Tuesday, October 19, 2010

St. Andre


This weekend the Church canonized several new saints, each with incredible stories to tell. This week I want to share a few of them who have touched my heart and who speak to the Church today.

On Sunday, Brother Andre Bessette, CSC was declared at Saint. Saint Andre was a humble man of great faith who has touched the lives of so many in Canada and right here in New Hampshire. Through his humble service and incredible heart thousands of people were healed, and millions came closer to God. There are few words that I could offer that could compare with the beautiful presentation that St. Joseph's Oratory has put together online. It takes about ten minutes to watch but is WELL WORTH IT. So set aside some time for prayerful pilgrimage from your computer screen and be reminded of a little man with great faith.

Click here!

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

A Funny Feeling



Fall has finally arrived at the Seminary and with it there is change in the air. I am not sure exactly what it is but things seem different from when the year started. Work is piling up and energy levels are beginning to run out (for no good reason I must honestly admit). I am not sure what it is but I am having a difficult time finding motivation to do my work. I think part of the reason might be that the closer one gets to overwhelming projects, the more the natural response is to do nothing. I am not sure if this quite makes sense or not, but for me sometimes it seems as if the more I have to do the less I want to do it. This of course creates a problem as one puts off the necessary and thus only digs a digger hole in which to crawl out of. So that is where I sit, with a mountain of work and no real desire to do it. I suppose I will dig deep within and find some energy to get it done, but no such luck yet.

On another note I have been finding my prayer time recently incredibly fruitful. I am not sure why that is, but when I am entering into prayer in the silence of my heart I am feeling the warmth of God's presence in a special and real way. This powerful experience has been further enriched by a flood of random memories from the past which have begun to creep into my mind. When I am in prayer I am finding myself remembering small and random moments in my life. I suppose it will all make sense to me at some point, but for now I am just enjoying them as they come.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Some Summer Photos From My Parish Assignment

I just came across some old photos from my summer assignment from St. Aloysius Parish in Nashua. I thought I would post them and share some great memories. A special shout out is in order to photographer Emma Pratte who took them. Each person portrayed is special to me and has been a great witness to faith. I really love the way the pictures bring to life the parish in a special and prayerful way. Enjoy





























Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Soccer Video

In preparation for the Soccer Tournament we competed in earlier this year, we made a little promo video for the team. Enjoy!

Monday, October 4, 2010

St. Mary's Seminary Orietation 2010 Video

Part 1: Note the opening sequence- my idea- oh yeah!


Part 2- Watch for my debut. I tried to make Mary Catherine Gallagher proud!



Part 3

Part 4-

Sunday, October 3, 2010

A Cousin, An Aunt, Some Old Friends, A Gala and a Giant Rat!

One of the great joys of Seminary life is having company. I imagine it is the same for many stations in life, however I think in a special way seminarians love to have visitors. Since being at St. Mary's I have been very fortunate to have several wonderful people come and visit including my family, friends, former students and priests from home. Each visitor brings with them a breath of fresh air, an excuse to escape the confines of the Seminary campus and a reason to put off work.


This week I was blessed to have three sets of visitors, each who brought their own joy. On Wednesday Night my cousin Patty and I had dinner in Baltimore's inner harbor. Patty lives in North Carolina with her family and was in town for a major IBM convention. Having not seen Patty for several years it was wonderful to catch up on old times and to share a night out on the town. She kindly took me to Cheesecake Factory where we dined like kings and enjoyed a beautiful Baltimore evening. The weather was perfect so we opted to eat outside on the patio overlooking Baltimore's inner harbor. About half way through our meal I saw something run behind my cousin's chair. Not wanting to scare her I said nothing. A few minutes later I saw a brush of fur run by. I was a little disgusted and figured it was a small mouse and kept eating. It wasn't until we were done our meal that I looked over beside her chair and saw what had to be the world's largest rat. Now many of you may presume I am exaggerating, but I assure you I am not! The rat was the size of small cat and could easily have weighed ten pounds. I nearly died of shock and it ran away. Needless to say we quickly motioned the waitress and called it a night. If you are in the Inner Harbor of Baltimore beware of the giant rat.


If you see it you will know what I am talking about. If you can catch and tame it I assure you could get a saddle and ride it to school!




On Friday night I was able to go out for Dinner with the Dunn Family from Manchester. The Dunns were in town for family weekend at Loyola University (2 blocks from St. Mary's) where their daughter, and my brilliant former student, MariBriege attends. Peter, Kelly, MariBriege and little Patrick and I went out to Baltimore's famous Cafe Hon Restaurant. Cafe Hon is a unique family restaurant with an eclectic combination of memorabilia. It was great to catch up with them all and to spend an evening with real people. When you are in the Seminary and spend all of your time with seminarians and priests it is easy to get a strange sense of reality.



On Saturday my Aunt Susie was in town for a national convention of Urban Boards of Education. She is on the Board of Education for Jersey City, NJ. My Aunt and I were able to meet up for lunch and I was able to give her a tour of the Seminary. She is an incredible woman with a heart of gold, and she has been very supportive of my journey to priesthood. It was wonderful to be able to show her where I study and to share an afternoon together.



Saturday Night I joined seven other seminarians and the Rector of the Seminary at the Archdiocese of Baltimore's Gala for Catholic Education. The evening was a huge fund-raising event for Catholic Schools, something that is right up my alley. The Archdiocese was able to sell out the evening's Gala and raise close to a million dollars for the support of schools! The evening featured great food, music, and a live auction. It was great to relax with friends and the Rector, Vice-Rector and Director of Development. My favorite part of the evening came when we tried to convince the Rector to bid on a Puppy. He has a cat and is not really a dog person. Despite our declarations that we would walk the dog every day he did not budge. The rector has a great sense of humor and it was in full force during our exchanges about the Puppy Auction. We made sure to buy a stuffed dog and leave it in front of his door the next morning with a little note and a bill for the auction.

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Please note this blog will begin being regularly updated after August 21st (when I arrive in Baltimore).