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