Life is one great adventure. We have been given a gift, The gift, the chance to live! We don't have to exist. What if we didn't exist, well we wouldn't know that, because we wouldn't exist to know. But we do exist. We are alive, and we have the chance to live on this magnificent creation called Earth.
This past week has been a very hard week. Winter is wearing on me - I often start getting really anxious around this time of year to go outside and just run around - but I'm stuck inside all the time. Our Latin teacher came down on us with a ton of homework. I have a bunch of other homework, and other responsibilities. But, it was a great adventure of a week.
I really like adventure. I have usually been a person who likes change. I like spontaneity. I love road trips, especially when they're only partly planned out. Because of all this, I found it really hard to be in the seminary after the first month or two, because we have a very rigid schedule. However, I have recently realized that every day can be an adventure if we approach it the right way.
Although I knew I would wake up this morning and go to mass at 6:30, finish my Latin homework, go to Latin, read Augustine, go to medieval philosophy, have lunch, go to Christian view of a Person, etc... I didn't know what was going to happen at each place. I didn't know what kind of challenges I would face, who I might get in a conversation with, or even where I might be struck by something beautiful, like the extra four inches of snow we got today. We can't know what is coming, or what our experiences will be exactly. Life is a beautiful gift that we should always try to embrace and a challenge we should always try to give all we can.
Every day is an adventure, so be sure live in every moment!
St. Paul, the great evangelist, pray for us!
Friday, January 25, 2008
Thursday, January 17, 2008
Our hearts are restless until they rest in you.
-a quotation taken from St. Augustine's 'Confessions'.
It is so true. Lately I have been getting caught up in my agenda. I am excited about this semester's great classes, percussion lessons, and jazz band. I have been thinking a lot about how to fit all this together with prayer, working out, and other house duties, and I have been planning in my head a lot. There is some sort of drive that clouds out everything else once I start constantly anticipating.
Lately my relationship with God has been clouded by my letting school become a distraction. I am so busy trying to make things happen, I cling to my schedule. I lose my ability to 'let go and let God'. But he is constant - I can trust only in him. He will never fail me. My schedule may fail. I may fail a class. But God will never fail me as long as I allow him to lead me. As long as I accept his gift of grace, I can be at peace.
Jesus is the only one who can give us perfect peace. When we can accept that we are not perfect, and that nothing on this planet is perfect, we can then come before the cross, remember what Jesus did for us (and continues to do for us), and sit quietly in peace.
"His love endures forever" Psalm 100:5
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
It is so true. Lately I have been getting caught up in my agenda. I am excited about this semester's great classes, percussion lessons, and jazz band. I have been thinking a lot about how to fit all this together with prayer, working out, and other house duties, and I have been planning in my head a lot. There is some sort of drive that clouds out everything else once I start constantly anticipating.
Lately my relationship with God has been clouded by my letting school become a distraction. I am so busy trying to make things happen, I cling to my schedule. I lose my ability to 'let go and let God'. But he is constant - I can trust only in him. He will never fail me. My schedule may fail. I may fail a class. But God will never fail me as long as I allow him to lead me. As long as I accept his gift of grace, I can be at peace.
Jesus is the only one who can give us perfect peace. When we can accept that we are not perfect, and that nothing on this planet is perfect, we can then come before the cross, remember what Jesus did for us (and continues to do for us), and sit quietly in peace.
"His love endures forever" Psalm 100:5
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
FOCUS Conference
Last week I went to the National FOCUS Conference, and it was amazing!
FOCUS stands for Fellowship of Catholic University Students, and is a program that was started 10 years ago by Curtis Martin. Their goal is ultimately to ignite the faith of the world in the God who loves us and is always fighting for us. They go about this by working with college Catholic centers and setting up Bible studies, organizing community events, and taking on disciples. Discipleship is their main mode of evangelization and consists of taking on two students as their personal 'disciples'. In this way they pass on knowledge of God, teachings of the Church, and ways of living healthy, fulfilling lives. Those two students then take on two disciples of their own, and in this way form chains of teachers and students. The program had a significant impact on my life, and I support it 100%!
They have a national conference every three years, and this year's was in Grapevine, TX. Some highlights include: a concert by Matt Maher, a concert by Third Day, talks by Fr. Benedict Groeschel, Mother Assumpta Long, and Mike Sweeny, captain of the Kansas City Royals. I also got to see a bunch of friends I hadn't seen in a long time. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot.
Another cool thing was wearing a cassock about half the time I was there, mostly for witness. It said pretty loudly to all the students, "Hey look, we are the same age as you and have listened to our call from God." It was interesting for me, because there is something about wearing any uniform that makes you think more about everything you do. You are representing something much greater than yourself, and must take care to represent it well.
The last really cool thing was how much of a big family Catholicism feels like more and more all the time. There I was with about 4000 students my age all learning about the faith and preparing to go be witnesses all across the country. Right now, even though I am not with most of them, I know that those students are out there fighting the good fight every day. We are supporting each other by our prayers, and when that many young adults do something together, things happen! I hope they are all out there growing in faith, hope, and love, and continuing to do their part in bringing souls to Christ!
John Paul the Great, pray for us!
FOCUS stands for Fellowship of Catholic University Students, and is a program that was started 10 years ago by Curtis Martin. Their goal is ultimately to ignite the faith of the world in the God who loves us and is always fighting for us. They go about this by working with college Catholic centers and setting up Bible studies, organizing community events, and taking on disciples. Discipleship is their main mode of evangelization and consists of taking on two students as their personal 'disciples'. In this way they pass on knowledge of God, teachings of the Church, and ways of living healthy, fulfilling lives. Those two students then take on two disciples of their own, and in this way form chains of teachers and students. The program had a significant impact on my life, and I support it 100%!
They have a national conference every three years, and this year's was in Grapevine, TX. Some highlights include: a concert by Matt Maher, a concert by Third Day, talks by Fr. Benedict Groeschel, Mother Assumpta Long, and Mike Sweeny, captain of the Kansas City Royals. I also got to see a bunch of friends I hadn't seen in a long time. It was a lot of fun, and I learned a lot.
Another cool thing was wearing a cassock about half the time I was there, mostly for witness. It said pretty loudly to all the students, "Hey look, we are the same age as you and have listened to our call from God." It was interesting for me, because there is something about wearing any uniform that makes you think more about everything you do. You are representing something much greater than yourself, and must take care to represent it well.
The last really cool thing was how much of a big family Catholicism feels like more and more all the time. There I was with about 4000 students my age all learning about the faith and preparing to go be witnesses all across the country. Right now, even though I am not with most of them, I know that those students are out there fighting the good fight every day. We are supporting each other by our prayers, and when that many young adults do something together, things happen! I hope they are all out there growing in faith, hope, and love, and continuing to do their part in bringing souls to Christ!
John Paul the Great, pray for us!
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