioned this before, but it still fits, especially in my class (those that I know the best). I had expected that there would be good guys here, I mean, who else would be expected to be in seminary. I did expect however, that there would be some people that I could only “get along with”, but that I wouldn’t really want to be friends with. That is the real world, so I don’t think it is a pessimistic view, simply reality of life. I have found however that at least in my class I could see myself being friends with everyone in my class for the long term, what a great feeling that is to be spending so much time with such wonderful people.
I can’t really describe the nature of why this is. I think that it definitely isn’t that we all are the same person. It is more that we all respect where we have differences and are fine with it. We all seem to be pretty decent at reading people and knowing what is appropriate for each different guy. The guys aren’t all uptight as you may be imagining, we relax and joke around as everyone else does. We all know that this isn’t a competition; we are trying to help each other. If we find that one guy is struggling with personal issues or academics or anything else we see what we can do to help, and people are willing to allow themselves to be helped, it is amazing. When I first started paying attention to seminary and considering it I heard people use the term “brother seminarians” and I thought it was some sort of old cliché, but I have found that it truly fits. It is incredible.
The faculty here is great as well. For many of the same reasons as above, they want to help us to succeed, they are real people and not uptight overly pius people. I find that they take a true interest in each of us and want to know if they can be of assistance in any way. They don’t make the classes too tough (this is important of course). The material that they cover in class is challenging, but by no means unachievable.
The Masses are faithful but with a relaxed feel. I had worried about the Masses here being overdone and not fitting what we find in the real parish world, but it is indeed what we find in the real world. This is seen in the music selection (I would have some difference with it if I picked it, but it is still good), it is seen in the faith and belief seen in the homilies, they aren’t all stellar homilies, but on the whole they are pretty good, it is seen in the way that we celebrate the Eucharist, a faithful reverence without any distracting trappings.
So, in short I am still very happy with my choice to enter seminary. I ask you to keep me and all seminarians in your prayers. If you know a young man considering this as a life path please be encouraging (but not pushy, it isn’t for everyone). Please pray for a willing response to God’s call by those that He picks.
Oh, one story to make you smile before I end. Obviously one aspect of Christianity that is important is charity. We do many little charity things during the year, I haven’t mentioned them much. A humorous one this week that we have is an “Underwear Challenge”. Got your attention with that didn’t I? One way to focus donations for the needy is to be direct in what is needed. When you think about it, most donated clothing is used, and people aren’t likely (I hope) to donate used underwear, so that is something that is actually a desperate need. So, by cams we are competing to see who collects the most new underwear. My cam decided to collect money and then go out and pick up underwear. I volunteered to do the money collection with one other guy and go out and buy the underwear. So a couple of hours ago I was in the Target (cheaper than Walmart for this) buying 14 packages of underwear, this is 100 pairs, you can imagine the looks I got from other customers.
Peace,
Adam
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Back from Christmas Break 2010 Happy 2011
Wow, what a couple of weeks that break was.
We got done with classes on Friday the 17th of December, but I decided not to leave until the following morning. I had to get some cleaning done, write some thank you notes for gifts I had received already, and wrap the gifts I had yet to give. When I finally left on Saturday I headed to Green Bay to meet up with my extended family on the day we were getting ready for the Christmas celebration with them.
The extended family Christmas went great, except for the fact that four of the eight cousins were missing. It was so nice to be able to get together with family that I don’t see too often. We did the normal stuff of a meal, exchanging a few gifts, and just generally having a good time enjoying each other’s company. I stayed in Green Bay until Sunday, when I went to Mass there I ran into some people that I know from that area but haven’t seen in a couple of years. I was able to catch up with them for a bit and sit with them for Mass before going back to my aunt and uncle’s for brunch and then heading to my mom’s house.
The last week of Advent was both busy, and not having much big stuff going on at the same time. I had a doctor appointment on Monday, saw some friends, went to Mass and the normal routine stuff the rest of Monday and on Tuesday. Wednesday I was able to meet up with a great friend for lunch, followed by the Diocesan Seminarian Christmas party in the evening. That was a pretty simple affair, we had a Mass celebrated by the Bishop and then a dinner where we were all introduced along with our family that was there.
Thursday morning I went to Mass at the parish I grew up in before heading over to Stevens Point to help out with the Christmas Eve and Christmas Masses. As always it was great to go to Stevens Point. The Masses all went smoothly and it was great to spend time there with that community that has meant so much to me.
On Christmas after the last Mass I headed back to my mom’s where we were getting together for Christmas, the only one missing that day was one step-brother and we were even able to set up a computer with a webcam and have him there in that way.
Since the day after Christmas was a Sunday it was still a day to go to Mass. I went to an early Mass at a church near home, but then also attended a Lutheran service with one of my friends from growing up. I am going to be the best man in his wedding this spring and wanted to see his church before that day. It was a nice service, and his pastor is a very nice man. I enjoyed it, but it still wasn’t Mass.
I went out for a dinner with people (or at their house) Monday through Wednesday but aside from that didn’t do all that much in that week (I tried to study, and did some, but not as much as I’d like to have done). Friday I again went to Mass at my parish from growing up before heading to Marshfield to a couple of friend’s house for a New Years get together. This was a very nice get together and I enjoyed spending time with them and the other friends that were there.
On New Year’s Day I headed back down to the seminary. I didn’t have to be back quite that early, but it was nice to come back and relax here for a bit, not something I’m used to with the fast pace that we go when classes are in session. Many of the guys started trickling in Saturday and Sunday even though we didn’t have to be back until Monday evening. We watched some football, accomplished a few things and mainly just hung out together.
Monday I heard some sad news that my dad and his wife’s dog died, it was very sad because they are both close to her. I actually spent quite a bit of the day thinking about what a gift from God our pets are and how much they mean to us… I may write about that in the future.
Today (Tuesday) we had a ministry seminar. I guess this is something that they do here every year. The presenter was John Allen, a writer for National Catholic Reporter, Vatican Correspondent for CNN and author of a few books. The topic for the day was based on his latest book Future Church. This book and the talks were about trends affecting the church currently and those developing that are going to have a major impact on the future.
Some of these trends included the globalization of the church, “tribalism” within the church and society, interreligious relations (especially with Islam), ecological issues, and a few other things that Allen identified.
The globalization of the church talked about the fact that the Catholic population growth is outpacing world population growth, but the center of Catholicism is moving/has moved from the Western world to the Southern Hemisphere, namely Africa and Latin America. This shows the needs of us truly identifying ourselves as a universal church (Universal is actually the definition of the word Catholic). Also it was discussed how the line of thinking of the Church in these regions is going to shape the future of the Church to a large degree.
The tribalism of the Church describes what is commonly referred to as polarization, but not just the fact that there are some of different opinions on issues but also the fact that as there are different opinions they are supported by people forming “tribes” of those who are like minded. This was talked about both in the Church and society and with no answers to this problem given it was talked about as something that we will need to work to address in our ministry.
Interreligious relations was also a big issue. With the globalization there are now large pockets of Catholics in areas where the cultural history is not based on Christianity so we need to figure out how to work on dealing with that and how to work together with other faiths where it works to do so. As Pope Benedict XVI has said, the major problem in the world isn’t the divide between Christian and Islam, it is the divide between belief and unbelief. During this part of the talk Allen talked about how without abandoning work with Judaism there has been an obvious shift towards dealings with Muslims. This is seen partially because Christians and Muslims are living together more, and there are large instances of oppression, but also the obvious reason for this is that the two groups combined make up more than half of the human population.
Allen also talked about ecological issues being a rising trend in our Church. This is obviously true throughout society and makes for some interesting parings in political issues when environmentalists are teaming up with the Church. The Catholic Church has long held that protecting the environment is a very important thing… after all it is God’s creation and one of His many gifts to us. Another angle that Allen mentioned that I hadn’t thought about with this regard is tying environmental issues in with Natural Law, such as the right to life and respecting others. Obviously we have to protect the environment to respect those who come after us. But also the environmental issues show that there are absolute truths and that man can’t just do whatever he wants. This will lead some to accept that there is a natural law in the order of things, a very interesting take for me to think about.
I hope that everyone had a Blessed Christmas season and that 2011 is off to a wonderful start for you.
Peace,
Adam
We got done with classes on Friday the 17th of December, but I decided not to leave until the following morning. I had to get some cleaning done, write some thank you notes for gifts I had received already, and wrap the gifts I had yet to give. When I finally left on Saturday I headed to Green Bay to meet up with my extended family on the day we were getting ready for the Christmas celebration with them.
The extended family Christmas went great, except for the fact that four of the eight cousins were missing. It was so nice to be able to get together with family that I don’t see too often. We did the normal stuff of a meal, exchanging a few gifts, and just generally having a good time enjoying each other’s company. I stayed in Green Bay until Sunday, when I went to Mass there I ran into some people that I know from that area but haven’t seen in a couple of years. I was able to catch up with them for a bit and sit with them for Mass before going back to my aunt and uncle’s for brunch and then heading to my mom’s house.
The last week of Advent was both busy, and not having much big stuff going on at the same time. I had a doctor appointment on Monday, saw some friends, went to Mass and the normal routine stuff the rest of Monday and on Tuesday. Wednesday I was able to meet up with a great friend for lunch, followed by the Diocesan Seminarian Christmas party in the evening. That was a pretty simple affair, we had a Mass celebrated by the Bishop and then a dinner where we were all introduced along with our family that was there.
Thursday morning I went to Mass at the parish I grew up in before heading over to Stevens Point to help out with the Christmas Eve and Christmas Masses. As always it was great to go to Stevens Point. The Masses all went smoothly and it was great to spend time there with that community that has meant so much to me.
On Christmas after the last Mass I headed back to my mom’s where we were getting together for Christmas, the only one missing that day was one step-brother and we were even able to set up a computer with a webcam and have him there in that way.
Since the day after Christmas was a Sunday it was still a day to go to Mass. I went to an early Mass at a church near home, but then also attended a Lutheran service with one of my friends from growing up. I am going to be the best man in his wedding this spring and wanted to see his church before that day. It was a nice service, and his pastor is a very nice man. I enjoyed it, but it still wasn’t Mass.
I went out for a dinner with people (or at their house) Monday through Wednesday but aside from that didn’t do all that much in that week (I tried to study, and did some, but not as much as I’d like to have done). Friday I again went to Mass at my parish from growing up before heading to Marshfield to a couple of friend’s house for a New Years get together. This was a very nice get together and I enjoyed spending time with them and the other friends that were there.
On New Year’s Day I headed back down to the seminary. I didn’t have to be back quite that early, but it was nice to come back and relax here for a bit, not something I’m used to with the fast pace that we go when classes are in session. Many of the guys started trickling in Saturday and Sunday even though we didn’t have to be back until Monday evening. We watched some football, accomplished a few things and mainly just hung out together.
Monday I heard some sad news that my dad and his wife’s dog died, it was very sad because they are both close to her. I actually spent quite a bit of the day thinking about what a gift from God our pets are and how much they mean to us… I may write about that in the future.
Today (Tuesday) we had a ministry seminar. I guess this is something that they do here every year. The presenter was John Allen, a writer for National Catholic Reporter, Vatican Correspondent for CNN and author of a few books. The topic for the day was based on his latest book Future Church. This book and the talks were about trends affecting the church currently and those developing that are going to have a major impact on the future.
Some of these trends included the globalization of the church, “tribalism” within the church and society, interreligious relations (especially with Islam), ecological issues, and a few other things that Allen identified.
The globalization of the church talked about the fact that the Catholic population growth is outpacing world population growth, but the center of Catholicism is moving/has moved from the Western world to the Southern Hemisphere, namely Africa and Latin America. This shows the needs of us truly identifying ourselves as a universal church (Universal is actually the definition of the word Catholic). Also it was discussed how the line of thinking of the Church in these regions is going to shape the future of the Church to a large degree.
The tribalism of the Church describes what is commonly referred to as polarization, but not just the fact that there are some of different opinions on issues but also the fact that as there are different opinions they are supported by people forming “tribes” of those who are like minded. This was talked about both in the Church and society and with no answers to this problem given it was talked about as something that we will need to work to address in our ministry.
Interreligious relations was also a big issue. With the globalization there are now large pockets of Catholics in areas where the cultural history is not based on Christianity so we need to figure out how to work on dealing with that and how to work together with other faiths where it works to do so. As Pope Benedict XVI has said, the major problem in the world isn’t the divide between Christian and Islam, it is the divide between belief and unbelief. During this part of the talk Allen talked about how without abandoning work with Judaism there has been an obvious shift towards dealings with Muslims. This is seen partially because Christians and Muslims are living together more, and there are large instances of oppression, but also the obvious reason for this is that the two groups combined make up more than half of the human population.
Allen also talked about ecological issues being a rising trend in our Church. This is obviously true throughout society and makes for some interesting parings in political issues when environmentalists are teaming up with the Church. The Catholic Church has long held that protecting the environment is a very important thing… after all it is God’s creation and one of His many gifts to us. Another angle that Allen mentioned that I hadn’t thought about with this regard is tying environmental issues in with Natural Law, such as the right to life and respecting others. Obviously we have to protect the environment to respect those who come after us. But also the environmental issues show that there are absolute truths and that man can’t just do whatever he wants. This will lead some to accept that there is a natural law in the order of things, a very interesting take for me to think about.
I hope that everyone had a Blessed Christmas season and that 2011 is off to a wonderful start for you.
Peace,
Adam
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Reflection for the Third Wednesday in Advent
Hello everyone,
I figured I'd give you all a sneak peak into what I am giving for a reflection at the nursing home tomorrow during the communion service. As I have done in the past the first part is my reflection, after that I have included the readings which are prescibed by the Church to be read tomorrow. These readings are what I have based this reflection off of, so if you are interested you can read those too.
Peace,
Adam
-----------------------------------------------------------
(Sung to tune)“You better watch out, you better not shout, you better not cry, I’m telling you why…”
We all know how that song goes. Why are we being told to behave? Because Santa Clause is coming to town. Obviously it is very important to prepare for the jolly man in the red suit to get here, he sees us when we are sleeping, he sees us when we are awake, and worse yet he knows when we’ve been bad or good, so we better be good for goodness sake.
I don’t know about you, but that song always kind of made me think twice before doing something when I was a little kid. But we need to remember that Santa doesn’t come just any old day of the year, he comes when we celebrate the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. What do we do to be ready for His coming? John the Baptist was trying to get everyone ready for the coming of the Messiah. John knew that his job was to prepare the way of the Lord, as is said in Isaiah. John called on the people to repent of their sins, and to start living for God.
John knew what this meant, and the Jews of the day knew what it meant, they had all been taught the words of Isaiah that we read today. Isaiah was repeating what he had heard from God, that God had made everything, and that He had made it to be lived in, not to be wasted. God does want us to go about our lives, embracing our loved ones, doing good for them, and doing good in general. As is quoted in Isaiah’s writings, “Only in the LORD
are just deeds and power.” We are also given very clear instructions on how to prepare for Christ’s coming, “Turn to me and be safe, all you ends of the earth.”
John sent some of his followers to Christ to ask if He was the one who is to come. Jesus didn’t answer it in so many words, but we know that He is indeed the one who was to come, and we know that he will come again someday.
So we need to remember among the hustle and bustle of this Advent season, prepare for Santa, laying out your milk and cookies. But even more important, prepare for the Lord, repenting of our sin and doing good works for Him.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading 1
Is 45:6c-8, 18, 21c-25
I am the LORD, there is no other;
I form the light, and create the darkness,
I make well-being and create woe;
I, the LORD, do all these things.
Let justice descend, O heavens, like dew from above,
like gentle rain let the skies drop it down.
Let the earth open and salvation bud forth;
let justice also spring up!
I, the LORD, have created this.
For thus says the LORD,
The creator of the heavens,
who is God,
The designer and maker of the earth
who established it,
Not creating it to be a waste,
but designing it be lived in:
I am the LORD, and there is no other.
Who announced this from the beginning
and foretold it from of old?
Was it not I, the LORD,
besides whom there is no other God?
There is no just and saving God but me.
Turn to me and be safe,
all you ends of the earth,
for I am God; there is no other!
By myself I swear,
uttering my just decree
and my unalterable word:
To me every knee shall bend;
by me every tongue shall swear,
Saying, “Only in the LORD
are just deeds and power.
Before him in shame shall come
all who vent their anger against him.
In the LORD shall be the vindication and the glory
of all the descendants of Israel.”
Lk 7:18b-23
Gospel
At that time,
John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord to ask,
“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”
When the men came to the Lord, they said,
“John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask,
‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’”
At that time Jesus cured many of their diseases, sufferings, and evil spirits;
he also granted sight to many who were blind.
And Jesus said to them in reply,
“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard:
the blind regain their sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
I figured I'd give you all a sneak peak into what I am giving for a reflection at the nursing home tomorrow during the communion service. As I have done in the past the first part is my reflection, after that I have included the readings which are prescibed by the Church to be read tomorrow. These readings are what I have based this reflection off of, so if you are interested you can read those too.
Peace,
Adam
-----------------------------------------------------------
(Sung to tune)“You better watch out, you better not shout, you better not cry, I’m telling you why…”
We all know how that song goes. Why are we being told to behave? Because Santa Clause is coming to town. Obviously it is very important to prepare for the jolly man in the red suit to get here, he sees us when we are sleeping, he sees us when we are awake, and worse yet he knows when we’ve been bad or good, so we better be good for goodness sake.
I don’t know about you, but that song always kind of made me think twice before doing something when I was a little kid. But we need to remember that Santa doesn’t come just any old day of the year, he comes when we celebrate the coming of our Lord, Jesus Christ. What do we do to be ready for His coming? John the Baptist was trying to get everyone ready for the coming of the Messiah. John knew that his job was to prepare the way of the Lord, as is said in Isaiah. John called on the people to repent of their sins, and to start living for God.
John knew what this meant, and the Jews of the day knew what it meant, they had all been taught the words of Isaiah that we read today. Isaiah was repeating what he had heard from God, that God had made everything, and that He had made it to be lived in, not to be wasted. God does want us to go about our lives, embracing our loved ones, doing good for them, and doing good in general. As is quoted in Isaiah’s writings, “Only in the LORD
are just deeds and power.” We are also given very clear instructions on how to prepare for Christ’s coming, “Turn to me and be safe, all you ends of the earth.”
John sent some of his followers to Christ to ask if He was the one who is to come. Jesus didn’t answer it in so many words, but we know that He is indeed the one who was to come, and we know that he will come again someday.
So we need to remember among the hustle and bustle of this Advent season, prepare for Santa, laying out your milk and cookies. But even more important, prepare for the Lord, repenting of our sin and doing good works for Him.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Reading 1
Is 45:6c-8, 18, 21c-25
I am the LORD, there is no other;
I form the light, and create the darkness,
I make well-being and create woe;
I, the LORD, do all these things.
Let justice descend, O heavens, like dew from above,
like gentle rain let the skies drop it down.
Let the earth open and salvation bud forth;
let justice also spring up!
I, the LORD, have created this.
For thus says the LORD,
The creator of the heavens,
who is God,
The designer and maker of the earth
who established it,
Not creating it to be a waste,
but designing it be lived in:
I am the LORD, and there is no other.
Who announced this from the beginning
and foretold it from of old?
Was it not I, the LORD,
besides whom there is no other God?
There is no just and saving God but me.
Turn to me and be safe,
all you ends of the earth,
for I am God; there is no other!
By myself I swear,
uttering my just decree
and my unalterable word:
To me every knee shall bend;
by me every tongue shall swear,
Saying, “Only in the LORD
are just deeds and power.
Before him in shame shall come
all who vent their anger against him.
In the LORD shall be the vindication and the glory
of all the descendants of Israel.”
Lk 7:18b-23
Gospel
At that time,
John summoned two of his disciples and sent them to the Lord to ask,
“Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?”
When the men came to the Lord, they said,
“John the Baptist has sent us to you to ask,
‘Are you the one who is to come, or should we look for another?’”
At that time Jesus cured many of their diseases, sufferings, and evil spirits;
he also granted sight to many who were blind.
And Jesus said to them in reply,
“Go and tell John what you have seen and heard:
the blind regain their sight,
the lame walk,
lepers are cleansed,
the deaf hear, the dead are raised,
the poor have the good news proclaimed to them.
And blessed is the one who takes no offense at me.”
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Back At It, Winter Quarter 2010-2011
Hi there,
So, as it seems I often am in these things I am going to apologize for the length of time between posts. As I said in my last post, I was on a break from classes. It was a great break; I got to spend time with many wonderful people and to do a bit of hunting, and just a little bit of other relaxing. By the end of the break I was indeed ready to get back to the seminary and get moving on with my studies and formation.
I came back on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, as classes started the following Monday. With this being a new quarter, there are new classes and a new schedule. I got heavy into it with 4 classes on Monday. Those classes are, Humanities I, Latin II, Ethics, and Logic. Tuesday is a light day with only one class, that being Ancient Philosophy. Wednesdays I am again going to the same nursing home as before, that will go on this whole school year. Thursdays are only three classes: Humanities I, Latin II, and Logic. Fridays I have two, those being Ancient Philosophy, and Ethics.
Humanities I, seems like it will be a bit of a literature course with finding the lessons and aspects of the faith in various aspects of famous pieces. So far we have ready the plays “Everyman”, and “A Man for All Seasons”. “Everyman” is a mid-evil piece that shows a man who encounters “death” and this causes him to examine those things in life that he thought were good, but were truly harming to him and then he encounters ways to live a better life. This appears to have been written by a priest of the era with its homiletic style and the fact that the clergy was the literates in the time. “A Man for All Seasons” is a piece from the mid-20th century but based on the story of St. Thomas More during the English breaking from the Church under Henry VIII. Thomas More was the chancellor of England who although he wouldn’t speak against the king’s divorce he was strategically silent and would not affirm the kings claim of supremacy over the Church. St. Thomas More was eventually beheaded for this. He is one of the more famous martyrs of this period.
Latin II is simply a continuation of what we have been studying in Latin. It is very difficult, but the priest that teaches it makes it at least interesting while we are there.
Ethics is the philosophical pair of Moral Theology. We are told that the difference between Philosophy and Theology at least in this case is that philosophy can be attained by pure reason, while Theology relies on revelation. So in Ethics we are talking about the reasoning way to deal with many of the same issues that we will encounter in moral theology.
Logic is a bit tougher for me to understand what we are going to be studying. Logic is also another branch of philosophy, dealing with how to properly make connections and how to make items make sense, at least I think that is what it is, ask me about it later and I might understand.
Ancient Philosophy is just as it sounds, the philosophy of the ancients. This goes from the earliest recorded philosophical topics into the beginnings of the Christian period of history. The first philosophers tended to be most concerned with what the world is made of, and ideas along those lines. The better known Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, which we are also covering were concerned with the ideas and definitions of virtues.
In addition to the classes we of course have all of our spiritual direction, formation advising, prayer times, and Masses.
This past Wednesday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Even many Catholics tend not to know what is being talked about when we mention this… so I will explain a little here. Most people think that it is about the time when Mary found that she was carrying the child Jesus. Although that is of course a great act of God, that is celebrated with the Feast of the Annunciation. That is not the Immaculate Conception (I.C.)
I.C. is the teaching passed down from the early Christians that when Mary was conceived the Holy Spirit intervened and prevented her from bearing the stain of Original Sin (the sin of Adam and Eve disobeying God in the garden, which gives us all a tendency towards sin). This is a teaching of the Church that although it is not found in sacred scripture it can be found very early in Sacred Tradition. It was a belief held by most Catholics though-out the world for ages. It wasn’t until the mid-19th century that it was declared to be an official Dogma of the Church. I.C. is the patronal feast of the seminary (as well as the patronal feast of the United States) so it was naturally a big celebration here. We had a morning of prayer, in which all field education and classes are canceled so that we can spend the morning in prayer, then we had a fancy celebration lunch followed by the afternoon free.
Late last week most of the guys in 3rd year Theology left us. They are spending this quarter doing their studies on Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I pray that they are having a great experience and growing during their time walking in the same lands as our Lord did.
I think I have mentioned that we get a lot of time off from here during the school year. This is partially due to the quarter system and the two week breaks between each quarter, but also the fact that as a seminary it is important for us to help out in our parishes when we can. So although we just had two weeks off, we will only be back for three weeks before getting another two weeks off for Christmas.
Well, I think that is enough of an update. I will try not to be so tardy with my next post.
Peace,
Adam
So, as it seems I often am in these things I am going to apologize for the length of time between posts. As I said in my last post, I was on a break from classes. It was a great break; I got to spend time with many wonderful people and to do a bit of hunting, and just a little bit of other relaxing. By the end of the break I was indeed ready to get back to the seminary and get moving on with my studies and formation.
I came back on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, as classes started the following Monday. With this being a new quarter, there are new classes and a new schedule. I got heavy into it with 4 classes on Monday. Those classes are, Humanities I, Latin II, Ethics, and Logic. Tuesday is a light day with only one class, that being Ancient Philosophy. Wednesdays I am again going to the same nursing home as before, that will go on this whole school year. Thursdays are only three classes: Humanities I, Latin II, and Logic. Fridays I have two, those being Ancient Philosophy, and Ethics.
Humanities I, seems like it will be a bit of a literature course with finding the lessons and aspects of the faith in various aspects of famous pieces. So far we have ready the plays “Everyman”, and “A Man for All Seasons”. “Everyman” is a mid-evil piece that shows a man who encounters “death” and this causes him to examine those things in life that he thought were good, but were truly harming to him and then he encounters ways to live a better life. This appears to have been written by a priest of the era with its homiletic style and the fact that the clergy was the literates in the time. “A Man for All Seasons” is a piece from the mid-20th century but based on the story of St. Thomas More during the English breaking from the Church under Henry VIII. Thomas More was the chancellor of England who although he wouldn’t speak against the king’s divorce he was strategically silent and would not affirm the kings claim of supremacy over the Church. St. Thomas More was eventually beheaded for this. He is one of the more famous martyrs of this period.
Latin II is simply a continuation of what we have been studying in Latin. It is very difficult, but the priest that teaches it makes it at least interesting while we are there.
Ethics is the philosophical pair of Moral Theology. We are told that the difference between Philosophy and Theology at least in this case is that philosophy can be attained by pure reason, while Theology relies on revelation. So in Ethics we are talking about the reasoning way to deal with many of the same issues that we will encounter in moral theology.
Logic is a bit tougher for me to understand what we are going to be studying. Logic is also another branch of philosophy, dealing with how to properly make connections and how to make items make sense, at least I think that is what it is, ask me about it later and I might understand.
Ancient Philosophy is just as it sounds, the philosophy of the ancients. This goes from the earliest recorded philosophical topics into the beginnings of the Christian period of history. The first philosophers tended to be most concerned with what the world is made of, and ideas along those lines. The better known Greek philosophers such as Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle, which we are also covering were concerned with the ideas and definitions of virtues.
In addition to the classes we of course have all of our spiritual direction, formation advising, prayer times, and Masses.
This past Wednesday we celebrated the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception. Even many Catholics tend not to know what is being talked about when we mention this… so I will explain a little here. Most people think that it is about the time when Mary found that she was carrying the child Jesus. Although that is of course a great act of God, that is celebrated with the Feast of the Annunciation. That is not the Immaculate Conception (I.C.)
I.C. is the teaching passed down from the early Christians that when Mary was conceived the Holy Spirit intervened and prevented her from bearing the stain of Original Sin (the sin of Adam and Eve disobeying God in the garden, which gives us all a tendency towards sin). This is a teaching of the Church that although it is not found in sacred scripture it can be found very early in Sacred Tradition. It was a belief held by most Catholics though-out the world for ages. It wasn’t until the mid-19th century that it was declared to be an official Dogma of the Church. I.C. is the patronal feast of the seminary (as well as the patronal feast of the United States) so it was naturally a big celebration here. We had a morning of prayer, in which all field education and classes are canceled so that we can spend the morning in prayer, then we had a fancy celebration lunch followed by the afternoon free.
Late last week most of the guys in 3rd year Theology left us. They are spending this quarter doing their studies on Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I pray that they are having a great experience and growing during their time walking in the same lands as our Lord did.
I think I have mentioned that we get a lot of time off from here during the school year. This is partially due to the quarter system and the two week breaks between each quarter, but also the fact that as a seminary it is important for us to help out in our parishes when we can. So although we just had two weeks off, we will only be back for three weeks before getting another two weeks off for Christmas.
Well, I think that is enough of an update. I will try not to be so tardy with my next post.
Peace,
Adam
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)