Our God is Wise, Our God is Sneaky!

I don't think I will get too many arguments about the first half of the title for this entry, however, the second half might be a different story.  Before you accuse me (take a look at yourself) give me a minute to explain.  This entry will be two streams of thought, based on the two statements made in the title, but they both stem from the same event, hence one entry.  I will address the second part of the title first so you are not held in suspense too long.

Yesterday, December 8th was the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception.  Many times, this day is thought to be the celebration of the conception of Jesus, but that is another day and another feast (The Annunciation - March 25th).  On December 8th, the Church celebrates Mary's conception which we call Immaculate because we believe, as the Church teaches, that Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, preserved from any stain of original sin by the grace of God (full text of the dogmatic proclamation can be found here: http://www.papalencyclicals.net/Pius09/p9ineff.htm).  The Feast of the Immaculate Conception is particularly special to us here at the North American College as it is our Patronal Feast.  This means a huge celebration with many distinguished guests, friends, and benefactors   As with many of the major events here at the College this day and celebration meant a bit of work from us seminarians, including myself.  Now, this next part will be hard for you to fathom, but I, a seminarian, actually had the temptation to be bitter about this idea of having to work on a day so special to the College and to me personally.  I know, I have a hard time believing it myself, that a seminarian would complain, but it's true.  I was having these bizarre thoughts as I was walking around the track praying a rosary before Mass.  As I got to one end of the track I was able to see the front gate of the College where several seminarians were working welcoming our guests and making sure that they knew where to go.  As I watched this I saw a group of sisters who help out here at the College and who I have had the pleasure of working with at the U.S. Visitor's Office.  Watching them walk in and head to the chapel gave God the opportunity to knock some sense into me.  At that moment, I was filled with joy seeing them come from their daily tasks to celebrate our patronal feast with us.  They came here to share in our joy and to join us in thanking God for the gift of our Most Holy and Immaculate Mother and for the tremendous gift of this College.  Many of the people who were present do a great deal for the College and it was at that moment that I stopped looking at my duties for the day as a burden and started seeing them as a true gift.  I was able to serve the many people who make my time here possible and most enjoyable.  I was immediately reminded of Jesus saying that he came to serve, NOT to be served.  If I am preparing for the priesthood, preparing to act in persona Christi, to be another Christ, then I too should always be ready to serve and not to be served.  What a great gift from our Lord for this realization.  Now do you see why I call God sneaky?  I do so many things here, going to class, formation meetings, preaching practice, St. Peter's Tours, studying and all of the rest and many times I can lose sight of the end goal.  Many times I feel like I am still so far from the goal, which in many ways I am and I still have lots of room to grow.  However, it took this moment of pouting and God making me realize how selfish I was being to see that He is forming me to be a priest right under my nose.  Despite my best efforts to be a completely unworthy person to serve as God's priest, he still wants to use my imperfections and brokenness to spread His good news to the ends of the earth.

The second point of reflection from yesterday is about the wisdom of God.  There have been a handful of times when I have been completely amazed during the liturgy (not that I don't enjoy them all the time!).  The  times that I can remember being in awe and truly overwhelmed during the liturgy are for the Dedication of the Abbey Church at St. Ben's my first year of seminary, for the final Mass for my pastor before he moved to a new parish two summers ago and the third was yesterday on this feast of Our Lady.  Coming off of the realization of God's love for me before Mass and His continued guidance (even when I fail to realize it) during my priestly formation I had a great experience at Mass.  I was particularly impressed by the wisdom of the different degrees of celebrations that we have in the Church.  While we believe that every Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is a holy occasion, there are varying degrees of solemnity.  The Church does this to emphasize the critical events that have happened throughout salvation history.  Christmas, Easter, Corpus Christi and other major celebrations are Solemnities and are treated differently.  For instance, yesterday at the College, there were more candles lit than for a regular daily Mass, we had flowers in the sanctuary, there were Cardinals, Bishops and countless priests present for Mass, the music was more involved (absolutely beautiful!), there was incense...anyway I think you get the picture.  We celebrate big events with more "flair" than smaller events.  Think about it in your own life, the same rules apply.  You probably do things differently for your birthday than you do for most other days of the year.  Even within the realm of birthdays, some birthdays are cause for more celebration than others.  For instance, 16 (drivers license), 18 (voting!), 21 (drinking responsibly), 25 (finally getting to drive that rental car!), 40 (over the hill), usually call for bigger celebrations than say 27 (come on April).  It is not trivial that we do this.  We celebrate big events with more emphasis because the occasions deserve it and so do we.  Back to the liturgy.  Seeing the extra effort put into the liturgy on these occasions helps us to realize that the day is special and that we should treat it as such.  We should spend time on the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception in prayer thanking God for the gift of our Most Holy and Immaculate Mother who gave birth to our Savior.  We should spend time in prayer on Christmas (and before during Advent) reflecting on the impact that God being born as a man like ourselves has on our lives and on our world.  All of these special efforts we make are the Church's way of  helping to remind us of the greatness of these feasts.  Pretty amazing if you think about it, which I hope you will!

I hope that I have disarmed any questions that may have come up after reading the title and I hope that my reflections help you to love our God, who loves us more than we could ever imagine, a little more!  I pray that your Advent is filled with anticipation for the celebration of Christ's coming into our world and with time spent with family and friends. Please as always pray for me and know of my prayers for you.

In Christ,

Patrick

"Parrain" Uncle Packet!

On August 13th my sister-in-law gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.  Emily Ryan is my second niece and will be my Goddaughter when she is baptized (thanks for the clarification Padre Vidrine)!  Mom, baby and dad are all doing well.  Thanks to all who have offered support and prayers throughout my sister-in-law's pregnancy and labor!  As we enjoy the company of the new little girl we also continue to away the arrival of my sister's second in December.  She already knows that it is a boy and his name is Carter David.  Next summer will be fantastic as I will finally get to hold the new ones and Chloe who will be almost 4 when I return.

What a great big cousin!

Love the smirk.

Emily's Birthday

Geaux Cajuns!

Who Dat?

Please know of my continued prayers for all of you and please continue to pray for me in return!

In Christ,
Patrick

Our Lady of Lourdes, Pray for us!

View of the Basilica from the bridge

“Mary brought us here”.  I have heard this statement before and I have even heard stories from people about how they were not sure how their trips to different Marian shrines would work out and it took some pretty amazing events for them to get there.  Whenever I heard this, I always thought it was “interesting”.

At the beginning of every year here at the College, we have to write out a list of Goals and Objectives for the upcoming year of formation.  As one of my goals for my first year in Rome, my formation advisor told me to think about making a visit to one of the many Marian shrines throughout Europe.  Over Christmas, I was able to stay in Paris for about ten days and we were no more than a five minute walk from the chapel where Our Blessed Mother appeared to St. Catherine Labore, which we visited quite often for prayer time and Mass.  During the beginning of my summer as I was driving through Ireland, we stopped in Knock, where Our Lady appeared to a handful of people.  These experiences were great and I’m sure Our Lady had her hand in my going to those places, but our Lord’s call to me and Our Lady’s desire was for me to come here to Lourdes.  Soon after I put “to visit a Marian shrine” as one of my formation goals, Our Lady of Lourdes popped up everywhere!  First, I thought of a statue that my classmates and I had given to our Italian tutor and realized it was of Our Lady of Lourdes.  The second thing that helped my decision was that I had been reading John Paul II’s encyclical entitled “The Christian Meaning of Human Suffering” and when I finished it I realized that he had dated it on the Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes.  Next, arriving in Rome I was amazed by the beauty of a mosaic in our chapel at the NAC.  It is an image of Our Lady as The Immaculate Conception.  The dogma of the Immaculate Conception was promulgated in 1854, four years before the apparitions to a poor little girl in Lourdes, but during those apparitions (18 in all) Our Lady told the young girl, “I am the Immaculate Conception”.  This was the only name Our Lady gave herself during these apparitions.  Also, our College’s Patronal Feast is December 8, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception.

You get the picture!  All of these things and a few others all made it very clear to me that I HAD to visit Lourdes.  Thinking back to when I first arrived in Rome, I remembered how several of the guys in the class above me had spent time in Lourdes as part of their summer program, so I thought that this was ideal!  As I began making summer plans, I knew that working in Lourdes had to be part of them.  Sticking to this decision was actually harder than it seems.  For our first summer there are so many amazing opportunities.  Guys from my class went to China, Africa, India, Norway and many other places.  We had the option to go to several seminars, study different languages in different places work with the Missionaries of Charity and just about anything else you could imagine.  When I looked at my summer plans, they seemed sort of “vanilla” compared to some of the others.  However, through prayer, I realized that the summer plans I had made would serve me and the diocese very well indeed.  Looking back as the summer comes to a close, I am very happy with the summer God had planned for me and I already see that it was a great experience of growth, learning and deepening of my relationship with our good and gracious God!

Back to Lourdes.  My time here has been amazing.  I have not experienced any miraculous healings, but I have witnessed God moving in my life and in the lives of thousands of people around me.  One very moving experience for me has been praying at the Grotto here and watching people walk through.  Young, old, sick, healthy, families, priests, religious, and nuns from all around the world have come to this place to pay honor to God by honoring the Ever Virgin Mother of his Son and to ask for healing both spiritual and physical.  I was almost in tears the first time I prayed at the Grotto.  The most moving thing to me is seeing those who are not able to get to the Grotto themselves having their family bring them through and touching them with water from the rock.  In these simple gestures, they showed me what real faith looks like.  They have so much hope that Our Lady will bring their petitions to her Son and faith that He will hear and answer them.

One thing that really helped to bring my whole Lourdes experience together was going to confession the day before I left.  I happened to go to a priest who I got to know over the two weeks I was there and he helped me to realize something amazing.  When he asked me how my time in Lourdes had been, I replied that it was good, but in the beginning I felt like it would have been better FOR ME to have come as a pilgrim first.  The first days were difficult because I had not seen the sights or done the tours, yet I was having to lead others.  I was wanting time to be reflective and prayerful (which eventually came), but I had come to Lourdes to lead others and to help them to experience God’s love through the story of Saint Bernedette’s apparitions of Our Lady of Lourdes.  This is precisely the life of the priest.  He has experienced God’s love and the only worthy response is to return that love to God and to spread it to others.  This brought on an “a ha” moment for me.  I heard a few years back that when we pray the Joyful Mysteries of the Rosary, we begin with the Annunciation, God overshadowing Mary and letting her know of His plan and immediately after we go to The Visitation.  Once Mary has an experience of God, she “goes in haste” to help her cousin Elizabeth.  She goes both to serve Elizabeth, who in her old age has conceived a child, and to spread God’s message of goodness and love.  Over the last 11 years, I have come to know Our Lord more and more as he has revealed Himself to me and showed me His love.  I will always continue to grow closer to God and understand His love in new and more intimate ways, but now it is time that I begin focusing more on sharing what I have received from our good and gracious God with others.  I am called to serve Christ by serving others.  My time at Lourdes was an opportunity to put others before myself and to help create a prayerful atmosphere where they could experience God’s infinite love.  At first, it seems like I have to put myself and my own relationship with God aside in order to focus on helping others, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth.  I must continue to grow in my relationship with God so that I can continue to lead others to Him.  Also, as I give myself to others and try to assist them in their spiritual life, my own spiritual life will continue to flourish.  In giving we become more like God, who gives us everything, who, in the fullness of time even sent His only Son to die for love of each one of us. Wow!

As I said before, this trip has been amazingly blessed and I have only just begun to unpack all of the graces and insights from the summer, especially my time in Lourdes.  Please know of my prayers for all of you while I was there and my continued prayers for you always.  Please keep me in your prayers that I may continue to grow closer to Our Lord and that I may continue to be formed into the man he is calling me to be.

With many thanks to Our Blessed Mother for calling me to Lourdes so that my relationship with her Son could be strengthened I head back to Rome to begin another year of formation for the priesthood of Jesus Christ!

In Christ,

Patrick

Summer So Far

Finals are history and so are the first four weeks of summer!  So far things have been quite amazing.  Immediately after finals I journeyed to the Emerald Island with one of my classmates.  When we left Rome, we had our round-trip plane tickets between Rome and Dublin, a rental car booked for nine days and a B&B in Dublin for the first two nights.  Other than that we were free to go wherever we wanted.  This is truly the way to go!  After Dublin we made our way North/North East to visit Downpatrick and see where St. Patrick is buried.  Obviously, this was a very special opportunity for me.  Even though it was a pretty nasty misty day (which happens a lot in Ireland), it was great to spend a few minutes at the great Saint’s grave from whom I take my name.  Next we drove up to Belfast where we learned about the history of Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.  I had no idea of the tension between the two and was especially surprised to learn that there is still a wall in Belfast the separates those who are loyal to Britain and those who want to be independent.  In fact, a few days after we left there were riots where I believe that two people were shot.  Seeing this made me realize once again how despite some very serious struggles that comes with being Catholic in the US, we really have it pretty good, and how through prayer I can be united to those around the world who suffer far more than I do.  Next we drove along the coast North for about two hours, then made a break for Sligo.  Other places we visited were the Cliffs of Moher (a must see if you ever make it to Ireland!),  the Dingle Peninsula (another must see!), Ennis and back to Dublin.  It was a great experience not having anything planned and being able to see the beautiful green countryside during the day as we drove.  This was a great way to relax and unwind after a very eventful first year in Rome and also after completing our finals.

I have just completed week two of four living in Siena and studying Italian.  The Italian is coming along slowly, but I do think it is coming along.  Once again studying another language, (and having some difficulties) as well living in a foreign country, has opened my eyes to how others must feel leaving all that is familiar, including their families and native languages to try to make enough money to support themselves and their families.  Many of them are forced to leave their loved ones because of unbearable conditions where they are not able to put food on their tables.  This experience will help me to be more sympathetic to people who do not speak perfect English.  Another great part of my time in Siena has been living in an Italian home.  I live with an elderly Italian lady who prepares breakfast and dinner for me each day.  It is great to see how she lives and how the typical Italian house operates!  It is amazing how different our lives are in America.  For instance, in the house I am staying there is no internet, no air conditioning (hardly anyone has this luxury), and it only has the essential space needed to live including two small bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen.  It is very simple, and very comfortable.  Do I get hot at times?  Yes.  Do I wish I didn’t have to walk into town and buy a coffee at the one place that I know has free internet to check email?  At times, yes.  That being said, there are some very charming things about life here.  Not having air conditioning for instance, makes people adjust to the climate.  Sleep in, work in the morning, close at midday for 3 hours (while it is too hot to be out) and open again around 3 until around 8 or 9.  Simple differences, but it is a nice change from the go-go-go mentality to which I am so accustomed.

I was also very lucky to be in Siena for the Palio, which is held each year both on July 2^nd and another one in August.  This is an event that really brings out the history of Siena.  Back in the Medieval times, each neighborhood (or Contrada) was responsible for defending a section of the city wall.  After there was no longer a need to defend the city from attackers the Contradas remained.  Now every year the 17 Contradas have this event called the Palio.  It is a four day festivity in which 10 of the 17 Contradas have a horse race around the main square in the city.  Barricades are put up, dirt is laid down for a track and people come from all over to take part in the festivities.  As an outsider, it reminded me a lot of Mardi Gras and seemed like an excuse to take off of work and party for 4 days, not that it’s a bad thing!  It is also a great time of neighborhoods spending time together and having huge community meals outside.  I was not one of the thousands that flooded the square where you can stand in the center of the track.  Instead I watched the race from the comfort of an Irish Pub here in Siena with another guy from the NAC who is here studying and a guy from Switzerland who is in my Italian class.  We were all satisfied with our choice not to be in the square!

The summer has also been a nice time to get to do some reading.  I have just about finished a book on the history of the Catholic Church and I have finished the first of three essays by Josef Pieper on “Faith, Hope and Love.”  I have really enjoyed this opportunity to get back to reading and hope to get through a couple more books by the summer’s end.  I am also slowly working my way through a couple of books in Italian.  Before you think about being impressed, I must tell you that they are both children’s books, one on how to pray and one on Ancient Rome.

Finally, I have found a couple of churches here in Siena where I am able to attend daily mass.  It is nice to be here for so long and to get to know the faces of the people who attend mass at these churches daily.

I pray that all of y’all back home are doing well (I had to put that “y’all” because I found myself getting into a terrible habit of saying “you guys”).  Please pray for me and know of my prayers for you.

In Christ,

Patrick

Holy Thursday in Rome

He is risen, truly risen.  Alleluia!  Happy Easter.

As promised, I finally have a few minutes to write about my Holy Thursday experience in Rome.  Leading up to Holy Week, one of my professors kept telling us about a great tradition here in Rome.  After the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday, the Eucharist is taken over to the altar of repose and many of the churches stay open until midnight or later.  They do so to allow the faithful to come in and remain with Our Lord in His Eucharistic presence to pray and spend time with Him.

As many of you know, my parents were in town from Wednesday of Holy Week through Blessed John Paul II’s beatification.  One of the many great gifts of this time with them was sharing this Holy Thursday tradition with them.  It had been a long day, as were most of our days together, filled with sightseeing and Holy Thursday Mass so we were pretty tired.  However, I was able to take them to a couple of churches to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament with them and to show them the churches.

One church which I was particularly excited to show them was the Basilica of Saint Augustine.  During my time in philosophy, I was able to take a class on the Philosophy of St. Augustine, which completely changed my view of philosophy and really made me fall in love with this amazing saint and his mother St. Monica.  I have always liked St. Monica because of here amazing love for her son and the many prayers she offered on his behalf.  I have also enjoyed sharing her story with my mom, sister and sister-in-law especially since my mom’s birthday is on August 26^th, St. Monica’s Feast Day is the 27^th and St. Augustine’s Feast Day is the 28^th.  Last year I left to come to Rome on Aug 25^th, the day before my mom’s birthday…not the best gift I have ever given her.  The second day I was here in Rome we went to the Basilica of St. Augustine for the first time on St. Monica’s feast day.  This was a great gift as St. Monica is buried in the basilica.  The church quickly became one of my favorites.  It was a great gift to be able to pray for my mom and all the mothers in my life at the tomb of such a holy mother on her feast day.  Sharing this gem of a church with my family was even more special on such a holy and special night.  Walking in, we saw around 30 people in the church at around 8pm, and this made the church even more beautiful.

The same thing happened at the next church and after two or three churches we decided to call it a night since we were worn out from the day and had a busy day on Friday.  I dropped them off at their hotel and began making my way back to the College on the bus.  As the bus was pulling into one of the stops along the way I noticed a church I had never been in before.  I decided to hop off of the bus and go inside to have a look.  I walked in and found a small group of what seemed like parishioners joining in common prayer in front of the altar of repose.  I stayed there a few minutes saying some prayers on my own, and then made my way out.  As I was waiting for the bus I figured it was a nice enough night and decided to walk back to the College from there.  I began my walk and came upon another church that was open and peeked inside.  I continued this journey walking back to the College and stopped at about four of five different churches along the way staying for varying periods in each.  The real inspiration for this blog comes from what I saw in each church.  Every church had anywhere from ten to upwards of fifty people.  It was not just the pious church ladies either, it was a beautiful mix of young people, elderly men and women, parents with their children, groups of teenagers, priests, seminarians, religious and any other type of person you could imagine.  I saw this at every church I entered, from the first at around 8pm until the last at around midnight.  I was most inspired by the young people.  I encountered several groups of teenagers coming in and spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament.  Many times I find myself getting discouraged with the youth here in Rome, but this experience showed me that the faith is very much alive among them.  Getting to bed late was definitely worth it to be able to spend time with our Lord and to allow Him to show me His love through the faith of others.  If you ever have the opportunity to be in Rome for Holy Week, I definitely recommend taking part in this wonderfully blessed tradition!

Altar of repose at the Basilica of St. Augustine

As always please know of my prayers and please continue to pray for me as we finish up the semester and head into finals at the beginning of June.

In Christ,

Patrick

Lent - An Early Reflection

This entry is inspired by the readings for Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours thus far for the Lenten Season.  Lent is a time of turning back to the Lord, of ridding our lives of things that hold us back from God.  We also have the tradition of adopting practices that will help us to grow ever closer to Him.  This has been so apparent to me during this first week and a half of Lent and I wanted to share a few thoughts with you.

The one underlying theme that has really stood out to me and in a way even "shocked" me has been God's love for me/us and how strongly He desires for me/us to return to Him with my/our whole heart, mind, body and soul.  My favorite scripture passage comes from the book of Deuteronomy in the Old Testament.  God is speaking to His chosen people of the house of Israel and has just given the 10 commandments to Moses.  After telling them what they are to do, he reinforces His central point in Dt 6:4 when he says, "Hear of Israel, the Lord is our God the Lord alone.  You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength."  When I read this passage, I am always amazed at how much God loves me, but I usually only look at it from God's point of view.  However, with the readings in the Lenten liturgy, I have been called to go deeper in this reflection.  It is not enough to only sit at this stage in my reflection, thinking about how God loves me.  Rather, I must be inspired by God's love for me and respond to His generous gift of love!  The only fitting response to his great gift is nothing other than my entire life.  I must return His gift of love with all of my heart, all of my soul and all of my strength, in one word, I must give him all of my LOVE!  Here are a few of the readings that have helped me to gain this insight.

          "As I live says the Lord, I do not wish for the sinner to die, but to return to me and to live" ~ Antiphon for Midday Prayer

          "Turn and be converted from all your crimes, that they may be no cause of guilt for you.  Cast away from you all the crimes you have committed , and make for yourselves a new heart and a new spirit.  Why should you die, O house of Israel?  For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies, says the Lord God.  Return and live!" ~ Ezekiel 18:30b-32

Though the readings of the season are geared towards this message, I think there is something else that has prepared me to accept this message.  Over the past year or so, I have had this intense desire to despise sin.  I have prayed that God would give me a hatred for sin and for anything that does not lead me to Him.  Thinking back on St. Therese of Lisieux's autobiography, Story of a Soul, I remember how disappointed she would get just thinking about things that offended God.  How was she able to have this mentality and, as confirmed by her spiritual director, to never commit a mortal sin during her entire life?  The only answer is that St. Therese had an extrodinary love for God.  When one is in love, they never want to hurt their beloved.  Rather, they seek every opportunity to sacrifice their own will for that of their beloved.  I do not suggest that I am even close to the holiness of St. Therese, however, I do feel like God has allowed me to grow in my love for Him.  This can only come about by gaining a greater awareness of His love for me.  What a beautiful cycle of love.  We must first experience the love of the Father and, once we experience it, our natural response is to love in return.  The more we love and open ourselves up to be loved, the more we can experience love.

I pray that all of you are having a blessed Lent so far.  If you are struggling in doing your penances let me offer you (and myself) a little advice.  I read today that the goodness of an act does not depend on the difficulty of the act, but on the happiness (true happiness) that comes from it.  What does this mean?  Choose sacrifices, or extra practices that will draw you closer to our Lord.  One that I might suggest if you are looking for something extra to do would be to meditate on Sacred Scripture each day.  It does not have to be much, even 15 minutes each day is a great start, but allow yourself to be submersed in God's word and you will be amazed at how he moves in you.  One suggestion for what to focus on is the passion narratives from the Gospels.  This will be great things to meditate on, especially as we approach the celebration of the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord.

Know of my love and prayers for all of you.

In Christ,
Patrick

March 25, 2011 - Solemnity of the Annunciation

Sweet Sweet Freedom! Finals Round 1

Well gang, I survived my first found of oral finals.  It was not as great as some of the guys said it would be, but overall it was a really good experience, not so much for the actual finals, but for some other reasons I hope to elaborate in this blog.

First of all, it was a very trying ten days.  Seven finals in ten days…that’s a bit much.  It was a great opportunity however, to focus on the intellectual aspect of my formation for a while.  With all of the things going on here at the college, that seems to get pushed to the background pretty often for me.  It was very refreshing getting to commit myself to studying and learning about God and our Roman Catholic Church.  Learning early Church History in Rome was such a blessing and I was often humbled at the opportunity.  Having the teacher stop in the lecture when he speaks of one of the great saints and say, “you know if you go over there by such and such…it’s about a ten minute walk from here,” is pretty amazing.  Though I did not appreciate it at the time, it was good to have the old struggles that come along with learning.  It was a great lesson in discipline and time management to make use of the scarce time available to prepare well for my tests.  One thing I am extremely grateful is the new attitude I have tried to develop (somewhat successfully) towards school and exams in particular.  As I approached my tests, I had a great feeling of peace (though I was still pretty nervous) knowing that I had studied hard and learned some great material trying to make my studies not only an academic exercise, but a prayer.  I was comforted with a peaceful feeling about my finals.  I truly feel like I am beginning to care less about grades and more about learning about our loving and faithful God.  If I get a 7 on a test, so be it, as long as I tried my hardest and learned something along the way.  I know that sounds like a talk a parent would give their child who is struggling, but it is a great feeling.

Another great thing about finals was the attitude in the house.  Everyone was studying and at times stressed out, but it was great to see how we all supported each other.  Everyone was always asking if others had finals and offering them words of encouragement to keep going.  The most important and moving thing was the amount of prayer that took place.  People were as dedicated as ever to their daily prayers, attending Mass, and other devotions.  Along with this, the guys in the house prayed constantly for one another as we prepared for and took our tests.  I really feel like we grew closer as a house by uniting ourselves in prayer.  I know that it was a great comfort for me having so many tell me they would pray for me as I went off to my tests.

Finally, I want to thank all of you who continue to support me with your kind words and prayers.  Your support is humbling and appreciated always, but especially during finals when I was stressed and tired.  Your prayers truly helped me not just to make it through them, but also to keep my prayer life going in the midst of so much craziness.  Thanks again and be assured of my prayers for all of you.

In Christ,

Patrick

Lector Institution

On Sunday January 16, 2011 I and 53 of my brother seminarians were instituted to the ministry of Lector.  This means that we are now officially appointed and called by the Church to proclaim the word of God in the context of the Sacred Liturgy.  As Archbishop O’Brian said in his homily during our installation, the Church uses the institution as Lector, then later as Acolyte (serving at the Altar), to allow us to take gradual concrete steps toward the altar, culminating in ordination to the Deaconate at the beginning of our fourth year and ultimately in priestly ordination after the fourth year of theological studies.  I would like to share a few reflections that I have had since being instituted and carrying out my new office in the Church.

As I mentioned to some of my brother seminarians, “I went straight from high school to the pros”!  My first assignment for carrying out my duty as Lector was to read the second reading at our Sunday mass for the seminary community.  Not only was I scheduled for a Sunday mass, but it just so happened to be the day designated for the newly appointed Cardinal Burke to celebrate a Mass of Thanksgiving here at the college for his being elevated to the College of Cardinals. 

The day was great.  Since being instituted God has really called me to reflect on my new ministry and to continue to go deeper into the Sacred Scriptures.  The 2^nd reading from the Office of Readings Sunday morning continued this call.  It was taken from the Vatican II document on the Scared Liturgy entitled “Sacrosanctum Concilium”.  One line that particularly struck me was that when Scripture is read in the Liturgy, it is in fact Christ himself who speaks through the minister.  What an honor it is to be able to carry out such a role in the Church.

As with my first meeting with Cardinal Burke, I was quite impressed.  In just a few minutes of being around him, it becomes apparent the he is a very prayerful and humble priest of Jesus Christ.  His words in his homily were very comforting for me.  He spoke several times of the tremendous weight of the responsibilities which he has taken on by virtue of his elevation to the College of Cardinals.  In his humility, he stated that the only way that he can carry out his responsibilities is to remain faithful to and utterly dependent on Christ and his Church.  He focused, in particular in his reliance on prayer, both on his own prayerful relationship with our Lord, and the prayers of all of the faithful for him and his ministry.

Lately, I have realized more and more what great responsibility comes along with being a priest.  At times, I have been worried, wondering if I will be able to live up to so noble a calling.  The answer to my question is no; I cannot live up to the call to be a priest of Jesus Christ.  However, this is the beginning of being a faithful servant.  I know that there is nothing that I can do to minister to God’s people, it is only by moving aside and letting God work through me that I will be a good and faithful servant.  I must continue to realize that I can do nothing without God’s help and with this knowledge, I must allow myself to be totally dependent on Him.

Thank you all for your prayers for me.  Please continue to pray that I will be a humble servant for our Lord and that I will always seek to know and follow his will.  Please know of my prayers for all of you.

In Christ,

Patrick