Thursday, November 5, 2009
New Meet KCK Seminarians Video
Here is a video with some of the guys. These outtakes were filmed at the Archbishop's 'send off' dinner in August of 2009 before our 26 seminarians headed back to their respective seminaries!
Monday, November 2, 2009
The Journey Home
Homily for All Souls Day
2 November 2009
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center
Year for Priests
For daily readings, click here
According to most story tellers, there are two basic metaphors that describe what life is. Life is a battle. Life is a journey. Every good story, and every interesting life, is a combination of these two metaphors. Where am I going? What are the obstacles in my way?
My younger brother recently had heart surgery. He was going through a battle to fix his heart. Several people were helping my brother through this battle - his surgeon and nurses and those who were there before and after surgery to encourage him, but there were hundreds of others who were helping him through their prayers. Everyone was checking in on my brother, trying to get the latest information, to be sure that he was going to be victorious in this battle. And thanks be to God, he was.
We do the same for our friends who are on a journey. How many times in life do we say - have a safe trip! Call me when you get home, or to your destination. Some of the best stories in life come from traveling, especially when things get rough on the road or in the air! We pray for those who are traveling, trusting that things will go fine, but knowing all too well that life is precarious, especially when you are on the road!
On all souls day, we do the same for our friends who have gone before us. We check in on them, and we help them in whatever way we can in whatever battle and whatever journey they have remaining in front of them. There are thousands of battles, and thousands of journeys, that make up every human life. Today's feast given us by the Church focuses on the final journey and the final battle common to every life, the journey and battle that lies between the moment of one's death in this world and one's entry into the eternal presence of God.
Heaven, as we know well, is the place for holy ones, for the saints, those who have fulfilled the commandment to love God with all one's heart, and mind and soul and strength. If we are honest, most of us, and most all our friends, have managed to only partially fulfill this commandment. We may be good people overall, preferring nothing to the love of God, but we still love many things besides God. Almost all of us manage to become good people overall, but few of us are holy. Very few people on their death bed declare themselves to be saints; no quite to the contrary, they while being thankful for their life wish that they could have done more. Unlike the saints, we have not yet been able to love God with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, and all our strength, nor our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. Tonight's feast of all souls says that what is true for us is true for most our friends who have gone before us. Our friends and family members are good people, whose perseverence through many journeys and many battles in life have shown that their lives are ordered to heaven, but at the moment of their death, they may not yet have been holy. Tonight's feast is not about the transition from bad to good, as much as it is the transition from good to holy. Both transitions are important. Both are necessary. Each transition has its own battles. Yet those of us who have tried to become holy know that the journey from bad to good is simple compared to the final journey from being good to being holy.
Given that most of us die being good not holy, there is this final journey and battle, the purification of a soul, that takes place between this world and entry into heaven. It does no good to pretend that any good person goes directly to heaven; to do so is to pretend that every decent person is a saint, and that there is no real difference between being good and being holy, neither of which is true. Anybody who has attempted this transition knows how different the two states really are. There is a difference between me and Maximilian Kolbe, between my friends and St. Therese of Lisieux, between my family members and St. Lawrence. It would be unjust for me to think I, who love God partially, should enter heaven as readily as those who love God completely. The reading from Wisdom tells us that the souls of the just are in the hands of God. Purgatory is that process of justice by which we are made like the saints, so that we may justly take our seat with them at the heavenly banquet.
Christ has begun this justification by his passion and death. Only because of his salvific act, the bridge has been repaired between man and God, and the journey to heaven is possible once again. Christ has won the victory over sin and death, and anyone who asks Christ to share in that victory knows that our sins may for a time lead us away from God, but through the experience of having our sins forgiven, our sins may be the means by which we come to know the love of God most fully, and desire to love Him in return like the saints, with all of our mind, all of our soul, and all of our strength.
Christ has justified us and made possible the journey from death to life, from sin to holiness, from earth to heaven, but Christ will not save us without ourselves. As St. Paul says to us clearly in his letter to the Romans, the resurrection is a surety for those who have grown into union with Christ through a death like his. Christ himself said as much, saying that his disciples would not be able to skip the journey and battles inherent in the transition from being good to becoming holy, but must take up their own crosses and follow Him.
Purgatory is the last step on our journey with Christ from death to life. It is probably the most important part of the journey, and perhaps the most difficult. We do not know for sure how long or short this transition is, how hot or cold, how difficult or easy, or where exactly our loved ones are along the journey, whether they are at the beginning, or the end, or somewhere in between. The journeys of persons through purgatory are as different as are the journeys of persons through life on this earth. We do know however, that this necessary journey would be an impossible one were it not for us. The last journey would be the most impossible of all were it not for us, since those who have died are no longer able to work out their salvation. Like my brother who going into battle to fix his heart had to have faith in his surgeon, his doctors, and his nurses, and his friends who were praying to God for Him, since he could not fix his heart by himself, so also we must leave this world in faith knowing that our friends that we leave behind will continue to pray for us and to suffer for us, until we are made holy. Christ has made us our brother's keepers, and what is done by one member of the body affects the whole body. It is our great privilege, and responsibility, and joy - all of us who know salvation to be Christ's gift not just to individuals, but to his whole bride - the Church - to offer prayers and sacrifices on this All Souls Day and every day for our beloved dead, and even for our enemies.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let the perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. May their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
2 November 2009
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center
Year for Priests
For daily readings, click here
According to most story tellers, there are two basic metaphors that describe what life is. Life is a battle. Life is a journey. Every good story, and every interesting life, is a combination of these two metaphors. Where am I going? What are the obstacles in my way?
My younger brother recently had heart surgery. He was going through a battle to fix his heart. Several people were helping my brother through this battle - his surgeon and nurses and those who were there before and after surgery to encourage him, but there were hundreds of others who were helping him through their prayers. Everyone was checking in on my brother, trying to get the latest information, to be sure that he was going to be victorious in this battle. And thanks be to God, he was.
We do the same for our friends who are on a journey. How many times in life do we say - have a safe trip! Call me when you get home, or to your destination. Some of the best stories in life come from traveling, especially when things get rough on the road or in the air! We pray for those who are traveling, trusting that things will go fine, but knowing all too well that life is precarious, especially when you are on the road!
On all souls day, we do the same for our friends who have gone before us. We check in on them, and we help them in whatever way we can in whatever battle and whatever journey they have remaining in front of them. There are thousands of battles, and thousands of journeys, that make up every human life. Today's feast given us by the Church focuses on the final journey and the final battle common to every life, the journey and battle that lies between the moment of one's death in this world and one's entry into the eternal presence of God.
Heaven, as we know well, is the place for holy ones, for the saints, those who have fulfilled the commandment to love God with all one's heart, and mind and soul and strength. If we are honest, most of us, and most all our friends, have managed to only partially fulfill this commandment. We may be good people overall, preferring nothing to the love of God, but we still love many things besides God. Almost all of us manage to become good people overall, but few of us are holy. Very few people on their death bed declare themselves to be saints; no quite to the contrary, they while being thankful for their life wish that they could have done more. Unlike the saints, we have not yet been able to love God with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, and all our strength, nor our neighbor as much as we love ourselves. Tonight's feast of all souls says that what is true for us is true for most our friends who have gone before us. Our friends and family members are good people, whose perseverence through many journeys and many battles in life have shown that their lives are ordered to heaven, but at the moment of their death, they may not yet have been holy. Tonight's feast is not about the transition from bad to good, as much as it is the transition from good to holy. Both transitions are important. Both are necessary. Each transition has its own battles. Yet those of us who have tried to become holy know that the journey from bad to good is simple compared to the final journey from being good to being holy.
Given that most of us die being good not holy, there is this final journey and battle, the purification of a soul, that takes place between this world and entry into heaven. It does no good to pretend that any good person goes directly to heaven; to do so is to pretend that every decent person is a saint, and that there is no real difference between being good and being holy, neither of which is true. Anybody who has attempted this transition knows how different the two states really are. There is a difference between me and Maximilian Kolbe, between my friends and St. Therese of Lisieux, between my family members and St. Lawrence. It would be unjust for me to think I, who love God partially, should enter heaven as readily as those who love God completely. The reading from Wisdom tells us that the souls of the just are in the hands of God. Purgatory is that process of justice by which we are made like the saints, so that we may justly take our seat with them at the heavenly banquet.
Christ has begun this justification by his passion and death. Only because of his salvific act, the bridge has been repaired between man and God, and the journey to heaven is possible once again. Christ has won the victory over sin and death, and anyone who asks Christ to share in that victory knows that our sins may for a time lead us away from God, but through the experience of having our sins forgiven, our sins may be the means by which we come to know the love of God most fully, and desire to love Him in return like the saints, with all of our mind, all of our soul, and all of our strength.
Christ has justified us and made possible the journey from death to life, from sin to holiness, from earth to heaven, but Christ will not save us without ourselves. As St. Paul says to us clearly in his letter to the Romans, the resurrection is a surety for those who have grown into union with Christ through a death like his. Christ himself said as much, saying that his disciples would not be able to skip the journey and battles inherent in the transition from being good to becoming holy, but must take up their own crosses and follow Him.
Purgatory is the last step on our journey with Christ from death to life. It is probably the most important part of the journey, and perhaps the most difficult. We do not know for sure how long or short this transition is, how hot or cold, how difficult or easy, or where exactly our loved ones are along the journey, whether they are at the beginning, or the end, or somewhere in between. The journeys of persons through purgatory are as different as are the journeys of persons through life on this earth. We do know however, that this necessary journey would be an impossible one were it not for us. The last journey would be the most impossible of all were it not for us, since those who have died are no longer able to work out their salvation. Like my brother who going into battle to fix his heart had to have faith in his surgeon, his doctors, and his nurses, and his friends who were praying to God for Him, since he could not fix his heart by himself, so also we must leave this world in faith knowing that our friends that we leave behind will continue to pray for us and to suffer for us, until we are made holy. Christ has made us our brother's keepers, and what is done by one member of the body affects the whole body. It is our great privilege, and responsibility, and joy - all of us who know salvation to be Christ's gift not just to individuals, but to his whole bride - the Church - to offer prayers and sacrifices on this All Souls Day and every day for our beloved dead, and even for our enemies.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let the perpetual light shine upon them. May they rest in peace. May their souls, and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Saints change the world
Homily for the Solemnity of All Saints
1 November 2009
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center
Year for Priests
For daily readings, click here
Halloween gets bigger all the time. Very few adults got dressed up when I was young. When I was young, Halloween was something I always knew I would grow out of. Now I'm not so sure. I feel myself turning the other way, wanting to share in the enthusiasm of Halloween again. Am I wrong, or is Halloween getting to be a bigger holiday all the time? When I see facebook status(es) saying that Halloween is the greatest night of the year, I admit I get a little defensive, being a priest and all. But overall the incremental enthusiasm for Halloween is probably a good thing. I'm not worried that great numbers of people are turning toward the darkness or the occult. I would preach about it in a second if I were. Everyone expects the Vatican to come out and to condemn Halloween - because doesn't the Church always try to take our 'fun' away? But there is no such thing forthcoming. If anything, I see fewer and fewer witches and zombies and vampires and more and more outrageous costumes of stupifying silliness. In my opinion, Halloween has become for almost everyone not a turn to the dark side but a celebration of love with friends, and a way to build community, as everyone participates in the festival.
There is one thing I would change about Halloween, however. I wish deep down that the celebration of Halloween would be a precursor to the great holy day of All Saints, which falls on a Sunday this year thereby saving me lots of confessions of people missing the Holy Day of obligation. I wish enthusiasm for Halloween equaled enthusiasm for All Saints. I see lots of energy going toward the perfect costumes and perfect parties, none of which I want to take away. I just wish that the party wasn't over so soon, for if there was ever was a party for people celebrating the ability to become someone that have always dreamed of being, it is the liturgy in which we now find ourselves, the solemnity of All Saints. It is in this liturgical party and prayer, that we place ourselves within the great company of the saints who were transformed before the very eyes of men not just for a night, but for eternity. Wearing a costume for a night with friends is one thing, for sure. It is fun. Yet how much more fun should we be having tonight with our friends, the saints, with whom we pray in a very intense way in this liturgy. Our friends, the saints, are the ones who help us not to create and wear a perfect costume for a night, but who help us by their prayers to transform ourselves into what we all wish we could become forever.
There are too many saints for us to remember. The book of revelation says that 144,000 is a good place to start, but that there are countless more! We remember Peter and Paul easily. We all have a favorite patron saint like Mother Teresa or Maximilian Kolbe. There are old saints, and ones canonized by the Church just this month like Damian who worked with the lepers of Hawaii. There are saints we call upon often for their friendship when we are in deep trouble, like St. Anthony or St. Jude. But there are many others waiting for us to discover, more saints than there are costume options for Halloween. We make a special effort tonight to remember our friends whom we tend to forget over time, especially those dead who have been heroic witness of faith, hope and love in our own lives, during this special liturgy in which we renew our friendship with all the saints.
We remember tonight that saints are holy because they preferred nothing to the love of Christ (St. Benedict). To take nothing away from the greatest scientists, artists, and political and military heroes of human history, all of whom we should remember often alongside all those who promote the common good of humanity by unselfishly inspiring and helping their fellow man, the saints are those we remember especially because they made the love of God more present in the world. It is the commitment of the saints to prefer nothing to the love of Christ, and their belief that the human person is redeemed by the love of Christ, that sets them apart from the rest of humanity. As Pope Benedict said in his first encyclical God is Love, even if there were no longer any disease or war in the world, and even if political leaders were able to deliver justice to all people, the world would still need saints, for the vocation of man is not to be comfortable or self-sufficient, but is to love, and man is ordered to and set free by love. A saint is a person who makes the love of God more present and more real to a world that is always tempted to stray from that love.
Just as the love that Jesus Christ brought into the world, a love that grows more intense according to the greatest need of the least deserving, made his life's story the greatest story in human history, so also the lives of the saints are lives that have changed the world more than any other. If we believe that the world will one day be redeemed fully by the love of God, then the saints, who lived only to make that love more present, are the lives by which the world is most deeply changed. We might say it this way. If we wonder why there is still hatred, and war and injustice in the world, and a lack of respect for the dignity of the human person, we can think of a lot of reasons. But the real reason is that there are not enough saints in the world. If we wonder why so many people still despair of ever finding their deep purpose in the world, it is because there are not enough saints in the world. If we accept that the vocation of man is to love, then it is by love and love alone that the world is forever changed and set free. The saints are those who loved God and their neighbor most deeply, and so the saints, both those canonized by the Church and those unable to be canonized, are by this definition the deepest agents of change this world will ever know.
The saints with whom we pray tonight have completed their race. They hand on the baton to us. Like Jesus who has ascended to the Father, yet sends His Holy Spirit to remain fully present to us and to guide us along our life's journey, so also the saints whose souls are with God stand ready to help us as our friends with their prayers. Like us, the saints by their own power were not even able to follow the ten commandments, let alone fulfill perfectly the beatitudes read to us in tonight's Gospel. Yet knowing that Jesus alone is poor in spirit, and sorrowful, and meek, and merciful, and pure of heart, and peaceful, and persecuted for the sake of righteousness, the saints humbly gave Christ the space of their own lives so that his heroic virtue and love might reach new places and new people. Beset by weakness like we are, the saints were still able to accomplish the impossible, becoming holy, because they gave Christ through them the opportunity to complete his mission of redeeming the world by love. In the lives of the saints, no matter how big or small our lives may be, we see a way forward for us. With the saints as our friends, we see with them the way our lives too might change the world, not just for a night, but for eternity. +m
1 November 2009
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center
Year for Priests
For daily readings, click here
Halloween gets bigger all the time. Very few adults got dressed up when I was young. When I was young, Halloween was something I always knew I would grow out of. Now I'm not so sure. I feel myself turning the other way, wanting to share in the enthusiasm of Halloween again. Am I wrong, or is Halloween getting to be a bigger holiday all the time? When I see facebook status(es) saying that Halloween is the greatest night of the year, I admit I get a little defensive, being a priest and all. But overall the incremental enthusiasm for Halloween is probably a good thing. I'm not worried that great numbers of people are turning toward the darkness or the occult. I would preach about it in a second if I were. Everyone expects the Vatican to come out and to condemn Halloween - because doesn't the Church always try to take our 'fun' away? But there is no such thing forthcoming. If anything, I see fewer and fewer witches and zombies and vampires and more and more outrageous costumes of stupifying silliness. In my opinion, Halloween has become for almost everyone not a turn to the dark side but a celebration of love with friends, and a way to build community, as everyone participates in the festival.
There is one thing I would change about Halloween, however. I wish deep down that the celebration of Halloween would be a precursor to the great holy day of All Saints, which falls on a Sunday this year thereby saving me lots of confessions of people missing the Holy Day of obligation. I wish enthusiasm for Halloween equaled enthusiasm for All Saints. I see lots of energy going toward the perfect costumes and perfect parties, none of which I want to take away. I just wish that the party wasn't over so soon, for if there was ever was a party for people celebrating the ability to become someone that have always dreamed of being, it is the liturgy in which we now find ourselves, the solemnity of All Saints. It is in this liturgical party and prayer, that we place ourselves within the great company of the saints who were transformed before the very eyes of men not just for a night, but for eternity. Wearing a costume for a night with friends is one thing, for sure. It is fun. Yet how much more fun should we be having tonight with our friends, the saints, with whom we pray in a very intense way in this liturgy. Our friends, the saints, are the ones who help us not to create and wear a perfect costume for a night, but who help us by their prayers to transform ourselves into what we all wish we could become forever.
There are too many saints for us to remember. The book of revelation says that 144,000 is a good place to start, but that there are countless more! We remember Peter and Paul easily. We all have a favorite patron saint like Mother Teresa or Maximilian Kolbe. There are old saints, and ones canonized by the Church just this month like Damian who worked with the lepers of Hawaii. There are saints we call upon often for their friendship when we are in deep trouble, like St. Anthony or St. Jude. But there are many others waiting for us to discover, more saints than there are costume options for Halloween. We make a special effort tonight to remember our friends whom we tend to forget over time, especially those dead who have been heroic witness of faith, hope and love in our own lives, during this special liturgy in which we renew our friendship with all the saints.
We remember tonight that saints are holy because they preferred nothing to the love of Christ (St. Benedict). To take nothing away from the greatest scientists, artists, and political and military heroes of human history, all of whom we should remember often alongside all those who promote the common good of humanity by unselfishly inspiring and helping their fellow man, the saints are those we remember especially because they made the love of God more present in the world. It is the commitment of the saints to prefer nothing to the love of Christ, and their belief that the human person is redeemed by the love of Christ, that sets them apart from the rest of humanity. As Pope Benedict said in his first encyclical God is Love, even if there were no longer any disease or war in the world, and even if political leaders were able to deliver justice to all people, the world would still need saints, for the vocation of man is not to be comfortable or self-sufficient, but is to love, and man is ordered to and set free by love. A saint is a person who makes the love of God more present and more real to a world that is always tempted to stray from that love.
Just as the love that Jesus Christ brought into the world, a love that grows more intense according to the greatest need of the least deserving, made his life's story the greatest story in human history, so also the lives of the saints are lives that have changed the world more than any other. If we believe that the world will one day be redeemed fully by the love of God, then the saints, who lived only to make that love more present, are the lives by which the world is most deeply changed. We might say it this way. If we wonder why there is still hatred, and war and injustice in the world, and a lack of respect for the dignity of the human person, we can think of a lot of reasons. But the real reason is that there are not enough saints in the world. If we wonder why so many people still despair of ever finding their deep purpose in the world, it is because there are not enough saints in the world. If we accept that the vocation of man is to love, then it is by love and love alone that the world is forever changed and set free. The saints are those who loved God and their neighbor most deeply, and so the saints, both those canonized by the Church and those unable to be canonized, are by this definition the deepest agents of change this world will ever know.
The saints with whom we pray tonight have completed their race. They hand on the baton to us. Like Jesus who has ascended to the Father, yet sends His Holy Spirit to remain fully present to us and to guide us along our life's journey, so also the saints whose souls are with God stand ready to help us as our friends with their prayers. Like us, the saints by their own power were not even able to follow the ten commandments, let alone fulfill perfectly the beatitudes read to us in tonight's Gospel. Yet knowing that Jesus alone is poor in spirit, and sorrowful, and meek, and merciful, and pure of heart, and peaceful, and persecuted for the sake of righteousness, the saints humbly gave Christ the space of their own lives so that his heroic virtue and love might reach new places and new people. Beset by weakness like we are, the saints were still able to accomplish the impossible, becoming holy, because they gave Christ through them the opportunity to complete his mission of redeeming the world by love. In the lives of the saints, no matter how big or small our lives may be, we see a way forward for us. With the saints as our friends, we see with them the way our lives too might change the world, not just for a night, but for eternity. +m
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Hope for redemption
Homily for Tuesday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time
Year for Priests
for daily readings, click here
Hope for redemption is different than hoping that the Royals will win the World Series. One can imagine, approximately, what it would be like if the latter were to happen. I can imagine what it would be like if KU won the National Championship again this year (rock chalk!). It may not be exactly right, but I can at least imagine. Redemption of the world by love. I can't imagine that. I can't imagine heaven in its totality. I can imagine parts of it, but I can't get my mind around the whole thing. St. Paul says that hope that sees is not properly hope. In other words, supernatural hope is directed toward that reality that would satisfy every desire that we have, not just a few of our desires, and so supernatural hope is not a hope that pertains properly to national championships, or world series, or anything of the kind.
The futility of creation turns out to be a great gift. That sounds weird. Futility is a good thing? That's like saying it would be a good thing that the Royals would never win the World Series again. How could this be good? Well, it could be good if there was a greater evil avoided; namely, that the Royals could win the world series unethically, or without having really to strive to be excellent, or with a lack of appreciation or gratitude. If any of these were true, it would be better if the Royals would never win the world series again.
So true with the futility of the world; that the punishment for sin entering the world is death. How can death be a gift? Well, obviously, if the greater evil of people setting their hearts eternally on things that did not satisfy them - if people were able to make themselves miserable forever, with no way of getting out of their misery, then the world here would be hell, and a greater evil would exist than death. Oftentimes, death is the worst thing we can imagine, but there are much worse things, actually - including imagining living in this world forever, without being able to fulfill the deepest desires of our hearts. That is the futility that Christ has come to lead us out of, if we would first be baptized with him into His death. +m
Year for Priests
for daily readings, click here
Hope for redemption is different than hoping that the Royals will win the World Series. One can imagine, approximately, what it would be like if the latter were to happen. I can imagine what it would be like if KU won the National Championship again this year (rock chalk!). It may not be exactly right, but I can at least imagine. Redemption of the world by love. I can't imagine that. I can't imagine heaven in its totality. I can imagine parts of it, but I can't get my mind around the whole thing. St. Paul says that hope that sees is not properly hope. In other words, supernatural hope is directed toward that reality that would satisfy every desire that we have, not just a few of our desires, and so supernatural hope is not a hope that pertains properly to national championships, or world series, or anything of the kind.
The futility of creation turns out to be a great gift. That sounds weird. Futility is a good thing? That's like saying it would be a good thing that the Royals would never win the World Series again. How could this be good? Well, it could be good if there was a greater evil avoided; namely, that the Royals could win the world series unethically, or without having really to strive to be excellent, or with a lack of appreciation or gratitude. If any of these were true, it would be better if the Royals would never win the world series again.
So true with the futility of the world; that the punishment for sin entering the world is death. How can death be a gift? Well, obviously, if the greater evil of people setting their hearts eternally on things that did not satisfy them - if people were able to make themselves miserable forever, with no way of getting out of their misery, then the world here would be hell, and a greater evil would exist than death. Oftentimes, death is the worst thing we can imagine, but there are much worse things, actually - including imagining living in this world forever, without being able to fulfill the deepest desires of our hearts. That is the futility that Christ has come to lead us out of, if we would first be baptized with him into His death. +m
KU football - must wins?
Every week is a must-win for KU now, and yet it is not. With the mess that is the Big 12 North, 4-4 can still win the North, in a tiebreaker. KSU controls their own destiny - what's up with that? I still think this KU team has it in them to win the North. They will need help from KSU and Nebraska now. Missouri actually needs to get it in gear and help KU as well. I wasn't able to go to the OU game, but I thought the defense hit harder and flew to the ball better. I'm hopeful, but too busy to get upset if things don't go our way.
Unexpected snow on retreat!
Maybe as much as 10 inches in the next two days in Crested Butte, CO. They are getting even more snow to the north around Denver and into Utah. It is gorgeous here. And cold. I guess the Lord wants me to stay in, to eat chili, and to work more diligently on the texts I have chosen for my retreat this year. I'm here unti Saturday. Hope I can get out. Please pray for me. Among other things, I'm re-reading the entire New Testament!
+m
+m
Vocation office news!
It has been quite a while since I have posted anything other than homilies on my blog. There is so much I want to get done with vocations, that blogging has gone down in priority. But just to assure everyone, good things are happening this year. Our October Project Andrews had record numbers of young men attend. I'm confident that any young man who attends a Project Andrew event with the Archbishop will remain open to the Lord's call in the future, if we can stay in touch with them.
We are excited about hosting a booth for the upcoming NCYC in Kansas City. Plans are underway for new videos promoting vocations, an updated 'Called by Name' program for parishes, opportunities for closer collaborations with priests, and the Archbishop's Quo Vadis retreat coming up in January.
Also, since I've moved into the Director of Seminarians role this year, I was able last week to visit our seminarians at Kenrick-Glennon, all 11 of them, and to collaborate in their formation with the administration of the seminary. I have a lot to learn, but this has been a welcome and exciting addition to my vocation office workload!
Please pray a Hail Mary (or more!) for our seminarians and applicants to the seminary this year!
We are excited about hosting a booth for the upcoming NCYC in Kansas City. Plans are underway for new videos promoting vocations, an updated 'Called by Name' program for parishes, opportunities for closer collaborations with priests, and the Archbishop's Quo Vadis retreat coming up in January.
Also, since I've moved into the Director of Seminarians role this year, I was able last week to visit our seminarians at Kenrick-Glennon, all 11 of them, and to collaborate in their formation with the administration of the seminary. I have a lot to learn, but this has been a welcome and exciting addition to my vocation office workload!
Please pray a Hail Mary (or more!) for our seminarians and applicants to the seminary this year!
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