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Another Busy Day
Good
morning all! As I am inclined to say right before writing a really long
post: this post will be short.
The
last week has been incredibly busy (which would be why I haven't posted
anything). The trip back from Quincy on Tuesday evening was
uneventful. It was long, as usual, it got dark at the end, as it
likes to get this time of year, I ate too many m&m's trying to stay awake,
and I got back approximately 3 minutes before the bells went off for
Adoration... Classes kept me busy the rest of the week: I had a psychology
test, an essay in moral issues, reading in just about everything else, and
basically, I felt like I was constantly running around tackling the next to-do
without ever actually getting ahead of the list... Last night Fr. House,
the director for seminarians for the Springfield IL, diocese, came through to
visit. We had a wonderful time just chatting, eating at the Rathskeller
(German restaurant that feeds you enormous amounts of food and has incredibly
powerful mustard), and enjoying the visit. This morning we had a long
work session, which lasted from 9:40-1:00. Most of that time I was
trimming bushes, manually, which wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be
(and some other guys cleaned up after I trimmed, so that was great).
After that we had a community dinner of spaghetti and salad (which was
fantastic, though I managed to splatter my shirt with sauce before I even began
eating - classic...). Right after lunch I went over to St. Paul's
Hermitage, where I got to chat with one of the residents for about 2 hours.
As always, it was pretty enjoyable, but I need to work on cultivating a
conversation (it died a few times). Pretty much as soon as I got back
from that I had to go to a lecture about Jens Jensen (early 1900's naturalist
dude), which is required for graduation, and which also was pretty boring
because we had already talked about most of the stuff in senior seminar.
After that I came back to Brute, ate some leftovers, and then headed out with
some guys and watched Gravity. I did enjoy the movie, though it definitely is
different than other movies I've watched. Then I came back, said a
rosary, finished the office of readings (which I hadn't finished this morning
and hadn't had time to get back to until now), said night prayer, dilly-dallied
around, wrote this blog, and now I will got to bed!
To
get an idea of what happened the rest of the week, extrapolate today backwards
(I was really busy
the whole time). I certainly don't think business is a bad thing, but it
means less time to relax, study, pray, etc. I am actually working on some
other posts, but I just haven't had the chance to finish them how I'd like
to. Keep living the dream! Keep the prayers coming! Keep
loving Christ!
To conclude this massively long single paragraph about some
unrelated though temporally continuous events that happened this past week,
enjoy the 2nd reading from the office of readings for yesterday:
From the spiritual diaries by Saint John de
Brebeuf, priest and martyr
May I die only for you, Jesus, who willingly died for me
May I die only for you, Jesus, who willingly died for me
For
two days now I have experienced a great desire to be a martyr and to endure all
the torments the martyrs suffered.
Jesus,
my Lord and Savior, what can I give you in return for all the favors you have
first conferred on me? I will
take from your hand the
cup of your sufferings and call
on your name. I vow before your eternal Father and the Holy Spirit,
before your most holy Mother and her most chaste spouse, before the angels,
apostles and martyrs, before my blessed fathers Saint Ignatius and Saint
Francis Xavier—in truth I vow to you, Jesus my Savior, that as far as I have
the strength I will never fail to accept the grace of martyrdom, if some day
you in your infinite mercy would offer it to me, your most unworthy servant.
I
bind myself in this way so that for the rest of my life I will have neither
permission nor freedom to refuse opportunities of dying and shedding my blood
for you, unless at a particular juncture I should consider it more suitable for
your glory to act otherwise at that time. Further, I bind myself to this so
that, on receiving the blow of death, I shall accept it from your hands with
the fullest delight and joy of spirit. For this reason, my beloved Jesus, and
because of the surging joy which moves me, here and now I offer my blood and
body and life. May I die only for you, if you will grant me this grace, since
you willingly died for me. Let me so live that you may grant me the gift of
such a happy death. In this way, my God and Savior, I will take from your hand the cup of your sufferings
and call on your name:
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus!
My God, it grieves me greatly that you are not
known, that in this savage wilderness all have not been converted to you, that
sin has not been driven from it. My God, even if all the brutal tortures which
prisoners in this region must endure should fall on me, I offer myself most
willingly to them and I alone shall suffer them all.
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