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.