Archive
don’t be an armadillo + move!
MASS – (Fr Alvarez) — [told story of bladder cancer] We see lots of dead armadillos on the side of the road here in Florida. Why? Armadillos are blind and role up into their hard shells when they hear danger approaching … thus, the traffic incidents. As we grow in anything in life, challenges to leave our comfort zone can bring fear that can paralyze us from moving forward to something even greater, if we keep going. The formation process in seminary discernment presents challenges to ourselves that need to be faced and embraced … but with prayer and perseverance … not fear … don’t be an armadillo! — I’ll try
full Mass
Final exams begin. Exam schedule. Casual neat. All seminary priests are celebrating Mass.
Pre-T backyard Mass
The adoration chapels in the Pre-Theology houses are ready for the Blessed Sacrament. Today, we had a morning Mass in our backyard with ALL seminarians for a beautiful celebration surrounded by all God’s creation. — awesome
Mark + Good News + St Francis
MASS – (Fr Joseph) — today is the feast of St Mark the Evangelist. In today’s Gospel, Jesus tells the apostles, “Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned…”
[wine silo]
When we preach, we need to find the Good News for other, not just talk at people with facts and research, but truely connect to make Christ alive through our actions and witness. As St Francis said, “Preach the Gospel to others … if necessary use words.”
Voltron homily
MASS – (Fr Santos) — today’s homily mentioned Father’s favorite anime cartoon growing up (and mine) as Voltron, Defender of the Universe. He followed with a story about a child that thought he could fly … and even tried “flying” out the second floor window … caught by his father working in the garden below … but the father got more hurt than the son he sacrificed for … a great connection to how complete our Heavenly Father’s love is for us … “God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not die but have eternal life” — John 3:16
— plus, any mention of Voltron in a Mass homily is worth noting … lol
Divine Mercy Sunday
MASS – (Fr Rios) — homeless couselor … as seminarians, we shouldn’t get too “sophisticated” in our spiritual lives (by forgetting traditions & devotions) … Sacred Heart of Jesus … honesty in spiritual direction helps you and the Church.
Today is Divine Mercy Sunday. I found some great YouTube videos that trump anything I could write about Divine Mercy & Sr Faustina (POLISH nun).
http://thedivinemercy.org/
http://www.marian.org/divinemercy/
http://www.ewtn.com/devotionals/mercy
http://www.our.homewithgod.com/divinemercy
Below are some YouTube links with the prayer of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy with lot so pictures to reflect on. Same prayer, but different compilations. Lots more available … these are my favorites.
Background on Sr Faustina & Divine Mercy
Chaplet of Divine Mercy in Song (version #2)
Chaplet of Divine Mercy in Song (version #1)
Chaplet of Divine Mercy in Song (long version)
Chaplet of Divine Mercy (part 1 of 2)
Chaplet of Divine Mercy (part 2 of 2)
Chaplet of Divine Mercy (3pm daily prayer)
Prayer for the Grace of Letting Go
At Mass today, Fr Santos reflected on a great prayer:
Loving God, I give you thanks for having called me to this great and wonderful adventure called seminary life.
While my heart is filled with joy and my spirit with great excitement, I am slowly discovering that this path I have chosen asks that I give up many things which have already become part of my life.
And let me be honest with you, I’m not finding it easy at all.
It is not always easy to let go of what I’ve gotten used to, Lord.
It’s difficult to let go of late night outings with my friends instead of studying.
It’s difficult to let go of mornings when I can stay in bed instead of going to prayer.
It’s difficult to let go of the good food I enjoy at home.
It’s difficult to let go of the freedom to go wherever and do whatever I please.
It’s difficult to let go of my friends, especially that girl whom I like so much.
It’s difficult to let go of those moments when I choose to be by myself instead of having to deal with others in community.
It’s difficult to let go of my biases, prejudices, and ideas that give me comfort and security.
It’s difficult to let go of many more things, old habits really die hard.
This new life scares me at times too.
How do I know all this letting-go will bear fruit?
How do I know that giving up all these things will result in my becoming happy with the path I have chosen?
How do I know that letting go of my former ambitions and dreams will really allow me to give my life entirely to you?
How do I know that all this sacrifice will make a good priest out of me?
How do I know that I will not fall later on and cause pain and sorrow to your church?
How do I know that this is your will for me and not something I merely imagine?
Speak, Lord, your servant listens.
Let me put my trust completely in you.
Allow me to see that though the initial stage of my journey
may be dark, difficult, and uncertain,
your presence is more that enough to calm my fears,
to lighten my burden, and to give me the strength and courage
to stick to this path that I have chosen,
in the firm conviction that you who have called me asked me
to let go of many things that have given comfort and security to my life
will give me in their stead, the greatest consolation there can be:
the knowledge that wherever I go, whatever happens, whomever I become,
you will always be there to love, guide, and protect me.
— Amen.
Easter Sunday @ my parish
Lent + ashes + fast + abstinence
MASS – (Fr Michael) — today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of the 40 days of the Lenten season. The homily challenged us to, not only give from our convenience or surplus, but to “give from our want.”
(ARCH of MIAMI) LENTEN REGULATIONS 2008 — The holy season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 6.
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Both Ash Wednesday & Good Friday are days of abstinence from meat for all who are fourteen (14) years and older.
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They are also days of fast (one full meal and two small meals, with nothing eaten between the meals) for adults from twenty-one (21) to fifty-nine (59) years of age.
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All Fridays of Lent are days of abstience from meat for those fourteen (14) years and older.
I found a comedian talking about Lent & Ash Wednesday. — funny
In the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 10:9-16), St. Peter has a vision in which God reveals that Christians can eat any food. So, when we abstain, it’s not because the food is impure; we’re voluntarily giving up something good, for our spiritual benefit.
More info on Lenten fasting & abstinance on EWTN & About.com (fast & abstinence)
surfing + volleyball
MASS – (Fr Michael) — analogy of priestly formation like surfing (paddle out against obstacles, waiting & watching, riding the wave)
VOLLEYBALL — only 3 of us showed up for volleyball, so we didn’t set up the new outdoor volleyball net we had. We bumped the ball around vowing to battle another day.
MOVIE — saw The Bucket List
means well + ethical hero + dualism + Taliban
MASS – (Fr Alvarez) — [an “extremely liturgically strict” priest is a poor example]
AQUINAS – (Fr Vallee) — 3 reasons for studying philosophy: (1) apologetic, (2) dogmatic, and (3) pastoral. Nemo dat quod non habet = no one gives what they don’t have. CCD teacher that only teaches emotion … 8th grader observation: “She means well, but doesn’t mean much.”
CONTEMPORARY PHIL – (Fr Santos) — finished Kierkegaard‘s Either/Or. The “ethical existence” is choosing to be who and what one truly and uniquely is (a subject, a self, unlike any other self, unlike any other thing). Even though we have many potential directions, TO WILL EVERYTHING IS TO ULTIMATELY WILL NOTHING (one’s energy is dissipated). The self willing involves an ongoing task/process, not a finished product. Negative view of the “mystic.” The “ethical hero” is interested in becoming a “genuine human being” and “honesty to oneself” ready to give up the aesthetic if it classes with the ethical or “for the sake of” something higher. The RELIGIOUS STATE is an intensified version of the ethical, making a relationship with God the highest priority. — need to read Karl Marx Communist Manifesto for Friday.
MEDIEVAL PHIL – (Fr Vallee) — elitism (death penalty debate) + virtue (through humility) + dualism (the Forms eternal are a problem to creation) + Justin Martyr (creation, faith & reason) + Philo the Jew (the Forms are ideas in the mind of God)
WORKLIST — with the rain, the “outdoor guys” were reassigned to help other crews, which made our McCarthy House crew finish even faster.
HOLY HOUR – (Fr Alvarez) — Taliban + scandal + “be a man”
DOTS — Next
MLK + 5 Bell Hotel + free day
MASS – (Fr Joseph) — New Wineskins gospel inspired the story of the “5 Star Hotel.” Struggling owner of the “5 Star Hotel” asks for advice about saving the business. Answer: (1) keep a positive attitude, (2) change the name to “5 Bell Hotel”, and (3) hang 6 bells out front by the sign. —Genius!
MOVIE FREE DAY — Since today is Martin Luther King Day, we didn’t have classes, so I went to see some movies with friends. At the theatre, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale was aweful (King Burt Reynolds should have made that obvious). At home, watched 1408 (confusing end).
PRE-THE COMPLINE & ROSARY — together at 10pm. In Honor of Martin Luther King and in solidarity with all our brothers and sisters who are suffering persecution and oppression around the world.
beast of burden + men are right + Unknown God + body theology
MASS – (Fr Michael) — today’s Mass intention was for Pope Benedict XVI, very appropriately with the Gospel reading of Jesus telling Peter to “Feed My Sheep.” The story behind the significance of the Corbinian Bear on the Pope’s coat of arms (upper right) was told. According to the background on Saint Corbinian (a Frankish bishop), a bear killed his pack horse on his way to Rome so the saint commanded the bear to carry his load. Pope Benedict XVI first adopted the symbol when, still known as Joseph Ratzinger, he was appointed Archbishop of Freising-Munich in March of 1977. He retained the bear in his revised coat of arms when becoming Cardinal in the same year and when elected to Pope in 2005. In addition to the obvious reference back to St. Corbinian, the founder of the diocese where Benedict was bishop, the bear represents Benedict himself being “tamed by God” as a “beast of burden” to bear the spiritual burdens of Benedict’s own ministries first as bishop, then as cardinal, and now as pope.
AQUINAS – (Fr Vallee) — more on Modernity and the extremes of Rationalism (reason) & Fideism (faith). Nature + supernature. Grace + nature. Samuel Taylor Coleridge quote: “Most men are right in what they affirm, and wrong in what they deny.”
CONTEMPORARY PHIL – (Fr Santos) — opening quiz on reading of Kierkegaard‘s “Equilibrium between the Aesthetic & the Ethical” in his book Either/Or. Introduced “inauthentic existence,” “radical subjectivity,” “disolving into a mutitude,” and self as “task” & “a dynamic process.”
MEDIEVAL PHIL – (Fr Vallee) — reviewed Stoicism and reflected on St Paul in Athens (Acts 17), especially his approach to preaching the gospel message among the Greeks of his time about their statue to the “Unknown God.”
MINISTERIAL METHODS – (Fr Michael) — “Classroom Management.”
RECTOR’s CONFERENCE – (Fr Michael) — usually on Thursday, this was an exceptional day since this Thursday we’re hosting the seminarians from the St Vincent’s Major Seminary in Boyton Beach, FL. Today’s topic was (part 2 of 3) on the Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.
DOTS — night walk — Superman Returns — busy day
parent’s love + sons of God + Bart Simpson + Flanders
MASS – (Fr Santos) — today’s Gospel is the Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan River by John the Baptist where ‘ “a voice [God the Father] came from the heavens, saying, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” ‘ (Matt 3:17)
With a very loose (but very illustrative) connection with a scene from The Simpsons Movie (since Fr Santos is a BIG Simpsons fan), he reminds us of our need to be affirmed as “sons of God,” countered with the experience of abandonment as Jesus on the cross pleading, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” (Matt 27:46).
In The Simpsons Movie, Bart Simpson sees an affirming and nurturing side to Ned Flanders (Christian father with 2 kids next door) that he does not recognize in his own father Homer Simpson. Bart agrees to let Flanders take him fishing, where Bart drops Flanders’ favorite fishing pole to an agressive fish. Bart, expecting to be choked for messing up (like Homer would), starts gagging and shortly realizes Flanders doesn’t hit him in disappointment. 
In fact, Flanders reaffirms Bart by saying the only reason to lay his hand on his son would be to “pat him on the back” affirming him. Even as Flanders pats Bart on the back, Bart flinches expecting a “hit” but, instead, realizing affirmation feels so good that he requests another.
We all need affirmation … in what we do … in what we think … in times of struggle … in times of joy … but, mostly, in who we are, “sons of God.” — the Lord loves us more than we love ourselves … it’s hard to accept, but a parent’s love is the grace of our relationship that makes our Christian lives so alive, so joyful, so fruitful, and so awesome!
perhaps + Spanish Lord’s Prayer + NT culture + Argentinian food night
MASS – (Fr Santos) — [half sandwich Christmas gift] Jesus’ multiplication of 5 loaves & 2 fish. A supernatural miracle by Jesus … or PERHAPS a selfish crowd was moved to give from their personal stash. — Maybe? Just as fantastic of a miracle. Perhaps.
SPANISH 2 – (Dr Jimenez) — this is the second semester (the second part – I didn’t fail!) of Spanish 2. Among other things, we went over the Lord’s Prayer in Spanish (especially since the version in the Spanish Liturgy of the Hours books is completely different): [Lord’s Prayer in various languages]
Padre nuestro, que estás en el cielo
Santificado sea Tu nombre;
Venga a nosotros Tu reino.
Hágase Tu voluntad
En la tierra como en el cielo.
Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada día.
Perdona nuestras ofensas,
Como también nosotros perdonamos a los que nos ofenden.
Y no nos dejes caer en la tentación;
líbranos de todo mal.
[Porque Tuyo es el Reino, el Poder y la Gloria por siempre, Señor. Amén.]
NEW TESTAMENT – (Fr Michael) — today, we started the semester with the Cultural Settings of the New Testament.
CULTURAL FOOD NIGHT — today was Argentinian Food Night for dinner. Great!
DOTS — “rejoice + divine compassion + slavery + freedom + sons of God” — watched Live Free or Die Hard
semester begins + Aquinas + Contemporary Philosophy + Medieval + Ministry + Amber Spyglass
MASS – (Fr Michael) — God is the same yesterday as today, on vacation, on retreat, back in the daily routine. Do you believe in Jesus? How is your life different because of your belief?
AQUINAS in the 20th CENTURY – (Fr Vallee) — this is a senior level course that focuses on the rediscovery of St Thomas Aquinas thought in the 19th & 20th centuries, in the areas of epistemology, metaphysics and anthropology. Readings will be from Gilson, Maritain, Marechal, Rousselot and John Paul II’s Fides et ratio. No term paper. Tests are open notes & open book — (translation: It’s hard!). Large class.
CONTEMPORARY PHILOSOPHY – (Fr Santos) — started reviewing Modern Philosophy era. LOTS of reading. Martin Buber – I and Thou … Hans-Georg Gadamer – Truth and Method … Martin Heidegger – Introduction to Metaphysics … Edmund Husserl – Phenomenology and the Crisis of Philosophy … Soren Kierkegaard – Either/Or (our first reading assignment) … Karl Marx – Communist Manifesto … Friedrich Nietzsche – The Anti-Christ … Paul Ricoeur – Oneself as Another … John Robinson – Honest to God … Adam Smith – The Wealth of Nations … Alfred North Whitehead – Religion in the Making. — I should probably be reading right now!
MEDIEVAL PHILOSOPHY – (Fr Vallee) — reviewed a timeline of philosphy periods. This class will focus on Augustine (Confessions), Anselm, and Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologica, On Being and Essence, The Thought of Thomas Aquinas). Our main test is Frederick Copleston’s A History of Philosophy, vol II. 2 papers. — finally some Augustine & Aquinas!
MINISTERIAL PRACTICUM – (Fr Michael) — reviewed the basic about ministry (from last semester). This course will be about the practical skills need for ministry. Next year, we’ll be assigned Monday night “Apostalic Work” in the areas of CCD catechesis or Homebound Visitation. We’ll be going out to visit other seminarians in their work assignments throughout the semester. Today, we also learned “How to Create a Lesson Plan” for CCD class. — finally some hands-on!
DOTS — “Kr” Lauds blessing — listened to first half of The Amber Spyglass (His Dark Materials trilogy) on audio
Jesus? + tomacco + retreat starts
MASS – (Fr Michael) — feast of “Most Holy Name of Jesus.” Homily was a reminder of 2 questions that we were asked at the beginning of the school year. Deceptively simple … but not easy to answer (if you’re honest). (1) Do you believe in Jesus? (2) Is your life different because of it? … Yes … ummm … I think so … ummm … retreat time!
DAY DOTS — breakfast Tomacco — newspaper — 11am Rector Orientation — lunch [pan] spill — book sale — TV Hauntings
Lost Sheep + cram day
MASS – (Fr Santos) — the Lost Sheep gospel reading — don’t forget importance of the other dependent communal shephards (fellow seminarians).
STUDY GROUPS — since I have no exams today, it’s cram day for 2 exams tomorrow (Ancient Philosophy & Old Testament). Burger King & CVS runs. -Cef
EVENING MOVIE — Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer
postmodern + Monsignor + Christmas dinner
MASS – (Fr Vallee) — “frail bird”
MODERN PHILOSOPHY – (Fr Santos) — finish Hegel. Turned in reflection paper on Locke.
ANCIENT PHILOSOPHY – (Fr Santos) — finish Neoplatonism. Turned in reflection paper on Epicureanism.
ARTS & IDEAS – (Fr Vallee) — as the last day of class before finals week, we covered the Post-Modern Period in 1 day.
VIGIL MASS + MONSIGNOR – (Fr Michael) — [2 battleships practicing] we celebrated a Vigil Mass for tomorrow’s feast of the Immaculate Conception. Bishop Noonan began Mass by announcing our rector Fr Michael Carruthers has been made a Monsignor (along with 20+ others in our diocese during this Jubilee Year), but he still prefers us to call him “Father.” — Congratulations!
CHRISTMAS DINNER — especially for faculty member, we had a big Christmas Dinner with ham, pork, rice & beans, green beans, po-ta-toes, fudge pie, key lime pie, apple dessert, & a bowl of strawberry/blueberry “mix” — GREAT!
dialectic + stoicism + Serra dinner
MASS – (Fr Joseph) — Francis Xavier – preach the Gospel … if necessary use words.
MODERN PHILOSOPHY – (Fr Santos) — Hegel’s “dialectic” … thesis – antithesis (“marker is NOT a turkey“) – synthetic. Look up Anthropic Principle = Hegel?
ANCIENT – (Fr Santos) — handout on Epicureanism & Stoicism. — I think I’ll do my reflection paper on Epicureanism.
SERRA CLUB DINNER – (Fr Manny) — the Miami Pre-Theologians (me) helped our vocation director at the annual Serra Club Dinner honoring Religious men & woman at St Martha Catholic Church next to the Archdiocesen Pastoral Center. — Great people, food and Christmas caroling!
SJVCS Seminary Life Album
July '09 -- hospital chaplains @ IPF
Easter '09 -- Miami SJVCS friends
the Son always finds a break in let the clouds
Feb '09 -- school vocation talks @ AMHS
Feb '09 -- cold breakfast with brothers (Matias, Fenly & Randy), now at SVDP and Imad (at SJVCS)
Superbowl '09 -- eating great @ SJVCS
Sept '08 -- Worklist Coordinators?
St Raphael Chapel mural @ SJVCS
Sept '08 -- retreats @ SJVCS
"It's not easy being green"
Catholic Kermit 
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