Showing posts with label Serving. Show all posts

Serving for the Pope - Awesome in More Ways Than Meets the Eye

So, I've come to the conclusion that gazillion-word blog posts are not a good thing (primarily because they take forever for me to write - so I don't often write them - but also because they take a long time to read - and most of you folks don't have an over-abundance of time, so here's a short post about my serving for the Pope this past Christmas).  I'm currently  in the midst of 2-3 weeks of oral finals (the 6 of them are spaced out pretty well - which is nice because there's less stress, but not-so-nice because it means I'm doing finals for 3 weeks...), but since my next one isn't until Friday, I decided to get an update out...
 
Background: a group of guys from Brute were going to be coming to Rome after a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, and so I stuck around here for the first week of Christmas break so that I could show them around and hang out with them while they were here.  Obviously, I wasn't going to miss the chance to spend time with them, and I was also pretty pumped to be able to experience Rome around Christmas and show them around the city that I had been enjoying for the past few months, but those reasons would quickly be over-shadowed by a certain even-more-amazing blessing that was given us...
 
My task, in the months leading up to their trip here, was to line up the things we'd be seeing/doing while they were here, so - besides tours of St. John Lateran's, St. Mary Major, St. Peter's, the Scavi, a trip to Assisi, different walks around Rome to see other churches, and the coliseum, and stuff like that - I also wanted to get them tickets to attend Midnight (actually 9:30 PM) Mass on Christmas at St. Peter's.  So, I contacted the sisters at the Casa Santa Maria (located right next to the Gregorian, it was the NAC before it moved up here on the Janiculum, and these days it's the house of further studies for American priests, and the place where the sisters work to line things up for American pilgrims/tourists in Rome).  Basically, I contacted them to request tickets for the 9 of us seminarians and to check into how Fr. Bob (the rector at Brute) could be able to concelebrate at Christmas Mass.  As it turned out - a couple of weeks later - the sisters were unable to get tickets for us to attend Mass (they didn't get very many this year), but Fr. Bob, who had meanwhile contacted the liturgical folks over at St. Peter's, had gotten a ticket to concelebrate and permission for us seminarians to attend Mass.  The letter, though, was in Italian, and it also - intriguingly - asked that us seminarians show up to St. Peter's the day before for a prova [Italian for "practice" or "meeting"].  I didn't know why we would have to show up for something the day before (it wasn't specific) - surely we weren't serving or something... - but the more I asked around, the more I found that there was no other reason for us to be there the day before unless we were going to be serving. 
 
Practicing before Mass!
So, long story short, we made our way into St. Peter's on the morning of the 24th, found Msgr. Cihak, who we were supposed to meet up with, and - after he asked if we were the group from Indianapolis - he immediately started assigning us different things to do during the Mass.  I was picked for carrying the 7th candle (indicating the presence of a bishop - in this case the pope), to hold the microphone for the deacon (prayers of the faithful, "the Mass is ended, go in peace", etc.) and to wash Pope Francis's hands during the offertory.  We were all looking at each other like - wait, so we're serving for the Pope! - and sure enough, we were!  We then had a practice to run through everything we'd be doing that evening (all the MC's made it super easy, literally, you just waited at your spot until they came and got you for your next task), and then we were asked to show back up that evening early enough to run through everything again, oh, and so we could meet, and help vest, the Pope before Mass!  Needless to say, we were on cloud nine for the rest of the day! 
 
 

Waiting for His Holiness!
We arrived back at St. Peter's around 8 PM, had our practice, and then spent 30 minutes anxiously in the chapel of the Pieta (which I hadn't ever seen anybody inside of, it is all behind glass) for the Pope to arrive.  20 minutes until Mass, in walked the Vicar of Christ, and moments later he was walking around greeting us and shaking our hands!  What a moment!  Looking back, even after a month, I can't quite wrap my mind around it.  It wasn't just a cool moment because I got to greet the pope - you know, he's pretty famous, the head of the Church, directly connected with St. Peter, and Christ's chosen vicar here on earth - gosh, it was so much more than that.  But, so much more amazing to me than that, was the realization that Pope Francis is a human being like the rest of us.  Maybe that should be obvious - ok, it definitely should - and don't get me wrong - he's definitely been given a position, and a responsibility, way beyond mine, and I'd guess most of yours...  But, as I shook his hand and looked into his eyes I saw a man that was excited to celebrate Christmas, and tired from a long day in a hard "job", and happy to see us serving for him, and - in so many ways - a person a lot like myself.  I don't want to underplay his role in the Church by any means, but it was such an eye-opening experience to realize that he's not just a person that shows up on TV, or gives an angelus address each week, or writes encyclicals that I try to read.  He's a person with strengths and weaknesses, joys and sorrows, favorite
foods, and books, and hobbies... 

 
 
A couple months back we had the opportunity to go on a tour of the Swiss Guards' barracks, and the guard giving us a tour mentioned that from time to time he got to be stationed outside of Pope Francis's apartment, and so he got to know the Pope fairly well, including the fact that he really liked candy but had been told by his doctors that he'd have to cut back on sweets for health reasons.  At the time I chuckled with everybody else, but that little detail didn't actually sink in until I had the chance to meet the pope and serve for him.  Seeing him - up close - during that Mass reminded me again and again that he's a man like the rest of us -  and weak like the rest of us.  Yet, he's been given a responsibility - to feed Christ's flock - that's absolutely tremendous.  Basically, I saw that he wasn't some sort of super-human character, but he still has a super-human job to do!  He didn't look invincible, or for that matter terribly weak, he just looked really normal!  What I realized during that Mass was that - above all else - he needs our prayers!  How quick we are to complain about Pope Francis - he's too vague, he's too critical, he's too liberal, he's too conservative, whatever - but how often we forget to pray for him: for his health, and strength, and holiness! 
 
So yeah, it was an amazing experience to be able to serve for the Pope!  I was thrilled while I was doing it, it'll probably be one of my top-10 experiences for the rest of my life, and it's bound to make good homily material one day (God willing).  But, as so often is the case, there's so much more to each experience than meets the eye!  This is why I love blogging about these things, it makes me reflect back on them and see the deeper meaning.  Serving for Pope Francis means serving him in so many more ways than just holding a candle and pouring water over his hands!  It means serving along-side of him in the Church, in praying for him and for the Church that he is leading, and I am also a part of. 
 

Yeah, so it was incredible, and eye-opening, and inspiring, and profound, and awesome!
 
Sorry, they did take pictures of the actual meeting with the Pope (and Mass afterwards), but I haven't bought them, so I can't put them  up here, yet...
 
 
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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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Happy New Year!

As the title says: Happy New Year!  I had a great time on Sunday/Monday hanging out with other Springfield seminarians.  They are a bunch of absolutely top-notch guys and an absolute blast to spend time with.  As usual, we stayed that the Villa Maria, which is a retreat center that the diocese owns right off of lake Springfield.  Everyone arrived around 3PM on Sunday and we spent some time mostly chatting until around 4 when some priests from the diocese arrived.  The Christmas gathering is our chance to not only hang out as seminarians but also to get to know some of the priests of the diocese (which I did).  We had evening prayer at 4:30, followed by some snacks (more chatting), and then dinner (which was composed of salad, rolls, roast beef, shepherds pie [really good!], mashed potatoes, and cheesecake).  There are two new guys who are entering Brute this coming up semester, which is fantastic (they are also brothers, which is even cooler), and I had the chance to talk with them some over dinner.  After dinner most of the priests took off, though we still had a good time joking, chatting, and (I'm running out of words to describe spending time together...) hanging out.  It was a wonderful time, and I stayed up almost until midnight talking with the other guys.  The next morning we had Mass at 8:00, followed by breakfast, and then a talk by the bishop.  He touched on many of the topics that often come up these days - gay marriage, Pope Francis, the new evangelization - all things we need to be aware of and knowledgeable about.  Many of the guys chimed in with their ideas on each topic and it turned into a really good conversation.  Then we had lunch and then everybody drove off their separate ways.  And that, at least very summarized, was the Christmas get-together!  (I also had some good chances to pray.  There is a chapel at the villa, and for whatever reason, I often pray really well in a place that is different than usual.)

I raced back to Quincy that afternoon and got back in time to go over to St. Rose for a serving practice.  Unexpectedly (at least to me), the Bishop (along with the Quincy deanery) decided to turn St. Rose into a parish, and so we had to figure out how to do a pontifical Mass.  St. Rose is staffed by the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter, who's charism is to provide the faithful with the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, and so, Mass with a bishop is rather complicated and different than the typical high-Mass that we have each Sunday.  Two summers ago the Bishop celebrated Mass at St. Rose, but that also included the consecration of the altars, confirmation, and a Corpus Christi procession, so it was way more complicated than the Mass he said today.  (I have the video of that liturgy in 2012 on YouTube if you want to see what it was like...)  Anyway, practice lasted nearly 2 hours because we kept trying to hash out how different things would happen.  The sanctuary gets pretty cramped when you throw a Bishop, Deacon, Sub-deacon, and a dozen servers up there, so it took pretty long to figure out exactly what each person would have to do, and where they could fit.  

That evening my brother, a friend from church, and myself went out for pizza and some bowling.  We had a good evening - the pizza was great (pizza buffet = wonderful), and bowling was fun (though none of us even broke 100 in a single game...), and all-in-all it was a good time.  We goofed off a bit, trying different crazy methods to roll the ball down the lane - sliding, sideways, backwards, two hands, no hands, heavy, light...  We tried them all!  I just wish my Wii bowling skills would transfer into real life!  

On Tuesday I spent the morning running around knocking things off my to-do list.  First it was the eye-doctor, then the bank, then the doctor to get my immunization updated (yay!), and then it was off to noon Mass at St. Rose.  After Mass I met up with Corey Bruns, a fellow seminarian from Brute who was born in Quincy (and has family here), but is now a seminarian from Owensboro KY, and we went to Maid-Rites for lunch.  It was actually Corey's idea, but I was glad to get the chance to go there anyway.  (Besides, how do you beat a maid-rite and chocolate shake for lunch?)  We had a good time just chatting about how our breaks had been.  Apparently, Corey's was, if this is even possible, more hectic and busy than mine!

I actually don't remember what I did Tuesday afternoon - I was busy, but with what?

And that folks, will have to be all for now.  It is almost midnight, and despite my intention to write about Mass today, I do want to get some sleep!  I sincerely hope to get that written tomorrow or the next day!  (But whenever I say that something always seems to come up...)  

Say a prayer for all us seminarians to Mary Mother of God - she must be an exemplar to us all, and certainly is a mother to us all!  Think about how amazing it is that God has a human mother - just crazy!  May I recommend entrusting 2014 to her care!


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Another Dose of Humility

I like this quote...
Wow, it sure seems like God is working on my humility lately...  So the last few days, now that I have finished my summer job, I have been working on getting ready for moving over to Bruté - you know, get the car full of gas, sort through the boxes of stuff (that I still haven't unpacked) from last semester, find notebooks for classes, etc.  Anyway, because I am not working this week, I have been able to attend noon Mass with the family over at St. Rose (most week-days I had been going to 6:30 AM Mass at St. Francis), and, as it happened, yesterday and today I was privileged to get to serve.  

Anyway, to cut a long story short, and to make this blog post less wordy, I was rather distracted during Mass.  Just before we left for church I had watched a video on YouTube about some of the profound symbolism found in the Mass.  This video was about the Extraordinary Form Mass (in particular), something that I want to write about ASAP, but that topic will have to wait for another time.  Suffice it to say, some of the points made in this video were running through my mind as Mass started and I ended up stumbling (vocally) while reciting the Confiteor.  As you can see below, the first and second halves of the prayer have very similar phrasing - the major difference being the tenses of the words.  (The confiteor in the Ordinary Form is similar, repeating "my brothers and sisters" at the beginning and the end.)  Thus, if you were to get "de-railed" and start saying the second half of the prayer before the first half - it's bad.  Anyway, that is exactly what I did this morning, and, for whatever reason, my brother ended up doing the exact same thing.  We said "omnes Sanctos" when we should have said "omnibus Sanctis", and thus, we both wanted to move onto the conclusion of the prayer when we hadn't finished the first half yet.  There was an awkward pause as we both worked out where we had gone wrong, and what we actually needed to say, before the prayer continued.  It's is actually kind of funny that it happened today.  Sometimes, when I am nervous before serving, for whatever reason, it crosses my mind that I could forget the responses (this is Latin after all and I'm not exactly a whiz at it), but today that possibility hadn't even entered my head.  I was just cruising through the prayers and, wham, totally screwed it up.  I guess God is letting me know that I am not the greatest server since St. John Berchmans (yeah, I guess I knew that, but still, I did think pretty highly of myself)...  Mea Culpa!

I am really hopeful to work on a post about the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite (which some call the Traditional Latin Mass).  I am in kind of an unique position of going to both Forms of the Mass (hopefully that is the correct terminology), and I am sure that some people are intrigued, confused, or interested by that. - coming soon!

Confiteor Deo omnipotenti, beatæ Mariæ semper Virgini, beato Michaeli Archangelo, beato Ioanni Baptistæ, sanctis Apostolis Petro et Paulo, omnibus Sanctis, et tibi, pater: quia peccavi nimis cogitatione, verbo et opere: mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. Ideo precor beatam Mariam semper Virginem, beatum Michaelem Archangelum, beatum Ioannem Baptistam, sanctos Apostolos Petrum et Paulum, omnes Sanctos, et te, pater, orare pro me ad Dominum Deum nostrum.
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Blogging Over the Summer - Finding Christ Everywhere

Sorry for the lack of blogging over the past week or two, I have found it harder than I expected to find stuff to write about now that I am home.  

OK, a recap of the last week:

On Thursday I went to Latin class with the family.  The priest at St. Rose has graciously been teaching us Latin for a few years, and the family kept it up after I left for seminary.  Anyway, I am woefully behind on just about everything (vocabulary, grammar, structure, everything).  They are currently working on translating a simplified Gospel (think children's bible, in Latin).  So, I showed up to class having prepared nothing before hand, and having become quite rusty on just about everything.  I made it through, I guess, but there were a few less-than-stellar examples of translations.  I am very thankful that I am already familiar with the stories (Wedding at Cana, Apostles in boat in storm...), so once you get a few words the other ones start to fall into place - of course, I still managed to forget some pretty basic constructions, but that's what you get from several months of no practice.

On Friday, I attended the home school group monthly get-together.  We've been members of it ever since I can remember (I was home schooled from first to twelfth grade), and I can remember many fun times growing up and going to it.  Anyway, we played some Frisbee, I watched all the kids give their presentation (the activity for this month) - some were pretty cool: valence electrons, organic polymers, piano recitals, and other, various, cool presentations.  We stuck around as the mom talked throughout the afternoon, played some soccer in the parking lot (not quite as fun as "real" soccer), and got home around 6.

On Saturday, we participated in the Bridge the Gap.  It is a running race that we have done before, which is pretty cool because it goes across one of the Quincy bridges and back on the other.  It's a fun little 5K, but I always underestimate ho hard it will be.  The first mile is easy: you start going up this steep hill, but it's only about 2 blocks and the rest of the mile is mostly downhill as you cross over the first bridge.  Thus, I finished the first mile in a blistering 6:30 or so.  The second mile, though, entails crossing back over the second bridge.  And, it is all uphill.  Literally, the entire mile is a pretty good uphill climb.  Anyway, I finally finished the second mile (at which point I was right at a 7:00 min/mile pace) and went down the hill after the 2nd bridge and onto the (relatively) flat last mile.  Unfortunately, I was "recovering" from the 2nd mile and didn't ever bump up the pace like I wanted to.  Either way, I made sure to stay up with this other guy who appeared to be near my age and managed to spring the last tenth of a mile or so and pass him.  I got 2nd in my age group and 8th place overall (surprised myself with that one!).  I finished in 21:52 (something like that), which is a 7:04 min/mile, and which also is about as fast as I've ever run a 5k.  I think I may have gone a bit faster in some of the training runs for the half-marathon, but those were probably a good bit more flat.  Ah well, I think I could have gone a bit faster, but in hind site I always think I could have done better, so there you go...  

On Sunday, we did Mass at St. Rose, where I was recruited to serve - no biggie...  That afternoon we started packing for vacation.  As a family, we try to go on a vacation (almost) every year.  This year, which is "bigger" than normal, we are going to Yosemite.  So, we decided to start the fun a week early and begin to pack what we would be bringing.  Of course, seeing it as a challenge, my goal is to pack everything in a bag that can be carried on the airplane (they have a specific size that you can't go over).  Anyway, this gets a bit more difficult when you try to fit a back-pack, hiking shoes, a laptop, and the clothes in the carry on bag...  Have no fear, I'll get it in there, but I sure hope I don't have to open it until we get there.  I can zip it up right now, but still need to fit in another pair of shoes, the computer, and a shirt.  

On Monday, I started my summer job over at Titan Wheel.  It isn't that there is less going on...  The job begins at 7:30 AM, so I go to Mass at 6:30 AM every morning.  So far the job has been pretty good - just getting back into the swing of things from last summer - we'll see how it develops.  I get done at 4:00PM and then we usually have something going on that takes up the rest of the evening.  If we don't have something going on, I typically manage to waste the evening hours before hitting the sack around 10 PM so that I can get several hours of shut-eye before the alarm goes off.  

So there you have it, the last few days have been non-stop stuff to do.  (did I mention I had to sign up for Spanish on Thursday, or the packet pick-up for the race on Friday, or the after-Mass group we went out for lunch with on Sunday, or the mowing I helped out with on Monday...)  Don't think that I am complaining - but I am busy...

OK, all that writing leads me to what I actually wanted to get to.  Today, mid-day prayer, which I prayed during my lunch break, had this as its concluding prayer:
God of mercy,this midday moment of restis your welcome gift.
Bless the work we have begun,
make good its defects
and let us finish it in a way that pleases you.
Grant this through Christ our Lord.
– Amen.
I thought that the entire prayer was such a beautiful thing to say in the middle of a busy, tiring, sometimes annoying and frustrating day.  Yesterday, I was going around to the lock-boxes around the plant and checking to see if all the locks were present and working.  Anyway, this one box was inside an office of sorts and while I was checking out the locks, a few guys came in off the paint line, where they had been working, and the one guy said to me "you have a pretty tough job there don't you" - briefly the thought of how greasy the locks were, or how many different boxes there were to audit, or how long it would take me to type up the results popped into my head - and they I looked over at him sitting there peeling off the plastic suit that he had been wrapped in (it was probably 80 out) while spraying paint, and it hit me that just maybe his job was more tough than mine.  You know, how I got to take the golf cart around to the different boxes, or how I could sit in an air-conditioned office for most of the day, rather than just my lunch break...  You know, how my job was plush compared to his, and I had no reason at all to complain about it...

I thought this prayer was such a beautiful way to remind ourselves of the gift that every day truly is.  How each and every moment, those of rest, those of work, those of fun, those of sorrow, can be seen as an opportunity to grow closer to God.  To thank Him for the good, to ask His help through the laborious, to see His love in the joyful, and find the path to Him through the sorrowful.  "and let us finish it in a way that please you." - It is incredible when you actually pay attention to the prayers that we say each day.  Seriously, I say the prayers of the Mass every day, I (try to) say the prayers of the rosary every day, I say the Divine Office every day, and yet these beautiful reminders of God's love, mercy, aid, generosity, and everything else are so easy to miss.  You know, it's going to be easy to see that when on vacation - when everything is fun, and there aren't any worries - but what happens when I get back?  When Monday comes around and I have to go back to work.  That is when it is more important than ever to see God's presence, and love around us, and use our everyday lives to grow closer to Him.  I think it was in the Gospel today when Jesus says that whoever isn't against me is for me.  I think that that can also be said of everyday live - it doesn't have to lead us to Christ, but it sure can if we let it...  Just a thought.  My hope is that by trying to find Christ everywhere, I can find more to blog about as the summer goes by - we'll see what happens when Spanish gets started in a few weeks...

"Grant this through Christ Our Lord - Amen"
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