John Paul II Good to Be True

The Love of the Father be with you! Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!

Where does the time go? Has it really been 4 months since I last posted? Wait, don't answer that....

So after a summer of running around and never sitting down--except to eat burgers, beef and/or chicken enchiladas, steak, bacon, filet mignon, and Burger Patty-O's (beef brand cereal--goes great with milk), let's just say that I had to blow the dust off of my keyboard after a bit of a hiatus.

And since I didn't have a clue what the word hiatus really meant, I thought I'd blow the dust off of my Merriam Webster Dictionary and give it a look:

main entry: hi-a-tus
Pronunciation: \hī-ˈā-təs\
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin, from hiare to yawn
Date: 1563
1 : a break in or as if in a material object; gap
2 : an interruption in time or continuity; break
3 : a period of time in which a seminarian forgets his responsibilities towards his home country by failing to update them on the current state of his affairs; especially if said seminarian has been spending time in Rome; woeful-neglect-of-duty-deserving-of-scorn-by-all-(former)-readers

I didn't know that synonyms could have that many hyphens. I also promptly shut my Merriam Webster Dictionary...and threw dust back on it.

So here I am, and I have a few stories to share, most of them from the last 72 hours. So let's get to it.

Well on Thursday afternoon, I thought I'd go take a little time in prayer down at the Tomb of John Paul II underneath St. Peter's. I just don't get over there as often as I should for living so close to him, so I thought I'd take the opportunity since I had some free time.

I went in and knelt behind the roped-off-section available for those who wish to pray there. There was also a red velvet rope immediately in front of the Tomb itself. So I was a little ways back from the Tomb. See the picture to get a better idea:

As I was praying there, I thought, "Wouldn't it be awesome to have my rosary touched to the Tomb of John Paul II?" Not long after that thought passed through my mind, I witnessed a man approaching the guard who stands by the tomb ("No foto") and whispering something to him. The guard then took something from the man's hand, stepped over the red rope, and touched it to John Paul's tomb. I immediately thought, "It is possible."

Not wishing to cause a commotion, I decided to wait so that a line of people (I'm picturing an Italian "line" here, folks) did not ask him to do the same thing. And while I waited I looked at the Tomb some more, and I noticed the following dates: 16 - X - 1978 --- 2 - IV - 2005. Then I thought, "John Paul wasn't born in 1978...Oh! that was when he was elected Pope." I ran the date through my head again, "The 16th of the 10th month...the 10th month...hey, that's October." Quick glance at my watch: "TH 10/15"

"Hey, that's this month," I thought. "And the 16th...that's tomorrow. I'm here on the eve of the 31st Anniversary of John Paul II's election to be Pope! Awesome!" It hit me like a ton of bricks. I had no idea that I would be coming down there on that date. I just hadn't thought about it.

After this realization, and a bit more time in prayer, I finally noticed the crowds had died down--at least enough to prevent the guard from telling me that a bunch of other people would want to do the same thing if I had my rosary touched to the tomb. So, gathering all the manly courage that I often exhibit in the humblest manner, I approached the guard and said, "Scusi, could you touch this to the tomb for me?"

His response: "Non posso perche..." ("I can't because...then I would have to do that for everyone else...)

My eyes communicated my response: "Yeah right. I just saw you do it, fratello."

Realizing my incredulity, he looked around and noticed one of his superiors walking up just at that moment. He turned back to me, saying, "Chiede lui." ("Ask him.")

So I asked his superior if I could touch my rosary to the tomb, and he looked at me half a sec, and then said, "Si." And he promptly walked over to the red rope and lifted the rope, allowing me to kneel directly in front of the tomb and touch the rosary to it myself.

...

Seriously, I could not (and still can't) believe what was happening. That was the greatest gift I could have received. God is so good! And it came at such a great moment. Praise Him! As many of you probably know, John Paul II is my personal hero, and he's a big reason why I'm on this path (or I should say, God has really worked through him to get me to consider and respond to the call to the priesthood). So that was such a blessing, and I wanted to share that with y'all.

I will have to fill you in on the other story soon. (I promise it will be before February 19, 2010.)

May God bless you with His grace and His peace, and thank you for your patience!

Torno subito!

The Love of the Father be with you! Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!

Twenty-three months ago today I arrived in Italy to begin an adventure the extent of which I could never have imagined. Twenty-three months ago, to the day. Wow. And tomorrow, God-willing everything goes alright (pray for safe travel!), I will set foot again on American soil for the first time in almost 2 full years. I will be literally kissing that American soil. I will then proceed to wash it down with real, good ole, unbeatable Tex-Mex. Thanks be to God!

The odd thing: it both has and has not felt like 2 years away from home. I mean, in one sense, so much has happened that it seems to have just flown by. In another more real sense, I realize that it has been a long time since I've been home.

It is beautiful, though, to look back and see how God has been working in and through every moment. There have been some amazingly beautiful moments, real gifts of grace. There have also been some difficult moments, those times when I really felt the weight of the cross. The beautiful thing is that the Lord was present in both. I mean, sometimes He invites us up the mountain of Tabor, to see Him transfigured in all His glory, and other times He invites us up the mountain of Calvary, asking us, like Simon of Cyrene, to help Him carry His cross. Either way, we are with Him, with Love Himself, and that is what makes it all possible.

I am eager now to see how He uses this summer to guide me on the road to priesthood. I have a parish assignment, and I will also get to be a part of a mission trip. All told, it should be a phenomenal summer.

And now for my Top Ten List of Things Most-Missed from Texas:
10. Driving places
9. Elevators built for more than 8 Italians (= 2 Americans)
8. Ice
7. 'merican Efficiency
6. Personal space (measured in acres)
5. Waiting in lines that do not become wider at the front as more people show up
4. Not almost-dying every time I cross a street
3. Steak, burgers, barbecue, brisket, real bacon, chicken enchiladas, beef tacos, ballpark hotdogs...catch my drift?
2. Texans
1. My family and friends...(collective "awwww")

Needless to say, I'm ready to be home. I look forward to all that God has in store for me there, and I hope to be blessed enough to catch up with y'all (yes, the "y'all" was intentional). I do plan to keep posting on the blog this summer, so keep an eye out for that. And thank you for reading thus far, and also for your prayerful support of the journey that God has me on. I pray for you all, and I pray He blesses you one-hundred-fold for all the prayers you have said for me.

Catch you back in Texas! God bless!

Little Things, Great Love

The Love of the Father be with you! Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!

So as you may be aware, exams are going on, and I have one tomorrow. Which means that of course I would spend my time writing a blog post. I've also cleaned my whole room (twice), washed my clothes, checked my email 15 times today, and offered to clean other guys' rooms. I decided I'd get right on top of procrastinating...didn't want to put it off.

But I did have a little reflection lately that I really wanted to share. It came in prayer, and it just seems like I've constantly been reminded of it since then. Just wanted it to put it out there. It comes from The Feeding of the Five Thousand in the Gospel of Matthew (14:13-21):

When Jesus heard of it, he withdrew in a boat to a deserted place by himself. The crowds heard of this and followed him on foot from their towns. When he disembarked and saw the vast crowd, his heart was moved with pity for them, and he cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples approached him and said, "This is a deserted place and it is already late; dismiss the crowds so that they can go to the villages and buy food for themselves.(Jesus) said to them, "There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves." But they said to him, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have here." Then he said, "Bring them here to me," and he ordered the crowds to sit down on the grass. Taking the five loaves and the two fish, and looking up to heaven, he said the blessing, broke the loaves, and gave them to the disciples, who in turn gave them to the crowds. They all ate and were satisfied, and they picked up the fragments left over--twelve wicker baskets full. Those who ate were about five thousand men, not counting women and children.

The following words of Jesus really jumped out at me: "There is no need for them to go away; give them some food yourselves." (Emphasis mine)

I mean, what were the disciples thinking?

"I got it: let's solve the problem by sending them away from the God of the universe made man. That sounds like a good idea."

"Did you come up with that yourself?"

"Yep, thought of it myself just now." (Loose translation from the Aramaic.)

Now, in all fairness, they were still in the process of discovering who exactly Jesus was, and the miracle that was about to take place was intended to help them see that Jesus truly is God. But it hit me: you never solve a problem by sending someone away from Jesus. He wants to be God of our lives, and He's a lot better at it than we are. So why not let Him?

So what happens next? But they said to him, "Five loaves and two fish are all we have here." (Emphasis mine)

Right after I read these lines, it hit me: God does not want our achievements. God does not want our awards, our honors, our many friends, our business connections. I mean, He does want us to offer those things to Him as well, and He's not against them. But what He wants most of all is our poverty, our inability to do it ourselves, our weakness.

In other words, God is not waiting for us to become awesome so that He can use us. He's waiting for us to give Him our littleness, our nothingness, our weaknesses and failures so that He can work through them to bring about amazing results of staggering proportions. I mean, what happens in this passage? Five loaves and two fish, which is all they have, when placed in the hands of God, becomes food for over 5,000 people, with leftovers to spare.

Jesus was not waiting for them to do a fundraiser to feed the followers of Jesus. He was not waiting for them to "figure it out." He was only waiting for them to offer Him what they could, offering it in the faith and trust that He would make it work out for the rest.

That one small offering, given in love--indeed, placed in the hands of Love Himself--was able to reach thousands of other people, because it was God who worked in their weakness. Mother Teresa captured it best with her simple yet beautiful words:

"Do small things with great love. It's not how much we do, but how much love we put in the doing; and it is not how much we give, but how much love we put in the giving. To God, nothing is small; the moment we have given it to God, it becomes infinite." (Emphasis mine)

Now, I think I'm going to offer the 5 loaves and 2 fish worth of studying I've done for my exam tomorrow and see if that's enough to get through it.... *Cough *Cough

God bless you all! See you soon!

But Who's Counting?

The Love of the Father be with you! Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!

So I can't wait to be home. Lots of good going on here, but I must admit I'm looking forward to coming home soon. So in the interest of both subtlety and good taste, I decided to add this flagrantly obvious countdown button with scroll-over capabilities. Enjoy, and God bless!

Sail Away

The Love of the Father be with you! Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit! A fourth exclamation point!

So exams are fast approaching, which means that there is a lot of studying that needs to be happening. I, therefore, being a great student of the highest caliber, have done everything I possibly can...to avoid it. Instead, I have been reading some of St. Augustine's writings on the Gospel of John. Quality stuff...and I bet you I find a way to work it into any or all of my exams.

Professor: "Dimmi qualcosa sulla Incarnazione."

Me: "I'm sorry, what was that?"

Professor: "Una cosa sola sulla Incarnazione. Qualsiasi cosa."

Me: "Look, can I just say something on St. Augustine and have you pass me? People back home think I speak Italian, and it'd be really embarassing if I failed these exams and they found out the truth."

Professor: "I'm just kidding. Sure thing, kid. Say whatever you want. I'm just waiting for my smoke-break anyway."

Me: "Perfetto! Appunto la cosa che volevo udire!"

*Record Scratch*

Professor: "You speak Italian?"

So, as you can tell, my exams are going to be fine. In the process of reading St. Augustine, though, I came across a great image that he uses to speak about our Salvation in Christ. Basically, he says that through sin we became separated from the Father by a vast sea, and Christ came to bring us back across that sea to the Father. But the only way to get there is by floating across the sea on the wood of the Cross. It's really a beautiful image: the only way back to the Father is by the Cross, and that Cross is our ship which gets us across the sea between us and the Father.

Then I had a thought, an image that came to me at some point in the past. I can't remember if I read it somewhere or if I came up with it myself, so to be safe, I think I'll just say I came up with it myself.

We are in fact separated from the Father by a vast sea, but Christ came to give us a way back, a way across the sea, as St. Augustine said. So Christ built a boat, in which all of the faithful gather for the journey, and that boat is the Church. And He wanted that boat to sail back to the Father by the wind of the Spirit. In order to catch that Spirit, however, Jesus had to mount the mast, the wooden beam of the Cross, and make Himself the Sail by which the Spirit could push us along.

Now, I'm not sure I can say that all of this is perfectly theologically sound at every level. But I think the basic image is clear: the Cross is, in a very real way, the mast of the great ship we call the Church, and Jesus allowed Himself to be fixed to it as our Sail, carrying this great ship across the sea by the wind of the Spirit, wind being an image frequently used as an analogy for the Spirit. It just helps us to picture what is going on in our Salvation.

This analogy just seems to fit because I think it is clear that this life is a pilgrim journey. It is not the end. And as we move on our way back home, we never do so alone. We travel together--thus, we have the Church. But we cannot travel by our own power: it is only by the missions of the Son and the Spirit, both sent by the Father, that we are able to come back to Him. The only thing we have to do is get in the boat and stay in the boat, and they will take us the whole way.

I offer this image to you because I know how much it has helped me throughout the years, and I hope you too will catch a glimpse of the beauty of the Faith through it. Thanks be to God for all He has done and continues to do in our lives.

So now all we have to do is sail away.

God bless, and please pray for our exams. Less than a month till I get to come home! Thanks be to God!

Happy Mother's Day!

The Love of the Father be with you! Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!

Happy Mother's Day! Thank you, thank you, thank you for who you are and for giving life to us children.

Mothers deserve so much thanks that they usually don't get. In fact, it's kind of a sad irony that the very people who should thank you, we kids, are the only ones who see everything you do for us, but we are also usually too busy thinking about ourselves to see everything you do for us. So the only people who see everything you do don't really see everything you do....

So on behalf of the younger generation, I would simply like to say thank you, both for who you are and for putting up with us, because oftentimes you have been the only ones to put up with us.

And where would this world be without mothers? You literally bring new life into this world, and that is a beautiful gift. I also realize, however, that I am a man, who, being a male of the masculine gender, has not had to undergo the "joys" of labor--so my perspective of the whole "beautiful gift" might be a touch outside of reality. But then, I think that you mothers, even after all you have been through to bring us into this world, would say that it is truly an amazing gift and you wouldn't trade it for the world.

So again I ask, where would this world be without mothers? Without mothers, we would not have:

• Bedtimes stories
• Learning how to share
• Bedtime prayers
• Learning how to apologize for not sharing
• Middle-of-the-night bedtime stories
• Learning how to sleep through the night
• Home-cooked meals
• Shelter from Dad when we forgot how to sleep through the night
• A shoulder to cry on
• Arms to rest in
• An example to learn from
• A special example of God's unconditional and tender love for His children

We really have a lot to be thankful for in our mothers. And if any of you readers out there happen to work for Hallmark, I have one word for you: royalties.

Oh, but I should add one more thing to the list, one more thing that we would not have without mothers:

• Jesus Christ

It was through the "Yes" of a woman from Nazareth that God came into this world. It was through her affectionate motherhood that her child, God-made-man, first learned how to pray. It was through her Fiat, her continual unconditioned "Yes" to God, that she was able to surrender her Son and release all claim on Him, so that through His Sacrifice on the cross, He could become the Savior of the world. And it is through her acceptance of John at the foot of the cross ("Woman, behold your son." John 19:26), that she in turn has become our Mother, the Mother of all believers. Yes, Mary was the first Christian, the first to say "Yes" to God and become a disciple of Jesus. And through her "Yes" we truly have a Mother in heaven, so that we might come to know the love of God through the unconditional and tender love of a mother for her children.

This Mother's day, be sure to thank God for your mother. Pray for her. She has given so much for you. And also, when you pray, thank Him for the mother He has given all of us in Mary of Nazareth.

May God bless you, and have a Happy, Holy Mother's Day.

Two-Hour Train of Thought

The Love of the Father be with you! Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!

The last couple of weeks have been non-stop, fast-paced, over-the-top, out-of-control, one-of-a-kind, I'm-quickly-running-out-of-expressions-kind-of action, in terms of both spiritual and worldly wonders. There have been some great travels lately, as we have had two weeks off for Holy Week and Easter. The North American College therefore encourages us to get out and explore the wonders that God has worked in Europe. On one such journey, I was privileged to have a conversation with a man from England (made easier by the fact that they speak almost the same language as we do). As you may know, some conversations are awesome, while others are spectacular. This was one of the latter.

Nigel is a man from England who moved to Sicily 20 years ago to teach English to Italians--he continues to do so to this day. I am a seminarian from Dallas who moved to Rome 2 years ago so I can later teach the Faith to Americans. And it just so happened that on Saturday morning at 8:17, we were both departing for Florence in seats across from each other. Begin conversation.

Taking advantage of the lull in conversation between myself and the two Jesuit priests with whom I was traveling (I had bored them to sleep), I decided to strike up a conversation with the rather large British man seated across from me, whom I had heard speaking "a spot of English."

We started off talking about the countryside, weather, and where he came from and all. And then we quickly began to talk about how people in America--and England I come to find out--often work themselves to death, and then, after they are done climbing the corporate ladder, are still left empty, despite their success....

*Begin deep conversation.*

We then proceeded to talk about how all human beings desire more, how we are seeking truth. And also how we want both to love and to be loved. We are seeking truth. We are seeking love.

And then, (*cough*), I uh, (*cough*), mentioned (*erhmm*)... that Christ is both.

I mean, it only makes sense that we would encounter the fulfillment of Truth and the fulfillment of Love in a Person, with Whom we can relate as personal beings. And why would we have these desires if there were no fulfillment for them? Why would there be a lock that no key fits? And how awesome is it that only in Christ do we find both? Two fundamental human desires fulfilled in one single Person, with Whom we can interact, from Whom we can learn.

Now, I am taking this part of the conversation a little further than it went with Nigel (pronounced N-EYE-jill), but I really wanted to hit this point home with you all. It just makes so much sense, and I can't help but want to point it out. In the Person of Jesus Christ we find the fulfillment of our most fundamental desires. That's it. That's all you need.

So then we continued talking a bit more, and Nigel happened to say some things about how rapidly technology is running away with us and our ability to ask these kinds of deep questions. In fact, a lot of what he said sounded exactly like the content of John Paul II's first encyclical, Redemptor hominis, and I told him so. Nigel basically talked about how dangerous our technology has become, especially advancement in warfare with things like nuclear weapons. There's no joy in knowing that we have developed those kinds of weapons, and this is exactly what JPII says is the problem today: we feel alienated from the work of our own hands, because it has turned against us. Our hope then is in Christ who, by becoming man, has sought every man and woman. He has taken on our condition to redeem it from all that threatens it. And thus Christ is the Redeemer of Man, a.k.a. Redemptor hominis, to use the Latin. It's really a wonderful encyclical, and it was amazing to hear this man say things that reflected John Paul's thought from the beginning of his pontificate. Maybe...just maybe...there's something true in it?

So needless to say it was an awesome...no spectacular...conversation. God is at work. I mean, the harvest is truly abundant...the fruit is falling off the trees with how much people desire this truth. Excuse me, this Truth. Because our desires are only fulfilled in the Truth that is Love, Jesus Christ Himself.

May God bless you with His Truth and His Love. Happy Divine Mercy Sunday!

Livin' on a Prayer, Part II

The Love of the Father be with you! Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!


...OOOOHHH, livin' on a prayer!


Well, since we finished the last post (almost a month ago...heh, but I did get one in during March!) with a hint of things to come, I figured we'd pick up where we left off: how to pray. And the hint I gave at the end of the last post is a good starting point for this one. I quoted the 11th chapter of Luke's Gospel where the disciples say to the Lord, "Teach us to pray." And when the disciples say that to Jesus, what does He give them? He tells them to say, "Our Father, who art in heaven...." So if it was a good enough place for the Lord to start in teaching others to pray, it's probably not a bad place for me either.


So the Lord's Prayer is basically the constitutive prayer of the first group of disciples gathered around Jesus. If we look at the passage in Luke 11, the disciples wanted to learn from their Teacher how to pray, just as the disciples of John the Baptist had learned from their teacher. And in response, the Lord gives them this prayer:


Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.


So let's just stop to think about this for a second. These words came straight from the Lord Himself. Which means two things:


1) This must be a pretty important prayer, and

2) the Lord spoke English.


Kidding on that last point of course. We have a translation that has come down to us from the Gospel of Matthew, and it is faithful to the original Greek. *Pushing my glasses up over the bridge of my nose.*


But let's go back to that amazing point: This really came from the Lord Himself, because He is the Son, and He wants us to know the Father, His Father. That's really the whole reason that Jesus came. He wanted us to know the Father, to know the Father's Love. So it is pretty clear that this must be a foundational prayer for all He wanted to do in bringing us back to the Father. In fact, this prayer has been called the "summary of the whole Gospel," in large part because Jesus' mission is all about bringing us back to the Father, from whom we had strayed and even continue to stray. In His mercy, God sent His Son to bring us back to Him.


But that's really what it's all about, turning back to the Father. Praying the Lord's Prayer is therefore a powerful way of coming back to Him and asking Him to provide for us as only a Father can. And it fits with Christ's call to become as little children (Matthew 18:3), because only little children will let the Father provide for him. I mean, let's be real, there's a reason God didn't call us to become teenagers (I say this having been one...) or adults for that matter (I say this trying to be one...). Again, only children allow the Father to be Father, and so the Lord, in His wisdom, gives us this prayer to pray, so that we will always let the Father be truly our Father.


So we are supposed to have this experience of God as our Father, because He just wants to give us so many gifts, if we open ourselves to receive them. And we also have to ask Him for them. He will not force them on us, but if we continue to receive from Him, He will continue to give.


So I leave you with this exhortation and this illustration. First, the exhortation: pray this prayer with an expectant faith, knowing that God really does want to provide for you and be there for you. And second, the illustration: Check out this sweet video.


If the link doesn't work, just paste this in your browser: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbSieU8wcFQ.


What does this child do other than receive in joy all that the father wants to give him? Sure the child falls all over the place, but he lets the father pick him up so that he can receive more. Sure the child can't say any words, but the joyful laughter say more of the child's openness to the father than words could ever express. And the child just keeps receiving all the father has to offer, even in something as simple as tearing a piece of paper. God wants the exact same for us in our prayer life. Ask Him for it, and don't be surprised if something starts happening.


God bless! And please pray for my Latin exam this Friday. All I understand right now is "In vino veritas." So I have a ways to go! Ciao for niao!

Livin' on a Prayer, Part I

The Father's Love be with you! Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!

Well, I know it's been a while, but I just wanted to say that I managed to get one post in during Februar... Wait a minute. Just a sec. My newsanchor earpiece is giving me updated information that February only has 28 days in it.... Which would mean that I have failed to get you a post within the month of February.

Considering that I had at least 2 days robbed from me because February is lazy, I am now declaring this day to be February 29th. Don't worry, March will still go till the 31st, it will simply start on the 2nd. There, I think that fixes it.

That business taken care of, I just wanted to say that we just had the IPF Symposium here this weekend, which is a fancy way of saying that we basically had a retreat weekend on Spiritual Fatherhood. It was a powerful weekend, full of graces and great talks. I can't thank God enough for all that we learned in it, and I know it will be a huge seed planted, only to grow over time as I approach the priesthood. In fact, it provided a lot of confirmation for my vocation, through a growing desire to show the Father's Love through the spiritual fatherhood found in the priesthood. So it was not a bad weekend.

In the midst of this weekend, I had some time to pray before the Blessed Sacrament, and while in prayer, I got some inspiration to write a blog on prayer. This inspiration had been building, however, as I have recently received many questions on prayer and contemplation from a good friend of mine, a budding saint (and saintly bud). I was humbled and did my best to respond to his questions. It occurred to me, though, that people may want to know more about prayer, about how to pray. So here it goes.

There are basically two aspects to prayer. First, what is it? And second, how does one do it? In order to pray properly, it is obvious that one has to know what the heck it is that one is doing when one tries to pray. So we will start with what it is, and then that will move to how to do it.

So, what is it? Is it turning God into a divine Magic Eightball, where I just shake Him up a bit and then He spits out an answer to what I'm looking for? Try again...later. Is it turning God into a divine slot machine, where if I spend enough spiritual coins and time, eventually there will be the payout I'm looking for? Let's just say, gambling's not a virtue. Or is it perhaps (Hint: This means I am about to give the right answer) a turning of our own heart to God, so that we may receive His love and respond generously in joy to His will for our lives?

If you guessed the third one, you'd be correct, and I give you an e-thumbs up. So let me repeat that.

Prayer is:

1. a turning of our own heart to God,
2. so that we may receive His love
3. and respond generously in joy to His will for our lives

In other words, prayer can be captured in the three R's: Repent, Receive, Respond.

So let's look at them in order. First, Repent. This part of prayer is especially important in this time of Lent, the Liturgical Season when we pray, fast, and give alms in order to help get our heart focused on and open to God again. It is a constant problem in our wounded human nature that we tend to have spiritual A.D.D. We are constantly losing our focus on God, and that's just going to be the constant struggle (and there's not really any spiritual Ritalin...at least that I know of). So every time we pray, we are consciously placing our focus back on God. We both turn away from sin and this world and turn toward God. That is what repentance is, a turning back to God. This is always the beginning of prayer, and we should strive to make this a conscious part of the beginning of our prayers.

The next part, Receive.

*Record Scratch*

"Wait, a minute, Paul," you say. "I thought prayer was where I just say a lot of things to God and hope for the best afterwards."

"Actually," I respond, happy that you are somehow interjecting through this one-way communication medium of internet blogging, "it's primarily about placing ourselves in the presence of God, so that we can receive the love He is continuously trying to show us."

"Really?"

"Yes. Now I have to get back to my blog, but thank you for your question, and don't forget to send cookies."

"You got it, Paul. I would be more than happy to send tons of cookies to you on at least a monthly basis."

Ah, I miss you guys. Okay, so that about captures the Receive part, but to explain it more thoroughly, we are called not so much to tell God what to do as to listen for what He is trying to tell us. He wants to give us so much, so many gifts of love and peace, and He wants us to know His love and will for our lives. So prayer then does not so much change God as it does us, making us holier in the process and bringing us into conformity with His will, which is always for our ultimate good and happiness.

Which leads right into the third part, Respond. Every gift demands a response (at the very least a simple thank you note), and it is no different with the gifts God gives us. He wants us to act on all that we receive in prayer, so that we will be strengthened in faith and so others may come to know His Love through us. And it is amazing when people truly respond to the gifts they have received. Healing happens, growth takes place, and lives are saved. I'm not exaggerating. The Love of God is a more powerful force than gravity, and when we receive and respond to it, there's no stopping the wonderful things God can do in this world.

Through prayer the world is transformed, because when we pray we give God permission to act in us. And when we give God permission to act in us, He can act in the world, even as He did while He walked the world about 2000 years ago. Just as the Word became flesh back then, so the Word must continue to become flesh in our lives each and every day.

Now that you've got a sense of what prayer is, in the next post, we will talk about some of the best ways to do it. But I'll give you this much for now. Simply saying, "Lord, I don't know how to pray, teach me to pray," is a prayer. God bless!

P.S. - Since this is the half-way point of a two part Blog, I can now sing: "OOOOOOH, we're half way there!"

The Way God Works

Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!

Amazing story to share with you, and this takes us back to a bit before Christmas.

So first, the background information. There are several families that sit/walk around outside of the University I attend in Rome, and they are always asking for some help ("qualche specie" - "some change"). A lot of people have given them the unfortunate title of "gypsy," which, while it may have some sort of historical root, has become a name meaning, "Someone who is just trying to pull one over on me, so I can ignore them." Now, some of them may be trying to pinch an extra buck here and there, and they may not always be telling the truth. The fact is, however, that they are poor, and the Gospel tells us to help the poor. It doesn't tell us to audit their taxes and see where they spent their money. And we should always love our neighbor, even if that's only with a listening ear. Okay, my soapbox is getting a little flimsy from standing on it for so long, so back to the story.

Well, there is one family in particular that spends a lot of time out front, and they have two young boys both under the age of 4. Some of us seminarians have decided to make sure they always get the food and other things they need, so we chip in every once in a while so they are taken care of. Well, as it turns out, they were hoping to get back to Romania so that the husband could see his mother, who is sick and in the hospital there. They were also hoping to catch up with their family, and get some medical attention with help from the government of their homeland. The husband had already collected something like 200 Euro to get back, but he needed more to pay for the 4 bus tickets.

Now for a little more background: Many of us, as you know, were going to be headed to the Holy Land starting the Friday before Christmas, and the last chance for the Romanian family to get back home was that Saturday, the day after we were set to leave. So his days were numbered with many potential helpers leaving before he would get the money.

Some guys heard about this, and one guy even went around trying to collect some money for the family. He was able to collect a little, but not too much--at least not enough to add up to what the family still needed. So he put that small amount, 20 Euro, in an envelope, and put it under the door of a guy who was not going to the Holy Land and would therefore be able to deliver the money to the family.

Well, I heard this whole story later from a friend of mine, who we will call Jack, who told me how the rest of it played out. Jack was the guy who received that one envelope with 20 Euro in it, but, as it turns out, he also received 2 or 3 other envelopes that same Friday morning, all of which were slid under his door during the night by guys who were heading to the Holy Land. None of the guys knew about the other ones, they simply all felt called to offer some money, and they thought Jack was the best guy to deliver it. Jack told me that one of the guys who had slid an envelope under his door had written in the envelope, "You know that guy that sits out in front of the Greg [our University]? I can't explain it, but this is supposed to go to him."

So that Friday morning, after all the Holy Land go-ers had departed, Jack met up with the guy whose family still needed a substantial amount of money to get home to see his mother. And he asked him, "How much money did you still need to get home?"

Disappointed that he was not going to be visiting his mother, the man responded, "I was so close, but I still need 120 Euro, and it's just too much."

Jack told him, "That is the exact amount I have in these envelopes."

Amazing. God answers prayers, and He uses us, with whatever openness we have, to deliver exactly what we need. Now, that family is back in Romania, spending time with their Mother/Grandmother, and hopefully they enjoyed the holidays together. The husband and father is also seeking some medical help while he is back home.

God really does move in our hearts to give others what they need. Yes, it stings a bit some times, but it's amazing to see/hear the results. As Jack tells it, the man practically did backflips when he heard the news. He was going to be able to see his mother at Christmas! And yes, it did require an openness on the part of some of the seminarians, but we gain more from the whole thing: we get the chance to practice love. That is what the poor always offer us, the chance to be loving, to grow in love. And so we should thank them more often than they thank us.

Again, Happy New Year, and please pray for our upcoming final exams (still from first semester...it's Italy, remember?). God bless!

So Happy, I Can Barely Move

Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!

Consider my New Year's Resolution met for the month of January. Only 11 months to go....

Okay, so in this post, I thought I'd change the pace a bit, and offer you a reflection on the Gospel of Mark from a passage that I was praying with earlier today. So you know the drill: everyone get out your Bibles...even you Catholics out there (it's the big white book under all the other books on your coffee table...you know, the one with your family marriage history in it?). Okay, here goes something.

First, the passage is typed out here, because I don't know how many of you actually follow links that I post (shameless soliciting for comments attesting to this fact, *cough *cough). This is from Mark 2:1-12, but I will only post Mark 2:1-5, for the very excellent reason that my reflection only focuses on these verses. The reflection itself immediately follows:

"When Jesus returned to Capernaum after some days, it became known that he was at home. Many gathered together so that there was no longer room for them, not even around the door, and he preached the word to them. They came bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. Unable to get near Jesus because of the crowd, they opened up the roof above him. After they had broken through, they let down the mat on which the paralytic was lying. When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "Child, your sins are forgiven."

"Child, your sins are forgiven."

With what tenderness these words were said! How moved was the Heart of God with Love of His creature that longed to be close to Him! Fighting crowd, roof, and his own weakness, with the help and faith of his friends, the paralytic draws close to His Savior.

And yet if the paralytic longed to be close to His Savior, how much more did the Savior long to be close to Him. Nothing compares to the gap of infinity bridged by the Lord in His Incarnation, His kenosis* of Love.

Taking on the limits of human flesh, boundless love was bound to one place. Every crowd He taught left others untaught. Every roof under which He stayed shut out the heavens above. And who was more limited? He or the paralytic? For though the paralytic could not walk, the God of all the Universe could only walk to a small portion of His creation. How desperately He longed to heal and forgive them all, and yet He too was practically paralyzed. If only all creation would seek Him who was seeking all creation!

-----------------------
*kenosis: The self-emptying of the Second Person of the Trinity when He became man, especially referred to in St. Paul's Letter to the Philippians (2:7). Yes, I am in seminary.

So there it is. It all came to me in prayer. Just a work of inspiration. The only thing I ask is that if you plan to use it in a Homily (I'm speaking now to a very specific group of individuals), please site the Source (i.e. not me...though you can send any "loving contributions" my way if you think royalties are necessary.)

God bless!

Happy New Year!

Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!

Happy New Year! Welcome to the year 2009! The year you've all been waiting for--simply because it hadn't come until now.

Here are my 2009 New Year's Resolutions:

1. Spend less time on the internet


2. Update blog more often


3. Find some way to make both resolutions work at the same time

Basically, I hope to be providing you all with more updates more often, at least every 2 weeks. That would be ideal. And I figured the new year is the best time to start.

In all honesty, I do enjoy setting a goal for the year, but a spiritual goal, and not just a resolution to exercise more often (that's for next year). I think it's awesome, though, to bring something you struggle with to God in prayer and ask Him to lead you through it throughout the course of the year. We all take time to grow, and a year's a pretty good chunk of time in which to do it. And the best way to grow is when God works that growth in us. So I figure it's a two-for-one deal. Offer Him the desire to grow in patience (not all at once) or the fear of surrender (surrendering surrender?). When we say in prayer that this year is "The Year of Surrender," it gives us permission to work patiently toward a goal, and it gives God the permission to accomplish it within us. That's my little tidbit for the start of the year. Now, time to get to the gym.

But first, I wanted to let you all know that our pilgrimage to the Holy Land was amazing. There's too much to say right now, so I will have to parcel it out a bit.

One thing I want to say right off the bat: I prayed for all of you at the Holy Sites in Galilee and Jerusalem. Yes, they are real places and not just creative locations for God-made-man to work some awesome miracles. They really exist, and it was powerful to spend time in those locations; it changed the way I read the Gospels.

For instance, we were able to visit the Mount of the Beatitudes on the edge of the Sea of Galilee. This is the place where Jesus taught the crowds, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," and all of the other "Blesseds" or Beatitudes. Basically, He was both outlining the way to be happy and offering consolation to those who already experienced these things. So the Beatitudes told those "who mourn" that they would be comforted, but it also meant that those who take on an attitude of mournfulness would be spiritually comforted. Does that make sense? In other words, those already mourning would be consoled, both now and in the next life, but others could purposefully decide to mourn, for their sins or those of the world, in order to receive the consolation that comes only from Christ. It's hard to go into it all here, but please read and pray with Matthew 5. Here's a picture from the Mount itself:

You can see the mountains in the distance, which would have been seen in the background by those looking on Christ as He taught. And they would have seen the city of Tiberias, which rests on the mountains in the distance. So as Jesus taught that "A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden" (also in Matthew 5), they would have been able to glimpse a very large city set on a mountain which cannot be hidden (unless your camera isn't zoomed in enough...but it's there, trust me). The point being that as Jesus taught the crowds, He related things to them in ways that were accessible to them, in ways they would have understood. In fact, all of the cities of that time were set on hills, and most of them still stand that way. So this analogy came easily for people in that time and place.

This fits perfectly, in fact, with the Mystery which we now celebrate in this Christmas season, the Mystery of the Incarnation: God became man in a particular time and place. The way He taught and teaches us, therefore, relates with that particular time and place. His teaching, like Himself, is incarnational. It takes flesh so that we can understand it. This reflection on Christ's humanity struck me all throughout the Holy Land.

And through this, another thought continually came to mind: It all actually happened. Now you may be thinking, "Paul, shouldn't you, a seminarian, have already believed this?"

And I would respond, "Yes, of course, I did already believe it, and now I do believe it. Capisci?"

Basically, the reality of it sunk in even deeper than I could have imagined. It all really happened in a real place. The story of Jesus Christ is not just a nice story with tidy little moral implications. No. It actually, really, historically happened. Capernaum is a real town where Jesus taught and performed mighty miracles. Unfortunately, the people of Capernaum did not repent and believe, as Christ lamented in the Gospel of Luke, stating, "And as for you, Capernaum, 'Will you be exalted to heaven? You will go down to the netherworld.'" (SEE Luke 10:15; this is also a reference to Isaiah 14:13-15) And all that exists today are some excavated ruins of that town. Coincidence? I think not....

But it was just beautiful to be there, absorbing it all, soaking in the sights, sounds, and smells of the countryside of Galilee. And it's no wonder God chose to become man there: it's beautiful. The landscapes are captivating, and there is a strong sense of peace about the place, but that might have something to do with the fact that God lived there for a period of time...which at least ups the resale value of a place for sure.

So there are some of my early reflections on our Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. And now for everyone's favorite part: pictures. God bless, and Happy New Year!

It begins...

This was the happiest place in that whole airport.

The Sea of Galilee itself. Just think: Jesus might have looked at the exact same view. I mean, He looked at the exact same Sea and mountains, but He may have even stood in the exact spot where I took the picture.