Two Down, Two to Go...

Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!

Wow, well there's been a lot going on these last couple of days--and though the date may say that I'm writing this on the 31st of January, I got interrupted yesterday and couldn't write the entry... So, to remain true to the blog, I will write it as though I were writing it yesterday.

Frid...err, Thursday, January 31st, 2008:

Have I got some stories to tell you all....

Heh, okay, so let's just say that finals found me a bit, shall we say, un-prepared. Not that I didn't know they were coming; I knew we would have finals in late January/early February ("Why not the normal time?" you ask. You obviously haven't been to Italy...), but I guess it didn't hit me that I would have to study.

So yesterday (remember, it's Thursday), I had my first exam in Italy, and the exam was in Italian, but I could answer in English, which helped to say the least. This test was over the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, and Luke (so called because they are very much alike (from the Greek parts "syn" meaning "together" and "optic" meaning "seeing" ("seeing together" (I guess I learned something in Greek (another parenthetical)))))). (That was a bit absurd (yes it was)).

So...to get back on track. This particular class taught us the Rhetorical Method for analyzing the Synoptic Gospels, which I have really come to like. Basically, we analyze a series of passages to find similar words and then compare them to each other to discover what that series of passages is trying to say. The result is often quite awesome, and it should make for good homilees in the future...that's right: good, long homilees....

When I received the test, I handed it right back in completely blank, because I realized they were all Rhetorical Questions.

That test went really well though, and it was all due to Providence (quickly becoming my favorite word). That is correct: the night before the exam, I had studied 10 of the 11 passages that we could possibly be tested on the next day--our professor would give us 2 of the 10 and we had to complete 1 of them. Well, it just so happened that one of the other seminarians, Phil, was walking by my room the night before the exam and asked how studying was going.

I said, "Pretty well, but I haven't really studied the last passage, but it should be fine."

He replied, "Oh, that one's easy. Here, let me show you."

Then he explained it to me in about 5 minutes....

Can you guess which passage showed up on the exam as one of the two options????? (I'll give you a hint (really? (yes)): you already know which one because I've given too many hints already, and this story can now really only go one direction without you getting upset at me...) You guessed it (you're good): I got that passage. And I told Phil that night that it would be on the exam "due to the providential nature of this encounter."

Sure enough, when I was fretting and trying to turn it over to God, He tossed me a bit of a soft ball.

Lest you think it pure coincidence, allow me to tell you of my second exam that I had today: Church History. Because of the other exam, I hadn't prepared near enough...much...anything but one question prior to the night before the exam. Well, as I got to looking over the material, I realized I still remembered a bit of it, but that wasn't enough. And I had to have 7 questions out of 14 ready, and the professor would pick two of those to test me on interview style. That is correct: I had to sit in front of the professor and chat with him about the material--no faking that.

So I prayed really hard, and I also asked for St. Joseph of Cupertino's intercession. Quick digression: St. Joseph of Cupertino desired and felt called to be a Priest, but he wasn't the brightest halo in the heavens. He could speak really well on one passage of Scripture, and that was about it. When it came time for his final examination before ordination to the Deaconate (the step before Priesthood), he was asked one question, and it was the one he knew really well. Providence.

Then before he was ordained a Priest, he was to be tested once more. The examiner asked the first 3 deacons some questions, and then something important interrupted him that required his attention. Since those 3 spoke so articulately on the matters discussed, the examiner assumed the rest to be equally as prepared and passed them all. God wanted St. Joseph of Cupertino to be a Priest, so He helped him past his limitations.

Well, back to my test. I went in with a good 4/7 of the 7 questions really ready, and the other 3 were, shall we say, not yet at their full potential. I could have spoken on them, but it would not have been too pretty. (Quick Sidenote: it is not that I didn't study before at all, but you try taking classes in Italian....) So I said my prayers, asked for St. Joseph's intercession (similar to asking your friend to pray for you for something, except we know this man to be in heaven--an added perk, you might say--which means his prayers get to God via Fedex, as opposed to Ground), and then I went to take the test.

The professor/examiner asked me the first question on the list, which just so happened to be the one I was most prepared for. I spoke pretty well on it, and then he said, "Well, you know a lot about the development of that most very important creed [the Nicene Creed]," and then he told me we were out of time. I only had to answer one question, and it was the one I knew the best. Thank you, St. Joseph of Cupertino. Glory to God!

Again, it's not that I didn't study. St. Joseph of Cupertino also studied a lot. So I am not advocating not preparing for an exam and assuming God will get you out of it. That's called presumption, which is a sin. So don't do it. What I do know is that, if we are trying to seek His will, God takes care of us when we can't always get the job done ourselves. It really was amazing, and I was just blown away by how it all worked out.

God is good, and if we are seeking to serve Him, He will take care of everything or show us the way out.

Oh, and I will try not to use too many parenthetical statements in the future (seriously)--or dashes. You all are in my prayers. Keep seeking the Truth because He's seeking you! God bless!