Showing posts with label Snow. Show all posts

This is Break? - A recap of the last week...

As you may have noticed, I haven't been particularly on top of the whole blogging thing for a few weeks.  Now, I had a good excuse last week, it was finals week - that's understandable - but why no posts this week (other than videos)?  Well, as always, I've been busy.  I really have wanted to get some posts written (I enjoy doing it), but life has just been non-stop lately.

I really was assuming that I would have a good bit of time to relax and get some good spiritual reading done over Christmas break.  I have large (and growing) stack of books that I want to read and I got through very few of them this past semester because I was kept busy by a hard course load, not to mention the other seminary obligations, and just spending time doing things with the other guys.  Anyway, I figured that once I got home I would have a week or two to really crack down on Advent, get some serious reading/prayer time in and adequately prepare myself for Christmas.  Well, that hasn't happened yet.  Anyway, here's a few of the things that happened to me this week...  (I'm also working on a more faith-oriented post, but that will have to come a bit later.)
Terrible at the beginning
Last Friday I filled my day helping out around Brute (they were about to have an open house), packing everything I wanted to take home (always takes longer than I expect), and doing a little bit of ice-skating with a few guys (which is fun, but a bit freaky considering I never figured out how to stop).  Early Saturday morning I went to Mass and pretty shortly afterwards threw my stuff in the car and started towards home.  As forecasted, about 6 inches of snow had fallen the night before, so the highways were absolutely horrible.  I was hoping that they would be cleared off by the time I got going, but they were anything but clean.  The snow had softened on the pavement, only to refreeze into a slippery, dangerous, frozen slush.  Along with that, I couldn't see half the time because snow was streaming down and whenever I got behind someone it was just a cloud of slush that even turbo mode on the wipers couldn't fix it was probably the worst road conditions I had ever driven in and there were way too many moments where I was legitimately doubting how much control I had over the car.
beautiful at the end!

Thankfully (and showing, once again, just how awesome of a guardian angel I have), I didn't get stuck in a ditch anywhere or slide into any other cars (but it was pretty close a few times)...   Anyway, it was only really bad for the just the first 100 miles or so.  Once I got past Springfield it was much better and I finally started appreciating the beauty of the snow covered landscape.  Actually, it was quite stunning - everything was covered in a fresh layer of snow and all the intricate branches of the trees were outlined with a thin layer of snow - it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I got home around 4 PM and found that Dad and my younger brother, Alex, were over at Church building a outdoor crèche so that we could have a nativity scene outside.  Mom said they had been working on it all day and apparently weren't going to finish it that evening.  I was a little incredulous that a simple stable would take hours and hours, but I decided to head over there and see what was going on.  Anyway, to finish off the rest of the story, this project was much, much bigger than I had imagined it and the skeleton that I found constructed in the basement of the hall was nearly 10 feet on each side and poking up into the ceiling (it's a dropped-ceiling, so they had removed some of the tiles so that it would fit.)  As it turned out, it was quite the project because it had to be fully able to be disassembled into several pieces so that it could be reused, so they had two platforms bolted together for the base, 4 different wall pieces (in varying states of completion), three of which would have glass once they were finished, and the back one which would be solid wood, 4 trusses to hook onto the walls and hold the roof panels.  


the semi-finished creche
Now complete, as it appears at night
Needless to say, it was a much bigger project than I had anticipated, so I lent a hand that evening, and several more evenings that week, to hash out how everything would go together, assemble it, and slowly figure out each section by repeating that process.  Finally, this morning we took the (now disassembled) stable-thing out of the basement, across the iced over parking lot, and assembled it in front of the Church/rectory.  I again underestimated the time it would take to get everything put together and the complications that we would run into (apparently, once you take something like that apart it is difficult to put everything back the way you had it, and then you get a piece almost in place only to be unable to fit that last bolt in place...)  It was drizzling and 30ish the entire time, so that was a bit miserable, but we did eventually get it together, so it was all worth it.  I'm glad I was able to help, I haven't been able to do projects like that in a while.  Good times!
In a funny twist of scheduling I have had an unprecedented number of appointments this week.  On Tuesday it was a physical (those are always enjoyable...), on Wednesday it was the dentist (one more appointment and hopefully I'll have the final implant to replace a tooth I knocked out on my bike almost a decade ago...), on Thursday it was the dentist (a different one, this time to just get a cleaning), on Friday it was for an EKG (the doctor on Tuesday thought he heard a heart murmur...), and an eye appointment (no glaucoma, retina in good shape, lens prescription hasn't changed - basically, my eyes haven't changed at all...)  I usually don't have that variety of different health-oriented checkups in a year, much less a week.  Oh well, I guess I'm just blessed, or something like that...

Gosh, there was so much else that went on this week.  So, in my usual style I think I will rattle them all off really quickly (only stopping to throw details within an absurdly long, but hopefully enlightening, set of parentheses).  I wrote Christmas cards to my family (the first time I have done that, to update them all on what's up in my life and wish them a particularly wonderful, peaceful, and blessed Christmas).  I went to the Monday-evening meeting of the Junior Legion of Mary (I was a member for years before becoming the president of the small group a few years back.  It was a fun time, I always love to drop in when I can to see how they are all doing and enjoy the beautiful mission of the legion - do the work of the Church with and through Our Blessed Mother)  On Monday evening I went with the family and both priests from St. Rose to The Hobbit - The Desolation of Smaug (It was a good movie, though I'll have to think about it a bit more before giving it my final review)  On Wednesday night I went over to Church where Father gave a short talk on Matthew 25-26 before watching the DVD lecture on that same topic by Jeff Cavins.  (It was about Jesus' apocalyptic words covering the end of the temple/world, hopefully I'll be able to work that into a post in a few days...)  On Thursday, I went to Exposition for an hour (which was peaceful and really, really "productive") and then a talk by some theology professors from Quincy University at St. Peter's on humility and love (both were fantastic talks, if I can remember enough details, those will also get wrapped into my post-of-the-future).  I finished polishing up some bits of my senior seminar paper (the professor asked me to get it a bit more finished over Christmas break, which was good because there was some spots that I just wasn't quite happy with).  I wrote a letter to my sister (wishing her a merry Christmas and updating her on what has happened since my last letter around Thanksgiving).  I worked out a time or two (the treadmill is as boring as ever, but I just couldn't force myself to go outside...)  Finally, to end this long monologue, we are just now driving back from some friends who just got their house built, having enjoyed a wonderful evening and delicious dinner, and were lucky/blessed to have relatively good roads despite the ice storm that went through today).  That, I think, is almost everything that has happened this week - I am sure I missed something, but I wanted to get some sort of update out about what happens once I go on break (hint: in this case "break" would be used in the equivocal sense, in other words, not really a break at all).  Nevertheless, I am enjoying myself, getting a little more sleep than I did last week, and otherwise having a great time.  We'll see if I can get any time to do some preparing for Christmas. 

I hope you all have a wonderful last few days before Christmas! 
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Vocations are Awesome!

On Monday night I (along with the other Springfield guys here at Brute) went over to a vocation night at the Newman center at Eastern Illinois University.  We prayed Evening Prayer together at 4 PM, crammed ourselves into Willie's car, and drove the 2ish hours it took to get to Charleston.  Of course, the ride was fun; we jammed to some music (I was introduced to the sound track of Space Jam, which apparently the rest of the known world has watched, but I haven't...), laughed at life, did some homework (I got, I think, 2 pages into a book...), and I took a short nap.  We got to the Newman center about an hour before everything was supposed to start, so we had an opportunity to relax a little bit, rearrange furniture down in the basement (which is also used as a St. Vincent De Paul Society, and so, has a ton of couches and stuff), and talk with Fr. John Titus, who is the priest for this Newman Center, and puts on this vocation night each year.

Around 6:00 (CT), people started arriving and I started chatting with (some of) them.  Pretty much everybody was new to me (though the other guys knew some people because we were only about 4o minutes from their homes), so I got to meet a bunch of new people.  There were 5 sisters there from a variety of different orders (2 were Dominicans, who were quite happy to find that two seminarians were named Dominic... )  Fr. Alford, the vocation director for the Springfield IL diocese, arrived right at 6:30 and dinner followed shortly after (rather tasty I might add: Jimmy-Johns, chips+salsa, carrots, fudge, brownies, and cookies).  I sat with a few of the other guys and a set of brothers who are in the process of (possibly) applying to enter next semester.  They are really cool guys, and we had a fun time eating with them.
After dinner we split into groups of guys (who went with the priests) and girls (who went with the sisters) and started the vocation side of the evening.  Fr. Alford opened the evening with a fantastic vocation talk.  Of course, I can't remember it verbatim, but one memorable thing that he said was that life is like a jig-saw puzzle.  It's up to us to choose who's picture we want to look at to fit together the puzzle.  We can look at the innumerable pictures that the world puts in front of us - cars, money, fame, whatever, or we can follow God's picture for our life.  Obviously, following God's picture is the best bet - want happiness? go to the source.  The analogy continued: the frame that we should assemble first and which guides where we put all the other pieces is our faith - it is within this guide that we need to fit all the parts of our life, otherwise our puzzle will never come together and we will never had a joyful, fulfilled, stable life.  Unfortunately, I've forgotten most of the rest of his talk, but hopefully you are able to get the gist - it was really great!

Continuing right along, after Fr. Alford another priest (of who I forget his name) of an order dedicated to Mary (maybe the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception of the Most Blessed Virgin Mary?) spoke about the vocation of religious life.  Obviously, there are similarities (at least when comparing between priesthood in either case), but I loved his analogy of the diocesan priesthood as the Army or Marines - the usual hierarchy of the Church - and religion orders as special op's - filling a certain role in a specific place and time.  This priest was also the first to tell his vocation story.  He got interested in church music in high-school, redirecting his college plans from medicine (I think?) to music.  Of course, the story doesn't stop there; he eventually started practicing organ at the monastery/seminary of this religious order.  Soon enough doors started opening and he felt the call to enter the order... 
Next all of us seminarians told our stories.  Obviously, I can't recount them all here (I would mix the stories together), but I thought it was so cool to hear them all again.  The running joke is that the story changes a bit every time you tell it depending on the circumstances that are relevant at that time, and it is so true.  I heard different bits of everybody's story - some of us heard the call when we were young, some not so much; we all had different reasons why we felt we had to follow the call, we all had different obstacles to overcome, but seriously all of the stories were still inspiring!  Gosh, I remember when I was in exactly the same position as some of these guys - hanging out with seminarians, hearing their stories, asking some of the same questions... - it's so cool to be on the other side as a seminarian.  Man, it's awesome!

Alright - big, important, cool points of the discussion: Pray - a lot, that is the only way to discern God's will and have the courage to follow it.  Be not afraid - fear is never a reason to avoid or consider a vocation.  God doesn't choose the qualified, He qualifies the chosen - don't think we are all saints, or orators, or martyrs, that is why we have to surrender to God, so that He can make up for our lackings.  Watch for the signs - when you are discerning it is tough to see what to do, but look for where God is opening doors, putting a desire in your heart, telling you through other people, or giving you joy and peace.  Where are you most selfless? - God calls us all to give ourselves to others in some way, where is that for you?  No vocation is a selfish one.  Guys, you are called to  be a father regardless - whether that is spiritually (in the priesthood) or not.  I hope I didn't forget any good ones...
There you have it.  We probably discussing for an hour or two (time flies when you are having fun), and a bit before 9 PM we went back upstairs.  Every Monday they do a night-prayer-like prayer.  It was actually very beautiful.  They sang a song (that I hadn't heard before) to the Holy Spirit through several times (with different people harmonizing with it differently for each verse), then chanted a psalm (same setup), then another song (again, harmonizing it), then some intercessions (chanted), and finally the Salve Regina.  It was a bit tricky to catch the melody of each song in the first verse so that when people started harmonizing in the second, third, and fourth verses I'd know what to sing, but it was pretty.  It's really interesting, I usually wouldn't be into that kind of thing - too much flamboyance - but here I found it to be beautiful and a good 20 minutes or so of prayer.  I don't think I'd want to do it every night, but it was a good experience.

After this prayer we talked for a few more minutes with the remaining folks, and then hopped back in the car.  It was (obviously) dark out by this time and snowing - beautiful!  The ride back was tiring, but we kept the music pumping, prayed a rosary, and I drifted off into a nap for a bit.  It was an absolutely fantastic evening - man vocations are so cool!  Actually, despite only getting about 5 hours of sleep, Mass this morning was a lot more meaningful this morning.  I was just concentrating better, and praying it.  Gotta love it!

Alright, back to the books - 2 tests on Wednesday, 2 short essays due next week, and 3 long papers the week after that (though I have the rough draft done of one of those).  I can't wait until thanksgiving, at that point I'll just have finals left (should be easy... yeah...)
Brute courtyard with the first snowfall this year.
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Snow! (Updated)

trees with snow (Wednesday morning)
Here in Indianapolis we just had a snowstorm come through and drop a few (several?) inches of snow.  It was coming down pretty heavily from about 6-9, but I don't know if it has continued.  Anyway, it was the very big, wet, pretty kind of snow that makes you cheerful because it's not rain.  

As our (self-made) schedule dictates,  today is a running day, so Dominic, Willie, and myself went for a run around 6 PM.  It was pretty chilly (32 degrees), there was about a half inch of slush on the ground wherever we ran (so it was pretty slippery especially up hills), I could feel the slush flying up and rolling down my legs (I don't have running pants, so shorts it is...), and the snow was smacking me in the face as we went (so it was cold).  Overall, it was what most people would call miserable, but I am very, very glad that I went for a run.  I feel much better now and now have a bit more confidence in being able to run in not-so-exemplary conditions.  

 inside courtyard with snow (Tuesday evening)
A cool aspect of running in the snow is that you can examine your footprints.  The run we did was an out and back, where you run a certain distance (or time) and then turn around and run back the way you came.  Well, when we turned around we noticed a few things about our footprints.  First, all three sets of prints were almost the exact same stride (within an inch), so there were 3 prints side-by-side and then 3 more, etc.  Also, my feet are a lot smaller than the other two guys (no surprise there).  Thirdly, two of the sets of prints were straight forward/backward and the other set were slightly angled outwards.  There you go; there's benefits to running in the snow.

I have a feeling that there will be a lot of snow on the cars tomorrow before classes - it should be interesting!  Maybe we'll have a snowball fight, that would be fantastic!  Have fun while the snow lasts folks!




Panorama from my window (Wednesday morning)


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