St. Louis's Cardinals Ain't Got Nothin'

Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!


Wow, what a day...actually, what a week. There has been a lot going on lately...where to begin?


Last weekend: Three of my seminarian brothers and I all went to Leuven, Belgium. I of course immediately thought of the McDonald's theme, "Ba da da da daaa, I'm Leuven it." (That should tell you how it's pronounced.) And I really was: we got to eat some Belgian waffles, fries, and chocolate. I will now begin the penitential season of Lent early to make up for the inordinate amount of food I consumed. And yes, we did have some good ole Belgian beer (I'm old enough now--okay, Mom?).


The crowning point of the whole trip was getting to stop in the chapel where Blessed Peter Damian of Molokai is buried. He was the Priest who went to the Hawaiian Island of Molokai to serve the leprous people there. He would always begin his homilees at Mass with the words, "My Lepers." One day after serving them for quite some time, he began with the words, "My fellow Lepers," letting them know that their Priest was now one of them. He died there, heroically sacrificing his life that others may have the Life, Jesus Christ.


So we prayed our Holy Hour there, and I prayed for all of you readers, in fact. So you have Blessed Peter Damian praying for you, and he's pretty darn close to God right now...which is sweet...and an understatement.


This last week we also had our Thanksgiving dinner. We were allowed to miss classes, which were still held since the Italians do not celebrate that holiday--a faculty encouraged skip day...got to love it. We had the New Man/Old Man (flag) football game, known affectionately as "The Spaghetti Bowl." We lost the game, but we did beat them in the second half (we outscored them there, but they way outscored us in the first half).


And we finished it all off with a nice Turkey dinner, and let's just say I am a huge tryptofan. And just so you know: Texas was true to its size. We had 8 tables with a total of 50 guests (or so), compared to most other tables which were grouped by region. So we had 8 tables all to Texas. I guess everything is bigger in Texas (including our egos?).


We come to the present moment, where I just finished helping clean up our main hallways after a reception with tons of guests. This reception was for the consistory where Pope Benedict elevated 23 Archbishops to the College of Cardinals, and the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston was one of those made Cardinal. So I actually got to shake hands and speak (briefly) with his Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo. What a blessing. It's just so cool to see the Church be continually reborn. Allow me to put it into perspective for you: I just met a man who will vote for the next Pope. There's more to it than that, but that should give you a good idea. His Eminence Cardinal Foley was also at our seminary. So we had two Cardinals in the house, and it wasn't because we left the window open.


Well, praise God for His beautiful Church! Like St. Peter in the presence of Christ's Transfiguration, all I can say is, "It is good that we are here" (Luke 9:33). What else can I say? Praise Him!


Alrighty, time to check out. I pray that God blesses you abundantly with an ever greater knowledge of His love for you--may you find the peace that is only found in Him! Pax!


Check back soon for footage from the Consistory!

The Cross

Come Holy Spirit! Pax Christi vobiscum!

Wow, so I was just reading an awesome book, titled, The Fulfillment of All Desire (sounds good, doesn't it?), when something of a revelation hit me. As I looked at the San Damiano Crucifix I have in my room, I realized that it looked like Christ had his arms outstretched as though waiting to hug or embrace us. Then it hit me: Christ came to redeem suffering. Before you say, "Duh," or "It's in the Catechism," or "You had to go to Rome to figure that out?" follow me for a sec.

Allow me to put it this way: all of us have crosses in our lives, some big, some small. The beauty is that when Christ told us to take up our cross, to embrace our cross, instead of embracing cold and splintering wood, we embrace Christ who hangs there with arms outstretched as He welcomes us into His loving embrace. If we approach Christ who hangs on the cross, all of our crosses become bearable. That is why He came--not just to throw crosses at us, forcing us to suffer for our "own good" as it were; rather, He came to give Himself to us on the cross, to attach Himself to our crosses, so that all of our suffering would bring us closer to Him. That way we can bear our burdens because of Him Who bore them first.

I'll update you more on life soon, but I had to get this reflection written. And remember, whenever you see Christ on the Cross, it's as though He's saying, "I love you...this much." Think about it.

Please pray for safe travels for us seminarians this weekend.

May God bless you and give you His Peace! And I prayed for you all in front of the relics of St. Therese of Lisieux today. Pax Christi!

Get Out and Live!

Come Holy Spirit! Peace of Christ be with you!

Wow, what a day! First, starting off with Mass, which is always a great way to start a day, I felt a lot more peace than I have in a while, knowing that the Lord is working in and around me to bring me closer to Him. It's nice just to sit back and let Him do the work for a change--still working on it though (I'm the patient who keeps waking up on the operating table--if only God would give me the scalpel...but when it comes to surgery, God is a cut above the rest).

Well, from there I met my friend Eric and his friend Matt who are studying abroad at A&M's campus here in Italy. It was great to see a familiar face from back home. Eric and I were actually in Fish Aides, a freshman leadership organization back at A&M together. So it was a real treat to be able to connect.

After we grabbed a good ole American (pronounced " 'merican") style brunch at the Seminary here, we all departed for St. Peter's Square out in front of the Basilica. There we awaited the Pope's appearance at his apartment window, where he would deliver the Angelus address and then lead us in the Angelus (a traditional prayer concerning the angel Gabriel's announcement to Mary of God's desire to become flesh through her). But when I say, "awaited," I don't mean we just sat there--quite the opposite: we broke out our guitars and started singing some Praise and Worship songs. Yes, you may re-read if you like...I got to play guitar (and people didn't leave) in front of St. Peter's. After the Angelus and Apostolic Blessing, we continued to play for 30 minutes or so. It was something else! Praise God...wait, we did. Ha. ...Okay, sorry.

I share all of this to say that it was a truly powerful experience, and you could tell that people just want some of the joy that we were experiencing in that moment (there were also about 20 Steubenville students praising with us, and they know how to praise...it's what they do). And all of this came about because we were living what we believe, thanks to the grace of God.

And that's just it: God has awesome adventures planned for our lives. Adventures. God just wants to write a story with our lives, and it will be the best possible story that could be written for us. Yes, it will be difficult at times--part and parcel of Adventure. Yes it will be uncertain at others--Adventure yet again. And yet it will be easier and more certain than any other life that we could live, for God is the author of it, and God's the best story-teller there is (the Bible anyone? Oh wait, we're Catholic...just kidding...but seriously read it).

Honestly, though, who doesn't love a good story? Now why do you think that is? And what if you could be living a great story? I'm going to ask you to do something here, so follow me if you will. This may be too much for some of you at this point, but that's okay; we are all at different points along the road. But please give this a shot.

Try to say this prayer: God, I want to have a life worth living. We all do. But I know that only in You will I find the life I truly want to live. At least, I think I know that. I also know that You are patient, O Lord, and Your hand is always there guiding me on the path I should go. So with the strength I have, however small it may be, I ask you, help me to surrender to You and to let You be the author of my life. Then I will have all I can ever desire and more, for You alone are Lord.

Just remember that living an adventure is not always easy, but it's worth it. I promise you that. Know that you are in my prayers as you take this step, and please keep me in yours. We all need support on our way. May God bless you and give you His Peace that are ours in Christ!

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!

What on Earth Are You Doing For Heaven's Sake?

Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!

Ciaody from Roma! Well, I'm now into the 3rd week of class here in Rome, and it's amazing how much Italian you can forget over the weekend. I think I just hit an altopiano, which means plateau, but if you translate it directly, it means, "highfloor," which you could interpret to mean that I have been able to reach really high.... <*insert ceaseless affirmations from you here>. Aww, thanks. You're too kind.

Well, now that I'm feeling really inflated, to the message for today. Today was interesting: it was my first sick day. Yep, it all caught up to me today...I guess I really hit that highfloor. Which actually is part of my...

Top 10 Ways of Knowing I am Living in Rome:

10) Returning from a vacation...to Rome.
9) Getting sick and being able to spend the day in bed (where's Mom's soup when you need it?)
8) Having a mailing address in Italy....
7) Running through Rome for exercise, and not just because I'm late for a train.
6) Discovering that it's okay to be late for an Italian train.
5) Getting to know the Pope's schedule like the back of my hand.
4) Getting lost in Rome and not being lost in Rome (you figure it out, but it works).
3) Waking up in the morning to find I am where I went to sleep the night before.
2) The street vendors know me buy name.
1) The Pope calls me to find out his schedule.

The only two I haven't realized yet are numbers 2 and 1. But I'm sure they'll happen sooner or later (banking on later).

It was actually really nice to get the day to just relax in bed, even while being sick. I think God is trying to get me to realize that I need to stop living on my own strength and start living on His. Today really afforded me an opportunity to retreat from seminary life (which gets pretty busy), and to reflect and pray. So it was a blessing in disguise.

I also got to watch a documentary on my hero, Pope John Paul II. He really was an amazing man, and I'm convinced he's praying for us right now in heaven. I pray that I get to be here when he is beatified by the Church--what an event that will be!

But to the point: I was inspired again to watch how radically this man turned his life over to God, and look how God used him! He inspired millions...actually, billions! The world knew this man was a holy man, even if they disagreed with him. But JPII was not afraid to face contention, to fight against lies and darkness, or to bring people closer to Jesus Christ! In fact, he really wasn't afraid of anything! And those where his first words at the start of his pontificate: Be Not Afraid!!! So I encourage you all, be not afraid! Because "God is love," as we read in the first letter of St. John (and also as Pope Benedict's first encyclical reminds us), and "perfect love drives out fear" (1 John 4:16-18). And we have the strength for everything through Jesus Christ who empowers us (Philippians 4:13).

I address this next part specifically to any teens reading this right now: Do not be afraid to follow Christ, to give Him your dreams, your aspirations. He will give you more than you can imagine...and then some. I'm not saying you should be able to do this overnight--it takes time. But what I am asking you to do, challenging you to do is to say, "Lord God, show me how to give you everything." Or if that's a bit too hard (which is fine), say, "Lord God, show me how to want to give you everything (or even how to want to want)." Even if you do this much, you will be amazed at how God begins to work in your life. Trust me. The only reason I am here right now is because God gave me the people to encourage me to do the same. And I'm encouraging you now: Don't just rock the boat, get out of it--then you can walk on water.

Re-reading that now, that passage can also apply to the adult readers here. I'm telling you it is never to late to turn to God, giving Him everything we've got--He will only give us more.

May God bless you with His abundant grace and peace that are ours in Jesus Christ!

P.S. - Oh, and here is a link to the pictures from our beginning-o-the-year events (just click "events").
P.P.S. - Thank you, Fr. Tom, for the title.

Missionaries of Clarity

Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!

Well, the first week of school is over, and if I didn't know any better, I'd say that all I heard this week was a lot of gibberish--not because the professors couldn't speak but because I couldn't understand Italian. It used to be that if I did not understand a concept in class it was because the concept itself was difficult, not the language. The professor, for all I know, could just be standing up there saying "Americans are a bunch of idiots," and I would be hunched over my notebook, sweating, rapidly jotting down what I thought I heard.

Okay, but in all reality, it went pretty well. I am actually learning the language quite a bit faster than I thought I would, which is encouraging. Sitting through 3-4 hours worth of Italian Theology, however, is enough to wear anyone out; in fact, by midday, I almost have to take a nap simply because my brain has been fried...in vinegar and oil of course.

But here I am on the first day (read as "week"...I was a little late on taking the pic) of school.

That one's for you, Mom. I thought you'd like it. And I'm wearing a uniform again (this one perhaps for life). It is really great, though, to don the clerics and head off to school--which is the ministry that we can offer at this point in our lives. Since we are not yet Priests, our studies become our ministry, and the material we learn will be nourishment for our future parishoners. And, as our academic dean at the NAC has reminded us, our desk is our altar where we offer our sacrifice. Quite a strong image. It really helps me to approach my studies with reverence for the task God has placed before me, and I'm happy to accept.

It has also been great to stop in the many beautiful Churches here after class and pray (you would too if you had to sit in Italian classes). In all seriousness, it is a real blessing to be able to spend some time in the classroom of Rome itself, where the Saints, their relics, and the Churches built in their memory instruct us in the Faith. I especially like Chiesa Nuova, where St. Philip Neri, the Apostle of Rome, rests. The Church itself is Baroque style architecture, kind of like a miniature St. Peter's (but then all Churches are miniature compared to St. Peter's). And fun fact: Chiesa Nuova means "New Church," which means that it was built 500 years ago....

But now I must take a moment to share with you a gift God granted me the other day as I ventured off to visit my first Apostolate. Some quick background: our first semester here, we do not actively serve in an Apostolate (i.e. Service Work, but for the Faith). Instead, we learn Italian and visit one of the many possible Apostolates (say that five times fast) to discern which one we will dedicate our time to in the coming years. I decided to visit the Missionaries of Charity, the order founded by Blessed (Mother) Teresa of Calcutta. God, knowing that I would do this from all eternity, had a little surprise in store for me.

Two quick facts: 1) I am still working on my Italian; 2) This trip gave me a chance to do so.

The place we went to is a soup-kitchen of sorts, and the part we worked on was focused on feeding the men of the streets of Rome. Well, one of the Sisters approached Greg and me, to ask if one of us would read the Gospel and then give a short reflection on it afterwards...you guessed it, in Italian. I don't know why (must have been the Spirit), but I volunteered, saying, "Provero" (which means, "I will try"). I then started to look over the Gospel and thought to myself, how am I going to do this? Immediately the words from Luke 12:11-12 came to mind: "...do not worry about ... what you are to say. For the holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say." I promptly said, "Come Holy Spirit," and started to get an idea.

Sister called me out, sooner that I would have liked, in front of the whole group of Italian men (50 plus), and I began. Sure enough, God pulled it off. I basically said, "Dio ci ama," which means God loves us and moved forward from there. What a gift that was! I got to proclaim God's Word and invite these men deeper in their own language. Afterwards, I was able to serve them and talk with them--a true joy. Praise the Lord for His many great gifts, and please pray for those men. They need help; but more than that, they need to know they are loved. That is the greatest poverty today: not knowing God's love. The beauty is: all we have to do is ask Him, and He will let us know it (...and we will receive).

That's enough for now. Please continue to pray for me, and again, know that I pray for all of you. Blessed Teresa of Calcutta, pray for us!

Too Much to Say to Say Too Much

Pax Christi vobiscum! Come Holy Spirit!

Wow, so time has flown by, and so much has happened...too much to tell you about it now (sorry for the Teaser). But suffice it to say that God is alive and well. I'll give you a quick recap of the things that have happened, so you know, and then I hope to get a more substantial update soon. I wanted to make sure you got an update though.

Last week: Silent Retreat at the Palazzola, a.k.a. the English Villa, a.k.a. Heaven. It was a glorious week filled with so much grace that I wanted to shout out loud...which would have defeated the purpose. It was such a wonderful time, and I will get some pictures up soon. I also realized, while out there, that I should turn to the Stations of the Cross more often in my spiritual journey. We draw so much strength from the Cross of Christ. I also realized that life is short and that I need to be living for the next life. God is good!

This week: Deaconate Ordinations in St. Peter's Basilica, a.k.a. Heaven. After practicing with the choir here at the NAC, we actually received the great privilege of singing in St. Peter's Basilica, our voices resounding off of the towering marble walls--a perfect way to come off of a silent retreat. The Liturgy was glorious, and the 4th year men were ordained deacons. Please keep all 21 of them in your prayers, and thank the Lord for the service these men will offer the Church all over the United States.

This weekend: Le Cinque Terre, Italia, a.k.a. the Cinque Terra (had you fooled didn't I?). It was like Heaven on earth (there it is). Imagine five cliff-side villages lining the coast of the Mediterranean Sea (long sigh...go ahead). And the best part of the whole thing was God's providence through it all. Luke, Jeb, Rheo, and I all showed up ready to camp outside (in a random vineyard if need be). Unable to find a place to camp, we decided just to go to Mass on Friday night and then figure it out...but God was a few steps ahead of us (infinity to be exact). After Mass the Priest approached us and asked us, in Italian, where we were from. Letting him in on our story, he became extatic and offered us a place to stay at a Church in a neighboring town. Basically, we ended up with our own Hostel all to ourselves, complete with bathroom, kitchenette, dining area, and two bedrooms with three bunks each--all attached to a beautiful Church we attended on Sunday morning. God: the best travel agent.

Rheo and I returned earlier than Luke and Jeb, finding ourselves in different compartments of the train. I had the privilege then of speaking with a couple from L.A. and two Italians (in their own tongue). Once they discovered I was a seminarian in Rome (plug for the blog), a wonderful conversation ensued. God is so good! Please keep those four people in your prayers.

Well, that's it for my "quick" update. I hope that catches you up a bit, since I've been slacking in this area lately. Thank you for your prayers, and count on mine! God bless you all!