So I thought it might be a good time to talk about the type of pastoral work I get to do in Rome. I'll admit, it's nothing like the states where I was able to work with youth, confirmation groups, and young adults.
But nevertheless, the Lord always seems to provide that which He has asked you to take up. Actually as I was praying about which apostolate to do, I had these grand visions. I wanted to run tours of St. Peter's or teach little kids about the faith. Or I could just do the easiest of all and often so rewarding, prepare food and serve in one of the many soup kitchens in Rome.
I did NOT really want to work in a hospital talking to patients in Italian. I do not really like hospitals and Italian is not my forte or so I have been told. But the Lord had other plans. That's why sometimes I say I do not like praying because I get told these ridiculous things. Go be a seminarian. Say yes and go to Rome. Go minister in a foreign language. GAH!
So back the story. We don't do ministry our first semester to help with our adjustment. But the second semester I felt called to do hospital ministry. The year is long over but I still remember those first few weeks. I was completely overwhelmed. I realized this ministry was so beyond me and I was just flailing in these conversations with the patients. I had no good words to say and there would be these awkward pauses. Sweat would roll down my face. I'd look away. And then mumble some words goodbye. Yikes, I was not good at this. But I kept praying.
Things got better. My Italian came, very slowly. I started having better conversations. I realized they did not really care how my Italian was. They simply cared that I was there. Plus they liked talking to an Americano. :) But I began to realize that this ministry was not at all about me and much of my stress and worry was thinking that it was. Coming into a hospital as a man of faith, a religious, who is authentic and honest in the desire to simply be with people and be Christ for them in their moment of pain and suffering was all I needed.
There are still difficult days. But then there are days, like the last day of ministry for this year, when someone shares amazing news. This woman approached us towards the last minutes of our time there and simply shared her joy in God's love in the midst of suffering and sorrow. She got it. She understood God's love for her and the constant abiding presence He has in her life. Amazing.
Somehow, in God's great humor, He assigned me as the new capo for next year. All that means is I am in charge of the 4 of us who go to the hospital on a regular basis. But nevertheless, it's another step along the path that I do not choose but from which I am grateful to have laid out before me. I am never ready but I know one thing, God's grace is always enough.
AMDG.
Friday, July 10, 2009
"So what do you do all day?"
St. Theresa parish in South Lake Tahoe is much poorer than you might think. Like the rest of the local economy, it depends heavily on tourism for its income. The church seats about 700 and last weekend every Mass was standing room only due to the high number of visitors. I attended all of the weekend Masses so I could have an opportunity to meet as many of the people as I could. I ran into several people from my home parish who were there on vacation, and a few people from Nativity parish in Menlo Park (where many of us St. Patrick's seminarians go for Sunday Mass during the school year.)
The parochial administrator here, Fr. Ron Marcelo, is an awesome guy and a very good priest. Tomorrow I have to assist him with 22 infant baptisms, one in English and 21 in Spanish. Fr. Marcelo was ordained for the religious community of Verbum Dei in Spain. His adopted Spanish family came to visit us for a few days so for a while the official language of the rectory was Spanish. I speak it slowly and with a thick accent so I need all the practice I can get! Castillian Spanish is a little different from Latin American Spanish - think of it like the differences between British English and American English.
Two pastors emiriti of St. Theresa live in the area: Fr. John Grace and Monsignor Murrough Wallace. They assist with saying Mass and doing weddings and funerals when Fr. Marcelo is away or otherwise occupied. A pastor (or parochial administrator - the difference is a techincal one in canon law that I'm not totally familiar with) has a lot of day-to-day administrative work that must get done. Fr. Ron said that as a priest, you can be as busy as you want to be. The trap to avoid here - and I myself frequently fall into it - is burying yourself in work to the point where your spiritual life suffers. Every priest I've ever talked to has always given me the same piece of advice: a healthy spiritual life is essential. If you don't have a strong relationship with Jesus and Mary, then parish life will break you, period.
Two daily Masses are offered here, one at 8 am and one at 12 pm. I'm trying to organize a more formal rosary group to meet after the 8 am Mass. It can be difficult though because many of the people who stick around afterward to pray it with me are tourists who are leaving soon. Nonetheless, it was wonderful to meet them all and I hope that they will keep me and all of us seminarians in their prayers. I guess I should have told them about this blog. We always like to see the traffic up :)
The parochial administrator here, Fr. Ron Marcelo, is an awesome guy and a very good priest. Tomorrow I have to assist him with 22 infant baptisms, one in English and 21 in Spanish. Fr. Marcelo was ordained for the religious community of Verbum Dei in Spain. His adopted Spanish family came to visit us for a few days so for a while the official language of the rectory was Spanish. I speak it slowly and with a thick accent so I need all the practice I can get! Castillian Spanish is a little different from Latin American Spanish - think of it like the differences between British English and American English.
Two pastors emiriti of St. Theresa live in the area: Fr. John Grace and Monsignor Murrough Wallace. They assist with saying Mass and doing weddings and funerals when Fr. Marcelo is away or otherwise occupied. A pastor (or parochial administrator - the difference is a techincal one in canon law that I'm not totally familiar with) has a lot of day-to-day administrative work that must get done. Fr. Ron said that as a priest, you can be as busy as you want to be. The trap to avoid here - and I myself frequently fall into it - is burying yourself in work to the point where your spiritual life suffers. Every priest I've ever talked to has always given me the same piece of advice: a healthy spiritual life is essential. If you don't have a strong relationship with Jesus and Mary, then parish life will break you, period.
Two daily Masses are offered here, one at 8 am and one at 12 pm. I'm trying to organize a more formal rosary group to meet after the 8 am Mass. It can be difficult though because many of the people who stick around afterward to pray it with me are tourists who are leaving soon. Nonetheless, it was wonderful to meet them all and I hope that they will keep me and all of us seminarians in their prayers. I guess I should have told them about this blog. We always like to see the traffic up :)
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Know Thyself...
I forget who said it but it is indeed true, "The unreflected life is not worth living." Or another admonition, "Know thyself." I think we live in a world that is so utterly chaotic and fast-paced that we never give ourselves time to be alone, be in the quiet, be outside the constant stream of activity that society draws us into and sweeps us away with.
But knowing ourselves is so important in terms of discernment and formation but even more so even as a human person created in God's image. To know who we are, to reflect on our nature and purpose, can only lead to true fulfillment. Without knowing ourselves, what we desire, who we are called to be, I am pretty darn sure we'll end miserable.
Man is called to discover who he is. We can see this happen often in high school, where teenagers rebel against parents, standout from others, or just run. The question being - who am I? But I think today the question is not answered well because man is not given all the answers. So often man knows nothing of God and therefore the relationship he is invited to embrace. I remember one day in middle school where someone asked the teacher, "What is the purpose of life?" This teacher, being a bit eccentric, turned the class into a discussion on the topic where we all went around answering the question. I think the ultimate conclusion was to do whatever would make you happy. Nice and vague. But this is the sense I got in my own education. Religion was never highly looked upon. I don't think we really expected to get any answers there.
But much of what seminarian formation and discernment is, is to discover who you are by discovering who God is. How does this happen but in a developed prayer life. And I think an essential part of that is retreat. Yeah, you can leave your old life and start another in search of discovering who you really are or take some grand trip, but I think retreating into the silence of your soul where the Holy Spirit dwells is the true place of discovery.
It's one of my great joys ever since entering the seminary to be able to take days of recollection, desert days, or even days during vacation periods to spend a half day or full day in prayer and reflection. It's wonderful to have it built into your life . The quiet can be a scary place, I've been there and weeklong silent retreats still give me the chills. It can be worse than the dentist on drilling day. But I go, knowing the amazing ways in which God reveals himself to me in the quiet. And likewise I discover my own weakness and sinfulness that is transformed by God's grace.
I'll be honest. I never took a good retreat or even went on a pilgrimage before I entered the seminary. But in my own search to know myself, to know Christ, I would find myself, after a long day at work, before the Blessed Sacrament. Or early in the morning, I would find myself receiving the body of our Lord at Mass. My search is not quite over. I discover more about myself each day and how much God loves me. And I realize, this vocation, is one of the greatest gifts He has ever given me.
AMDG.
But knowing ourselves is so important in terms of discernment and formation but even more so even as a human person created in God's image. To know who we are, to reflect on our nature and purpose, can only lead to true fulfillment. Without knowing ourselves, what we desire, who we are called to be, I am pretty darn sure we'll end miserable.
Man is called to discover who he is. We can see this happen often in high school, where teenagers rebel against parents, standout from others, or just run. The question being - who am I? But I think today the question is not answered well because man is not given all the answers. So often man knows nothing of God and therefore the relationship he is invited to embrace. I remember one day in middle school where someone asked the teacher, "What is the purpose of life?" This teacher, being a bit eccentric, turned the class into a discussion on the topic where we all went around answering the question. I think the ultimate conclusion was to do whatever would make you happy. Nice and vague. But this is the sense I got in my own education. Religion was never highly looked upon. I don't think we really expected to get any answers there.
But much of what seminarian formation and discernment is, is to discover who you are by discovering who God is. How does this happen but in a developed prayer life. And I think an essential part of that is retreat. Yeah, you can leave your old life and start another in search of discovering who you really are or take some grand trip, but I think retreating into the silence of your soul where the Holy Spirit dwells is the true place of discovery.
It's one of my great joys ever since entering the seminary to be able to take days of recollection, desert days, or even days during vacation periods to spend a half day or full day in prayer and reflection. It's wonderful to have it built into your life . The quiet can be a scary place, I've been there and weeklong silent retreats still give me the chills. It can be worse than the dentist on drilling day. But I go, knowing the amazing ways in which God reveals himself to me in the quiet. And likewise I discover my own weakness and sinfulness that is transformed by God's grace.
I'll be honest. I never took a good retreat or even went on a pilgrimage before I entered the seminary. But in my own search to know myself, to know Christ, I would find myself, after a long day at work, before the Blessed Sacrament. Or early in the morning, I would find myself receiving the body of our Lord at Mass. My search is not quite over. I discover more about myself each day and how much God loves me. And I realize, this vocation, is one of the greatest gifts He has ever given me.
AMDG.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Christmas came early this year
Today the Holy See has officially published Pope Benedict's newest encyclical letter, Caritas in Veritate. This is his long awaited "social encyclical" which has been delayed numerous times in order to take into account the current global recession. I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing yet but once I do I'll contribute my own reflections. I urge everyone to read it as well! I have all the love in the world for Pope John Paul II, but his writing could be awfully dense. I greatly appreciate our current Holy Father's experience as a professor because he knows how to have deep discussions about the Faith in a way that anyone can easily understand.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
A Saint for Our Times
And even perhaps a model for the priesthood.
This comes from America magazine and written by David Nantais. Just a snippet...
"Bernard Francis Casey, known as Barney, was born in Prescott, Wis., on Nov. 25, 1870, to an Irish immigrant family. As a young man, he had a momentary experience of the brutality of the world that radically shifted his concept of life. While at work as a trolley conductor in Superior, Wis., he once saw a drunken sailor standing over a woman lying on the tracks; the sailor held a knife in his hand and yelled at the woman, threatening her life. Casey realized that this incident was not an isolated one—that the world was full of such violence. He also realized he wanted to make things better. He prayed for the sailor and his victim, and a few days later told his pastor that he wanted to become a priest.
At St. Francis De Sales diocesan seminary in Milwaukee, Casey floundered academically in courses taught in Latin and in German. After four years there he was advised to enter a religious order instead. He entered the Capuchins at St. Bonaventure’s Monastery in Detroit on Christmas Eve 1896. He received the habit and took the name Francis Solanus, by which he would be known for the rest of his life.
Solanus’s superiors believed that his struggles with academic work during formation would prove an impediment to full priestly status, so they ordained him a “simplex” priest, one who could neither preach nor hear confessions officially. He performed rudimentary duties like serving as porter at the monastery. Yet Solanus fully embraced his mission and greeted each person with such joy and respect that it evolved into a ministry of hospitality and spiritual counsel. Because of his gentle nature, which put people at ease and encouraged even the despairing to hope, Solanus earned the nickname “the holy priest.”
Father Solanus’s caring presence and reputation for listening intently to each person also drew thousands to the monastery. “Do we appreciate the little faith we have?” Solanus once asked a friend. “Do we ever beg God for more?” Solanus counseled his visitors to do both. He welcomed alcoholics and the homeless in the same way he welcomed local dignitaries like Mayor Frank Murphy. By looking beyond the superficial—a person’s drunkenness, addiction, poverty, grief or uncouth behavior—Solanus showed people their reflection as “beloved” in God’s eyes."
I compare this story to what I have heard about some clerics who seek high office in the Church. Which way will we live out our priesthood? There are so many diverse ways in which the devil can lead us astray. We are not necessarily called to be bishops and cardinals, rather most often just as parish priests, and in whatever way God asks of us, even if this means we are disregarded and left with the rudimentary tasks or the 100 person parish. This is always a tough message for me to chew on. :)
AMDG.
This comes from America magazine and written by David Nantais. Just a snippet...
"Bernard Francis Casey, known as Barney, was born in Prescott, Wis., on Nov. 25, 1870, to an Irish immigrant family. As a young man, he had a momentary experience of the brutality of the world that radically shifted his concept of life. While at work as a trolley conductor in Superior, Wis., he once saw a drunken sailor standing over a woman lying on the tracks; the sailor held a knife in his hand and yelled at the woman, threatening her life. Casey realized that this incident was not an isolated one—that the world was full of such violence. He also realized he wanted to make things better. He prayed for the sailor and his victim, and a few days later told his pastor that he wanted to become a priest.
At St. Francis De Sales diocesan seminary in Milwaukee, Casey floundered academically in courses taught in Latin and in German. After four years there he was advised to enter a religious order instead. He entered the Capuchins at St. Bonaventure’s Monastery in Detroit on Christmas Eve 1896. He received the habit and took the name Francis Solanus, by which he would be known for the rest of his life.
Solanus’s superiors believed that his struggles with academic work during formation would prove an impediment to full priestly status, so they ordained him a “simplex” priest, one who could neither preach nor hear confessions officially. He performed rudimentary duties like serving as porter at the monastery. Yet Solanus fully embraced his mission and greeted each person with such joy and respect that it evolved into a ministry of hospitality and spiritual counsel. Because of his gentle nature, which put people at ease and encouraged even the despairing to hope, Solanus earned the nickname “the holy priest.”
Father Solanus’s caring presence and reputation for listening intently to each person also drew thousands to the monastery. “Do we appreciate the little faith we have?” Solanus once asked a friend. “Do we ever beg God for more?” Solanus counseled his visitors to do both. He welcomed alcoholics and the homeless in the same way he welcomed local dignitaries like Mayor Frank Murphy. By looking beyond the superficial—a person’s drunkenness, addiction, poverty, grief or uncouth behavior—Solanus showed people their reflection as “beloved” in God’s eyes."
I compare this story to what I have heard about some clerics who seek high office in the Church. Which way will we live out our priesthood? There are so many diverse ways in which the devil can lead us astray. We are not necessarily called to be bishops and cardinals, rather most often just as parish priests, and in whatever way God asks of us, even if this means we are disregarded and left with the rudimentary tasks or the 100 person parish. This is always a tough message for me to chew on. :)
AMDG.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Pax
This Fourth of July weekend, take some time to listen to one of my favorite preachers, Archbishop Fulton Sheen, on Christian freedom: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
On human nature: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
I'll update again whenever I can. Until then, have a blessed summer and be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in your life.
On human nature: Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3.
I'll update again whenever I can. Until then, have a blessed summer and be open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit in your life.
The Man: St. Joseph
When the Pope went to Africa back in March, he spoke about how St. Joseph reminds us of the value and meaning of priestly vows. Just a couple excerpts (This comes from the Vatican Information Service):
Speaking to the crowd and to His disciples, Jesus declared: 'You have only one Father'", said the Pope in his homily. "There is but one fatherhood, that of God the Father, the one Creator of the world, 'of all that is seen and unseen'. Yet man, created in the image of God, has been granted a share in this one paternity of God. St. Joseph is a striking case of this. ... He is not the biological father of Jesus, Whose Father is God alone, and yet he lives his fatherhood fully and completely. "To be a father means above all to be at the service of life and growth", he added. "St. Joseph, in this sense, gave proof of great devotion. For the sake of Christ he experienced persecution, exile and the poverty which this entails".
When Mary responded to the angel's call, she was already betrothed to Joseph, the Holy Father observed, adding: "In addressing Mary personally, the Lord already closely associates Joseph to the mystery of the Incarnation. Joseph agreed to be part of the great events which God was beginning to bring about in the womb of his spouse". Taking Mary into his home "he welcomed the mystery that was in Mary and the mystery that was Mary herself. He loved her with great respect, which is the mark of all authentic love. Joseph teaches us that it is possible to love without possessing". Drawing inspiration from Joseph, all men and women can, then, "come to experience healing from their emotional wounds, if only they embrace the plan that God has begun to bring about in those close to Him".
AMDG.
Speaking to the crowd and to His disciples, Jesus declared: 'You have only one Father'", said the Pope in his homily. "There is but one fatherhood, that of God the Father, the one Creator of the world, 'of all that is seen and unseen'. Yet man, created in the image of God, has been granted a share in this one paternity of God. St. Joseph is a striking case of this. ... He is not the biological father of Jesus, Whose Father is God alone, and yet he lives his fatherhood fully and completely. "To be a father means above all to be at the service of life and growth", he added. "St. Joseph, in this sense, gave proof of great devotion. For the sake of Christ he experienced persecution, exile and the poverty which this entails".
When Mary responded to the angel's call, she was already betrothed to Joseph, the Holy Father observed, adding: "In addressing Mary personally, the Lord already closely associates Joseph to the mystery of the Incarnation. Joseph agreed to be part of the great events which God was beginning to bring about in the womb of his spouse". Taking Mary into his home "he welcomed the mystery that was in Mary and the mystery that was Mary herself. He loved her with great respect, which is the mark of all authentic love. Joseph teaches us that it is possible to love without possessing". Drawing inspiration from Joseph, all men and women can, then, "come to experience healing from their emotional wounds, if only they embrace the plan that God has begun to bring about in those close to Him".
AMDG.
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