The Third Year Starts

    I arrived back at the seminary on Friday for a meeting of the Orientation Team.  17 new men arrived on Saturday.  We unloaded them, moved them to their rooms and started them on the process.  We have 2 entering 3rd Theology (with my class), 2 entering 2nd Theology, 7 entering First Theology (plus the four pre-thelogy from last year to make 11) and 5 entering Pre-theology.  This gives us a total of 57 in the house.  That puts us a bit lower than last years 66, but we have room to grow.

   Classes start tomorrow (Friday) with Ecclesiology and Catholic Social Doctrine.  Cardinal Sean is coming at noon to celebrate Mass with us.  Next week, I'll have my first classes in Liturgical Preaching and Sacraments.  I also have an elective titled, The Mystery of Suffering.

   I have my pastoral assignment and I will be at a parish on the North Shore of Boston every Sunday for this academic year.  My monthly visit to my home parish to play the organ for a Saturday night Mass remains intact.

An Unexpected Acquisition

    My home parish in Maine is closing it's doors next month.  This decision came from the parish itself, attendance is dwindling and the bills are becoming a problem.  There are three other churches nearby, so while it was a difficult choice, it was also a necessary one.

    I saw that they will be having an auction of various items from the church for the parishioners.  I approached the Pastor and asked about  the availability of vestments and such. He said that normally, all of the items needed for Mass are packed up and sent to the missions.  He asked if I would like a memento and offered this.  Once I get it re-plated, it will be a wonderful memory of my old parish and a continuation of a legacy and history of use.

Reflection for Tuesday of the Sixteenth Week in Ordinary Time

July 23^rd Reflection 

Ex 14:21—15:1, Ex 15:8-9, 10 and 12, 17, Mt 12:46-50

 

Moses stretched out his hand and God parted the sea, creating a path for Israel to escape.  Moses stretched out his hand again and the waters flowed back, saving the Israelites and dooming the Egyptians.  Jesus stretched out His hand and changes the definition of mother and brothers.  There seems to be something special and powerful about stretching out a hand.  

 

Of the 71 times that somebody stretched out a hand in the Bible, this time by Jesus may be the most profound. He says, “Whoever does the will of my heavenly Father is my brother, and sister, and mother.” With these words, Jesus brings us into the adopted family of God.  

 

That adoption by God brings great responsibility.  If we are to follows God’s will then we must also stretch out our hands. Not necessarily to do great things, but to reach out to help our fellow man.

 

Christ no longer has a physical presence in this world. We are the hands of Christ, the voice of Christ, the heart of Christ in the world today.  Let us stretch out our hands, voices and hearts to bring Christ to everyone we meet.

Reflection for Tuesday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time

My pastor asked me to write and present a reflection for the remaining Tuesdays of my assignment.

July 16^th Reflection 

Ex 2:1-14A, Ps 69:3,14,30-31,33-34, Mt 11:20-24

 

Did God change between the Old Testament and the New Testament? We often fall into the trap of thinking that God was harsh in the Old Testament and merciful in the New Testament.  Today’s Gospel clearly shows Jesus condemning entire towns just like God did in the Old Testament.  In most other New Testament passages, we clearly see the mercy of Jesus.  We hear today about God’s mercy to Moses, saving him from the Nile.

 

So what is going on here?  Did God change? Or are our perceptions in error? Our catechism teaches that God never changes, so it must be our perceptions that are in error.  God of the Old Testament certainly handed out His share of punishment, but was merciful to His people Israel again and again.

 

We get into trouble when we try to describe God as a human being.  God’s ways are so far above our ways, we cannot understand His ways.  If we try to describe God, we limit God.  As my Philosophy professor was fond of saying, “God is God, and we are not”.  In fact, he frequently reminded us that “God is”.  This simple message is good for us to keep in mind.  Jesus became man to cross that gap between God and man, but God (and Jesus) is still God.

 

Many in today’s society say that, “The Church is out of touch, it needs to modernize”.  I respond, “The Church is in touch with the unchanging God, society has changed”.  Society, as a whole, is trying to become god, to write its own set of commandments.  Our brothers and sisters in the world need our prayers to rediscover the one unchanging God.  I pray that those playing at god will find the true God’s mercy…a mercy that is full and complete…a mercy that we can never fully comprehend.

Reflection for Tuesday of the Fourteenth Week in Ordinary Time

My pastor asked me to write and present a reflection for the remaining Tuesdays of my assignment.

July 9^th Reflection 
Gn 32:23-33, PS 17:1b, 2-3, 6-7ab, 8b and 15, Mt 9:32-38

In today’s reading from Genesis, we hear about Jacob wrestling with a messenger from God, all night, in a physical test.  The psalmist, likewise, talks about our hearts being tested, all night, in a spiritual test.

I’m willing to bet that none of us have ever had a physical struggle with God, or his messenger, but we have all had our share of spiritual struggles.  We may have had a crisis of faith, or wondered why God allowed evil to exist, or why a loved one had to get sick and die.  We may have questioned or completely ignored a teaching of the Church. We have all struggled with our faith or with our God at one time or another.

On the other end of the spectrum is the image found in today’s Gospel.  Christ looked upon the crowds and saw them as sheep without a shepherd.  Sheep do not struggle against the shepherd; they follow the shepherd because the shepherd knows what is best for them and cares for them.

So should we just follow God blindly as a sheep would? Or should we struggle like Jacob?  The answer lies somewhere between.  God gave us a free will, so following blindly is not the answer.  Struggling with God’s truth can be good for us.  If we do not understand a teaching of the Church, or of our faith, we should take the time to learn more about it and understand it.  This struggle towards understanding more of our faith is good for us.  The result of the struggle will frequently put us in a position of following God more closely.

Today’s Gospel calls for more laborers for the harvest.  The more we know about our faith, the more we can act as harvesters in the fields.

 

My sister

I've been ignoring an issue in my life and it feels right to write about it now.  Last year, I noted some health problems with my family.  Since then, I have not mentioned them and it is time to touch upon them again.

My big (and only) sister, Maureen, has been in acute rehab for three weeks.  She just came home on Friday.  From what you might ask?  She fell in her bedroom.

Since the removal of that GBT type of Brain Tumor I mentioned in the post last year, she had radiation therapy and has been on monthly chemotherapy to keep it from recurring.  This particular cancer almost always comes back and the median survival rate is 15 months.  It has been almost 15 months now.

The removal of part of her brain and the effects of the chemotherapy have affected her decision making, short term memory and balance.  Her motor skills are not what they used to be and that is why she fell.  While she is home now, she has a Life Alert bracelet, needs 24/7 monitoring and has been instructed to keep out of the kitchen for fear of burning herself.  The condo had undergone a transformation to make it safer for her.  The activities going on now remind me very much of certain hospice activities at the end of my wife's life.  But, nobody on the health care team is saying that the end is near.

She still holds up her end of a conversation, but her short term memory is uncertain.  My nieces (her daughters) have worked hard to get her the care that she needs.  The one who lives the closest has been there three days a week to assist and hire people to help out.

The doctors and nursing team are doing their part.  All we can do now is pray.

Boston Seminarian's Retreat

I'm back from a 48 hour retreat with my brother Seminarians from Boston.  This is the one time during the year that men from all three seminaries in Boston (St John's, Blessed John and Redemtoris Mater) gather for an extended period of prayer, talks and social time.

To be honest, I was not particularly looking forward to this year's retreat.  Last year's retreat did not do much for me and actually put me off a bit because I could not find any common ground with my classmates in the other two seminaries. There were actually some derogatory remarks about the old guys.  This year was a completely different experience.

I found two classmates almost immediately and we had an extended talk with other men one afternoon.  We continued to touch base throughout the retreat.  The talks by the retreat leader were right on point for what I needed to hear.  My personal prayer was going well.  It was a good 48 hours.

I am now back in Hull, refreshed, recharged and ready to go.