It's All Greek to Me

Come Holy Spirit! Pax Christi vobiscum!

Wow, okay, so I know it's been a while since I've posted on here, and I'm sorry. No, please, please, stop throwing tomatoes at me...I mean, it's your computer screen.

Well, I just finished studying Greek for about 2 hours, and let me tell you, my head is dead (or esti nekros...I think). Let me just say that I wish I were learning it in Italian so that I could have an excuse not to understand it. In all actuality, I am enjoying it though, and not only because it makes for a great penance. What I do understand (and some of it is coming quickly) really gets me excited, because I hope one day to be able to read a lot of the Greek New Testament, the original language it was written in. We can lose so much of what was said just because of the translation.

Anyways, I don't want to bore you with academics. I want to bore you with the stories of my life. So here it goes. Just a brief one, and then I will update again.

For now, I just want to touch on the beauty of Providence. No, I am not refering to the one city in Rhode Island that people have heard of--I am speaking about God's Divine Providence. Basically, God wants to be an active and intimate part of our daily lives, and He shows us this by arranging things in too-good-to-be-true ways. I have seen many of these lately. The one I really want to speak about is my trip 2 weeks ago with Fr. Jason (of the Diocese of Dallas) to San Giovanni Rotondo, the town where (now Saint) Padre Pio lived and moved and had his being. It was such a blessing to go there. We rented a car and, as if making it out there driving through Italian traffic weren't Providence enough, we managed to get put up in a hotel for free...yep, free. Gratis, as they say. The Franciscan Capucin brothers we were going to stay with didn't have any more room in their house, so they walked over to the hotel next door and got us a room. The Capucin Mafia...I mean Monks, hooked us up.

The next day, we were allowed into Saint Pio's private chapel, where he celebrated Mass for 2 years from 1931 to 1933, when he was not allowed to celebrate the Mass publicly. Fr. Jason celebrated Mass for the two of us there on that same altar. What a blessing!

The following day, as we were finishing breakfast and preparing to return home, we were blessed with one last treat: we met a personal friend of Saint Pio. He was finishing his breakfast as well, seated next to an Italian police officer. The reason? This man was not only a good personal friend of Padre Pio's; the Saint had also entrusted this man with his own crucifix that he prayed with for years. This monk, having been granted permission by the Vatican to do so, proceeded to bless Fr. Jason and me with Saint Padre Pio's crucifix. We were told that most people wait in line for a couple of hours to receive this blessing (the reason for the police officer)--we ran into him at breakfast. I'd say that proves Providence once again.

So, I guess we had a bit of an eventful weekend, you might say. I write all of this to say that if you really turn everything over to God, you will be amazed at how much He wants to bless your life. Most of us think that if we give Him everything, things will start to go horribly wrong--but they won't. They will go mildly wrong. No, seriously, if we entrust ourselves to God, He will ask us to carry our crosses, but He will make them a source of great blessings for us, Providing for our every need.

"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat [or drink], or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Can any of you by worrying add a single moment to your life-span? Your heavenly Father knows that you need [these things]. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given you besides. Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself." - Matthew 6:25, 27, 32-34

May God bless you and give you His peace! I prayed for you all in Adoration in St. John Lateran, the Cathedral of Rome (and therefore the world) on the Feast of the Dedication of St. John Lateran! Praise Him!