Going backwards in time is not usually how blogs work. I'm aware of this. However, I realize that there are some people who've not yet heard about my trip to NY to see the Holy Father so there's no time like the present.

We left on a Thursday night and got back on Sunday around 600pm. So all in all we were only gone from St. Louis for about 72 hours. At least half of those were spent in a van. Which isn't nearly as bad as it sounds. Someone was always in the back sleeping and someone else was always riding shotgun to make sure the driver didn't do the same. It was really blessed to have such a great bunch of friars to go with on this road-trip.

(Aquinas Institute President blessing said van.)

We were assigned a retreat center by the archdiocese of NY and we had no idea what our accommodations would be like. To say that they were awesome would be an understatement. The house we stayed in was owned by the Franciscan friars of the renewal, which was founded by Benedict Groeschel. Apparently some wealthy donor had given them a large house on Long Island Sound in a really swanky neighborhood. It has a pool (which was not filled at the time unfortunately) and fantastic view right on the waterfront. But all this wasn't the best of it. The best part was the fact that Fr. Benedict Groeschel himself lived there! Okay he actually lived in a small room in the garage but close enough.


(The view from the back of the house looking
out onto Long Island Sound.)


The best part of being there was all the time that Father G. spent with us. He was eager to great us right after we got there and had dinner with us later that night. We hadn't had a chance to go to Mass that day (Friday) because we had been on the road all day and, by an act of Providence, he hadn't had time to say Mass either. So we got see hear him say Mass that night and joined him for a Rosary. Apparently he wanted even more visiting time because after Mass he wanted to sit with us and chat over a little wine with cheese and crackers. That was fine by us - we thought we had struck gold and didn't want to stop digging. He's a very warm person but still maintains his NY sense of humor. The next morning (Saturday) he said Mass for us again. As you would expect he's an excellent preacher. I should also mention that the food at the retreat center was not extravagant but very good.


(The other friars with Fr. Benedict.)


After breakfast we packed up and headed to Dunwoody Seminary for the main event. We got there at about noon and there was some entertainment on stage to keep everyone amused until the Holy Father showed up. He ended up arriving around 500PM. Every one of the seminarians was given a little bag which included a white or gold scarf to wave - and wave we did. Benedict traveled around the crowd in the Pope Mobile and then made his way to the cathedra at the center of the stage. And we just get cheering and cheering. Chants broke among the seminarians including "Bendict!" and "We love you!" The atmosphere at the whole event was amazing.

(The 7 of us in front of Dunwoody seminary.)


This cheering went on for about 7 minutes until one of the Masters of Ceremony motioned for the Pope to go walk out on the planks of the stage which came right up to the seminarians section. So we got about 15 feet from the Pope which was a lot closer than expected. On the big screens that showed images of the Holy Father you could tell that he was moved by the greeting he got from the seminarians and young people. I know that he saw the reaction that JPII drew from the crowds but I'm not sure, going into office, that he would be getting anything like that. It was interesting for me to see how loved he really was with the people there.


(The Crowd - actually only about 30-50% of it.)


In his talk. the longest of his trip, the Holy Father talked to the young people about having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and the importance of prayer. The Holy Father then went on to speak very powerfully about the importance of truth and liberty that can come only by living in the Truth; not a something, but a Someone, Jesus Christ. He addressed the many things in our culture that lead away from true freedom and toward addiction and sin. All of us must have the courage to persevere in the faith that shines so brightly in the saints of the Church. It was a very powerful talk from the Chief Shepherd and Universal Pastor of the Church. As President Bush said after the Holy Father’s speech at the White House, “Thanks Your Holiness. Awesome speech.” And I think that about says it all.














The Church is truly blessed to have Pope Benedict as our Holy Father. May God give us many more popes like him and give him many more years!

Well a lot has been happening recently. The providence had it's annual pow-wow in Chi-town and about 80 brothers (40% of the total) came. There were some workshops about our vision for the future which got us nowhere fast. The general sentiment was to discuss the real issue of what ministries had real priority for us, which was the meat and potatoes that they were waiting to discuss. However, the only person who said anything very specific was Fr. Mascari the provincial. He believed that Aquinas Institute (where I study), Fenwick High School (where I studied), and the our campus ministries were the top priority. That list is just about the same one I would compile so I was pretty happy about that.

The kibitzing about ministry was mildly interesting and catching up with some of the brothers I hadn't seen in a while was very nice but the highlight was definitely the solemn vows of 5 of my student brothers. The vows were made in the middle of a beautiful Mass at St. Vincent Ferrer Church in Riverforest, IL. When the brothers promised their obedience to God and the Master of the Order till death there was this little voice in me that said, "We've got them for sure now." It gives me great joy to know that if I make solemn vows I'll get to live with brothers like these.

One of those brothers, Timothy Combs, invited me to a relaxing weekend with him and his family at their summer home in Lake of the Ozarks. We had a great time together and it was a really relaxing weekend. Lots of traveling though. Down to lake on Friday and back up to WI on Tuesday to give me first adult education class on the 10 Commandments. Considering that it was summer I was pretty pleased that about 10 people turned up to take the class. I was even more pleased that they were pleased at the end of it.

Exsurge, Domine! (Arise, O Lord!) Come to the aid of my poor neglected blog!

Well it's been an atrociously long time since I've updated this thing but since it's summer I figure that I should make the time. After all, being a student brother in summer is about more than long naps in afternoon, reading fiction, chatting with friends, and stuffing your face. I'm trying to figure out what else there is and when I know for sure I'll be sure and post it. There are signs though that the summer will also include weekly preaching at Holy Hour on Saturday morning (not to worry, the good people won't have to listen to me for a whole hour), an adult education course on the 10 Commandments, 2 seminars for kids who will be receiving Confirmation next year (1 on Genesis and the other on theological topics in Harry Potter), a week long trip with some of the high school youths of the parish to the Catholic Heart camp, participating in a Bible study, visiting the sick (more on that below), and taking a directed readings course on Healthcare ethics which I have yet to set up with Aquinas Institute.

I recently had my first experience of visiting someone in a nursing home and bringing Holy Communion to them. The situation wasn't all I would have hoped for. While I was leading the communion service the man I was with was having his whole room moved next door. However, I just plowed along and the surrounding chaos didn't seem to bother him. What was very moving was the man's faith and devotion. I asked after we were finished if there was anything else I could do for him and he said, "You've done everything, you've brought me the Lord." And of course he is right. Please keep him in your prayers as he recovers from surgery.

I'll make another post soon looking over the past semester and my trip to NY to see the Holy Father - which was awesome! The important thing now is that the blog is rolling again. I will, please God, keep it updated on a fairly regular basis.

It's been quite a while since I wrote my last post and I do apologize for that. I was on of those things that I indended to do but things would creep up on me and I'd forget about it for a week and them something else would and I'd forget again. Then as more time passed inertia began to set in and I became more reluctant to update the blog because there was just so much to talk about. So I'm not going to do that and instead just try to give a few snippets about what been going on.

The weather has been crazy. I don't know how many blizzards have rolled through the state but it's more than I care to remember. Not that this was so bad being from Chicago but I just wasn't mentally prepared. Everyone kept saying that Denver has mild winters and last year it only snowed about 3 times and each time they got about an inch. Well needless to say history didn't repeat itself. Actually shoveling wasn't that bad - it's kind contemplative when you get into it.

Here is a picture of one of most loyal morning Mass attendees. Actually on this day she was 1 of 2 non-friars who were there. In good weather we have maybe 30.

Christmas and New Years were pretty nice and I had a good time hanging out with the older friars. It would have been nice to go home and see everyone in the family but part of discerning is being away from your family and seeing how it feels to be part of the Dominican family. So in general it was a good experience although a lot of work since I did a fair amount of the cooking (the older friars being occupied with things like Mass). The hardest part of not being home was knowing how hard that was for my family. Wherever I'm at I'm usually at home. I'm Denver now because of a choice I made and I knew that this separation would be a consequence which made it much easier to deal with. My family though just has to live with my decision and that is an inherently harder position to be in and that is difficult for me.

About two weeks ago I went to the Right to Life Mass at the cathedral and then the rally afterwards on the steps of the capital building just a few blocks away. As we marched around downtown Denver I got to talk to a number of really interesting and wonderful people. There was one woman who was a Protestant convert to Orthodox Christianity who was thinking of joining the Catholic Church but still had some issues that she wanted to talk about (like the Church taking too liberal a line on natural family planning as well as dogmatic questions about Mary's Immaculate Conception and Assumption). There was another lady who survived an abortion as a child and later had to have a tumor removed from her head because of the chemicals that were used. Then there were all the other people who just wanted to meet me and say hi and to thank me for being there. Unfortunately there wasn't a very large presence of the clergy at the rally. I chatted with one of the seminarians from the diocese that I had met on a previous occasion. What the whole experience really brought home to me was the witness value of our way of life and in particular how important it is to wear the habit. It opens up a lot of doors and allows you to talk to people and be there for them because what I wear tells them volumes about me. I've noticed the same thing at the homeless shelter where people will talk to me about things that they might not tell anyone else. Which also makes the betrayal but the clergy responsible for the sexual abuse scandal and those who covered it up so horrendous and what grievous violation of trust it was - and that trust was huge.

On January 27 we had the local Franciscan student brothers and one priest over for the feast of St. Thomas Aquinas. I cooked pizzas using California Pizza Kitchen's recipe. I also made stuffed mushrooms and bread pudding for desert. All in all it turned out pretty well and it always fun to hang out with them.

Well that's all for now. Until next time, take care and God bless.

After a lot of prayer and reflection, Br. Peter decided that Dominican life was not him - not because anything was going wrong but because everything was going well and he was still unhappy. We took him to the airport on Friday the 17th, one week after he first talked to me about leaving. I think he made the right decision and I hope that he continues to pursue the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis (where he's from) - which seems to be his plan at the moment.

I don't think any of us realized how close we had gotten until Br. Peter decided to leave. I think that people leaving is particularly hard in religious life because the people you live with are both friends and brothers. In my life I've had to say some expected goodbyes to friends as we graduated from high school or college and went our separate ways and also some very unexpected and very painful goodbyes as well. Now thankfully Br. Peter is not dead and I hope we will continue to be friends in this life and the next, but it is still hard to see him go because he was also a brother. We joined the Dominican family together because we thought God was asking us to give our lives to the preaching of the Gospel for the salvation of souls (which is the mission of the Order). To have someone leave is really hard and the smaller the group the harder it is.

Still I've really been able to see God's hand this and brings a lot of comfort. I was blessed to have Peter around for 4 months and to become friends with him even though this was not where God intended him to stay. I got lucky that he didn't find his vocation right away because if he had I wouldn't have known him. His leaving has given me the opportunity to be a true friend - one that tries to help the other person go where they are being called regardless of the high cost to myself. Finally, I've seen it challenge my thinking about my vocation and understanding why he left helps me understand why I choose to stay. It was a very difficult time but also a very graced one and I am thankful to God for that.

(I started this post shortly after Thanksgiving and am just finishing it up now)

In the past few weeks since Peter has left things have returned to normal - it's not the same as before but it does feel normal once again. I've actually been a little surprised at how quickly we've all trasitioned to our new situation and that in has been good to see. I've spoken to Peter twice since his departure and he's doing well which is good. (If he had a big revelation on the plane home that he was making a big mistake I probably would have killed him for putting us through all that for nothing.)

Caution: Long Overdue Update

I'm sorry that I haven't updated this thing in a while though lots of stuff has been going. I'll try and keep it brief as possible.

Last Saturday we went to a pro-life conference held at the diocesan seminary here which featured a professor from Noter Dame University and then a panel discussion that included the archbishop. A lot of good stuff present on the relation between law and cutlure and how the former affects the latter. All in all very good.

We had another workshop with the Holy Cross borthers on enneagrams given by a dominican sister named Maria Beesing. This is another type of personality test which focuses on what really motivates you. There are 9 basic motivators and I determined that I was a 5 with very heavy 1 influence. This means that I seek understanding with a heavy perfectionist bent to me. Then there was also considerable influence from a few other types including 8 which is described as the "champion" personality - someone who dedicates themselves to a cause. Sister Beesing described this type as people who have a soft heart that's wrapped in barbed wire (which I thought was a pretty hilarious way of putting it). The conference was good and pretty informative.














This is our basement were we did the workshop and the other photo is of Br. Nich talking to Sister Beesing.

Last week one of the wonderful people who attends morning Mass in our chapel gave us 4 tickets for the Colts and Broncos game. Br. Peter was of course thrilled and as a favor to him I decided to root for the Broncos who then of course lost. It was a really good game though and I really enjoyed being there. The stadium is awesome because, unlike Soldier Field, the seats rise rather sharply and it gives the place an almost cozy feel. For reasons passing understanding the game we went to had the third highest attendance in Broncos history with 75,051 people. The game itself was really good although, if I am going to try and enjoy a football game, I think I'd rather watch TV because I can't really tell what's going on the field. I think the best part of that day was watching a team of kids from the Boys and Girls Club play football against a team of Mascots. Absolutely hilarious.

Here's me and Br. Peter at the game.

Halloween was pretty cool. We dressed up as Dominicans. I gave the kids in my religious ed class the day off which meant that I had the week off which was kinda nice. Last year one of the guys dressed up in his habit, including the big black cape, and then held the big bowl of candy in front of him with the cape wrapped around the sides. One of the other friars then hid under cape and when a kid reached into the bowl to get candy he would jump our and scare the living crap out of th ekids. We're not that creative unfortunately. We did do some pumpkin carving though. I tried to carve an upside down bat but unfortunately cut too far in one direction and basically ruined it. Se la vi.

Here is Fr. Bob in phantom of the opera costume. To top off the night we watched the Three Amigos. So funny.

I've been working on my cooking skills though. These past weeks I've been on the Saturday night cooking team and kinda took the lead on these projects. Last week we made chicken in a white wine and mushroom sauce along with angel hair pasta in a marina sauce which turned out rather well. Last night I got some recipes off-line for some Olive Garden and made beef marinated in an italian dressing sauce with a balsamic glaze served with fettucini alredo with spinich, green onions, and mushrooms which was pretty tasty. Oh and Brushcetta for an appetizer. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is why friars usually have that Friar Tuck physique.















Here's us last night with Bob Pickering who regualrly joins us for evening prayer and might be joining the Dominican Laity sometime in the near future.

This past week we had another conference with the Holy Cross brothers - this time on the Psalms. It was pretty interesting but there isn't much to tell. The holy cross brothers did make a ton of awesome food for us though.

Here we are in the dining room of the Holy Brothers novitiate.














Sister Howell gave us the conference from the psalms. She now teaches at Aquinas Institute which, God willing, I will be going to next year.

Well that's all for now (and isn't that enough). Take care and God bless.

And the beat goes on, sort of...

Well for all the talk of routinue in novitiate it seems like there is always something different going on every week or almost every night even which just throws the schedule off a little bit. I'm really beginning to appreciate our Prior's idea that the novitiate year is when you have all the time in the word and you can't get anything done. Since this kinda bothers I'm thinking that it's something that I need to work on. I really like routine but life is anything but so we might as well get used to that fact as soon as possible.

My ministries have all been going pretty well. This past Wednesday with the 7th graders I was supposed to help them complete a worksheet which somehow never made it into my possession so I had to basically wing it that class. We ended up doing a short exercise on Jesus' use of the title Son of Man and then had a discussion about that. Some of the questions and answers these kids asked were so thoughtful that I was just blown away. The homeless shelter was also really good. An impromtu prayer group has sort of poppped up at the end of my shift which included me, a Protestant guy getting his masters in theology, and then two guys who are deacon candidates for the archidiocese. When I got there this past Wednesday I had lunch with this one homeless guy who was telling me about his bank card got stolen and he got wiped out and so he couldn't keep his apartment and then he said, "But yeah know, God has blessed me so much. I'm really grateful." That was just amazing.


On the left is me demonstrating the deifference between the physical form of a symbol and its meaning. On the the right, one of the students in the front row has decided to take a good stiff drink to remedy the headache he's getting.


On Friday night I went to my first ever Theology on Tap, which is an event for young people held at a bar where some speaker comes in talks about some sort of Catholic topic. It was pretty good although I have to admit I spent most of the time talking to a guy I had met in Chicago who was thinking about joining the order.

Last night Br. Peter and I tagged along with some of the senior community to this hole in the wall BBQ place that had really awesome food. After dropping the senior memers off at the priory Br. Peter decided that we needed a little blast from the past and drove us to a nickel arcade where we spent about 2 hours playing games that I haven't seen in years...it was awesome. Well that's all for now. Have a good week and God bless.