Archive
Spanish class desayuno
SPANISH 2 – (Dr Jimenez) — today, we had class AND breakfast at Brisa de Espana, a local Spanish restaurant. The food was great. I had scrambled eggs with Spanish sausage an Arizona ice tea!
We’re finishing our last chapter 18 with Si (if) clauses and a confusing summary of the use of the subjunctive (ALL OF THEM). — I can’t say I was paying all my attention to our bookwork, cuz the food was delicioso!
Spanish class dinner
In order to catch-up on some missing Spanish, our professor invited us to his home this evening for dinner and a study session. Our hosts were generous beyond words with a delicious steak dinner. We also brought some desert (very rich). Discussions were about everything … pet dogs … pink glass cleaner … our Easter break … Narnia (movie & book) … conditional tenses … past perfect subjunctives … que haria Jesus (WWJD) … million dollar dreams … dwarfs … poetry … and more. — a great evening.
Eucharistic music video + simplicity
I found this Eucharistic music video on You Tube. It’s a collage of pictures arranged to music by a New Age band called Era (chant of an imaginary language close to Latin). This tune is called “The Mass,” I think …
DOTS — Narnia, Lion, Witch, Wardrobe movie, part 2 (in Spanish) — dish washing duty — Rector’s Conference on “Simplicity of Life” — LOST rerun — Night Prayer 4
David Crowder Band – “O Praise Him” (song)
Since morning prayer, I’ve been singing “O praise Him, Alleluia …” and tried to find a video with it, but found another favorite by David Crowder Band called “O Praise Him” with a simple, but interesting video. Here it is:
DOTS — Narnia, Lion, Witch & Wardrobe (in Spanish) part 1 — Pauline Epistles & Theology in New Testament class — washing dishes duty — Enchanted — (Irish reporter movie?)
synoptics + Mark + Matthew + Columbian food + pro-life Rosary
MASS – (Fr Santos) — “the sabbath was made for man , not man for the sabbath”
SPANISH 2 – (Dr Jimenez) — chapter 15 on haber + past participles. If we stay on schedule this semester, we’ll try to read the Spanish version of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
NEW TESTAMENT – (Fr Michael) — today, we started the Synoptic Gospels (reviewed side-by-side syn-optically), more specifically the Gospels of Mark & Matthew. Even though Mark is the shortest gospel book, 80% of Mark’s verses are reproduced in Matthew while 65% is in Luke. There may also exist a hypothetical source “Q” that scholars propose to explain other similarities between Matthew & Luke not borrowed from Mark.
CULTURAL FOOD NIGHT — today was Columbian food night with a small army of cooks creating some great food.
PRO-LIFE ROSARY — after dinner in the McCarthy Chapel on the anniversary of Roe vs Wade for the dignity of all human persons, especially for the end to abortion.
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
1st sem grades
Today I received my grades for my first semester in St John Vianney College Seminary:
Arts & Ideas – (Fr Vallee) — B
Ancient Philosophy – (Fr Santos) — B+
Modern Philosophy – (Fr Santos) — B
Ministerial Methods – (Fr Michael) — A
Intermediate Spanish – (Dr Jimenez) — B
Intro to Old Testament – (Fr Michael) — A
DOTS — Stephen King’s The Mist [PF]
Amadeus
SPANISH 2 – (Dr Jimenez) — Final Exam. — I guess it went ok?
EVENING MOVIE — tonight, we watched Deck the Hall drive-in style with a projector outside for the whole community.
WRITE A PAPER — today I re-watched Amadeus for my Arts & Ideas reflection paper due tomorrow. Here is my opening paragraph:
The Modern period, beginning with the Renaissance, is most known for its ideas in rationalism, empiricism, enlightenment and romanticism. A reflection of the time can be seen in the he 1984 film Amadeus, based on Peter Shaffer’s stage play. The story takes place during the end of the 18th century and is based on the lives of two composers of the time, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Antonio Salieri. Within the film, signs of the “modern period” can be seen. More specifically, the modern traits of displaced eschatology, the rise of the genius and technology are demonstrated in Amadeus.
spinach + Robitussin
MASS — [left shine]
SPANISH – (Dr Jimenez) — chaper 14 test + dictation + evaluation.
LUNCH — food court @ Dolphin Mall with J.
DINNER — Spinach lasagna (with nuts & hard pasta)? + Robitussin drink + scarce salad bar.
RECTOR’s CONFERENCE – (Fr Michael) — part 2 on Virtues for new guys.
TV — watched last to episodes of Pushing Daisies procrastinating 2 philosophy papers due tomorrow. [a blessing in disguise]
moral virtues + Jim Gaffigan
SPANISH 2 – (Dr Jimenez) — new chapter 14.1
TV CATCH-UP — watched missed episodes of The Unit & Cane.
RECTOR’s CONFERENCE – (Fr Michael) — about Moral Virtues (see seperate post).
PRE-T HOUSE — watched standup Jim Gaffigan. Night Prayer. House “cleaning” meeting.
sister visit
SPANISH – (Dr Jimenez) — I don’t know how I got an 88% on the chapter 12 test, but I’ll take whatever I can get to keep my head above aqua.
OLD TESTAMENT – (Fr Michael) — we reviewed previous material and covered Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers & Deuteronomy.
SISTER VISIT — since my sister was in town visiting, she came by the seminary and spent time with all the seminarians for Evening Prayer (Vespers) and Dinner (“Savannah, Georgia Night“). Coldstone’s Ice Creamery for desert!
ten piedad + soccer + lawn movie night
SPANISH 2 – (Dr Jimenez) — Spanish mid-term on chapter 12. — “Senor profesor, ten piedad de nosotros, por favor!”
SOCCER — with the stressful exam week, we had an evening of soccer (non-tournament) after dinner and played until we couldn’t see the ball anymore. — I was ball boy, again
WALK-IN MOVIE NIGHT — 8pm tonight we had a different kind of movie night for our last evening together before the weeklong “Mid-Semester Break.” We laid out on the grass & watched “Norbit” projected onto a wall outside. — Great idea! Need more OFF!
new men commit – steak & champaign
SPANISH 2 – (Dr Jimenez) — today we continued the imperative verb forms like “ataca Anti-Christo” and revisited the “gang of irregular preterites” (–ataca them too)
MASS – (Fr Michael) — today’s schedule was changed with 4:30 Mass for the “New Men Commitment & Reception Ceremony” to officially accept the New Men into the house, marking the end of the “New Student Experience.” The homily highlighted the feast of the Korean martyrs Andrew (priest) and Paul (catechist & seminarian). A beautiful Mass with a steak & champaign dinner afterwards. —delicious
RECTOR’s CONFERENCE – (Fr Michael) — the “New Men” had part 2 of 2 on “The Priesthood: A Theological Overview.” — Busy day.
spleen love – Puerto Rican food
MASS – (Fr Santos) — Today’s Gospel shows Jesus “moved with pity” for a woman who walked in her son’s funeral procession. From the Greek text, Jesus is moved “from his innermost being,” which was believed to have come from the spleen (–it’s somewhat close to the heart). The priests that “the Church” responds most to are those that are “compassionate & kind,” who have love for the people, but, most especially, for Christ “from their innermost being.”
SPANISH 2 – (Dr Jimenez) — Preterite quiz today (mixed with some imperfect) — tricky — not good — 70%
CULTURAL FOOD NIGHT — Today is the first ethnic food night. Every Tuesday, the food theme is from a ethnic background of the various seminarians in the house. Today’s theme is Puerto Rico. Dessert was flan. — it was good.
Alka-Seltzer + esterder
MASS – (Fr Alvarez) — today’s Gospel reading of Jesus calling the trusting apostles to be “fishers of men” was well illustrated by an Alka-Seltzer commercial (“Try it, you’ll like it!”). Sometimes we have to venture out of our familiar comfort zone and into the unknown for various reasons (fear, inadequecies, selfishness, etc), but the Lord calls each of us (uniquely) to trust His direction and “learn something new” that should surprise us in the “best way.” — Amen. Easier said than done, but baby-step are still moving.
SPANISH 2 – (Dr Jimenez) — Yo “failo” (I need the past preterite form) the review test (chapters 1-11) with a 48%, but surprisingly (and somewhat relieved) that some did worse. I definitely need to step up my catch up work, or it’s gonna hurt all semester. Learned a new word (that doesn’t exist) — “esterder” — I need to think of a good definition for it. Any ideas anyone? Kermit?
RECTOR’s CONFERENCE – (Fr Michael) — part 3 of a series on “Reason, Formation & Relationship with Christ.” I’ll post some excerpts separately.
300 – refuse external trappings
MASS – (Fr Santos) — 
In today’s readings, Jesus speaks with “authority” to both preach and heal. Fr Santos (in his first Mass at SJV) began his homily by using the movie 300 to stand firm in beliefs and not be dependent on outside influences. He used the scene where Xerxes (Persians king) offers Leonidas (Spartans) money and power to surrender. Leonidas stood for principles of country, honor & his people — he refused external trappings. The Greek word for “authority” is “exusia” and means “from within your own being” which Jesus did everything by (as opposed to Rabbis and prophets who prefaced what they said with footnotes). In seminary, we’re call to focus on our own individual call (from within) to preach and heal with the “authority” of the true priesthood found in Christ Jesus. — I pay attention to any point made using a cool movie.
SPANISH 2 – (Dr Jimenez) — If “failo” means “to fail,” then I “failo” the test (needs past PRETERITE form – which I don’t know either) of the first 11 chapters of our spanish book (which was taught in Spanish 1). I over-studied last night to the point it all mixed into zero usability. Of all my classes this semester, I will need to put extra effort into Spanish.
LUNCH — we had tuna burgers. I’ve never heard of one and took a picture. — it was good.
OLD TESTAMENT – (Fr Michael) — we learned methods of studying Scripture — Fundamentalist, Historical-Critical, Human Sciences, and Contextual approaches. Need to read chapters 3 & 4 for next week.
EVENING PRAYER — a major lightning strike (nearest to me nonetheless) in the middle of prayer scared the life out of all of us.
VIRUS ATTACK — as I’m writing this post, my computer got attacked by a virus on my Shared Documents folder. — 2 scares in the same day.
Vuestra merced
SPANISH 2 – (Dr Jimenez) — reviewed direct & indirect & reflexive pronouns as well as some tricky stem-changing verb conjugations. Cool fact: “Ustedes” actually comes from “Vuestra merced” = “Your mercy” which is very formal, old and not used today. — I’ll try to remember to use that when I get stuck answering a question in class.
RECTOR’s CONFERENCE – (Fr Michael) — tonight was part 2 of 3 on a series called, “Reason, Formation & Relationship with Christ.” (I’ll post some exerpts separate) Afterwards, the new men met in small groups for dicussions.
Spanish 2 – Intro to OT
SPANISH 2 – (Dr Jimenez) — from the moment he walked in, the professor spoke Spanish to us for nearly 45 minutes straight, asking question and having us each answer. I looked around and everyone seemed calm, while I was clicking my heals to “There’s no place like Spanish 1.” When he finally spoke English and assured us we’d review over the next few classes, my heartrate dropped. — I need to start reviewing TODAY.
INTRO to OLD TESTAMENT – (Fr Michael) — our class size is so big (30+) that we meet in the library. We covered “Questioning Skills” (Bloom’s Taxonomy), “What is the Bible?”, “Senses of Scripture” and Letio Divina. It’s all of stuff because it’s a 2.5 hour class only once a week. Thank goodness the PowerPoint presentation will be available for us, ‘cuz I can’t write very fast. I asked a question about using paraphrase Bibles, like “The Message” (that Protestants like a lot) and, as I expected, we shouldn’t use them for Scripture study nor Lectio Divina — since it seriously compromises the “literal sense” of Scripture. — how ironic that Protestants (who claim “sola scriptura“) would use a “paraphrase” Bible as their point of reference.
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 
Recent Comments