Showing posts with label Mass. Show all posts

Serving for the Pope II - God's Generosity

This is a write-up I did for the Quincy Herald Whig about a month ago (they surprised me by requesting a reflection on my opportunity to serve for the Pope, so I wrote this up for them).  They published it back then in part, but here is the entire reflection (kind of a different angle than my previous post about the Mass).  In other news, I finished my oral final in Fundamental Theology, which went really well - as far as I could tell - even though I ended up taking it in Italian, as well as the one in Hebrew, which also went well (good to be done with a couple more!)  Christology is tomorrow, and is said to be one of the harder ones, so I'll be studying a good bit today and praying tomorrow!
 
“The patience of God” – God’s immense love and generosity towards us – was a point that Pope Francis returned to again and again during his homily for Christmas. It was also the idea that was running through my mind as I knelt there – in Rome, in St. Peter’s Basilica, in the first row of chairs behind Bernini’s immense baldacchino, serving Christmas Mass for the pope,– as the Holy Father pronounced the words of consecration, “This is my body… This is my blood…”, repeating the words that Our Lord pronounced so long ago, transforming, as Jesus promised, the host into Our Lord’s body, and the wine into His blood. It was an incredible moment!

Before my eyes flashed past the last several years of my life. My moving from being homeschooled, to attending community college in Quincy, to finally getting up the gumption to enter seminary and follow His “call”, discerning whether the desire in my heart to become a priest was also God’s will. I entered Bishop Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis, studying for the diocese of Springfield, IL, in August of 2012, and Our Lord immediately made that patient, generous, love immensely evident to me. He graced me with tremendous growth in prayer, and my personal relationship with Him, with a sincere enjoyment of, and progress in, my philosophy studies, with the friendships, and fun, of being surrounded by dozens of other excellent, joyous, and eager seminarians, as well as so many other moments of excitement and happiness (sports, youth-rallies, skydiving, bar-b-quing, and so much more). God, though, has continued to amaze and astound me with His generosity because now I have been given the marvelous opportunity to study theology in Rome, here at the North American College. It’s as if Our Lord has “upped the ante”, drawing me into even deeper prayer through the magnificent churches, beautiful art, and proximity to the saints that one finds here, putting me in phenomenal, interesting, and edifying classes, surrounding me with another outstanding group of friends, classmates, and brothers, and – like this past evening – filling my days with once-in-a-lifetime opportunities of all sorts.


Washing the Pope's Hands!


At the end of the ceremony, as the choir triumphantly sang “Adeste Fidelis” during the procession out of the packed basilica, and the Pope carried the statue of the Baby Jesus to the crèche, my mind was distracted with the growing fatigue of my arms. Those processional candles were beautiful alright, but they were also heavy, and not being the tallest of the group, I had to hold mine at an uncomfortably high position, further hastening the buildup of lactic acid in my muscles... But then I glanced around and realized for the umpteenth time during that Mass that I was in St. Peter’s Basilica, mere feet from the Pope, Christ’s vicar, and celebrating the beautiful and awesome feast of Our Lord’s birth. It was a situation that reminded me, again, of everything that had happened over the last several years. It hasn’t always been easy – those philosophy classes were tough, and the theology ones in Italian are even more difficult, prayer hasn’t always felt fruitful, and so often I’m too tired to truly raise my mind to God, sometimes those other guys got on my nerves, and saying goodbye to come over to Rome certainly wasn’t easy – but in every moment, fun and stressful, easy and hard, exciting and exhausting, I can see God’s providence constantly guiding me down the way He wants me to take, making me the individual He wants me to be. Getting drawn closer to Jesus, and His joy, means being drawn closer to the cross, and further away from my own selfishness, laziness, fears, and desires. Those shepherds got to meet Christ their savior, but only after getting over there fears and trekking down into town, out of their way, to find Him. I got to serve Mass for the Pope, but only if I sweated a bit and carried around that heavy candle. As Pope Francis emphasized, God is immensely patient: this is what Christmas is all about! God humbly, innocently, without coercion, becomes one of us, to show us His love and draw us to Himself. All those incredible blessings, and difficult struggles, that I have experienced, have been His gifts – sometimes humble, sometimes frightening, sometimes small, sometimes big – and through them, God continues, ever so gently, to direct me towards his will. As it turns out, life as a seminarian here in Rome is very much like that Mass: an incredible, awesome, fun, and life-changing experience, but requiring a little soreness and trepidation as part of the process.

Not only was it incredible to be there – serving Mass for the Pope – but it was even more incredible to realize God’s love present constantly in my life. Every year, billions of people celebrate Christmas – the coming of Christ, as a man, into the world, 2000 years ago – but we forget that He wants to enter our lives at all times, not just on December 25th. So often I get distracted by the problems and struggles of life, and forget to step back and notice how much He gives me, not only in the overtly blessed, exciting and joyful moments, but also in those times of weariness, fear, and difficulty, when He desires that I return and trust in Him. So many times I forget to thank Him, or forget to have faith in Him. Yet He continues to give Himself to me, and to all of us, humbly lying there in the manger, in the Sacraments, in the Scriptures, in the encounters of daily life, patiently awaiting our approach and acceptance of Him.

“The patience of God” – it’s something God has generously shown me time and again in my own life, and it’s a gift that He gives all of us. The extraordinary, unlikely, and wonderful experience of serving Christmas Mass at St. Peter’s, for Pope Francis, has reminded me yet again of the profound truth in the saying “God will not be outdone in generosity”. You don’t, though, need to serve in a Papal Mass to see that: at Christmas we celebrate the even more extraordinary, unlikely, and wonderful event of God becoming man, of Jesus being born. That event, the coming of Christ into our world, also requires a bit of sacrifice on our part (to open ourselves up to Him), but it, even more than Mass with Pope Francis, or living in Rome, is totally worth it! 

I have ordered some "official" pictures of the Mass so hopefully in the coming weeks I can get those up here - they're a lot better than a screen-grab from the YouTube video...  Still, the experience is more important than the pictures, so I wanted to get this post up here.
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Priesthood Ordination - Awesome, Inspiring, Exciting, Incredible!

The Cathedral before practice
On Friday evening – after a quick dinner with the family of tuna-loaf and asparagus – I drove over to the Cathedral in Springfield.  Practice was scheduled to start at 7:45, but I got there a little early (maybe 7:25 or so).  The doors were still locked so I waited around until Mark Tracy (who is in my same ordination class and studies at St. Meinrad) arrived and showed me the side door to the cathedral rectory, which we knocked on and got in.  Other guys showed up over the next few minutes and then we were assigned positions (I was given the job of holding the Roman Missal and Rite of Ordination for the bishop).  We then spent a few minutes setting up chairs in the sanctuary for all the priests and deacons that would be assisting/concelebrating/condeaconing (that last one is made up).  We waited for a little while for both deacons – soon to be ordained – to finish their dinner with the bishop and join us, and then we began the long process of running through the Mass.  Other guys thought that the practice was way too long – and it was long, like 2 and a half hours – but the difficulty was that there were so many different people with different responsibilities that Fr. Alford (the MC, as well as vocation director) had to teach each person almost individually what they would be doing, and so many things had to be repeated and explained for multiple people.  For me, practice wasn’t that hard because I had done book-bearer before (so I knew how to process, where to stand, how to hold the book, etc.)  Thus, all I needed to learn was approximately when I would be moving out to hold the book, about how long I would hold it, and a few other things that I ended up doing (cleaning the bishop’s hands from the chrism, helping to set the altar during the offertory, etc.)  After practice finally finished up, we all went to the Villa Maria, a retreat house owned by the diocese and the place where we usually stay during diocesan events like this.  I was sort of thinking about heading to bed pretty quickly – it was already past 10 at this point and it had been a long day – but when I got to the villa I found that there were a bunch of friends of Steve and Seth – mostly from Mundelein – along with all the guys from the Springfield diocese and so I ended up hanging out, chatting, enjoying some ice cream and apple pie, sharing stories, learning names (well, sort of), and otherwise just having a good time.  Anyway, it was a fun evening/night and I ended up hitting the sack around midnight. 


The chapel at the villa
I woke up the next morning around 6:30 when the sun started shining through the window where myself and a few of the other Bruté guys were sleeping.  I took a quick shower and headed across the building to the chapel – saying the Office of Readings, Morning Prayer, and several other prayers before wandering into the dining room where they had just begun serving breakfast.  A smattering of other guys were up and we all enjoyed a hearty breakfast of biscuits & gravy, fruit, eggs, hash browns, cereal, juice, and cinnamon/blueberry/banana bread (I didn’t have everything, but that was the selection).  After breakfast, I grabbed my cassock and surplice and drove over to the cathedral, arriving around 9 AM.  Mass was scheduled to start at 10:30, so I had plenty of time, but it flew by as we were pressed into service setting up the altar, lighting the candles, figuring out last minute things that we would have to do, etc.  I squeezed into a collar that I borrowed from Braden Maher (a previous graduate from Bruté who is 2 years ahead of me in formation at St. Meinrad).  I was extremely thankful for the collar (because I don’t have one – that will probably wait until I get over to Rome), but it was pretty tight (I guess that’s like the priesthood, it’s always awesome, but some times are harder than others).  About 15 minutes before Mass I went over to the other side of the sacristy (where the bishop was vesting).  I spent a few minutes fiddling with my collar – it didn’t want to stay down, and I wanted to be able to breath – with little success…  Still, I was really glad that I was book-bearer because I was right there watching deacon Seth and Steve getting vested – to be ordained priests in a few minutes – it was an incredible moment!  Both were excited and nervous, though Dcn. Arisman got more talkative as the time approached and Dcn. Seth, less talkative (they have very different personalities).  Finally, the big moment came and we walked around the outside of the cathedral and stood in the back ready to process.  The processional hymn, All Creatures of Our God and King, magnificently thundered from the choir loft and the procession began!  A minute or more later – with the servers, deacons, and some of the priests already having gotten to the sanctuary the bishop finally began to move (that was how epic of a procession it was)!  I was in the very back of the procession, so I got a spectacular view of everybody packing the cathedral watching the procession snake up the center.  Myself, along with the deacons for Mass (recently ordained: Samuel Bagyo, and Adam Prichard), Fr. Alford, and the two vimps (Wayne Stock – a Bruté grad, one year in front of me, now at Mundelein, and Aaron Kuhn – a classmate of mine, at Mundelein) genuflected with the bishop and then we went off to our respective spots (mine was behind and to the left of the bishop).  Mass began with an incensation of the altar – during which I did nothing – and then the Confiteor, Kyrie, Gloria, and Collect.  My job, holding the Roman “action”, but it was also tough on the arms.  The Confiteor and Kyrie weren’t bad, but then my arms started to get tired as I held the book out in front and to the side of me so that the bishop could read it.  My left arm was more extended (because I was holding the book to my left) and to make it worse, since the ordinary parts were at the front of the missal, most of the weight was pushing down on that arm.  I tried not to grin as the trumpets chorused out during the Gloria – it was awesome! – but I was watching the ominous hints that my arms were tiring – mainly the fact that they were starting to tremble – and had to grit my teeth to get through the last bit of the Gloria.  Thankfully, like the collar, I had a good intention for which I was offering up all these physical difficulties: Steve and Seth (soon to be priests)!  Fr. Alford came over and flipped the book to the collect, thankfully taking a bit of pressure off my left arm, but forcing my tired arms to shove a bit harder against the missal, fighting against a losing battle against the force of gravity…  Anyway, I managed to hold the book up for another minute and the mercifully got to close the book, bow, and head back to my seat.  The hardest part was done! 

Fr. Steve Arisman making the promises
The liturgy of the word went by quickly and after Marty Smith (one of our recently ordained deacons) finished proclaiming the gospel the rite of ordination began.  This time I was holding the Rite of Ordination – a smaller book than the missal – and even more awesome was the proximity that I was to the men being ordained.  I was right there, literally a couple of feet from the bishop when the candidates’ names were called out.  Then, after the homily, I was again right there during the promise of the elect when Dcn. Arisman and Brown responded “I do” or “I do with the help of God”: to the bishop’s requests to: “discharge the office of priesthood in the presbyteral rank as worthy fellow workers with the order of bishops”, “exercise the ministry of the Word worthily and wisely, preaching the Gospel and teaching the Catholic faith”, “to celebrate faithfully and reverently the mysteries of Christ handed down by the Church, especially the sacrifice of the Eucharist and the sacrament of Reconciliation, for the glory of god and the sanctification of the Christian people”, “to implore God’s mercy upon the people entrusted to their care by observing the command to pray without ceasing”, and “to be united more closely every day to Christ the High Priest, who offered himself for us to the Father as a pure sacrifice and to consecrate themselves to God for the salvation of all”.  And then, I was right between the bishop and the candidates as they placed their hands within his and promised “respect and obedience” to him and his successors.  I didn’t have to hold the book during the litanies (thank goodness!), but again, I was only a little ways away when the young men prostrated themselves on the floor, begging, I’m sure, Christ’s help in living “in persona Christi”, a totally new life that was now beginning! 

Fr. Seth Brown receiving the chalice/paten
my collar is working its way upwards...
After the litany, the deacons (for only a few more moments) again approached the bishop, who laid hands on each of them, ordaining them priests and marking their souls with the indelible mark of being an alter Christus.  Then, as the Veni, Sancte Spiritus floated through the air, all the other priests present – including one in a wheelchair (touching moment!) – laid their hands on the newly ordained priests.  Then, myself holding the book, the bishop said the prayer of ordination and the new priests were vested in stole and chasuble.  It was an epic moment, and one full of emotion, as Fr. Arisman and Brown stood there in front of the cathedral full of people, now priests of Our Lord!  They were incredibly happy – the moment for which they had been waiting for years had finally come and they would soon be serving as priests in the diocese.  I moved forward again with the book, this time for the consecration of their hands, and again was right there when the bishop crossed their palms with the sacred chrism, anointing them for administering the sacraments, celebrating the sacrifice of the Mass, blessing people, and the other unique faculties of the priest.  Fr. Steve and Seth then moved off to the side and cleaned the chrism from their hands onto a maniturgium.  I couldn’t see exactly what else they did (if anything) because I was helping to clean the bishop’s hands, but the maniturgium has special significance because later (the next day) it would be given to the priest’s mother, a symbol of her giving her son to God as a priest.  Finally, both priests returned to the bishop – myself again kneeling inches away – to receive the chalice/paten/wine/bread from him.  Each one came forward, knelt before the bishop, and, as he said a short prayer, they clasped the chalice (held by the bishop), symbolically receiving the sacred vessels and bread/wine that they would use or offer at future Masses.  It was one of the last parts of the ceremony of ordination, but important because it reiterates the most important part of their priesthood – the Holy Mass, in which the priest acts most like Christ and gives the people Christ’s Body and Blood.  Finally, the bishop embraced the new priests and all the priests again processed across to them and also gave them a kiss of peace.

The liturgy of the Eucharist was much the same as in any other Mass.  I helped to set up the altar – carrying over the Roman Missal and stand, as well as several of the sacred vessels as well as the hosts and wine.  Yeah, there wasn’t anything “special” about the offertory and consecration other than the usual miraculous transubstantiation that transformed the bread and wine into Christ’s Body and Blood…  Actually, I couldn’t see very much because the vimps were blocking my view of the altar (for the most part).  All the servers received Communion from the bishop, who then distributed the Eucharist to the people (along with plenty of priests including Fr. Arisman and Brown).  Communion took a good while because there were so many people there, but it gave me a little bit of time to meditate on the moment – not only the Eucharist that I had just received, but also the vocation that I am discerning and preparing for.  Last year it was really cool to be at the ordination – it was the first priesthood ordination that I attended – this year it was even more awesome because it was starting to hit me that I could – God willing – be in the exact same position in just four short years.  It’s a thought that excites me and that was the thought that sent chills down my spine as I held the book during all those moments of the ordination ceremony, but is also a thought that worries me a little – will I be ready?, will I be capable?  During those moments after Communion I gave myself again to Our Lord, begging Him to make me worthy, ready, capable, holy, strong, joyful, and everything else that I will need to be in order to be a good priest, a good alter Christus. It’s an incredible vocation, one that has blessed me immensely already in my discernment of it, and one that I still feel called to, but that knowledge, that joy, and that confidence aren’t enough.  The call comes from Christ and it is only through Him, and His grace, that I will ever be able to live out that call. 

Bishop Paprocki and Fr. Steve Arisman after Mass
The end of Mass was unique because before the final blessing the bishop received the very first blessings of both Fr. Steve and Fr. Seth, a really cool moment as they each (one after the other) raised their hands and prayed that God’s blessing might come down upon our bishop.  Then the Bishop gave his blessing to them – and everyone else – while I held the Missal one last time (my arms had held up pretty good, so this wasn’t terribly difficult).  Then everyone processed out to the sound of Oh God Beyond all Praising, the entire congregation enthused with the joy of seeing two young men transformed into priests! 

More to come!  Sorry, these posts take a long time to write and I am in the midst of preparing to apply for my visa (tomorrow in Chicago), packing for vacation (Saturday in Washington State), and writing a letter to my sister (ASAP).  Also, most of these pictures were collected from Facebook (obviously I didn't take them).
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Day 2 - March for Life Pilgrimage

The National Mall Covered in Snow
Washington Monument in Center
My previous post ended on Monday night, when we got into Washington DC having had a wonderful drive from Indianapolis, listening to good talks, getting work done, being squished  together in such a way as to have to spend solid time talking with each other, and enjoying an all-you-can-eat buffet.  Anyway, I had the blessing of getting a good night’s sleep (which, I heard, wasn’t the case with everybody), but woke up the next morning to find that DC was expected to get hit with several inches of snow and all the museums and places of interest were going to be closed because of this wintery precipitate.  I was bummed because we had almost the entire day to see the city, which, though I had seen some of it before, I wanted to experience again because it is such a cool, historic, interesting, and stunning place.  As it turned out, the museums hadn’t closed yet, so some of us took the 10 minute shuttle, to the metro, where we spent an hour shooting into downtown DC, and then wandered over to the national mall (where many of the Smithsonian’s are located).  Some of the other guys in our 4 or 5 person group wanted to go to the Air and Space Museum, which I had seen before, but knew would be cool, so off we went.  It was cold, snowing a bit (nothing like the disaster that everyone was expecting though), so we walked quickly to cover the half-mile or so to the museum, stopping to look at some of the cool buildings (old post office, national archives, and most of the other old government buildings there) along the way.

National Air and Space Museum
Voyager, The Spirit of St. Louis, Space Ship One, and X-15 visible
We ran into a group of pro-life tourists on our way into the museum (who was immediately recognizable because they were all wearing the same bright sweatshirts, except the religious sister, who was wearing her habit), which was pretty cool and then we had the opportunity to meet up with some other guys from Bruté.  We wandered around the different exhibits, pretty much noting that all the people who flew these things for the first time were crazy.  That guy who strapped himself into the wood and linen contraption that was supposed to fly and then jumped off a mountain to see if it would.  That guy who built a motorcycle, bolted a v8 to it, and then proceeded to see how fast he could go without dying (he made it up to 127 mph, and this was back in the early 1900s).  Or those guys who strapped themselves into a tin can, floated for a week through space, and then landed on the moon in a foil contraption, hoping that it would lift off, be able to connect up to the capsule that was hopefully in orbit correctly, that could hopefully fire its engine, and hopefully hit the atmosphere correctly, so that hopefully its heat shield would work, so that hopefully its parachutes would open, and hopefully it would be found out in the middle of the ocean…  I am jesting here a bit; it was really cool to see all the amazing aircraft/spacecraft – humans are awesome! 

Somewhere in Catholic University of America
After the Air and Space museum, the several of us went back to another metro station and swept off to Union Station, where we found some food (it was now about 1 PM).  Four of us went to this Italian sandwich place, where we got some (pretty tasty) sandwiches, warm chips (pretty typical), and cold gelato (which was also tasty).  Funny side note: I didn’t buy a drink because I was cheap (and they weren’t) and I was hoping to find a water-fountain someplace.  Well, there wasn’t any free H2O to be found, so I went without liquid and after wandering around the station for a little while longer (mostly clothing shops actually, which was pretty boring), we got back on the Metro and shot off towards the National Shrine of the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception.  The vigil Mass for life, which we would be participating in later, wasn’t going to happen for several more hours, so we went on a short tour of the Theological College (a seminary which is there on the campus of Catholic University of America), which was pretty cool – sorry no pictures, it wasn’t cool enough, at least the parts I saw, for me to be the dorky tourist guy and whip out my camera…  After hanging out over there for a short period of time, we went back over to the Basilica around 4 PM.  



National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
We had to be down in the crypt to vest/process by 5:30, so I had some time to wander around, which, of course, I did.  I unfortunately had forgotten to bring a book, other than my breviary, to read during times when I didn’t have anything to do, so I didn’t have anything better to do.  Anyway, it wasn’t by any means boring, the Basilica is gorgeous and has tons of little beautiful side chapels, which, and this was even cooler, were filling with young guys and ladies, who were staking out a spot for the Mass that evening.  Some of them had been camping out since noon or earlier to get a decent spot, but I thought it was just cool to crowd scan and see if I recognized anybody.  Of course, I didn’t recognize very many people, but it was still kind of fun to glance around and smile/wave at people who had made the same mistake and didn’t have anything else to do but sit there (it doesn’t matter how awesome of a time you are having, after sitting on a marble - beautiful marble of course, but still marble - floor for several hours, you get a bit bored and sore).  Well, I wandered back towards the entrance of the lower level and spend a few minutes perusing the store, full of different Catholic pictures, cds, t-shirts, statues, and other such things.  I didn’t really expect to buy anything, but, you know, being a seminarian you get interested into that sort of thing, so there I was.  Well, I stepped out of the small, packed, shop, and just about literally ran into my aunt. 




Inside the Basilica before Mass
National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception
I knew that my aunt, uncle, and cousins were going on the March and assumed that they would be at the vigil Mass that evening, but I didn’t really expect to see them amid the milling crowds.  Anyway, despite my doubts, I was lucky enough to run into her and got to chat for a few minutes while the crowds swamped past.  She asked if I had heard from the pope yet (meaning, did I get accepted to the PNAC yet?, to which I said no), and we got to joke around a little bit before I had to take off again.  There was another guy tagging along with me, and I was going to show him up-stairs (the main Church) before we had to get back down stairs.  Anyway, she told me where the rest of their group was seated up there, so we headed up the (skinny, but thankfully not too packed) staircase and found that the church wasn’t as crazy as I thought it would be.  In years past the aisles have been absolutely clogged with people, but they were doing a pretty good job of getting people to stay out of the aisles, so while the pews were full, it wasn’t impossible to move around or anything.  Well, to make a long story short, I spend a few minutes talking with my cousins (who thought it was pretty cool to see me there), and was very glad to have been able to see them.  Funny story: during the 5 minutes that I was standing there, I was told at least twice to get off the aisle and into my pew.  I didn’t quite get the explanation out that I wouldn’t be in a pew because I was processing in later, so they kept going by “reminding” me to get into a pew… 

Seminarians assembled in the Crypt Church before Mass
Wow, this is becoming quite the long-winded post, but there’s a lot to say about what we were up to, so I guess I should expect that.  After going back down-stairs to the crypt, where I was going to get my cassock/surplice on (which, hopefully, had been brought down from the hotel since I had last been through there a few hours previous).  Well, as you might expect, I ran into someone else that I knew, this time not quite as well because they were friends of Willies, but either way we chatted for several minutes before we really had to get back to vest.  I quickly outfitted myself in cassock/surplice – quickly because all the other several-hundred seminarians smashed into the back of this crypt were decked out already (in all manner of different surplices, boring, fancy, cool, “lacy”, pleated, wrinkled, etc.) and were listening to the instructions on how to process in.  I thought that things were about to get going, but, alas, that wasn’t meant to be.  As 6:20, and 6:30, and 6:40 rolled past, I wondered when things would finally get going.  And then, the glorious moment, the organ started rumbling through the massive, arched, stone ceiling and a female cantor started singing.  The organ swelled and the woman chanted away with a spectacular voice – all these crazy guys called seminarians started grinning – and the line started forming.  Here we go!

Seminarians at the rear of the Basilica after Mass
There were  a few tv screens, showing what was happening up above, down in the crypt and I was stunned to see that the seminarians had reached the altar when I started moving down the line.  That line of seminarians – 2 by 2 – stretched from the crypt, through the reasonably large chapel down there, twisted up the staircase to the main basilica, crept down the stairs, through the Basilica, wound through the crowd, and back towards the main altar.  Of course, that is the route that I  slowly made my way along over the next 20 minutes or so, and, as last year, it was a magnificent moment.  I don’t know why it is so cool, but it is wonderful to be processing up that beautiful basilica, grinning along with the organ/choir which was roaring out Crown Him with Many Crowns.  Everything was spectacular as we climbed up the stairs, reverenced the altar, and wrapped through the sanctuary to our seats which were apparently off to the side.  I was pretty hopeful as I saw that the section that I was going to was almost full, yes, thought I, I’ll get a seat in the front of the crowd where I can see!  The guys in front of me moved along into this section, and then they gently pointed me to go to the outside of this area, about as far as you could get from the front of the crowd of guys, about as fat as you could get from being able to see anything (TV or altar), behind a pillar, and without a chair.  Bummer thought I, can’t see, can’t sit…  I guess I thought I was tough, so I just stood there, singing away (having pulled the worship-aid out of my sleeve), and thinking that I would outlast the rest of the guys standing there.  Well, my legs/feet started hurting much more quickly than I was hoping, and I began to hope that they would move us over to the section where there were still empty seats.  Thankfully, that is exactly what they did, and thankfully, though I was in the back of this section, it turned out alright because the guy in front of me was short and so I could see the TV (and the back-side of the high altar).  I couldn’t see anything first-hand, but I could see it on the screen pretty well, and I could hear everything.  So, to make a long story short, the procession was fantastic, the music beautiful, the seating better than last year, and overall everything worked out pretty well.

View of the rear of the high altar in the Basilica after Mass
Of course, Mass continued.  The music continued to be beautiful with the choir chanting at the appropriate places adding splendor and glory to the Mass.  But, I think I should also mention the homily, which was also pretty amazing.  The Gospel for that Mass was the adulterous woman whom the Pharisees brought to Jesus and asked if they should stone her.  Of course, Jesus tells them that whichever one of them hasn’t sinned themselves could throw the first stone.  Well, they are all sinners, so off they go, unable to stone the woman, and Jesus, the only sinless one present, tells the woman that He won’t persecute her either but that she should sin no more.  I wondered at the time how Sean Cardinal O'Malley would work this Gospel into his homily.  Well, he didn’t have to work too hard because this is exactly, as I failed to notice, what Pope Francis has been telling us ever since he was elected.  To fix the atrocities of our culture we have to fix the entire culture.  We can’t just run out into the world lambasting the evil that is abortion without fixing the problems that lead to many of them.  Abortion, as the cardinal explained, happens much of the time because some poor girl has made a bad decision and is stuck in a position where she is pregnant, but doesn’t see any way to have the baby.  She’s poor, or on her own, or having been deserted by the man who should be taking care of her, and she doesn’t see any other option.  I really hadn’t thought about abortion this way before: I’m more of the stand out in the cold, yelling “hey, hey, ho, ho – Row-v-Wade has got to go!”, kind of guy.  But here it finally hit me what Pope Francis has been trying to tell the world.  The faith must permeate our entire lives, it must cause us to do more than protest the evils that are present in our culture, but to actively try to fix them, to help the people that feel like they are forced to do what they are doing.  Yes, we must stand up against abortion; we can’t forget to tell people that it is evil, but we must also live out our faith, and love and forgive those who are in that field.  Don’t think my verve to eliminate abortion has lessened one bit, but my view has been enlargened, the faith has to force us to do crazy things, including forgive our enemies.  Forgiveness doesn’t mean saying that sin isn’t sin, but it does mean showing sinners love not hate.  Hmmm… Pope Francis continues to hit hard.  (Probably, you'd be better off listening to the homily in the video embedded below rather than listening to my sad summary of it...)

View looking up from my seat in the Basilica - yeah, awesome!

Anyway, Mass continued spectacularly, but I wanted to let you guys know how it was a pretty awesome learning experience as well as just an awesome experience in general.  I got to talk about it with the other guys, and talk some more about that homily.  Pretty cool!  Anyway, Tuesday ended with the long ride back to our hotel, the short trip back to our hotel (during which, being the smallest guy in the van, I volunteered to sit on the floor because we ran out of room), and then some pizza/soda.  Good times!

Crowds in the Basilica after Mass


Yours truly is visible at 11:36 and 17:15 (if you are interested in that sort of thing) and the homily begins at 57:50 (you should be interested in that sort of thing).
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Summer 2013 Seminarian Gathering - Awesome!

Yesterday afternoon and this morning was the annual seminarian get-together for all the guys from the Springfield Diocese.  It was a blast!  I always love hanging out with the other seminarians from Springfield, not only because they are from my diocese (and I want to get to know them) but also, they are just an absolutely fantastic group of guys.

The bishop wryly noted that his diocese probably has
the greatest percentage of "Dominic" seminarians. (2)
Bishop Paprocki had Mass for all the seminarians (along with many of their families) yesterday at 4 PM, and afterword everyone got to talk before dinner together.  Mass was beautiful, it was fun to chat with some of the other guys' families, and dinner was tasty (roast beef, corn, salad, mashed potatoes, and cheese cake).  During dinner the Bishop recounted some stories from his attending WYD last week in Brazil with Pope Francis. Everyone had a good laugh when the Bishop mentioned that a young priest at one of the parishes in Rio knew (now deacon) Steve Arisman, one of the Springfield seminarians.  The joke has gone around (before) that if you dropped the name "Steve Arisman" in the middle of a tribe of cannibals in, you know, some remote jungle, the cannibals would know Steve.  I guess the joke wasn't too far from reality...  After dinner we had all of our pictures taken, this year with a professional setup (backdrop, umbrella light thingy, etc.), so hopefully those will turn out.

Gosh, last night was so much fun!  After the pictures were done, everybody settled down to talking and stuff.  One moment my abs were hurting from laughing so much (there are some pretty good stories from back in the day at Mundelein) and the next moment we were talking about some awesome topic of the faith.  Some examples:

In ancient Israel they placed coins over the eyes of a corpse while wrapping it for burial, and so, on the Shroud of Turin one can see the image of ancient coins.  Some say this shroud is a medieval forgery, others say it is the true burial cloth of Jesus.  Get this: the coins visible on the shroud were only produced between about 25 and 35 AD and all (or almost all) of this particular type of coin were subsequently destroyed by the Roman empire because there was an error that had been inscribed onto them. Interesting...

The Hypostatic Union, the really awesome phrase used to describe the mystery of how Jesus is fully God and fully man has some really amazing (and hard to explain/understand) implications on the connection between His human knowledge (and intellect) and His divine one.  I don't recall all the intricacies, and even if I did, I try to avoid heresy, so I will just say that it was really fascinating.  Give me a few years and some Theology and I will have to revisit the topic...  (Topics that were mentioned included the passive/active intellect, infused knowledge, and others).

Of course, we talked about much, much more (I didn't get to bed until after midnight, and others were still up...), I just wanted to give you guys an idea of how amazing these other guys are - tons of fun, and totally rock-solid in their faith at the same time!

This morning we had a Holy Hour from 7:30 to 8:30 AM, then breakfast, and then a talk by Bishop Paprocki.  He talked about how we often think of evangelization as this complicated process but that really, at its heart, it is just growth.  Growth in individuals (learning and growing in their faith) and also in people on a larger scale (coming into the true faith).  By using the word "growth" he wasn't watering down the need and importance of evangelization, but was using new vocabulary to make the concept more accessible.  I can't recall his entire talk (unfortunately), but I will note that he boiled down the way we can go about working towards this macro and micro level growth in faith (in Jesus Christ through His church) into several areas.  The Mass is, of course, first; we need to grow in our own knowledge and love of the Mass, and not hesitate to invite others to come [back] to the Catholic Church and experience the Mass.  We believe it is the closest thing to Heaven on earth - why don't we share it with everybody?  Another point He made was becoming familiar with the Bible.  This is the Word of God, why aren't we reading it, meditating on it, living it?  Of course, he said lots and lots more...  Unfortunately, I have both limited time and limited memory, so I will have to leave you with that.

Anyway, after the Bishop's talk, we had Mass (which I had the privilege of serving) - which, of course, was great.  Then we had lunch (where we, at least the table I was at, got to talk with the Bishop about his marathon running).  After lunch, everybody said good-bys and took off for their respective homes/assignments/seminaries.

All in all, the get-together was fantastic.  Being with those guys is such a great opportunity to have fun and grow in my faith at the same time.  I wish I could spend more time with all of them; it is somewhat infrequent that I get together with the guys from the other seminaries, and, wow, its just a really awesome time.

Do you all like these style of posts?  I don't really know, they are easy and enjoyable to write, but reading about my (sometimes) boring life could get a little old.  Let me know in the comments!  
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A Mid-Summer Update - that mostly just covers this week...

Well, I guess this will be my attempt to start back up with updating the blog with what is going on in my life this summer.  Yeah, I know that it isn't the middle of summer just yet (considering that that season just started), but it's the middle of my summer, so that's how I got the title.  (That is something I am going to have to work on - the titles of my posts are sometimes pretty boring.)

As you probably saw, we got back from vacation about 2 weeks ago, and since them I have been working at Titan and doing Spanish.  The Titan job, which I did last summer, goes from 7:30-4:00 (with a 1/2 hour lunch break), and so far has involved lots of paperwork/filing/spreadsheeting as well as the occasional audit of something on the plant floor.  Not terribly interesting stuff, but it's a job, so there you go...

Spanish, on the other hand, has been more challenging.  First a little background:  I spent two years (2010-2012) at John Wood Community College here in Quincy.  During those years, one class that I took was Spanish 101.  In this class, back in 2010, I got an A, but that was only because I managed to do pretty well through the first half of the class (due to the little bit of Spanish that I remembered from high school), and in the second half of the class I basically aced the quizzes and other activities (most of which you could retake until you got 100%) and, well, didn't ace the tests.  Let's just say that I squeaked by and didn't learn very much.  Well, fast forward (almost) 3 years, and I find that I need to have another semester of Spanish to graduate from Marian.  So, I decide, that since my schedule is so packed, I'll take Spanish over the summer and knock out that class when I don't have the other classes to worry about.  

Well, class started 2 weeks ago, and I am not quite done with the first two weeks of assignments.  I work on the stuff every evening for a few hours and got about 4 hours in on Friday, but it is just such a struggle.  I basically use brute force to get through everything - arduously translate everything - word, after word, after word...  This gets even more time consuming when I have to listen to a recording and then answer questions about it.  Most times I am left trying to pick out words and make an educated guess...  So yeah, there you have it, I'm pretty sure that I have less free time over the summer than I do during the school year.

Of course, I have still managed to have some fun - one example being this weekend.  This weekend the family (and I) drove up to visit my grandmother near Rockford, IL.  We got there late Friday night, and spent all of Saturday, and Sunday morning, visiting.  I spent a little bit of time looking at my Grandmother's book collection on Saturday.  She owned a Catholic bookstore for many years, and thus, along with other reasons, has a superb collection of Catholic books.  Kreeft, Belloc, Sheen, Hardon, Ratzinger and many, many, more appear on innumerable subjects.  Grandma, extremely generously, gave me several philosophy books (some, I'm sure, irreplaceable), as well as some old (as in pre-1900!) books on other topics.  I also enjoyed some family-famous cole-slaw for lunch.  Thanks Grandma!

On Sunday, we went to Mass at 6:30 AM, at a Church called Holy Rosary (which I hadn't been to before), and it turned out to be a beautiful, reverent Mass.  Father (of whom I didn't catch the name) gave a wonderful homily wrapping in the challenge to overcome concupiscence and our own desires and replace those things with Christ and His desires.  It was a great homily, of course my summary/paraphrase of one of his points leaves much to be desired...  Anyway, it reinforced in my mind how the Mass can still be reverent, beautiful, solid and all that sort of thing even when the building (in this case) leaves a bit to be desired.  I don't want to complain about church architecture, but some churches are definitely more beautiful (in my mind) than others - and I'll leave it at that...

After Mass, before processing out, Father led one decade of the rosary for the protection of Religious Freedom and the Family.  In my previous post with that video from the USCCB about the Fortnight, I had said that we all should do something to support these immensely important parts of our culture and country.  I thought that father's leading of these extra prayers (at the request of the Bishop) was a really great way to "do something".  You really can't beat prayer, especially to Our Lady.  Fantastic!

After Mass we went over to an all-you-can-eat buffet, which had an astonishing amount of different foods.  This place has a multiple types of french toast, a chocolate fountain, and a steak bar!  (My kind of place)  Of course, I now have to skip dinner if I don't want to fall into the whole gluttony thing - something that Father specifically mentioned (to avoid) during the homily...  hmmm.

I spent the afternoon hanging out with 2 cousins playing some cops-n-robbers and such.  (It was pretty hot, so we wore out after maybe an hour or so.)  Quite a fun time!

Now we are in the car to go back home and I am attempting to get some Spanish done.  We are also listening to some Lighthouse Catholic CD's (St. Joseph = awesome!).  It would be great if I could write up a post on some of them, but I have a felling that Spanish will be taking all my free time this week.  I haven't finished the stuff I needed to for the last two weeks - catch up time...

OK, well that is all I've got for the moment.  I'm going to have to figure out how to do Spanish more quickly, so I have more time to blog (and, more importantly, hang out with the family.)
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The Priesthood - Fr. Hyland Smith's Ordination

Today was the ordination to the sacred priesthood of (now) Fr. Hyland Smith.  As was the case with the deaconate ordination, the seminarians were enlisted to serve for the Mass.

Last evening, after I got off work at 4 PM, I filled up with gas and cruised over to Springfield, where Fr. Chris Brey had graciously invited the seminarians out to dinner.  Needless to say, the pizza was great and the abundance of ice cream afterwards was also greatly appreciated.  After dinner (and a lot of socializing with the other guys), we went over to the cathedral for practice.  I ended up with the position I have previously occupied at other diocesan Masses, book-holder, and it turned out that the procedure was very similar to the deaconate ordination.  I processed in at the back (which is cool because I get to see everybody as they process in), and then I sit off to the side of the bishop's cathedra ready to walk out and hold the Roman Missal or Rite of Ordination for a Priest [which took forever for me to find online...] for the Bishop.

The first time I had to hold the book was at the beginning of Mass (right after the procession and incensation of the Altar), when I held the Roman Missal for the introductory rites (confiteor, kyrie, gloria, and opening prayer).  I had been holding the book for a minute or two before the bishop got back from the incensation, but nothing was hurting too bad, so I was feeling pretty confident as the confiteor started.  However, by the time the kyrie had been chanted my arms were starting to feel the inexorable pull of gravity.  The base of Bishop Paprocki's cathedra is a step higher than the floor of the sanctuary, so I am standing on the floor and he is standing a step higher and he is also a few feet away from me because there is probably two or three feet of raised platform between his seat and the edge of this step.  This all means that I am several feet away from the bishop and on top of that I am several inches lower than him (due to both the step and my, um, exceptional, height) - anyway, enough with the excuses, holding the Roman Missal through that Gloria was tough.  I guess the Bishop has good eyesight because I think the book was shaking a bit during the end of the gloria and the opening prayer)  Don't get me wrong, I love the position of book-holder, I am in like the best spot to see what is going on, but it still gets tough at times...  

The next thing that I had to do was hold the rite of ordination for the, you know, ordination.  This book is probably half as thick as the Roman Missal, but I had to hold it longer, so my arms still ended up shaking a bit.  First, was the calling forward of Deacon Hyland - The Bishop asks if the people consider him worthy, which they did, and then he came forward and made the promise of obedience to the Bishop.  It was so cool, because I was right there when he put his hands inside the Bishop's and said "I do", and I was a few feet away when Deacon Hyland lay prostrate on the floor during the litany, and I was a few steps back when the Bishop did the laying on of hands and ordained him a priest...  It was so cool to be right there during all of it - yeah, my arms were hurting, and there was that nagging thought of how to hold up the book any longer, but it was definitely worth it.  OK, so there is the super-quick low-down of the Mass.  I could go into detail on how everything happened, but we are in the midst of packing for vacation and, since I haven't been here the last 2 days, I probably should pitch in a bit.

 Last, but not least, a brief look at something pretty cool.  On the brief bio that the diocese has for Fr. Hyland  Smith he notes that his favorite scripture verse is John 21:18-22.  
Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”  Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?”21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?”  Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!”
Fr. Hyland explains it pretty well: (I quote):
"Peter is troubled by Christ's prophecy of Peter's future martyrdom, and Peter tries to deflect his fate by focusing on another. Jesus says to him, "What is that to you? Follow me!" Too often I look at others rather than my own walk with Christ. Before I left for seminary the Holy Spirit showed me this verse, which reminds me that the only important thing I must do is follow Christ."
On the way up to the ordination I was listening to Catholic Answers, and one of the people who was talking mentioned Nguyễn Văn Thuận, a Bishop who was held for years in solitary confinement in Vietnam (and who's cause has been opened for sainthood), and how he had big plans when assigned to his episcopate, but the country fell into communism and he was immediately imprisoned.  This bishop later wrote down how he gradually grew to understand that it was more important to love Jesus himself rather than working for Jesus.  

"I am happy here, in this cell, where white mushrooms are growing on my sleeping mat, because You are here with me, because You want me to live here with You. I have spoken much in my lifetime: now I speak no more. It's Your turn to speak to me, Jesus; I am listening to You"
So often we forget that the foundation for anything and everything we do must be in love of Our Lord.  That has to be where we start.  Fr. Hyland and this saintly bishop both emphasize following Christ above everything.  Even when our plans don't happen, or Christ asks us go "where we do not want to go", that is precisely when love for Him must "trump" everything else.  That is exactly what the promises that the to-be priest makes require.  (and I'll quote them here because they are just too cool).  
  • Do you resolve, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to discharge without fail the Office of Priesthood in the presbyteral rank, as a worthy fellow worker with the Order of Bishops in caring for the Lord’s flock?
  • Do you resolve to exercise the ministry of the word worthily and wisely, preaching the Gospel and teaching the Catholic faith?
  • Do you resolve to celebrate faithfully and reverently, in accord with the Church’s tradition, the mysteries of Christ, especially the sacrifice of the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Reconciliation, for the glory of God and the sanctification of the Christian people?
  • Do you resolve to implore with us God’s mercy upon the people entrusted to your care by observing the command to pray without ceasing?
  • Do you resolve to be united more closely every day to Christ the High Priest, who offered Himself for us to the Father as a pure sacrifice, and with Him to consecrate yourself to God for the salvation of all?
  • Do you promise respect and obedience to me and my successors?
Gosh, the vocation of priesthood is so awesome (in both the sense that it inspires awe and it is really cool).  It is so scary to think that I could be called to that life - to living as Christ for the people...  To discharge without fail the Office of Priesthood, to exercise the ministry of the word worthily and wisely, to celebrate faithfully and reverently, to pray without ceasing, be united with Christ, the pure sacrifice, and consecrate yourself to God for the salvation of all, to promise respect and obedience to the successor of the Apostles. Yeah, awesome but scary...  And, guess what, the only way that any man will be able to live up to these supernatural standards is by totally, radically, completely, utterly, etc. loving Jesus Christ.  Please pray for Fr. Hyland Smith, as he begins a totally new life, and all of us seminarians as we discern if that same life is what we're called to.  Good thing grace is there!

Final note - Fr. Hyland chose "Tota vita mea Iesu Christo" as his priestly "motto" (it's on the card I got at his first blessing...).  My translation: "My entire life to Jesus Christ"  And that pretty much sums up being a priest...  (easy right?)

Please keep in mind that my Latin translation may not be terribly perfect, and also keep those prayers coming!
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