Yes, I am still alive. I finally have a chance to come up for air at least for a few moments. This last week was definitely one of the most challenging weeks I have had in seminary. It was challenging not only physically, but mentally, spiritually, and emotionally as well. Suffice to say that I am still a little tired (seems to be a persistent state for most guys here) but should be able to rest some this weekend.
Speaking of this weekend, we are hosting approximately thirty men ranging in age from seventeen to late thirties who are a part of what is called “Live-In Weekend.” This event allows prospective seminarians to come stay with us for three and a half days to see what life in the seminary is like. In visiting with the guys, I realized that there are a lot of basic things about seminary that people do not know. It was also good for me to realize that this same time last year I was in their shoes. This is about the time of year when I began to apply with my diocese to come to seminary. I hope to offer a more spiritual reflection about that tomorrow, but today want to tell you about some of the basics of seminary.
I am currently studying at Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, Texas. The seminary is located on the campus of the University of Dallas (UD). We are secluded enough from the campus that the regular students do not often come down “the hill” around the seminary but it is close enough that we can easily walk up “the hill” to our classes. We live, eat, sleep, and pray at the seminary and attend classes with lay students at UD. Our professors are very talented lay people who provide us with a classical Liberal Arts education. A few of our professors are Cistercian Monks from the nearby abbey. We also have the Southern Province Dominican Priory across the parking lot from us.
Holy Trinity is home to twenty-nine seminarians from seven dioceses including Little Rock, Lubbock, Fort Worth, Dallas, Austin, Galveston-Houston (they are quick to remind us they are an Archdiocese…), and Victoria. Holy Trinity is what is a college seminary; meaning that the men studying here are working on a bachelor’s degree in Philosophy and Letters. There are other men, like myself, who have at least a bachelor’s degree and are taking our pre-requisite Philosophy and Theology classes before entering Theology Studies (Major Seminary). I am considered a part of the latter group and we are appropriately called Pre-Theologians or “Pre-Thees” for short. By university standards Pre-Theologians are considered non degree seeking graduate students. The college seminarians take fifteen credit hours each semester while Pre-Theologians take twelve. The younger guys like to point out that they have to take more classes then us. We then remind them that we have put in our time as evident by the degree(s) that hang on our wall.
Last semester I took some basic introductory courses to Theology and Philosophy. The course names were: Understanding the Bible, Philosophy and the Ethical Life, Philosophy of Man, and Elementary Latin I. It was quite the adjustment being back in college. I remember the feeling the first day walking to class with a backpack on my back. I thought to myself, “How in the world did you end up doing this all over again?” I had the same thought during finals week.
This semester seems to be more challenging. The courses are getting tougher and the demands on my time are increasing. I am taking Philosophy of Being (Metaphysics), Medieval Philosophy, Western Theological Traditions (Church History and teachings of the Early Church Fathers through Vatican II), and Elementary Latin II. Latin is not my favorite class but I am doing the best I can and think it is important for me to learn. Primarily, I am hoping that Latin will help me in learning Spanish this summer and the years to come.
A typical day for me means waking up at 5:15AM, showering, and then checking email and a few news websites each day. I look at the local news channel from back home and try to keep up with what is going on there. We begin Lauds (Morning Prayer) in community at 6:30AM followed by Mass. We then go to the Refectory (Dining Hall) for breakfast which for me is usually a bowl of Special K, a piece of wheat toast, and two cups of coffee. Between the hours of 8AM and 3PM we have classes at the University. It is like a typical college in that you are not in the same classes each day and you are not in class the entire time. During the day we also attend meetings like Music Class, Individual Music Instruction, Formation (one on one meeting with an advisor to talk about everything except matters related to Spiritual Direction and Confession), Spiritual Direction, Group Formation and others. At 5:15PM we gather back in the chapel for Vespers (Evening Prayer) followed by thirty minutes of silent meditation. We then go to the Refectory for dinner. Dinner is served family style at tables with groups of eight. Three seminarians serve as waiters for a week at a time and serve the entire meal and clear the tables. The waiters then have their meal once everyone has left. This is an attempt to get us to learn table manners, how to serve, and how to be served. Three other seminarians are also assigned to do dishes once the meal is over. It normally takes about 45 minutes to do the dishes and each of us does it about once a week.
After dinner, we are free to return to our rooms to study. Actually we are free to do whatever we want for the remainder of the evening but are encouraged to spend the time with our studies. It is also a time to wash clothes, iron clothes, call home, do spiritual reading etc. One night a week we also have a Practicum assignment. This year I am teaching RCIA at a local parish here in Irving. It is pleasant and rewarding work but it does put an added demand on our time and makes preparing for Friday Classes difficult.
Every Friday afternoon we have “Work Order.” For two hours the house in divided up into two groups. Half of the group is responsible for cleaning the inside of the seminary including bathrooms, vacuuming common rooms, dusting, cleaning the chapel, etc. The other half goes outside to maintain the grounds immediately surrounding the seminary. We do not have a janitorial staff or a landscaping crew as we do all the work ourselves. The time is meant to teach us how to keep up a house (later a rectory) and to take ownership in our house.
After Work Order we are free for the evening. Most of us guys will go out to eat and maybe see a movie. Saturdays are pretty much free for us to do whatever we need to do. There is a Mass here at the seminary but we are not required to go here. We are allowed to go to the Cistercian Abbey, the Traditional Latin Mass at a parish here in Dallas, or any other local parish. We are not allowed to go more than thirty minutes from the seminary at any time without permission from the Rector. Sunday mornings we gather at 8:30AM for Lauds. This is a formal event as we sing the prayers and are dressed in coat and tie. We then have Mass at 9:15AM and that Mass is open to the public. If you are ever up this way, please consider joining us for Mass. It is always great to see familiar faces. After Mass we have a social with our guests including donuts and coffee. The Seminarians and their guests then retire to the refectory for a formal brunch. After brunch, we are free the rest of the day. Most of the guys take a nap and then study for the rest of the day.
As you can see we do not have a lot of free time. During the fall we will have a Free Weekend once a month where we are allowed to go home or go out of town somewhere else. This semester we do not have any free weekends on the books and we are starting to feel the stress just three weeks in. When we do have free time, we like to play sports, watch television, talk, pray, or exercise. We do have a small weight room that has some basic equipment. The equipment is somewhat old and outdated but it is better than nothing. In fact, I asked the Rector about purchasing an elliptical machine for us to work out with. The Rector said that we just don’t have the money in the budget (I think the high quality ones that last are about 2K but to be honest I have not done any research). Perhaps in the future I will see if there is anyone willing to help out with this. In the meantime, there is a workout facility at the University that we are free to use.
I hope that I have given you a better idea of what life is like at the seminary. I am sure that there are still more questions. Please feel free to submit your questions as comments or email me. I am happy to answer then when time allows. As for now, I am off to Mass, then lunch, then I have dish duty. I humbly ask you to continue to keep me and my brothers in your prayers. We feel the prayers and rely on them often to help us to persevere. I hope to post again tomorrow. Until then, be assured of my prayers for you.
Pax Tecum,
Tom
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
The Candles Are A-Blaise-ing….at both ends…
Please forgive me for the play on words, but I am tired and could not think of a better title. Today is the Memorial of St. Blaise, Bishop of Sebastea and Martyr. According to Tradition, when Christians were being persecuted sometime during the fourth century, Bishop Blaise withdrew to the mountains and lived in a cave. The stories surrounding his life tell us that while he was in the cave many wild beasts would come to him. St. Blaise reportedly healed the beasts when they were sick or wounded. Hunters later found St. Blaise, seized him, and took him to the authorities. On the journey they came across a woman who brought a little boy who was near death due to a fishbone caught in his throat. St. Blaise healed the boy’s throat and now we, the faithful, ask St. Blaise to intercede for us when we suffer from illnesses of the throat. Today, those who go to Mass often have their throats blessed with a pair of candles. If your priest is friendly, he will not light the candles before doing this! I had my throat blessed this morning and in addition to fending off illness, I hope that in some way St. Blaise teams up with St. Cecilia to intercede for me as I am the cantor at Mass this Friday. Someone should bless my seminary brothers’ ears as well.
As I said before, I am tired. I don’t just mean the “I didn’t get enough sleep last night” kind of tired. I mean physical, mental, and emotional fatigue. One thing I quickly learned upon entering seminary is that I have limits. I am not Super Man. That was a painful self-realization. This seems to be common sense for each of us, but for me, I never would accept that fact. Before seminary, I thought that if I just put my nose to the ground and worked hard enough I could be all things to all people, never say “No” to a request for help, and get everything done well and done on time. To be honest, I was a bit of a Pelagian (not formally of course) at times in thinking that I did not need the divine grace of God to carry me through my day. Seminary quickly taught me by all of the demands on our time, that one must be careful to set limits and to manage his time well.
In the process, I have learned that there is not enough time in the day to do everything that is asked of us and so we must prioritize and budget our time. Sometimes this means going into a quiz not quite as prepared as you would like to be. Other times it means not going out with your friends to a movie or to dinner. Sometimes it means having a Holy half-hour instead of a full hour everyday. Of course, there are certain things that should never be left out of the day like prayer, Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, etc. I am learning that it is not enough to merely care for the soul and neglect the body. The two are intrinsically linked. As a result, I am trying to eat healthier foods and exercising several times a week. Sleep is another important commodity. Sleeps seems to be the first thing to be cut out of the schedule as I think most of us underestimate the value of a good night’s sleep. We may desire a good night’s sleep but if we valued it appropriately, we would make it a priority.
I learned most of this the first time I went through college and even during my career in law enforcement. Trust me, there are plenty of times where a case, call, etc., will occupy so much of an officer’s time that he does not feel that he has the time to eat right, sleep enough, or exercise. Speaking for myself, I let those things fall by the wayside. In a way it is honorable if you are taking the approach of giving of yourselves to help others, but at the same time St. Thomas Aquinas would tell us, “you cannot give what you don’t have.”
There are many positive things I have learned during my short time in seminary as well. One of these things is a greater appreciation for the line “Give us this day our daily bread,” found in the Lord’s Prayer. I simply must rely on God’s grace to get me through the day. When I started seminary I asked God to help me get through the year, then the semester, then the week, then the day, and finally, today, just get me through the hour. While this week it seems that I am just trying to “get through it,” the goal is for me to “live through it” and live well. By that I mean that I am able to reflect the joy of Christ in my words, my thoughts, and my actions even when things get tough. It is quite the challenge, but one I am admittedly working on. If any of you have any secrets, feel free to share.
I have also learned to find my “daily bread,” in many places. Primarily, my bread is found in daily reception of the Eucharist and in prayer. However, there are other little encouragements that I receive from the Lord from time to time that reignite the spark within. For example, yesterday I received a letter in the mail from a 5th grade RE student at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Burlington, TX. The letter tells me about his brothers, what he likes to do, the name of his school, etc. The letter then goes on to ask me questions about the things I like. Any police officer will tell you of the feeling of joy that comes over a kid’s eyes when you show him/her your police car and let then turn on the lights and sirens. They look up to you. It is humbling. At the same time, the letter encourages me to be faithful to my formation so that one day, I may serve this fifth grader, his brothers, and his friends as their priest. I don’t know if this is making sense or me just rambling, but it is a reminder to me that there is more to life than what at times seems like a rigorous routine.
Another shot in the arm came this morning when I had the privilege of serving a Mass at the Medical Morals Conference which is being held here in Las Colinas. There were over one hundred and forty bishops in the room including five cardinals. Being in a room with those men is simply inspiring (even at 7:30 in the morning). It was exciting to see some of the Bishops and Cardinals that you are used to seeing on television or in the papers (for good reasons). However, nothing was more inspiring and put a bigger smile on my face than seeing my own Bishop, Most Rev. Gregory Aymond. He does not read this blog so I cannot be accused of trying to gain favor. I just want folks to know how fortunate we are to have him as our shepherd.
Well, I must leave this entry as it is. I am not going to post again until the weekend as we have a hectic week. In addition to serving extra Masses, I am teaching RCIA at a local parish Thursday night, preparing to cant at Mass on Friday, studying, and hosting 29 young men who are attending Live-In Weekend at the seminary this weekend. I have a lot to do, but at least for right now, I am off to music class and am then taking a much needed nap!
Ora pro nobis,
Tom
PS. Please keep a special intention in your prayers for the next couple of days.
As I said before, I am tired. I don’t just mean the “I didn’t get enough sleep last night” kind of tired. I mean physical, mental, and emotional fatigue. One thing I quickly learned upon entering seminary is that I have limits. I am not Super Man. That was a painful self-realization. This seems to be common sense for each of us, but for me, I never would accept that fact. Before seminary, I thought that if I just put my nose to the ground and worked hard enough I could be all things to all people, never say “No” to a request for help, and get everything done well and done on time. To be honest, I was a bit of a Pelagian (not formally of course) at times in thinking that I did not need the divine grace of God to carry me through my day. Seminary quickly taught me by all of the demands on our time, that one must be careful to set limits and to manage his time well.
In the process, I have learned that there is not enough time in the day to do everything that is asked of us and so we must prioritize and budget our time. Sometimes this means going into a quiz not quite as prepared as you would like to be. Other times it means not going out with your friends to a movie or to dinner. Sometimes it means having a Holy half-hour instead of a full hour everyday. Of course, there are certain things that should never be left out of the day like prayer, Mass, Liturgy of the Hours, etc. I am learning that it is not enough to merely care for the soul and neglect the body. The two are intrinsically linked. As a result, I am trying to eat healthier foods and exercising several times a week. Sleep is another important commodity. Sleeps seems to be the first thing to be cut out of the schedule as I think most of us underestimate the value of a good night’s sleep. We may desire a good night’s sleep but if we valued it appropriately, we would make it a priority.
I learned most of this the first time I went through college and even during my career in law enforcement. Trust me, there are plenty of times where a case, call, etc., will occupy so much of an officer’s time that he does not feel that he has the time to eat right, sleep enough, or exercise. Speaking for myself, I let those things fall by the wayside. In a way it is honorable if you are taking the approach of giving of yourselves to help others, but at the same time St. Thomas Aquinas would tell us, “you cannot give what you don’t have.”
There are many positive things I have learned during my short time in seminary as well. One of these things is a greater appreciation for the line “Give us this day our daily bread,” found in the Lord’s Prayer. I simply must rely on God’s grace to get me through the day. When I started seminary I asked God to help me get through the year, then the semester, then the week, then the day, and finally, today, just get me through the hour. While this week it seems that I am just trying to “get through it,” the goal is for me to “live through it” and live well. By that I mean that I am able to reflect the joy of Christ in my words, my thoughts, and my actions even when things get tough. It is quite the challenge, but one I am admittedly working on. If any of you have any secrets, feel free to share.
I have also learned to find my “daily bread,” in many places. Primarily, my bread is found in daily reception of the Eucharist and in prayer. However, there are other little encouragements that I receive from the Lord from time to time that reignite the spark within. For example, yesterday I received a letter in the mail from a 5th grade RE student at St. Ann’s Catholic Church in Burlington, TX. The letter tells me about his brothers, what he likes to do, the name of his school, etc. The letter then goes on to ask me questions about the things I like. Any police officer will tell you of the feeling of joy that comes over a kid’s eyes when you show him/her your police car and let then turn on the lights and sirens. They look up to you. It is humbling. At the same time, the letter encourages me to be faithful to my formation so that one day, I may serve this fifth grader, his brothers, and his friends as their priest. I don’t know if this is making sense or me just rambling, but it is a reminder to me that there is more to life than what at times seems like a rigorous routine.
Another shot in the arm came this morning when I had the privilege of serving a Mass at the Medical Morals Conference which is being held here in Las Colinas. There were over one hundred and forty bishops in the room including five cardinals. Being in a room with those men is simply inspiring (even at 7:30 in the morning). It was exciting to see some of the Bishops and Cardinals that you are used to seeing on television or in the papers (for good reasons). However, nothing was more inspiring and put a bigger smile on my face than seeing my own Bishop, Most Rev. Gregory Aymond. He does not read this blog so I cannot be accused of trying to gain favor. I just want folks to know how fortunate we are to have him as our shepherd.
Well, I must leave this entry as it is. I am not going to post again until the weekend as we have a hectic week. In addition to serving extra Masses, I am teaching RCIA at a local parish Thursday night, preparing to cant at Mass on Friday, studying, and hosting 29 young men who are attending Live-In Weekend at the seminary this weekend. I have a lot to do, but at least for right now, I am off to music class and am then taking a much needed nap!
Ora pro nobis,
Tom
PS. Please keep a special intention in your prayers for the next couple of days.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
“…a light to reveal you to the nations and the glory of your people Israel.”
I have a bit of a confession to make. I am sure that none of you will relate to this, but I will tell you about it anyway. I am not all that interested in the Super Bowl. I do not follow football as much as I used to and frankly I have a lot of work to do to get ready for the week ahead. Despite my lack of interest in the game, for some reason I went through a process of preparing myself to watch it.
About 3:30 PM I walked downstairs to the room where we had set up a big screen television, surround sound, couches, food, drinks, and all the essentials. Some of the guys were working hard at making food for us to enjoy. We were having technical difficulties with our satellite and were not receiving any of the local channels. Two of our seminarians who are technology geniuses were able to use a ‘sling box’ from one of their homes in Houston, his laptop, and a 100 foot cord strung from the computer lab to project the image on our big screen television. The picture wasn’t perfect, but we would be able to watch the game. As I watched the two tech guys work, I realized that they were speaking a language I did not understand. Now I am not old at all but I sure felt it when I did not even realize that a laptop could be used in this manner. I thought maybe the Holy Spirit had descended and they were speaking in tongues. Then I quickly panicked thinking that if they were speaking in tongues, I should have been given the grace to understand them. I decided instead they were speaking techno Babel [sic] and felt better about myself (tongue in cheek).
Seeing that the preparations were in good hands I went back to my room to study for a while before the game started. However, I made sure to get downstairs in plenty of time to get a front row seat. I was the first one in the room and had a perfect seat. Then I was reminded of another scripture verse. You know, the one where it says not to take the seat of honor in case a guest more important than you should arrive and you want to be spared the embarrassment of moving. Well, about midway through the second quarter I look up and see His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo walk into the room. His Eminence was in town for the NEA Conference and decided to come watch the game with us. He is obviously a Steelers fan. Out of respect we stood as he entered the room. He graciously shook all of our hands before taking my...I mean…his seat. I smiled to myself and walked to the back of the room to sit down for the remaining of the half.
At halftime, I decided that I would go to the chapel and pray Evening Prayer. When I finished I was reflecting on my day and quickly felt a little embarrassed. I realized that I spent more time and energy preparing myself for school and the Super Bowl than I did for Mass this morning. I realized that I rushed through my morning prayers in order to get to the chapel on time. I did not read the readings ahead of time. I did not do the things I would normally do to prepare myself. To me it was a gentle reminder that my priorities needed to be adjusted and that I should spend more time preparing not only for Mass but living out my day according to the Gospel.
Tomorrow we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord. The morning will start with the blessing of the candles and a procession into the chapel. The Feast commemorates forty days after the birth of Christ when, according to Jewish law, Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the Temple. As the child Jesus was presented to the elderly priest, Simeon, he said aloud:
“Lord, now let your servant go in peace;
your word has been fulfilled:
my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.”
This prayer is prayed every night as a part of Night Prayer. The procession of candles is meant to symbolize how our lives as Christians should give light to the lives of others. While Christ is the true Light of the world, we are each called to bring that light into a world full of darkness. For me, I am going to try to focus this week on taking the light to others by the manner in which I live my life. I do not have anything extraordinary planned. I just hope to be faithful in the little things.
We have a busy week this week. I will try to post sometime this week to give you an idea of what our schedule is like. After being home over Christmas, I realize that not everyone is familiar with how seminary life goes in terms of schedules, classes, activities, etc. I will try to post some of that later on.
Until then, from the words of one of my favorite Catholic artists, “Shine like the Sun [or Son if you please]”
Pax Tecum,
Tom
About 3:30 PM I walked downstairs to the room where we had set up a big screen television, surround sound, couches, food, drinks, and all the essentials. Some of the guys were working hard at making food for us to enjoy. We were having technical difficulties with our satellite and were not receiving any of the local channels. Two of our seminarians who are technology geniuses were able to use a ‘sling box’ from one of their homes in Houston, his laptop, and a 100 foot cord strung from the computer lab to project the image on our big screen television. The picture wasn’t perfect, but we would be able to watch the game. As I watched the two tech guys work, I realized that they were speaking a language I did not understand. Now I am not old at all but I sure felt it when I did not even realize that a laptop could be used in this manner. I thought maybe the Holy Spirit had descended and they were speaking in tongues. Then I quickly panicked thinking that if they were speaking in tongues, I should have been given the grace to understand them. I decided instead they were speaking techno Babel [sic] and felt better about myself (tongue in cheek).
Seeing that the preparations were in good hands I went back to my room to study for a while before the game started. However, I made sure to get downstairs in plenty of time to get a front row seat. I was the first one in the room and had a perfect seat. Then I was reminded of another scripture verse. You know, the one where it says not to take the seat of honor in case a guest more important than you should arrive and you want to be spared the embarrassment of moving. Well, about midway through the second quarter I look up and see His Eminence Daniel Cardinal DiNardo walk into the room. His Eminence was in town for the NEA Conference and decided to come watch the game with us. He is obviously a Steelers fan. Out of respect we stood as he entered the room. He graciously shook all of our hands before taking my...I mean…his seat. I smiled to myself and walked to the back of the room to sit down for the remaining of the half.
At halftime, I decided that I would go to the chapel and pray Evening Prayer. When I finished I was reflecting on my day and quickly felt a little embarrassed. I realized that I spent more time and energy preparing myself for school and the Super Bowl than I did for Mass this morning. I realized that I rushed through my morning prayers in order to get to the chapel on time. I did not read the readings ahead of time. I did not do the things I would normally do to prepare myself. To me it was a gentle reminder that my priorities needed to be adjusted and that I should spend more time preparing not only for Mass but living out my day according to the Gospel.
Tomorrow we celebrate the Feast of the Presentation of Our Lord. The morning will start with the blessing of the candles and a procession into the chapel. The Feast commemorates forty days after the birth of Christ when, according to Jewish law, Mary and Joseph presented Jesus in the Temple. As the child Jesus was presented to the elderly priest, Simeon, he said aloud:
“Lord, now let your servant go in peace;
your word has been fulfilled:
my own eyes have seen the salvation
which you have prepared in the sight of every people:
a light to reveal you to the nations
and the glory of your people Israel.”
This prayer is prayed every night as a part of Night Prayer. The procession of candles is meant to symbolize how our lives as Christians should give light to the lives of others. While Christ is the true Light of the world, we are each called to bring that light into a world full of darkness. For me, I am going to try to focus this week on taking the light to others by the manner in which I live my life. I do not have anything extraordinary planned. I just hope to be faithful in the little things.
We have a busy week this week. I will try to post sometime this week to give you an idea of what our schedule is like. After being home over Christmas, I realize that not everyone is familiar with how seminary life goes in terms of schedules, classes, activities, etc. I will try to post some of that later on.
Until then, from the words of one of my favorite Catholic artists, “Shine like the Sun [or Son if you please]”
Pax Tecum,
Tom
Saturday, January 31, 2009
“The dawn from on high shall break upon us…”
This morning was just one of those mornings where everything seems to go right. I started off the morning in the chapel at Holy Trinity Seminary at 6:30am. Three of my brother seminarians and I gathered together to pray morning prayer together before heading out to serve Mass at a conference that was being held at a local hotel.
For those of you familiar with the Liturgy of the Hours, part of Morning Prayer involves praying the Gospel Canticle or what is commonly referred to as the Canticle of Zechariah. The last stanza says the following:
In the tender compassion of our God
The dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
And to guide our feet into the way of peace.
I have always loved these words as I think it paints a beautiful image for the rest of the day. All of us have been or are in darkness at one time another. Some days, the dawn is brighter than others. For me, there are some days where the hand of God and the love of God is so apparent and obvious that it is almost blinding.
As we pulled out of the seminary I was looking East towards the Dallas skyline. Normally I am not that taken aback by the view but this morning the sky was bright red and orange as the sun was just about to rise. I thought to myself, “the dawn from on high shall break upon us.” I smiled to myself and thanked God for the view.
My brothers and I arrived at the Omni Mandalay in Las Colinas just before 7AM and began to set up for Mass. The conference was for the National Evangelization Conference which is “an Episcopal and lay initiative that emerged from the deliberations of the Special Assembly of the Synod of American Bishops held in 1997.” Bishops from the U.S. and many South American countries gather every two years to discuss ways to use the media to help in the evangelization of the Americas.
As we were vesting for Mass we were a little intimidated by the many Bishops and Cardinal that were in the room with us. The Bishops all seemed to gather in these little huddles of two and were no doubt discussing the most serious of Church matters (tongue in cheek). I recognized a few of the faces in the room. I recognized the Bishop of Nashville, the Bishop of Dallas, and Bishop Pat Zurek from Amarillo. As I was taking in the sight, an elderly priest (who is still quite energetic) walked past me. I thought that he looked strangely familiar. I leaned over to two of my brothers and told them, “I think that is Fr. Tom. It looks a lot like him, but I am not sure that he would be at this conference.”
A few minutes later, the priest came back and stood next to me and began to talk to me for the next ten minutes or so. I said to him, “Please excuse me Father but I did not catch your name.” He put out his hand and said, “I’m Father Tom Forrest.” I smiled like a kid who had just met a comic book hero or a celebrity and said, “I thought that was you.” He looked at me with raised eyebrows and then I told him that I had the privilege of hearing him speak at the Youth Arise International Festival in Brisbane, Australia. He lit up and said, “Don’t you just love the youth.” I told him, “Yes Father. Yes I do.” Here is a picture of him and the link to a blog entry that I wrote while in Australia:
http://sta2wyd08.blogspot.com/2008/07/jesus-is-in-our-midst.html
By that time we were ready to begin and since I had the processional cross I quickly realized that all eyes were on me to get moving!
The main celebrant of the Mass was His Eminence Oscar Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga, S.D.B. who is the Cardinal Archbishop in Honduras. For those who don’t recognize the name, the word is he is one of six Cardinals to receive a significant amount of votes in the last conclave. Of course there is no way for us to know for sure since those matters are kept secret. The Cardinal gave a wonderful homily and his passion really shines through. After Mass as we were headed back to the vesting room, I heard several Bishops mention how he would make a wonderful Pope. The good news is he is very young at 66 years of age. I must admit, it would be pretty cool to have served with a Cardinal who later became Pope. It was a great opportunity all the same.
The entire morning just seemed to be a gift from God. Any time we are able to experience how universal our faith is and to see in real ways how God draws us all back to Himself through the unity of the Church, it is a great gift. We have a busy rest of the day. Tomorrow we should have a special guest watching the Super Bowl with us. I will talk more on that later. Until then, I better get started on my studying. Latin is calling my name.
Ora pro nobis,
Tom
Administrative Note: I hope to update this at least once a week but please be patient with me. While I am flattered that people are interested in sharing my journey in seminary, my primary obligation is to be faithful to my formation. Please know that each of you are in my prayers.
UPDATE: I just got back from a dinner at the New Evangelization Conference. What an experience! I sat at a table with two of our Bishops from Texas. They were both amazing men and were very gracious. I also ran into Bishop Pat Zurek and he sends his love to the people of St. Thomas Aquinas in College Station. One of the speakers tonight was Eduardo Verastegui from the movie Bella. He was sharing his conversion story with us and he said, "It is not for us to condemn the darkness in Hollywood, instead we must be a light that shines on that darkness and brings it into the light." I thought it fit well for what I thought the theme for the day was. Also, just a quick teaser...watch for the movie Kingdom Come in December of 2010. It will be amazing!
For those of you familiar with the Liturgy of the Hours, part of Morning Prayer involves praying the Gospel Canticle or what is commonly referred to as the Canticle of Zechariah. The last stanza says the following:
In the tender compassion of our God
The dawn from on high shall break upon us,
To shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death,
And to guide our feet into the way of peace.
I have always loved these words as I think it paints a beautiful image for the rest of the day. All of us have been or are in darkness at one time another. Some days, the dawn is brighter than others. For me, there are some days where the hand of God and the love of God is so apparent and obvious that it is almost blinding.
As we pulled out of the seminary I was looking East towards the Dallas skyline. Normally I am not that taken aback by the view but this morning the sky was bright red and orange as the sun was just about to rise. I thought to myself, “the dawn from on high shall break upon us.” I smiled to myself and thanked God for the view.
My brothers and I arrived at the Omni Mandalay in Las Colinas just before 7AM and began to set up for Mass. The conference was for the National Evangelization Conference which is “an Episcopal and lay initiative that emerged from the deliberations of the Special Assembly of the Synod of American Bishops held in 1997.” Bishops from the U.S. and many South American countries gather every two years to discuss ways to use the media to help in the evangelization of the Americas.
As we were vesting for Mass we were a little intimidated by the many Bishops and Cardinal that were in the room with us. The Bishops all seemed to gather in these little huddles of two and were no doubt discussing the most serious of Church matters (tongue in cheek). I recognized a few of the faces in the room. I recognized the Bishop of Nashville, the Bishop of Dallas, and Bishop Pat Zurek from Amarillo. As I was taking in the sight, an elderly priest (who is still quite energetic) walked past me. I thought that he looked strangely familiar. I leaned over to two of my brothers and told them, “I think that is Fr. Tom. It looks a lot like him, but I am not sure that he would be at this conference.”
A few minutes later, the priest came back and stood next to me and began to talk to me for the next ten minutes or so. I said to him, “Please excuse me Father but I did not catch your name.” He put out his hand and said, “I’m Father Tom Forrest.” I smiled like a kid who had just met a comic book hero or a celebrity and said, “I thought that was you.” He looked at me with raised eyebrows and then I told him that I had the privilege of hearing him speak at the Youth Arise International Festival in Brisbane, Australia. He lit up and said, “Don’t you just love the youth.” I told him, “Yes Father. Yes I do.” Here is a picture of him and the link to a blog entry that I wrote while in Australia:
http://sta2wyd08.blogspot.com/2008/07/jesus-is-in-our-midst.html
By that time we were ready to begin and since I had the processional cross I quickly realized that all eyes were on me to get moving!
The main celebrant of the Mass was His Eminence Oscar Cardinal Rodriguez Maradiaga, S.D.B. who is the Cardinal Archbishop in Honduras. For those who don’t recognize the name, the word is he is one of six Cardinals to receive a significant amount of votes in the last conclave. Of course there is no way for us to know for sure since those matters are kept secret. The Cardinal gave a wonderful homily and his passion really shines through. After Mass as we were headed back to the vesting room, I heard several Bishops mention how he would make a wonderful Pope. The good news is he is very young at 66 years of age. I must admit, it would be pretty cool to have served with a Cardinal who later became Pope. It was a great opportunity all the same.
The entire morning just seemed to be a gift from God. Any time we are able to experience how universal our faith is and to see in real ways how God draws us all back to Himself through the unity of the Church, it is a great gift. We have a busy rest of the day. Tomorrow we should have a special guest watching the Super Bowl with us. I will talk more on that later. Until then, I better get started on my studying. Latin is calling my name.
Ora pro nobis,
Tom
Administrative Note: I hope to update this at least once a week but please be patient with me. While I am flattered that people are interested in sharing my journey in seminary, my primary obligation is to be faithful to my formation. Please know that each of you are in my prayers.
UPDATE: I just got back from a dinner at the New Evangelization Conference. What an experience! I sat at a table with two of our Bishops from Texas. They were both amazing men and were very gracious. I also ran into Bishop Pat Zurek and he sends his love to the people of St. Thomas Aquinas in College Station. One of the speakers tonight was Eduardo Verastegui from the movie Bella. He was sharing his conversion story with us and he said, "It is not for us to condemn the darkness in Hollywood, instead we must be a light that shines on that darkness and brings it into the light." I thought it fit well for what I thought the theme for the day was. Also, just a quick teaser...watch for the movie Kingdom Come in December of 2010. It will be amazing!
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