Boring Prayer Life or True Friendship?

     As I was walking to class one day recently I was thinking about what seemed like a very mediocre (at best) holy hour I made that morning.  It seemed to me like I had been having many of these types of holy hours where "not much was happening."  In many talks I have given as a seminarian on prayer I have told people that prayer is developing our friendship with God.  I then began to think about my friendships.  This led me to an interesting realization.
     When you spend time with friends what do you do?  Many times at the beginning of a friendship, you will find out many interesting things about a person; where they grew up, what their childhood was like, what they do for a living, favorite movies, how many brothers and sisters they have, what they hope to do in life, etc.  This period can last for quite some time as each person is unique and has a history spanning many years, even several decades.  However, even if this initial stage of getting to know someone last for a few years, eventually the friendship will change, it must change!  Eventually, we will no longer learn something new about the other person every time we get together, at least not one that will make us think twice.  Despite this change, or rather because of this change, our friendship will go to a new level, it will continue to grow and deepen, only in different ways.
     Reaching this new stage of friendship, we will simply be happy to be in the other's presence.  We will not need to learn anything new about them, or even do anything.  I'm sure we have all had the experience of going to the movie with someone...you don't say anything to one another in the movie (hopefully, especially if you are sitting next to me), but you still enjoy your time together.  This also applies to our relationship with God.  God is infinite, and His Word can always speak to us, revealing something new.  But God is not going to entertain us.  At the beginning of our relationship, he will try to "woo" us, to draw us into his loving presence.  However, once we make that gesture of returning our love to Him, he may seem to fade away.  Many of the great saints have experienced this and some have gone through intense periods of what felt like abandonment by God called a "dark night."  In reading the writings of people in a dark night of the soul, the reader can tell that God is actually close to the person.  The one going through this pain, however, is so close to God that they cannot see his presence.
     I went through a period when I was in minor seminary where I would walk into the chapel in the morning and the first thing that would come to mind is the Eric Clapton song that goes "hello old friend, it sure is good to see you once again."  After a couple of days of this I started to ask what was wrong with me that I would think of such a song in the presence of our Lord.  Once I recognized it and thought about it, I realized that it was not necessarily a bad thing.  I had become familiar with God and simply being with Him was enough, I didn't need to do anything, to have any major revelations.  I started to see this as a blessing to be able to walk into the chapel and say hello, to realize that God truly was an old friend!
     All this being said, we must always be alert in our prayer life so that we do not become lazy and allow our minds to wonder.  There is a difference between God speaking to us in silence for our own good and us coming to prayer distracted and not putting in the effort.  The next time you are thinking that your prayer life is boring, spend some time in prayer to see if maybe your friendship with God has progressed to the point where He no longer has to entertain you, then persevere through the difficulties!

O Come Let us Adore Him,
Patrick

Greatness

     I want to be a saint!  I frequently think about this and I think that it is good and healthy.  We believe that a saint is someone who has made it, anyone who has entered into the presence of God in heaven.  In this sense, we should all want to be saints one day.
     My problem arises because I don't just want to be a saint who makes it to heaven, I want to be a great saint!  Now, again on the surface, this is not a bad thing, but when I really look at my motives I begin to see the problem.  What is it about being a saint that really attracts me?  Well, when I am honest about myself it has a lot to do with the way people think about the saints.  Hearing about the heroic acts of a St. Maximillian Kolbe giving up his life for another in Auswitz, staring at the volumes and volumes of the writings of the Angelic Doctor (Thomas Aquinas) or the Doctor of Grace (St. Augustine), learning about the conversion and susequent work of St. Ignatius Loyola, and reading the account of the martyrdom of St. Polycarp makes me want to be a saint even a martyr!  But is it love of God I am seeking or greatness?  Isn't greatness a good thing?  After all St. Thomas Aquinas listed magnanimity as a virtue; Pope Benedict stated that we are not made for comfort but for greatness.
     Shouldn't we want to be great?  YES!  But greatness takes on a new look when we speak about it in relation to being a saint as opposed to the world's view.  None of the saints I mentioned (none at all for that matter) became great by simply seeking after greatness.  They all became saints by seeking after Him, Greatness Himself.  It was only because of their amazing love for God that they were able to do great things.  In fact, they didn't do great things, God did great things through them because they were humble enough to let Him.  Mother Theresa was well known for saying that we cannot do great things, only small things with great love.  There is something about those Theresas.  Mother Theresa and St. Therese (the Little Flower) can teach us a great deal about this.
     When they first began their ministries I'm sure they did not think they were doing great things.  One was ministering to the poorest of the poor and one was living in a convent and very sick.  In Mother Theresa, we see the means by which we can become great, the starting point for all saints.  We must do the little things that our life demands right now!  These thoughts came to me when the Gospel was about the lost sheep.  The shepherd, losing one sheep, leaves the 99 and goes in search for the 1 lost sheep.  Now, I've never shepherded sheep, but this seems ridiculous.  Leaving 99 sheep to try to save one.  But such is the love of our God for us; it is ridiculous, at times it doesn't make sense.  God's love doesn't make sense to us because it is too great for us to understand.  The aspect of this reading the Mother Theresa lived was this.  There are always 100 things that we could be doing.  We must focus on the 1 thing we are doing, the 1 person we are helping.  Our greatness must begin with the person God has sent into our lives at each moment.  We must show His love for them through our words and actions.  It is only through humble service of each individual we encounter throughout each day that we will truly become great, we will become saints.  We will not be great in the eyes of the world.  Rather, we will be great in the eyes of the One who really matters.
     Let us spend time in prayer during this season of Advent of the lowliness that our God took on in order to bring us to greatness.  He humbled Himself and became man so that we could become like Him.  May this season of joyful anticipation for the coming of Christ anew into the world and in our lives help us to grow in our love for Jesus, the Savior of the world!

Divine Providence...Do You Believe?

Tomb of Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati

      God has shown me over and over and over and over (you get the point) in the past 12 years or so since I really began to take my faith life seriously that he is in charge and is involved in every single aspect of my life.  This entry will focus on a series of events which took place over the last year.
     It all began over an innocent travel weekend to Salamanca, Spain.  I went with two other guys from the College and we had a wonderful time relaxing, praying and spending time with the sister of one of the guys who was studying there.  The same seminarian also knew a group of religious sisters who are located in Madrid (where we flew in and out of).  On the "last" day of our trip, we visited the religious community before heading off in a rush to eat at T. G. I. Fridays before hurrying over to the airport to catch our flight.  We accomplished all of this, made our way to the airport, got rid of the bottle of wine we had purchased because we didn't want to check bags and made our way over to the security line.  The first of us made it through the security ticket check and as he was proceeding to go through security, the lady checking our tickets told him to wait as she noticed that our tickets were for Nov. 2nd (the next day), not Nov. 1 (today).  We smiled at her in disbelief and said, "no, we have to be back today, they have to be for today."  Well we were wrong, our tickets did not have to be for today as they were in fact for tomorrow.  After trying several different ways to get back to Rome and to the College on time (the cheapest option being about 600 Euro per person and not even a guarantee) we bit the bullet and called the College to let them know of our mistake and that we would be staying in Madrid for the night.
     As we had not planned to stay the night in Madrid we had no arrangements for a place to sleep.  We went back to the religious sisters that we had visited earlier to see if they could help.  They ended up getting us rooms at the seminary just down the road.  During our second trip to the house, we joined the sisters in a Spanish All Saints Day tradition.  On Nov. 1st, they put the names of many different saints in a bowl and everyone draws a name.  The name you pull is your saint for the following year.  We all took our turn drawing from the bowl and when it came to me I picked one Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.  Now before this I had heard about Blessed Pier Giorgio...very little, but I had heard of him.  I knew he died young and that he was a very active outdoors type, but that was about it.  Thus began my relationship with this young man from Turin, Italy.

Cathedral of Turin where Bl. Pier Giorgio is buried

     The saints have an amazing way of coming into your life.  It seems at times they they will haunt/stalk/follow you around.  This is precisely what happened with Bl. Pier Giorgio.  Since this providential meeting in Spain he has appeared over and over again during the course of this year.  When I went back home for the summer I recalled the travel weekend story to a friend.  Having a devotion to Bl. Pier Giorgio herself, she loaned me a book about him written by his sister.  I then shared a quote from the book via Facebook and another friend saw it who also has a great devotion to Bl. Pier Giorgio.  In his generosity this friend mailed me two other books on Bl. Pier Giorgio, a whole slew of prayer cards and other information on him which were waiting for me at the College when I returned in September.  I have read one of the books and I have a Bl. Pier Giorgio prayer card in just about every book I am using at the moment.
     This past weekend was a travel weekend for us here.  I decided to travel with one other seminarian and we were going to make it interesting.  We made no plans and had no destination in mind.  We simply showed up to class on Friday with our bags packed and after they were done we headed to the train station to pick a random place to visit.  When we arrived we looked at the departure board to see where we would end up.  A train leaving in about 8 minutes heading where else but to Turin, the hometown of Bl. Pier Giorgio and the city where his remains are now located.  We bought our tickets, got on the train and we were off.  After booking a hotel from the train and waiting the 4+ hours it took to get there, we arrived in the city of the young Blessed.  I was beyond excited!  What were the odds that I would end up in Turin without planning it just 5 days before my "Year of Bl. Pier Giorgio" was over (it will be one year since my Spain trip on Nov. 1, 2012).

Memorial on the wall at Bl. Pier Giorgio's parish Church

     As Catholics, we believe that there is no such thing as luck.  Rather, our loving God and Father puts things into our lives when and how we need them in order to draw us closer to Himself.  God wanted to teach me something through the life of this young saintly man.  Bl. Pier Giorgio died at the age of 24 (NB: That is the same age at which St. Therese died) from polio.  During his short time on earth Bl. Pier Giorgio touched the lives of thousands of people.  This is evident in the pictures of his funeral procession where people from all over Turin gathered to say goodbye to their native son.  Maybe God wanted me to see that even people who seem insignificant can make a huge difference.  Maybe God wanted to show me that it is possible to suffer without complaining (in fact I'm sure this is at least part of the reason Bl. Pier Giorgio found me!).  Maybe God wanted to remind me to always be concerned for the poor.  It is likely that all of these reasons (and many more) played a part in my coming to know Bl. Pier Giorgio.  I pray that I will not overlook any aspect of whatever it is that God wants to teach me through the life of his servant Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati and I pray that you will take the time to get to know him too!

In Christ,
Patrick

Appealing to the Senses

     This is a little update to my previous post.  I wrote there about the appeal to the senses, especially that of sight in the Church.  This past weekend, I was blessed to be able to travel to Turin.  My main goal was to pray at the tomb of Bl. Pier Giorgio Frassati who has been haunting me (in a good way) for the past year (full post to come with that story).  Another great gift of this trip was being able to spend time in the Cathedral where they house the Shroud of Turin, which many believe to be the burial shroud of Christ.  Though the shroud was not on display there was a picture hanging above the protective case where it is housed.  Praying in the presence of the shroud and gazing upon the image of Christ's face was an amazing and powerful experience for me.  I kept gazing up at the image and thinking about the quote from the last post, "We have seen God and we will never be the same!"  Wow!

In Christ,
Patrick

It Just Makes Sense!

     "We have seen God and we will never be the same!"  This statement was made by the priest chaplain for the University of Dallas campus here in Rome where I will be helping out for the next two years.  Father gave this statement as a one sentence summary to explain Christianity to someone who knew nothing about our religion.
     What I will try to focus on in this entry is that fact that we have SEEN God.  God, throughout the Old Testament period, revealed Himself in various ways to the people of Israel.  One way in which he did this is by revealing His holy name, which out of respect for our Jewish brothers and sisters we do not use in the Liturgy.  The Hebrews believed that knowing a person's name was a very intimate way of knowing someone, it revealed to the knower an intimate part of the person.  For God to draw close to his people in this way was a new and shocking thing.
     After several covenants and several failures on the part of man to uphold his end of the agreement, God chose to reveal Himself in an even more shocking way.  God the Father, sent his Son Jesus Christ in human form.  In Christ, we have seen God!  We truly can never be the same.
     In both instances, God revealed himself to man by appealing to man's senses.  The Israelites heard God's name and with the coming of Christ, men have seen God.  We are bodily creatures and we come to know things through the body.  This is explained by E. Schillebeeckx in his book Christ the Sacrament of the Encounter with God as follows:

"Because God loves man and has a sovereign respect for our earthbound humanity -for our reality as persons who in their own bodiliness live in a world of people and of things, and thereby grow to spiritual maturity - God always offers us the kingdom of heaven in an earthly guise. So he did in the Old Testament. So it was in the ephapax: the appearance once and for all of God the Redeemer in human shape. So, too, finally, does he continue to teach us in the sacramental Church which is the visible organ on earth of the living Lord."

We experience God through the senses, and we are also engaged through the senses.  This is why the Church uses beautiful music, incense, candles, flowers, beautiful church buildings, etc.

     As I said earlier, I want to focus on sight (having trouble so far, but stay with me!).  One day this past week I got out of class early and decided to fulfill one of my formation goals by making a holy hour in one of the churches in the city.  As it is my favorite church and I wanted to say prayers at a certain statue housed there, I decided to make my way over to the Basilica of St. Augustine.  As I sat before the tabernacle I took a moment to examine the paintings on the walls and ceiling.  I had never noticed two of them before, both of which depicted Mass being celebrated.  In the picture above, notice how there is a beam of light coming from the Cross (from which all the sacraments derive their power) through the host being elevated after it has been consecrated (transformed from ordinary bread into the body of Christ) and to the people attending Mass.  It shows the efficacy of the sacrament, i.e. it shows that we receive grace from the sacrament.  In the picture to the left you see the priest celebrating Mass and as he prays the words of consecration, in the background, angels are lifting people to heaven.  When I saw this, I was reminded of the IV Dialogue of Gregory the Great in which he recalls many pious events, one of which was the confirmation that loved ones had passed form purgatory to heaven after Mass had been celebrated for their intention (The IV Dialogue is a great and easy read for anyone who is interested!).

     Why do I bring up these paintings?  Because they moved me during my holy hour.  They reminded me of the power of the Mass and of the closeness of our God.  We can still see him anytime we go to Mass or adoration.  True, we can see God anywhere if we are open to his providence, but we can really, physically see him under the appearance of bread and wine.  Beautiful pieces of art, such as these two, along with all of the other things the Church utilizes (some were mentioned earlier) help us to enter into the mystery of the Trinity, God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit!

     Lastly, I will leave you with a verse from Scripture I came upon last night during my holy hour.  It comes from the Gospel of St. Matthew 6:22-23.  “The lamp of the body is the eye. If your eye is sound, your whole body will be filled with light; but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be in darkness. And if the light in you is darkness, how great will the darkness be."  In a world that is filled with so many negative images, on TV, in movies, and in just about every advertisement around, this passage should strike a chord in us.  With what are we filling ourselves through the lamp of our body?  Are we constantly taking in things that lead us into darkness or do we take time to admire beautiful things that can lead us to contemplate the One True God?

From the Mouths of Babes

     "Out of the mouths of infants and nurslings you have brought forth praise" (Matthew 21:16).  This passage came to mind as I shared a nice evening with my adopted family this summer (each seminarian in the diocese gets an adopted family to pray for them and to get to know them).  When I first arrived to their house two of the boys were outside playing a grueling game of ping pong.  I went out to watch them while the Mrs. finished preparing the meal.  Soon she and the man of the house joined us outside (he later crushed me in an embarrassing match).  The younger of the two brothers playing greeted me, looked at me, and with all the innocence and sincerity of a child said, "that's great that you are going to be a priest, but don't you want children?"
     Without hesitating I said, "sure, but I get to come and hang out with great families like yours."  Now, after for years in the seminary and a couple more years before I actually entered when I was considering the priesthood, I have heard this question many times.  I said the same thing this time as I have said before, but I answered the question differently.  Before that moment, I had heard the answer and I knew it in my head, but now I was responding from my heart.  I truly felt like I was being fulfilled, in a way, of the desire one has to have children.  No doubt a new dimension of fulfillment will enter in when I become a priest and begin to father spiritual children.  As I write this, I can't help but think of Pope Benedict's words during the Mass at which he was inaugurated as pope.  Speaking about John Paul II's call to young people, "Do not be afraid!  Open wide the doors for Christ," Pope Benedict said "Do not be afraid of Christ! He takes nothing away, and he gives you everything. When we give ourselves to him, we receive a hundredfold in return. Yes, open, open wide the doors to Christ – and you will find true life."
     In calling me to "come follow me" as a seminarian and God-willing as a priest in less than two years, I can honestly say that Christ has taken nothing from me.  Rather, he has given me more than I could have ever expected and certainly more than I deserve.  I am very thankful to my adopted brother for asking me that question and for helping me to realize how far I have come, or rather, how far God has brought me.
     Coming off of a summer of wonderful experiences at home, an easy transition back to life in Rome and weeks of conferences and retreat, I am more excited now than ever about the idea of being a priest.  I can't wait to soak up as much knowledge as I can in these last two years of seminary formation and finally return home to minister to the great people of South Louisiana!  As always let us pray for one another.

In Christ,
Patrick

3 is a "Magic" Number

     The Holy Trinity (Father, Son and Spirit).
     Faith, Hope and Charity
     Jesus, Mary and Joseph
     Track numbers 7, 8, 9 from John Mayer's "Heavier Things" album.
     August 26th, 27th, and 28th.

     3 is a "magic" number.  These words from the schoolhouse rock song come to mind today on the Feast of St. Monica.  Even though the above references to wonderful things that come in 3s are substantially different with the Trinity being the Truth of all truths and John Mayer songs being merely my opinion.  Nevertheless, great things do come in threes.

     August 26th, 27th, and 28th fall somewhere in between the Trinity and the John Mayer songs (undoubtedly these days are closer to the Blessed Trinity).  August 26th happens to be the birthday of one of the most special ladies in my life, my mother.  I can't even begin to describe how much I owe to this wonderful lady.  She has not only fulfilled her motherly duties, but has gone above and beyond to make sure that I (along with my siblings) am happy.  She has also helped my dad to hand down the beautiful Catholic faith to me for which I am preparing to give my life as a priest.  This last aspect of caring for my eternal happiness and well-being is what ties her and her birthday to today, August 27th, the Feast of St. Monica.

     St. Monica was the mother of St. Augustine, arguably the most influential saint in the history of the Church.  However, Augustine may never have come to know Christ if it weren't for his mother.  See, Augustine is the poster child for people who search for the truth.  His search led him to embrace many creeds during his early years.  All of the religions he tried came up short.  The entire time that he was searching, Monica, like a good mother, was praying for him to come to Christianity.  Finally, after much resisting and searching, Augustine came to faith in Jesus Christ in the Church.  One of my favorite quotes from Augustine's Confessions is when Monica is begging the bishop to speak to her son to talk some sense in to him.  After much pestering, the bishop turns to Monica and tells her to stop crying and to go away, "for there is no way that a child of this many tears will go unsaved."  Augustine says that Monica went away confident that the good bishop was right and worried no more.

     This brings us to day 3, August 28th, the Feast of St. Augustine.  St. Augustine changed my life, plain and simple.  Through a class I took on The Philosophy of St. Augustine, I came to know this renegade truth seeker turned saint.  I took the class during my 3rd of 4 semesters of philosophy.  Up until this point I had made my way through philosophy, but certainly did not love it.  I found it rather difficult coming from an engineering background.  And to think, this relationship with St. Augustine could very easily not have happened.  See this course was an elective, and it put me up to 18 hours, which was not too bad in itself.  The real kicker was that it was my 3rd class with one particular professor, who though very good, was very demanding.  Even the professor told a friend of mine that I shouldn't do it.  However, there was one thing I couldn't overlook.  It was my last chance to take the class as he does not offer it every semester and the last day to drop the class was August 28th, St. Augustine's Feast day.  I just couldn't do that to Augustine, so I decided to stick it out.  I learned a great deal about St. Augustine during this course, and a great deal about myself.  It was also a nice window into Pope Benedict's thinking as he sees himself more in line with Augustine's thinking than St. Thomas Aquinas (another contender for greatest saint/theologian ever!).  Just think, some of the most moving lines in the Christian world come from St. Augustine who may not have even become a Christian were it not for his mother.  We certainly thank God for the gift of St. Augustine, but we must in the same breath remember to thank God for Monica too.  Anytime we read "Late have I loved You O Beauty ever ancient and ever new, late have I loved You," or "Our hearts are made for You and they will not rest until they rest in You," we should offer a prayer of thanks giving to God for raising both Monica and Augustine to the glory of heaven!  Finally, one of my favorite quotes is when Augustine is speaking about how his mother kept after him when he was younger.  He states that back then, he thought it was just his mother harassing him, but as he looks back after his conversion, he sees that it was really God speaking to him through Monica.  What humility and wisdom he must have had to be able to realize and admit this.

     I will end by giving thanks to God for the wonderful opportunity to pray at the tombs of both Monica and Augustine over the past two years.  Augustine is buried in a small town outside of Milan called Pavia and Monica is buried in the Basilica of St. Augustine in Rome.  I go to that church often to pray at her tomb.  I especially like to offer prayers for my mother, grandmother, sister, sister-in-law, and all of the mothers who contact me to ask for my prayers.  May St. Monica continue to be an example to mothers of how their faithfulness in desperate times can truly work miracles.

In Christ,
Patrick

Show Me Love...Show Me Love and What It's All About

In a homily towards the end of this past year, one of the faculty members said that the way we can measure our love for God is by how we recognize His love for us.  This hit me like a ton of bricks (in a good way) as I had been praying that I wanted to love God more, but I didn't know exactly what that meant.  Now, I had a clue; come to realize more how much God loves me!  I began doing this in prayer by reading Scripture, especially the Gospels to see how God has loved His people throughout history.

This continued for a few weeks, thinking about it off and on until I went to confession one day.  As a penance, I was told to go walk around the track at school and pray a decade of the rosary.  I did so and started thinking about the homily mentioned earlier.  It was then that I asked God, "How do you love me?"  No sooner had I thought the question did I hear, "I'm calling you to be My priest!"  Wow, OK God I get it!  O how He loves me.  He wants me to be His representative here on earth.  He wants me to be a visible sign of His love.  He wants me to bring the Body and Blood of his Son to men on Earth, to forgive sins, to welcome people into His Church through baptism, to bring people together for life in the Sacrament of Marriage, and to prepare souls to return to Him in the Anointing of the Sick.  He loves me...He really loves me!  I shouldn't be surprised, God IS Love!

Continuing this realizing how much God loves me line of thought, this summer has been a tremendous blessing for me in many ways.  Coming home after two years away has been one of the best experiences of my life.  From the moment I hit the ground in Lafayette on June 9th, I have felt God's love through others.  I had about 30 people waiting for me at the airport to welcome me home, including a niece and a nephew that I had never met...how can I not feel God's love?  I have had the chance to have dinner and visit with many of my family and friends over the past two months and have vacationed with my family and friends...how can I not feel God's love?  I have been welcomed and thanked time and time again at my summer assignment at Our Lady of Fatima with the assurance of people's prayers for me and for all seminarians...how can I not feel God's love?  I have been asked about my experiences from family, friends, parishioners and shut-ins that I visit and have watched them listen with wonder at only a few of the experiences I have had over the past two years...how can I not feel God's love?

My family waiting for me to arrive at the Lafayette Airport!

My two beautiful nieces and my handsome nephew!

Thank you for making this summer so wonderful!  I look forward to the experiences of my last month in town and I look forward to serving you one day as a priest of the Diocese of Lafayette by the grace of God!  Thank you for showing me God's love and for calling me to love and serve more each day.

In Christ,
Patrick

Insight: John Paul II, George Weigel and The Liturgical Year

You may be thinking what in the world the John Paul II, George Weigel and the Liturgical Year all have in common and rightly so.  Throughout the Lenten Season of my first year in Rome Mr. Weigel was a guest at the North American College (NAC).  He and his son journeyed with us to the Station Churches each morning taking notes and pictures for a book that Mr. Weigel was preparing to write on the Station Church tradition.  While he was at the NAC, he gave us a series of talks on John Paul II in preparation for now Blessed John Paul II's Beatification Ceremony on the First Sunday of Easter, Divine Mercy Sunday.  Mr. Weigel was well qualified to give this series of talks as he was Pope John Paul II's official biographer.

During one of his talks, Mr. Weigel mentioned that in speaking to the Holy Father on one occassion, he told John Paul II that he had figured out how his brain worked and how he wrote.  Mr. Weigel said that Pope John Paul II circled the topic about which he was writing and that each time he circled it he went a bit deeper into the subject matter.

In praying during this past Holy Week leading up to Easter, I remembered his words.  I was particularly struck when I thought about John Paul II's thought process as described by Mr. Weigel.  This is when I had the insight.  I realized that every year, I come to appreciate the Holy Days in the Liturgical year more and more.  The reason for this is that every year I continue to learn a little more about God and the Catholic Faith.  Therefore, I am able to circle the events once again, each time go a little deeper, appreciating them a little more.  The more I grow in knowledge, the more I grow in love for God, His Son Jesus Christ and the beautiful Catholic faith which he left us (This comes as no surprise to anyone who has had even a slight encounter with St. Thomas Aquinas...you cannot love what you do not know).

At this point, after being in school for the past 25 years with only 1 semester off, after 8.5 years of college and 2 or 3 left to go, I have to admit I get tired of school at times.  However, this idea of circling and growing deeper because of knowledge gained, experiences had, and relationship with God strengthened, helps me to push on towards the finish line.  I pray that my focus and passion for learning will continually increase so that I can come to know as much as possible about the God who loves me more than I could ever imagine.  I continue to be amazed at the wisdom of the Church and the Liturgical Calendar with its ability to draw us into the mysteries of Christ through outward practices, which help our interior focus to remain on Him.  The colors, sounds, smells, etc. which we experience in the liturgy (or the lack of some of those things during Lent and Advent) all help to draw us deeper into the mysteries that we celebrate.  I pray that we can all continue to give ourselves more fully to Him who is the source of our joy.

In Christ,

Patrick

You Lead, We'll Follow!

     As I poked my head into a "Come Lord Jesus" Bible study group on Friday afternoon I received a great challenge.  The giver of the challenge may not have been aware of it, but he called me to greater conversion and to a greater commitment to prayer.  The challenge came when we were discussing the recent tragedies in the Colorado at the opening of "The Dark Night Rises".  After discussing the details of the shooting, several people made comments along the lines of "what is our world coming to?"  My initial reaction was to try to be positive, since many times these conversations can turn into doom and gloom prophesies.  However, Jesus told us that the gates of hell will not prevail!
     In order to steer the conversation in a more positive direction, I made the comment that we need to pray more, all of us.  This is when the challenge came.  One gentleman in all sincerity said "That's your job.  You lead and we'll follow."  Wow!  I am less than two years away from being a priest and just over a year away from being a deacon.  When I become a deacon, I will make a promise to God through the bishop to pray the Liturgy of the Hours (the official prayer of the Church) for His people.  I will become an official leader of prayer.  In Fr.'s homily this weekend he mentioned that his most important role as pastor is spending time on his knees in front of the Blessed Sacrament praying for his people.
     As I come closer to becoming a deacon and ultimately a priest, I realize that I still have a long way to go. If I don't learn anything else this summer, I think it will still be a success if I remember that I am still need to grow in my love for God.  This growth will come through time spent with Him, in adoration, in silence.  Lord, help me to take time out to be quite with you each day.  Help me to move aside so that people no longer see me, but You.

In Christ,
Patrick

11th Hour Graces

Christ is risen.
He is truly risen.

I heard this phrase (11th hour graces) used towards the end of Lent, especially when the leader of the "7 Church Pilgrimage" mentioned in a previous entry was trying to encourage people to go on that walk.  It means that we should stay focused and open to what God wants to do in our lives up to the end of particular events.  For instance, in Holy Week we can be tempted to relax since Lent has been so long and Easter is so close.  However, maybe entering deeper into the Sacred Triduum will allow us to receive graces that Lent has been leading us to for the last 6 weeks and if we don't pay attention to God's moving we might miss their full impact on our lives.  This can also be applied to retreats...especially silent retreats when we are so tempted to talk as they draw to a close.  Anyway, I think you get the picture.

As I prepare to return home for the first time in nearly two years I am getting a bit antsy.  At first, I tried to fight this tendency (somewhat unknowingly) by telling people that home wasn't the ONLY thing I could think about, but I'm sure that day would come.  After about two weeks of saying this, I realized that I was pretty much thinking of home all the time.  Praise God for helping me to realize this and giving me the grace to ask to finish my time here strong.  It would be very easy to do the bare minimum to get by and get home in June, but that would not be a good way to stay open to the 11th hour graces he wants to shower down upon me.  I have been praying for the grace to not just get through my last days of the semester, but to really be open to what He is trying to do in this time.

One thing I have noticed already is the connection I have to everyone back home, family, friends and all those in the great Diocese of Lafayette.  When I first arrived, I remember feeling so close to home, though I was so far away.  At the end of two amazing years it seems that this realization is coming full circle.  As my return approaches, God has reminded me of how much I love home and how much all of you love me.  This love that so many have for me was recently realized in a greater way when all of you were so concerned for my dad (who is doing great by the way) and for me.  Your prayers for him and my family got us through and truly humbled me.  My desire to go home is not because I am tired of being in Rome, The Eternal City, but because there is so much love and goodness waiting for me in South Louisiana!  Being away has made me realize how truly blessed I am and I can't wait to return to the love and support that has helped me through nearly 4 years of seminary formation (only 2 left to go!).

Please pray that I can remain focused on my studies and prayer life so that I can receive all that God has in store for me these last 40 + days.  I can't wait to see all of you O so soon!

In Our Risen Lord,
Patrick

Do You Believe?

So as many of you heard we had a little scare today...actually a big scare.  Sunday, my dad was having spells where he would be dizzy, light headed and short of breath.  Though he knew something wasn't right, things would get back to normal soon enough so he didn't think much of it.  He went to bed Sunday, only to wake up around midnight not feeling well.  He woke my mom and told her something wasn't right.  She asked him if he wanted to call my sister-in-law who is a nurse and he said, "I think you better call 911."  She did and they were off to the hospital.  When they arrived, they hooked him up to a heart monitor and realized that his heart rate was dropping drastically, then jumping much higher than normal.  It dropped 3 times and then he flat-lined.  My sister says it was like a movie, they all came in and started working on him to get his heart going again.

This all happened before I returned from school.  When I got back to the house from class, I checked my email and saw that my sister had called.  Not realizing that it was still pretty early there, I called her thinking that maybe I would have another niece or nephew in 9 months (no pressure I promise!).  The news was shocking to say the least.

They were able to bring him back, thank God.  Hearing this news and being 16+ hours away from home makes one feel rather helpless.  However, as soon as I began to feel that way, it was as if God looked over at me with wondering eyes, as if to let me know I had forgotten something.  "Really, you can't do anything?"  I am in Rome, 16+ hours away from home because I am studying to be a Catholic priest, yet I think I can't do anything.  Alright I said, I get the point.

You see the past few days in the daily Mass readings there has been all of this talk about faith and how important it is for us to believe.  In his audience last Wednesday, Pope Benedict spoke about how the early Church combated persecution and other problems with prayer.  I realized that I could do just as much here as I could have done back home.  Sure it would have been nice to be there for my mom, but I could do a great deal from here.  I could PRAY!  And I did.  I prayed a rosary, asking our Blessed Mother to watch over him and the doctors who were operating on him.  I prayed for my mom and my family back home.  I put a prayer intention on the board here where 250 + seminarians, priests, and bishops would walk by and upon seeing it would offer prayers for my dad.  It was as if I was being confronted with the Scriptures and my faith was being put to the test.  It is great to pray and have faith when things are good, but do we turn to it when we are in trials?  This is where "the rubber meets the road."  Do I truly trust that God will protect me and my loved ones.  Do I believe in the power of prayer?  Does God hear me, does he care?  As I thought of these questions, I am glad to say that they were all answered with a resounding YES!  I DO believe; God DOES care; He DOES listen when I cry out to Him!

Thankfully, at the end of the day, my dad had a pacemaker put in and is in his room doing well and recovering.  He should go home tomorrow as there was no blockage, just "electrical problems," which the pacemaker should solve.

Thank you God for giving my dad the sense to go to the hospital.  Had he not been in the ER when he flat-lined, this blog might be very different.  Thank you for using even this horrible situation to teach me something about myself, but more importantly to teach me something about You.  Thank You for showing me how much You love me, how much You love all of us.  Thank you for giving me the grace to believe!

I was already anxious to see my family, but now, I think those hugs will last just a bit longer as I realize even more how precious each of them is to me.  45 days and counting!

In Our Risen Lord,
Patrick

Holy Saturday with Our Lady

I was not able to squeeze in watching "The Passion of the Christ" on Good Friday, which was unfortunate as I had wanted to watch it.  However, I was able to get a copy of it and watch it in the wee hours of this morning (Holy Saturday).  What a great blessing it was and offered me some really great points for reflection.  Particularly moving for me where the scenes with our Blessed Mother and I would like to share some of them with you.

First of all, I was moved to celebrate Holy Saturday with Our Lady as she has been a wonderful guide for me during seminary, and especially since coming to Rome.  One particularly moving thing which was pointed out to me in my Mariology course is the idea that Mary went through the first Holy Saturday without the knowledge of the Resurrection to come on Easter Sunday.  Mary, seeing her son and her Savior die a humiliating and painful death on the Cross ("anyone who is hanged is a curse of God" - Deuteronomy 21:23) had no human reason to continue hoping in the promises of God.  Her hope is the model for how we should trust in God, even when we have no reason (humanly speaking) to do so.  Imagine the loneliness she must have felt not knowing what would happen.

With this in mind, I watched "The Passion".  Seeing how Mary was portrayed as the strong one through it all made me even more excited/comforted/passionate about turning to her for prayers and example in all aspects of my life.  One of the scenes which really caught my attention was when Jesus was carrying the Cross.  Mary wanted to get close to him and looking at St. John she said "take me to him".  How fitting that our Blessed Mother should say this.  She was always close to Jesus, both physically, as any mother is close to her child (flesh of her flesh) and spiritually.  At the moment when all but one of the Apostles abandoned him, it was his mother who stood by him till the end.  During his suffering she said "take me to him" and because of this we in turn say the same thing to her when we are suffering.  Mother Mary, take us to him!

Related to this, is the scene when Jesus is carrying his Cross (I believe) with Mary on one side of the crowd walking with him and the Devil is portrayed mirroring her on the other side of the crowd.  This scene reminded me of some of what I read in St. Louis de Montfort's book "True Devotion to Mary," especially how powerful Our Lady is against Satan.  The lowly servant of the Lord is feared by Satan.  She wants to protect us from his evil snares both in intense manifestations of evil and in the smaller temptations which we encounter daily.  All temptations to sin and turn away from God are the works of the evil one.  In all times of temptation, we should turn to Our Blessed Mother asking for her prayers and following her example of purity and holiness.

The finals scene I would like to recall serves as a sort of "how to".  How do we follow our Blessed Mother's example?  The scene is when Jesus has been arrested and is awaiting his death.  He is in a cell underneath a courtyard which is now empty.  Mary, walking into the courtyard senses that he is near.  She walks around and eventually ends up right above where he is in chains.  When she stops there, she puts her cheek to the ground and in both her face and in Jesus' there is an expression that both know the other is near.  Mary was so united to Jesus, so united to God that she was able to know that he was near when she could not see him.  We too, must be so familiar with God that we know that he is always near, especially in those times when we do not "see" him or "feel" his presence.  We are bound to go through stages of spiritual dryness, but following our Blessed Mother, we will not lose hope in these times and we will come to see them as chances for growth and times where we must have true faith.  It is only possible for us to make it through these times of darkness if we spend time getting to know and coming to love our Lord ever more through prayer.  This is the crux of Pope Benedict's constant call for all people to have a personal experience of and relationship with Jesus Christ.

In these last hours of Holy Saturday, may our Blessed Mother guide you and protect you.

In Christ,
Patrick

And the Walking Man Walks!

Moving in silent desperation 

Keeping an eye on the holy land 

A hypothetical destination 

Say, who is this walking man?

 ~ James Taylor

Two reasons for the above quote from James Taylor.  1.  I went to a James Taylor concert here in Rome this past Friday night...AWESOME!  2.  I spent the day today walking around Rome...reason for this blog...also AWESOME!

Today marks the 27th anniversary of my making my appearance on the scene of the world.  How did I celebrate?  I walked ALL OVER the city of Rome.  I took part in what is called the "7 Church Pilgrimage."  This ancient tradition involves visiting 7 of the major churches in Rome on a walking tour and was very popular among many of the saints.  This pious practice was popularized by St. Philip Neri who is buried here in Rome (about a 10-15 minute walk from the College).

Originally I wasn't sure that I was going to take part.  After all, it was going to be my birthday, I did have some school work I wanted to get done, and the kicker...it involved walking all over the city!  However, with not much coaxing from a fellow seminarian I signed up for the lunch, thus committing myself to attend!  The closer the day came, the less I wanted to go on the tour, but something amazing happened (actually a lot of somethings).  As I was walking to St. Mary Maggiore for the final Station Church of Lent 2012 (during Lent the Station Churches involves going to Mass at a different church in the city each day), I had a profound sense of peace and just had a feeling that it was going to be a good day.  I was wrong, it was a GREAT day.

My walk from the College to St. Mary Maggiore began with meditating on the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Most Holy Rosary (as all of my walks to the Station Churches did).  Next I was able to attend Mass at the beautiful basilica dedicated to Mary the Mother of God.  In this Church are pieces of the crib in which Christ was laid...a good first object for meditation!

Next we went to St. Lawrence Outside the Walls.  This is a beautiful basilica to which I had only been once before this past December 26th.  The reason for visiting on that date is because it is the Feast Day of St. Stephen, the First Christian Martyr and he is buried there.  Also buried there, as you might guess from the name of the church, is St. Lawrence, the Deacon Martyr who was roasted alive for his unwavering faith in Jesus as the Christ.  The third person buried here, Blessed Pope Pius IX is of particular interest to us here at the NAC because he is the one who founded the College in the 1800s.  It was great to be back at this beautiful church, in particular to be able to pray at the tomb of St. Stephen.  My middle name is Steven (just like my daddy's name!), and even though the saint spelled his wrong, I still have come to develop a great devotion to him.  He inspires me by his faith, especially being able to pray for those who were stoning him as he was dying.  Seeing statues or paintings of him also brings me back to the Abbey Church at St. Ben's as they have a great painting of the Proto-martyr in one of the side chapels there.

Our next stop took us to the only church of the 7 we visited which I had not been to before.  Santa Croce in Gerusalemme is known for its great relics dealing with the Passion of our Lord.  Among the relics are several pieces of the True Cross, the sign ("Jesus of Nazareth, King of the Jews") which hung above Christ stating why he was being crucified, nails from the Crucifixion, Thorns from Christ's Crown of Thorns, and the finger of St. Thomas which he stuck in the side of the Resurrected Christ just before he proclaimed "My Lord and my God."  Needless to say, being so close to these relics, especially during Holy Week when we are called to prayerfully consider and enter into in a more intense way, the suffering and death of our Lord was truly amazing.

Relics of Christ's Passion.

St. John Lateran, the pope's Cathedral.  Not only that, but there are also relics of Sts. Peter and Paul above the main altar.  As I walked I was drawn into the Blessed Sacrament Chapel where they were having Adoration.  I popped in to pray Midmorning Prayer and felt so thankful for the quite time with our Eucharistic Lord.  After walking around a bit and learning how the reliefs down the main isle mirror each other (one side from the OT, for example the Flood, and the other side from the NT with the Baptism of Jesus across from the Flood) it was time to move on once again.

A brief intermission on the way to the next official church on the tour was a quick stop in the "Quo Vadis" church.  Legend has it that St. Peter was fleeing Rome because of the persecutions of the Emperor Nero, in which he would eventually be martyred.  As he was walking out of the city on the Appian Way, St. Peter saw Jesus and he asked him, "Domine, quo vadis" or "Lord, where are you going?"  Jesus responded by saying that he was going into Rome to be crucified again.  Hearing this, Peter knew that he could not flee the persecutions.  He returned to Rome, and as we know he was crucified upside-down as per his request as he did not feel worthy to die in the same way as his Savior.

St. Sebastian was our final stop before lunch.  The Basilica of St. Sebastian is located at the catacombs which take the same name.  This Church has the remains of St. Sebastian who was a 3rd century Roman soldier who was a Christian.  The emperor, Diocletian, tried to get rid of all Christians in public life, including those in the army.  Sebastian was killed as a result of these persecutions and devotion to him spread quickly after his death.  

After lunch we continued our walk to St. Paul Outside the Walls.  Truly one of the most beautiful churches in Rome, this basilica was constructed over the tomb of the great Apostle of the Gentiles.  We probably had the most time at this church, and after an unsuccessful attempt to go to confession (nap time!!!!), I had this urge to read Paul's writings.  I went down right in front of his tomb, took out my Bible and opened to the beginning of his Letter to the Romans (I was doing a walking tour of Rome after all!).  I ready the first chapter and something struck me.  The line "To all God's beloved in Rome, who are called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ" jumped off the page at me.  I was struck with the realization that the many great saints that had taken part of this pilgrimage before me and even many of those at whose tombs I had prayed earlier in the day had read these words from St. Paul.  St. Paul was writing to them!  The Church in Rome existed, at least in part, thanks to the work and writings of St. Paul.  We are now the faithful of Rome (if not the city literally, God is still speaking to us personally through his Living Word...also, it is not called the ROMAN Catholic Church for nothing!).  What an amazing opportunity and a great blessing that God would open my eyes to the Scriptures in this way.

6 down, 1 to go.  Only 3.5 miles separating me from St. Peter's and returning home to the College!  After making it to the square the group split up and we all went in to St. Peter's on our own.  Earlier in the day, I had decided that I would go to Confession at St. Peter's so that I could use the day of prayer to do a good examination of conscience.  When I entered the basilica, I made my way over to the area for Confession and got in line.  While waiting, I had a great conversation with a man from Ohio who had great questions about the faith.  His daughter and he were receiving the sacrament and I had the great desire to pray for them as it had been a while since they went.  I prayed the Hail Mary repeatedly as they went to Confession knowing that Our Blessed Mother would calm any nerves they may have had.  Finally I got to go and it was a great Confession (not because of what I did!).  The priest sounded Irish and gave me some great things to think about, especially the helpful reminder not to be too hard on myself!

A final grace of the day were the many wonderful conversations I was able to have with people on the pilgrimage with us.  Overall, there were about 50 + seminarians and 50 + laypeople (one couple was in their 70s) on the 13 mile walk.  The sight of so many people giving up their day to prayerfully journey through the city which has given the Church so many Saints and Martyrs was humbling and hopeful to say the least.

What better birthday could a guy ask for?  God is so good to me.  He will have every right to demand a great deal from me in this life as he has given me so much.  That is fine with me, as long as he continues to give me the grace to remain faithful and to follow the instructions of our Blessed Mother: "do whatever he tells you."  I offered up my 13 + miles of walking today for all of you back home.  I pray that you all have a very prayerful Holy Week and that it leads to a grace-filled and Happy Easter.

In Christ,

Patrick

P.S. - This was written @ 9:00 the day of the 12 + hour walk...sorry in advance for any type-o's.

New Cardinals and Renewal in the Church

Yesterday was an great day for the entire Church as Pope Benedict elevated 22 new men to the College of Cardinals.  It was also a wonderful day for our College as among those given this title, which carries great honor and heavy burdens (the red of their cassocks symbolizing the blood they are called to be willing to shed for the faith), were two former rectors of the North American College.  Edwin Cardinal O'Brien and Timothy Cardinal Dolan led the College from 1990-1994 and from 1994-2001 respectively.  Following the Consistory, there was a reception here at the College for Cardinals O'Brien and Dolan.  I helped to work the event where we hosted somewhere in the neighborhood of 1500-2000 people who traveled to Rome to share in this special event.

One of the great things about the consistory last year and yesterday was having the opportunity to speak to some of the great people who traveled to Rome from the US.  They are always happy to speak to seminarians and are particularly impressed at seeing or hearing that we have 230 men here studying to become priests.  I was able to speak at length with one couple who asked me how the numbers were looking.  After informing them that our numbers were the highest they have been in years and that many seminaries around the country are seeing similar trends, they proceeded to ask what I thought the reason was for such an increase.  I told them that much of the renewal in the Church and especially in vocations has come from the leadership of great leaders in the Church, including the two men who brought us together for the consistory.  Their faithfulness to the Church and their love for God has spread to the men who were formed at the College during their time as rector.  Those priests who were formed during their time at the College have now been in ministry for up to 20 years and have brought what they learned here back home.  Some of the keys to their success has been the joy with which they live out their priesthood.  They are sure of their call, they know WHO it is that they are serving and the are joyful in the way they live their lives.  (See Point #5 in Cardinal Dolan's address to the College of Cardinals http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/2012/02/17/cardinal-designate-dolans-address-to-pope-benedict-and-the-college-of-cardinals/)  I also added that Blessed Pope John Paul II had a lot to do with the renewal of vocations in the Church.  He worked tirelessly for the promotion of vocations and also guided the Church in developing a new schema for priestly formation.  In a homily this morning here at the College the priest mentioned that we are "in a golden age of vocations in the Church".  What a great time too, because the world needs us more than ever.

Although we cannot discount the efforts of Blessed Pope John Paul II, the Cardinals and others who have put much into priestly vocations, we also cannot fail to realize that none of this growth would be possible without the guidance and power of Jesus Christ ("Therefore, neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who causes the growth." - 1 Corinthians 3:7).  At this point I would like to make reference to a thought I had a while back, but that did not make it to a blog.

Whenever a person is extremely cold, say due to falling into frigid waters, the body performs in a fascinating way.  The first areas of the body to get frostbite are the fingers and toes, then the hands and feet and it continues to make its way up the arms and legs.  Why is this?  The body, sensing danger, brings blood from the extremities, which a person can live without, into the core to protect the vital organs.  Aside from trying to impress you with my knowledge of something medical, I tell this story to point out that it is natural for something in danger to sacrifice less important things.  The sacrifice of these less important things happens in order to put all effort towards protecting what is vital, the very heart of the matter. 

We have all heard for some time now that there is a shortage of priests and religious.  Though the tide is slowly turning, we are still in need of more priests in most places in the world.  The main point to which I wish to call attention is what the Church and the faithful have turned to during the dangerous time of a decrease in the number of priests, seminarians and men and women in religious formation.

A low number of seminarians is by no means a good thing.  However, if we look prayerfully back on the stressful times that saw less and less men answering the call of Jesus to “come and follow me,” we can see some good things that happened.  Just like the body protects itself in times of danger, the Church also protected itself.  What did the faithful turn to in order to rectify the shortage of priests?  The answer to this question will also be the answer to the question of what is most important to the life of the Church.

The one thing that strikes me as being most important in the life of the Church and for vocations to the priesthood and religious life is a renewal in the belief in and adoration of Christ's true presence in the Blessed Sacrament.  I know in the Diocese of Lafayette the Serrans, who do so much for vocations, lead a Holy Hour each month to pray specifically for vocations to the priesthood and religious life.  The Eucharist is the most precious gift that God has given us and we are right to renew our focus on Christ in the Eucharist during these difficult times.  One of the major changes in priestly formation in the past couple of decades has been the demand of all seminarians to make a daily Holy Hour a priority.  Following the lead of many holy men who have taken on this practice over the years (most notably in recent history has been Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen) the Church has demanded this of Her priests because She knows how crucial it is to their ministry.  As ministers of the Eucharist, we must spend time each day in the presence of our Eucharistic Lord to gain strength and insight for our mission.  Imagine a husband and wife never spending time together to get to know each other...they would not have a very healthy marriage.  Just the same, a priest takes the Church as His bride.  His most important and honored work is the celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  This celebration becomes much more meaningful to the priest and to those whom he serves if the priest has a greater realization of what it is he is doing, of who it is he is making present.

Please continue to spend time in prayer for priests, seminarians, religious and those in consecrated life.  Know of my prayers for all of you.  Through prayer, we remain united and able to take on the challenges of the world today.

In Our Eucharistic Lord,

Patrick

Encountering Holiness in His Holiness

As many of you know, this past Thursday January 26th, I had the great privilege of meeting the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI.  This encounter was more than an opportunity for wonderful pictures (though it was that too).  In this blog, I hope to share some of my experience with you.

First, the reason for the visit.  Every five years (ish), every bishop in the world must meet with the Holy Father for what is called their Ad Limina Apostolorum visit.  This literally translates as "to the threshold of the Apostles" (Peter and Paul).  The purpose of this visit is for the bishops to make a pilgrimage to Rome in order to be renewed through prayer at various holy sites, including the Tombs of Sts. Peter and Paul, to gain a renewed sense of their mission as the successors of the Apostles, and to renew their union with the Successor of Peter, the Bishop of Rome, the pope.  One of the highlights of this trip is the bishops meeting with the Holy Father.  In this meeting, the bishops are allowed to bring one priest or seminarian.  Though my bishop had a priest who was traveling with him, he arranged for me to go in with another bishop who did not bring anyone with him.

As soon as I learned that the American bishops would be making their visits this year, I was hoping for the chance to meet the Holy Father (actually I was hoping for this before I even came to Rome, but the visits made it more of a possibility).  I remembered seeing a picture from another priest of the diocese who was able to meet Blessed Pope John Paul II during the last Ad Limina visits for the US Bishops.  The bishop arrived to Rome on Sunday January 22nd and after an opening Mass with all of the bishops here at the College that evening I found him to tell him hello.  It was then that he informed me that I would in fact be going to meet the pope...it made for a rather long week of finals waiting for Thursday!

After being brought through a back gate into rarely seen areas of the Vatican, up an elevator, through room after room, waiting in one, moving to another and waiting there and then another, we were finally given instructions and told it wouldn't be long.  One group went in before us and we were brought to the final small waiting room after they finished.  We were arranged in a line with the bishops of New Orleans first, then the rest of us in alphabetical order by diocese.  Since I was with the bishop of Shreveport we were the last in line.  This was great as I was able to be in the room for about 15 minutes and I was able to watch all of the other bishops and priests great the Holy Father.  It was wonderful watching the others interact with the Holy Father, especially my bishop, the priest from our diocese and another priest who was my spiritual director at St. Ben's.  I particularly enjoyed watching the Holy Father perk up and his voice get louder when my former spiritual director was introduced by his bishop as the Vocations Director for his diocese.  Afterwards, I asked him what the Holy Father told him to which he responded, you have a very difficult but very important job (or something close to that!).

Finally, it was my turn.  The bishop of Shreveport was up there speaking to the Holy Father, they posed for their pictures, then the Msgr. turns to me to signal for me to come over.  To be honest, the first thought in my mind as I began walking over was "pick up your feet...it would be really bad to trip on the carpet".  After making it over to the pope, I bent down and gave the traditional sign of respect by kissing his "fisherman's ring".  After this I remembered only a few of the words that I had been rehearsing in my mind for days now.  I was able to utter "Holy Father, thank you for your faithfulness and service to the Church".  He thanked me and said four simple words which I will never forget:  "PLEASE PRAY FOR ME"!  These words may not seem too inspiring to some, but they struck deep in my heart.

After the visit, I recalled my meeting Cardinal Burke the night after he had been raised to the College of Cardinals.  I recalled how before I could ask for his blessing, he uttered those same words, "please pray for me".  Why are these words so amazing to me?  It's simple.  These are men who I look up to and greatly respect because of their holiness, faithfulness to the Church and untiring service on behalf of the Church and the People of God.  To hear them utter these words reminds me that we, that I can do nothing without God.  I know this in my head, but these holy men live it every moment of their lives.  I think that this realization was accentuated because of something I recently read.  In doing research for a practice homily, I came across a quote from an article reporting on one of Pope Benedict's first audiences which he had with a group of German pilgrims.  In that audience, he said how he prayed that he would not become pope.  When he saw that it was likely that he would be elected, he had to come to accept this decision.  He told them of the lesson he learned during the conclave.  The lesson was that “The ways of the Lord are not comfortable, but we were not created for comfort, but for greatness, for good.”  The humility I have witnessed in these two leaders of our Church and in many others, is truly inspiring.  They realize that they are in no way worthy of the great task that has been entrusted to them.  It is only by lives of constant prayer and reliance on God that they are able to carry out the duties their offices require.

I am receiving a rosary before
leaving as a way to remember the visit.

Looking through the pictures from my brief meeting with the Holy Father, I am ever more convinced of his holiness, joy and saintliness.  As I look through the pictures, I see a man doing something that he never wanted to do, but doing it with joy and doing it with love.  His love for God is infectious.  I can see this by the look on my face.  While I was in the room with him, I remember being so joyful, so inspired.  This joy and love shows on my face...I could not stop smiling.  I pray that I will continue to allow this experience to spur me on to a greater love for God and His people.


Having encounters with men of such heroic virtue gives me great hope.  I realize that I am not worthy for the great calling which God has for me, but if I allow myself to rely on Him for strength, I too will be able to do what it is He is asking of me.  Each day at every Mass we pray for Pope Benedict.  Every time I pray the rosary I offer prayers for him too.  Since meeting him and hearing him utter these simple humble words, praying for the Holy Father has taken on a whole new dynamic.  Please join me in praying for him that he may continue to do God's will and lead souls to heaven.  I also ask that you pray for me, that I too will grow ever closer to our God and be more able to carry out His will in my life.  Please be assured of my prayers for all of you.


In Christ,
Patrick


P.S. - Not that anyone is counting, but it is only about 4 1/2 months until I return home for the summer!

Christmas Break = Success!

This Christmas was extremely blessed.  What seems like the constant stream of visitors continued with my sister's best friend and her husband (who are also my friends!) and then with four of my very good friends from high school.  The visits were filled with food, laughter, catching up, visits to churches and typically Roman sites, food, papal liturgies, museums and food!  With the second group, I was also able to make it to Assisi for a few days, which is one of my favorite places ever.

Visitors from home are always a true blessing.  Time with them is usually filled with events and sleep gets put on the back burner, which is fine for the duration of their visit since they came here to see me.  Seeing great friends, spending the last days and hours of my "year of exile" (the calendar year in which I did not see the USA)  and welcoming the New Year with them gave me a nice little boost to push through the last 5 months before I come home in early June!

After the visits I was in need of some R&R and some time to get through some school work.  Luckily, this past summer I ran into a seminarian in Lourdes with whom I studied in pre-theology.  During this encounter I found out that his parents had moved to Holland for work and they offered me to stay with them whenever I wanted. Remembering this and knowing I would want to relax at the end of the break, I set up a trip to visit them for about five days.  This was just what I needed.  I flew into Amsterdam, which is a short train ride from their town, and was greeted by my friends mom at the airport.  She led me to their home on the train making it effortless for me!  I spent the next five days at their home being treated like a king.  It was great to be in a home where I could read and study in front of the fireplace, where I could enjoy three meals a day (including great breakfasts and family dinners!), where we frequently rode bikes to Mass, once to dinner and to the North Sea on my last day, where I was able to help out at the soup kitchen run by the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Theresa's order), where I was able to watch a great movie (The Blind Side) with my hosts after dinner one night and play cards another night, and where I was able to be around people who lived in Louisiana for 22 years!  Rather than making me homesick, this was a great time of rejuvenation for me.  Yes, it did make me even more ready and excited to come home this summer, but in a good way.  I was with a family and that is what I miss most about home.  My family (blood relatives), the family of my friends, the family of my home parish and the diocese (especially the priests and seminarians), and the family of our Cajun culture all of which have been so formative for me.

From my bike ride to the North Sea.

Thank you God for this wonderful break.  Help me never to forget how amazingly blessed I am, especially in these last five months before I return home, which at times will certainly be challenging.  To all of you who will read this, know how much I love and miss you and how much I look forward to seeing you this summer!

In Christ,
Patrick

P.S. - Please keep the 22 new Cardinal-elects in your prayers, especially the two Americans, Cardinal-elect Timothy Dolan (Archbishop of New York) and Cardinal-elect Edwin O'Brien (Grand Master of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepluchre of Jerusalem).

I Want You to Want Me

            No, this is not a blog about the song by Cheap Trick, although it is an amazing song.  This will be much better (hard to believe I know), not because of my writing, but because of the subject matter, because of our God!

            Over the holidays, I was blessed to have several people visit me in Rome.  Adding to that greatness, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend several Papal Liturgies with those guests.  Going to holy sites in Rome, especially St. Peter’s Basilica, with people for their first time is always a great joy for me.  It is wonderful seeing the excitement in their faces when they get to witness the splendor of these beautiful houses of prayer dedicated to the worship of God.  One particular liturgy however became particularly special when one of my friends shared her experience with me afterwards.

            For those of you who have ever had the chance of going to a Papal Liturgy, you know what the distribution of Holy Communion is like.  For those of you who have not been, imagine rows not big enough for two people to pass blocked by barricades with people basically crawling over each other to make it to a priest or deacon to receive Holy Communion.  The process is not exactly efficient or orderly.  Several times, it has happened that guys from the College were not able to receive Communion because of the amount of people at a Mass and have had to return to the College to receive from a priest there.

He is my Bigfoot...always blurry!

            After the Mass, as we walked away from the basilica, one of my friends told me of her surprise at how crazy the process of Communion had been.  She said that she became worried at one point that she would not make it to the priest in time and that she would not be able to receive our Lord.  She shared with me how this was a good experience for her because for the first time she could remember, she was afraid at the possibility of not being able to receive Holy Communion.  She expressed to me how badly she wanted to receive our Lord and how determined she was to make it to that priest.

Here it is in her own words...

            "That experience was so powerful for me. I honestly felt anxious that I would not be able to receive the Eucharist, and it really hit me. It's a feeling I will always remember, and cherish. In that very moment of outstreching my hands and extending my body over several chairs I physically, emotionally, and spiritually longed to receive Christ. I didn't want to let anyone stand in my way of receiving Him. It's so beautiful because it really is what Christmas is all about. And against the backdrop of the nativity scene, it was even more powerful for me!"

            What a beautiful thing to reflect on during the Christmas Season.  All of Advent leading up to Christmas is a time of preparation for receiving our Lord anew at Christmas.  We spend time in expectation in order to prepare ourselves for His coming.  We spend time purifying ourselves and noticing areas where we have failed and still need God’s help so that we can allow Him to come in and heal our sinfulness.  This waiting, this anticipation of the coming of Christ should lead us to desire God all the more just as the thought of not receiving Communion inspired my friend.  How differently we would approach each celebration of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass if we took a few minutes to recall this longing for Christ that my friend experienced.  In the last days of the Christmas Season, let us pray that God will continue to inspire us to draw near to Him and to desire Him more and more.  I pray that this reflection will help you and me to realize the great gift we have in the Eucharist and help us never to take it for granted.

In Christ,

Patrick