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Mid-West food night
CULTURAL FOOD NIGHT — this Tuesday was (American) Mid-West food night with ribs, steak, corn, potatoes and milk, with Buckeyes for desert. Since I’m originally from Chicago, my limited cooking efforts were contributed. Lots of work … lots of fun … lots of food (especially Buckeyes)!
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
care packages from IL kids + LOST 9 ball
SEMINARIAN CARE PACKAGES — After dinner, the Rector randomly gave out a dozen Easter cards written by some elementary school kids from Illinois. They also contained gift certificate cards in them, for gas and more. — WOW … blessings all the way from Illinois … thank you (even though I wasn’t a lottery winner). 🙂
DOTS — worklist (McCarthy House) — worklist 2 (clean our Pre-The house) — Holy Hour (Fr Michael) — brother seminarian’s father dies (CL) — 9 Ball (3 losses) — LOST S2.7n8
back from Easter BREAK
I took last week’s Holy Week BREAK a bit too literally, so I’ll be back-dating some posts, especially pictures from services at St Mary’s Cathedral that all of us Miami seminarians served at. — a blessed experience indeed.
We were due in today by 9pm. 10pm NIGHT PRAYER was very reflective on the last 3 (busy) weeks by (rector) Fr Michael. [3 tracks, 1h]
+ JP’s back!
(video) “When God Ran” by Phillips Craig & Dean
On our first day of Holy Week break, our rector, Fr Michael, sent an email with a You Tube video link. It features clips from The Passion of the Christ movie to the Phillips Craig & Dean song “When God Ran.” — a powerfully good focus for reflection for entering Holy Week.
“Though he was in the form of God, Jesus did not deem equality with God something to be grasped. Rather, he emptied himself and took the form of a slave, being born of human estate, and it was thus that he humbled himself, obediently accepting even death, death on a cross!
“Because of this, God highly exalted him and bestowed upon him the name above every other name, so that at Jesus’ name every knee must bend in the heavens, on the earth, and under the earth, and every tongue proclaim to the glory of God the Father: JESUS CHRIST IS LORD!” — Philippians2:6-11
posting delay
Sorry for the silence for the last couple weeks. I was having trouble getting my pictures off my cell phone. Problem solved … so I’ll be backdating my post with my reflections for the last few weeks as I upload everything.
I’m still here … 🙂 This is the last week of classes before Holy Week break.
Today was a day off from classes due to our hectic weekend of Vocation Awareness Weekend where 70 guys from all over Florida came to see what seminary life is like and possibly discern if the priesthood is for them. Great weekend. Great guests. (I was Janet Jackson in the Saturday night skit … but I’ll explain later when I post some pics)
Patience … 🙂 … Be holy … Good night!
ping pong + Jericho back
MINISTERIAL PRACTICUM — (yesterday) Multiple choice mid-term. [aces]
NEW TESTAMENT — mid-term exam. Multiple choice.
DOTS — dinner canolli — Medieval Philosophy study group — Jericho returns (finally!)
PING PONG — tonight was the last semi-final round for our Ping-Pong Olympic Tournament. Great match-up and awesome game, even with the “unruly crowd.” 🙂
Pope + Lourdes + grotto = plenary indulgence
Since my home parish of St Bernadette Catholic Church has a grotto dedicated to Our Lady of Lourdes, visiting and praying at the grotto between Feb 2-11, 2008 qualifies for a special Papal plenary indulgence to encourage renewed holiness, celebrating the 150th anniversary of the appearance of Mary to St Bernadette Soubirous near Lourdes, France.
An indulgence is a remission of the temporal punishment (in this world and in purgatory) due for sins committed. A plenary indulgence is the remission of all punishment. This is a tremendous gift from the Pope. To receive the indulgence, one should say the Our Father, Apostle’s Creed and the Hail Mary at the grotto along with a prayer for our Pope’s intentions and go to confession before Easter Sunday.
For more info & details, see article at Catholic News Service (CNS).
Thank you Jesus for your mercy and the Holy Catholic Church you have left us … with the treasury of your merits. May Our Lady continue to lead us to her Son, Jesus! Amen.
Confirmation Retreat revisited
Back at my home parish, the 8th grade Confirmation kids (some were my CCD kids from last year) had an evening of reflection as a follow-up to their 2-day Confirmation Retreat last month [my previous blog post about it]. The schedule was pretty simple. After 6pm Mass (which I served at), pizza on the deck, a great skit (see pictures) about Jesus bridging the gap in the face of temptations, a personal witness talk by a teen, small group debrief (“What’s happened since the Retreat?”), and some large group reflections (that I couldn’t stay for) to close. The kids definitely wanted to be there. A great sign of their Confirmation journey.
Chinese New Year food night — Sr Ann May
CULTURAL FOOD NIGHT — tonight was Chinese Food Night, especially since the Chinese New Year in of Feb 7th. Lots of great food and lots of work. We were entertained by a video of Chinese dancing and singing and after dinner, 2 of our seminary student sisters (Daughters of St Paul) performed a traditional Chinese dance. The sad part of the evening, however, was the announcement that Sr Ann May is being transfered to Philadelphia after our mid-semester break in 2 weeks. — we’ll definitely miss her and keep praying for her 😦
touchdown + Superbowl party
TOUCH FOOTBALL — this afternoon, we played some 6-on-6 touch football in the spirit of Superbowl Sunday. Not to brag, but the game ended with our victory 5-1 with my final touchdown. — fun, but I’ll definitely feel it tomorrow
SUPERBOWL PARTY — great BBQ ribs, chicken, burgers, hot dogs, half-time wings, lots of deserts and a great game on the big screen & big sound. — nice!
David Tracy + spirituality + philosophy + theology
GUEST SPEAKER — this afternoon, we drove 1+ hour north to St Vincent de Paul Regional Major Seminary in Boyton Beach, Florida for a conference on “Philosophy, Theology and Spirituality” by guest speaker David Tracy. Despite being one of the most respected theologians from the United States, his 2 talks and Q&A sessions were very understandable. The first was on “Philosophy & Spirituality” and the other on “Theology & Spirituality.” I found some more weblinks about him HERE.
I also jotted down some personal notes, but only in a way that I would recognize: Stoics’ exercises of attentiveness … music, writing a paper, learning a language becomes a spiritual experience … we’re challenged by going out of ourselves … all religions say the “ego” is not the solution (probably the problem) … how what I’m thinking affects the way I live … spirituality without philosophy is dead
Luke + Acts + Filipino food
NEW TESTAMENT – (Fr Michael) — Gospel of Luke & the Acts of the Apostles. Compared parables of the synoptic Gospel books.
CULTURAL FOOD NIGHT — today was Filipino Food Night. Their food culture is a mix of Asian, Spanish & America. — Delicious everything … egg rolls & salsa were addictive!
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
lector + missing Psalm + poverty + underdog croquet
MORNING PRAYER & MASS – (Fr Vallee) — today, I was lector for the Mass reading (conversion of St Paul) and lead Liturgy of the Hours (Morning & Evening). While reading morning Laud, I TOTALLY SKIPPED the 3rd Psalm … ??? … nervous, I guess … and was reminded about it all day from my seminary brothers. — I appreciate the fraternal correction 🙂
AQUINAS – (Fr Vallee) — started Pope John Paul II’s encyclical letter Fides et Ratio. Spent some time on the opening greating:
Faith and reason are like two wings on which the human spirit rises to the contemplation of truth; and God has placed in the human heart a desire to know the truth — in a word, to know himself — so that, by knowing and loving God, men and women may also come to the fullness of truth about themselves.
CONTEMPORARY PHIL – (Fr Santos) — started The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels with discussion on the “working class” and poverty. Watched an assigned video about world poverty, “When Did I See You Hungary?” a film by Gerard Thomas Straub narrated by Martin Sheen.
MEDIEVAL PHIL – (Fr Vallee) — “paradigm shift” + permanence & change + the one & the many
OLYMPIC CROQUET — our new sports coordinators have created an Olympic Sports Tournament over the next few weeks, including ping pong, relay races, volleyball, soccer, croquet & more. Today was our Olympic Croquet tournament, which I signed up for. 16 guys in 4-4 player games, whereby the winner of each plays for the Gold. I won my first round as an underdog in a very exciting & close game. The final round was actually ALL underdogs from the first rounds, ending with the champion being my “Guadeamus Clone” who must have copied my abilities & strategy into his collective. — A great tournament!
EVENING PRAYER & DINNER — In order to redeem myself with this morning’s blunder, my post-dinner prayer (also the lector’s job) included an “excerpt from this morning’s missing Psalm” and gratitude for food, friends, fellowship, faith & fin de semana (“weekend” in Spanish). — Dr Jimenez would be proud!
Communist Manifesto + lost weekend + homosexuality
HOMEWORK CATCH-UP — behind on some assigned reading, I spent some of the day reading The Communist Manifesto by Karl Marx for Contemporary Philosophy class tomorrow.
PRE-THEOLOGY UPDATE — (1) the chapels in our off-campus housing should be done in about 4-6 weeks. (2) Since we raised concerns about feeling distant from the campus community, our personal “free-weekend-a-semester” opportunity has been rescinded. (3) Our house will have resident priest in a couple weeks. (4) Our backyard furniture has no status yet.
RECTOR’s CONFERENCE – (Fr Michael) — part 3 of a series on Fatherhood titled after a 2005 Vatican document, “The Instruction on the Criteria for Vocational Discernment with Regard to Persons with Homosexual Tendencies in View of Their Admission to the Seminary and Holy Orders.” [full text of document]
PRE-THE NIGHT PRAYER & ROSARY — 10pm.
INCONSISTENT SCRIPTURE — as I’m practicing tomorrow’s Mass reading (I have lector duty), there are 2 passages to choose from since it’s the feast of the Conversion of St Paul. There’s a detail in both that is inconsistent. In one reading, when Paul is blinded by the light and hears Jesus speak to him, his companions “heard the voice” of Jesus … but in the other passage, they “did not hear the voice.” I tried finding some footnotes in various Bible versions, but only found a note in the NRSV that noted the inconsistency, but didn’t give any possible explanations. — I need to look up a comentary in the library
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
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.
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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