What a life! And it is mine, as a Priest of Jesus Christ!

As we draw to the end of my time in Fátima (today is last day volunteering and tomorrow at some point Mike and I will return to SVD in Lisboa for the night and then flight home Tuesday morning!!!!!!), I want to continue to reflect on the theme of holiness. The word "holiness" seems have come up a lot during my time in Europe. (I've also blogged about spiritual healing, which of course, will lead to a deepening of holiness.) The theme of holiness shouldn't be a shock to me, as the whole goal of the Christian's life should be an increase in their personal holiness, as well as to live their lives so others see in them something different and it creates a desire for them to be holy as well. As this thought was occurring to me, I immediately thought of the last line of the Litany of Humility: That others may become holier than I, provided that I may become as holy as I should…Jesus, grant me the grace to desire it. When people (specifically here in Portugal) h...

Today I worked at the Casa de Lúcia. Basically I sit at the exit all day telling people who try to enter that the entrance is around the corner. I help (older) women down the stairs, and I provide information about the house and family, when needed. Sometimes it's pretty dull, but at other times there's great conversations (like the couple from California I met last week). Today the conversation that hit me the most was with a woman from Philly (originally from Northern Ireland)... It came up that I was a Boston seminarian, and she questioned how my faith withstood the eruption of the clerical abuse scandal (of which Boston is considered the epicenter in the US scandal). I explained the good holy priests I knew growing up and how the example they provided showed me true priestly ministry, therefore I tried to ignore the media portrayal making all priests out to be pedophiles. The example and friendship of good, holy priests helped me "get through" the dark days in 2...

I have officially experienced the celebrations of the 12/13th at Fátima! It began last night with the international rosary and the candle light procession leading into the international Mass. (throughout the night there are various things--- Adoration, prayers, Mass at 4:30, Lauds at 6:15 and a Eucharistic procession at 7.) I picked back up tis morning with the 9 am rosary followed by the 10:30 Mass. It is so beautiful to see so many people honoring Mary and asking her powerful intercession to her divine Son. At Mass during the Gloria (which btw was done in Latin!) I was struck, as I usually am, by the words "Quoniam tu solus Sanctus, tu solus Dominus, tu solus altissimus Jesu Christe, cum Spirituo Sacto in Gloria Dei Patris" (You alone are the Holy One, You alone are the Lord, You alone are the Most High Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit in the Glory of God the Father)... It was such a beautiful thought considering my theme this trip has been growing in holiness. The Lo...

Volunteering at the sanctuary so far has been awesome. Of the volunteers, all but one guy (he is Hungarian) are seminarians. Two are from New Jersey but studying at the NAC, and the other from France. My volunteer schedule is really chill. I volunteer 2 days, then have a folga , aka day off. It goes like that until the day we leave! Wednesday was "orientation day". We met Bernadette our "boss", got our schedules and took a took of Aljustral (the village 2km from the sanctuary) where the houses of the pastorinhos is located with the Poço do Anjo (2nd apparition of angel) as well as the Via Sacra with the Loco de Cabeço (where the angel appeared the 1st and 3rd times to the children). At the Poço, we were able to meet Sr. Lucia's niece, who is also a sister. In the afternoon we toured the sanctuary. The Holy Spirit is so present at this place, it is hard to put into words... Wednesday night, the volunteers were invited to the Oblate Sisters of the Virgin Mary ...

We've been at the shrine in Fatima almost 2 days, and this far it is such a great experience. I can feel that this is such a Holy site. It is awesome to see pilgrims from many countries coming to honor the mother of the Lord. Yesterday we got a full fledged tour of the shrine and the town outside (where the pastorinhos lived, and a museum detailing what life was like in that time period.) It was very interesting. We have a rotation of "stations" we are at each day, so it will be interesting to see who we interact with on a daily basis. Our schedule seems pretty chill--volunteer 9-1 lunch hour then back to the post 2-6/6:30(depending on station)... Clearly details with be provided later. ----- Time for the God thought! Tuesday's Gospel was the account of Peter walking on the water... I've always enjoyed this gospel, but this year it struck me in a new way. (dur Kevin... Because the Word of God is living and therefore can bring is a different message each tim...

Back in Portugal for the final stretch of this European summer experience! Poland ended on a note! We took a morning bus back to Warsaw and arrived early afternoon. Arthur again picked us up, and this time brought us to a friends house (Agnieszka) to have coffee and cake. He had an appointment, so she stayed with is and accompanied us to a museum detailing the Warsaw Uprising at the end stages of WWII. It was a very powerful experience in the museum... As an American we don't "see" the destruction of the war first hand, but in Warsaw the devastation is still remembered...about 85-90% of the city was leveled...Mike and I experienced more Polish hospitality as Agnes let us sleep in her house and she slept next door at her parents. Furthermore she woke up to bring us to the airport at 4:50! We are truly blessed by all the people who has helped us this trip! After a late departure from Warsaw, we were notified our flight from Brussels to Lisbon was delayed an hour. Upon a...

I knew blogging entries would be more spread out after leaving SVD, so I hope y'all don't mind the "longer" posts.... Friday morning we were picked up by Fr Augustine around 9:30, went to Fr Jozef's for coffee and then off to the mountain! After we got to Kalwaria Zebrzydowska, a shrine which dates to around 1600...we grabbed a quick lunch and then did daytime prayer before our adventure began. There's a path at the shrine about 2km long that leads to the Chapel of St Mary Magdalene. According to tradition, first time visitors to the shrine are to walk backwards the 2km until they reach the chapel. This is because Mary Magdalene was in darkness her whole life until meeting Jesus. We walk backwards to show that our paths too aren't clear unless guided by Christ. Although we prayed the rosary on the way, it was still somewhat nerve racking to not know what the next step held. You could go over a tree root, walk into a tree, step in a pile of mud etc......

August 2, 1998 was a typical summer day. My family went down to the Pawtucket Red Sox game for the day with the free tickets we got at the end of the school year. After a fulfilled day and dinner, the family slowly retired for the night. Being a "cool teenager" (had just turned 13 in June), during summer I stayed up until all hours talking on the phone with friends or watching tv. This night was tv and Town Spa Pizza. My dad kept coming out of his room and getting water, wiping a lot of sweat from his head and then going back to his room. One time however, grabbing his left arm, he said he thought I needed to wake my mother up. I knew this was not good and that he was most likely having a heart attack. After waking up my mom, the two of them rushed off to Good Sam (dad refused to let 911 be called since his parents lived down the street and he didn't want them to worry). My mom told me not to wake my siblings and that she would call when she knew something. (pre cell...

Well, here I am in Stalowa Wola, Poland! We had a 3 hour bus ride from Warsaw to Nowa Deba, where Monika's dad picked us up and drove us to Stalowa Wola. We arrived around 4:15/4:30 am. Monika's family (Mical family) got us a hotel room about 100 meters from their house. There is a park close by, which Mike and I worked out later Monday. Monika and her priest friend, Fr Jozef, took us to Rzeszow (Resovia in English), to be measured for our "magician robe" (the name Monika's brother Wojtek gives to CASSOCK) The man making them said normally they take a month to make, but he would try to have them for us Monday the 6th, but it would be tight. We began walking around the city, went to lunch and called the Cassock-maker at 2. He had finished the cut out of the material and was ready to make marks for alterations, so we went back and tried on the start of our very own tailor made cassocks! We rested in the afternoon and then met Monika's friend Damian, who is e...

Poland Our adventure to Poland began around 4:45 Saturday morning. Pd Manol, the rector of the seminary, offered to drive us to the airport. The SVDs are really going to miss us, and I must admit the feeling is likewise-- we've been a part of their community for the past month. Kevin qua Kevin packed my shampoo, body wash, saline, and shaving cream in my backpack and not my bag, so they were confiscated at the airport and thrown away... Oh well nbd. We had a nice 4 hour layover in Brussels. Found the Catholic chapel and did a holy hour. (add that to the list of things I've never done/ didn't expect to do while in Europe!) Then it was the final leg to Warsaw! During baggage claim we notice Mike's bag wasn't coming out...and when there were no bags left, we decided to make our way to make a claim on lost luggage. We were greeted by Arthur, a neo cat seminarian from Boston, who is home in Poland for the summer. He took us to the place he arranged us to stay a...

Let's take a little break from "Minha Vida em Portugal" and return to the US. Travel with me to Toccoa, GA, where today, July 27, 2012 at 5:19 am (EST) two of my very best friends in the world --Anna and Paul Albert-- welcomed their first born son into the world! Nathaniel Joseph weighed in at 8lbs 3oz and 21.5 inches long... CONGRATULATIONS Momma and Poppa Albert! He's adorable, and I can't wait to meet him!!! ----- Break's over. Back to "me"....sort of. Bear with me until the end, it's not 100% selfish! Ever since I found out Portugal was a definite in early April, I've been dwelling on the fact that it meant I wouldn't be able to be in Georgia for Anna and Paul when their son (at the time we were saying child) was born. And that most likely I wouldn't be able to be there for said child's baptism either. That thought didn't sit well with me. Here's why: Anna and I have been friends for as long as I can remembe...

Don't want to blog too long...tomorrow is o meu teste final! Hard to believe that tomorrow morning at roughly 11 am the course is all but over (we still have class 6ª to get the test back and listen to the 3 final oral presentations...hopefully we'll be out by 10:30) María had her baby!!!!! Lourenço Maria was born today!!! He is adorableeeeee! Speaking of births...It's so funny how God's will works. Lourenço was "supposed" to be born the 29th, and arrived on the 25th. Anna and Paul's baby was "supposed" to be born sometime last week, and yet we're still waiting. Just goes to show how God's plan is for our birthdays to be HIS decision. Moving on... On Monday I wrote about a song I heard at WYD2002 in Toronto, Canada about holiness. I then shared my prayer experience from my walk home from the gym on Monday night. Last night I was blown away not once, but twice at how the Lord spoke to me. I've spoken before about how 3ª Feira (Tu...

Doesn't really work in Português, eh? Be forewarned...today is a long one! Anyways...Before today's God moment, quick recap of the weekend: Sábado we went to Óbidos, which is about an hour bus ride from Lisbon. They have a Medieval Fair for a couple weeks in the summer time (similar to KRF in Massachusetts). It was a very hot day, and the village, of course, was very hilly. I knew going into the day that I would have to be careful with how I walked since my foot is getting better (daily) and I don't want to re-injure it. We were only at the Fair for about 3 hours. We walked around to Medieval vendors selling their contraptions...saw the remains of a Castle (I think?)...Before you knew it, we were back on the bus heading back to Lisboa. Yesterday was a lot more active. Mike and I went down to Campo Grande to the Parish down there for the 9 am Mass. (The Seminary doesn't have Sunday Mass as the priests go out to parishes to celebrate Mass) After that we made our way ...

Take Lord and receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding and my whole will. All that I am, and all that I possess, You have given me . I surrender it all to You to be disposed of according to Your will. Give me only Your love and Your grace , with these I will be rich enough and will desire nothing more . (St. Ignatius of Loyola, SJ) During the academic week at St John's, we pause at noontime from classes and gather in the chapel to make a brief Examen. The 'Suscipe' prayer of St Ignatius is how we start before our silent reflection time. Since I am in class at the noon hour this month, I have tried to make my walk home my examen time, and sad to say most days I have been unsuccessful. Yesterday however, I was successful. Each time I pray the above prayer, I realize how powerful the words are. I bolded the words that I wanted to stress the most... Even as I sit here writing this blog, the amount of times that I have refered to myself is already at 1...

Journey with me to a Sunday night in August 2001. I am a 16 year old about to enter my junior year of high school. I was very active within the Peer Group at Immaculate Conception's Life Teen program and had recently gotten back from a week of service (SHINE!) in Phoenix, AZ... I had gone to the first ever "Proud to be Catholic" concert on Salem Common the day before and was very pumped to tell everyone at Life Teen about the day. We had a new CORE Member...(blanking on her name) who didn't grow up in or around Stoughton. She knew what Life Teen was because she had lived "out west" (Steubenville I believe), and had recently accepted a job in MA, and knew that there were only a few Life Teen parishes in the greater Boston area. Well....whatever her name was (I want to say Cheryl), she had a wonderful voice, and I always tried to position myself near where she was sitting, probably so my voice didn't sound as bad...this one par...

There came a mighty wind, so strong it tore the mountains and shattered the rocks before the Lord. But the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind came an earthquake. But the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire. But the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire there came the sound of a gentle breeze. And when Elijah heard this, he covered his face with his cloak and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. (1 Kings 19:11-13)   Day after day I keep realizing how blessed I am to be spending this time in Portugal. Yes, I am primarily here to learn Portuguese with the goal of one day being able to minister to the Portuguese speaking population in the Boston area (Se Deus quiser!), but I am also being given this time away from pretty much everyone and everything that is comfortable and familiar to me. It is doubtful I will ever be given 7 weeks  "away from it all". As I've written before, I want this time in Europe to not b...

Yesterday Maria picked Mike and I up to go to the 11 am Mass with her and her family at Sta. Isabella's. It was the family Mass, and it was jam packed with little ones. I very much liked music at the Mass, and the homily Father gave (from what I picked up on) was very good. At the end of the Mass, the priest brings up the little kids and explains to them the main message of the Gospel. Once that is over they receive a piece of paper with a picture from the Gospel reading that they can color when they get home. After lunch at Maria and João's house, 4 of their kids, João, Mike, 2 friends of theirs and I went to Cascais to their boat for an afternoon out on the water. We went to another dock and picked up a friend of João's (Pedro), who seemed to add a lot of laughter to the boat. Martin, (their oldest) wanted to try water skiing. It was pretty ool watching, and Mike and I decided to take our chances as well. After a couple times trying to get him up out of the water, Mik...

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavens, as he chose us in him, before the foundation of the world, to be holy and without blemish before him. In love he destined us for adoption to himself through Jesus Christ, in accord with the favor of his will, for the praise of the glory of his grace that he granted us in the beloved. (Ep. 1:1-6) Since I don't go to Mass in English these days, I have decided to take to looking at the readings the night before...which is a big help (to me at least), as it helps me to focus less on translating what the reader is saying and more on what the Father is saying to me. The above passage from Ehpesians is the 2nd reading for the 15th Sunday in Ordinay Time (tomorrow). If anything, the past 2 weeks in Portugal have given me lots of personal reflection time that I wouldn't have been able to find had I been in the states. Two very good friends of mine...

Today was the half way point of the course. As I was thinking about that today in class, two quotes came to mind. The first is from Sacred Scripture. In the 6th chapter of Matthew, Jesus is telling His disciples not to worry about how they are to clothe themselves, or how they will be able to secure food and drink...the end of the chapter is about dependence on the Father (similar to my post the other day). Jesus' concluding statement is; Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil. (Mt 6:34) On my walk home from class I was reflecting on why that verse crossed my mind. See, I'm a bit crazy when it comes to countdowns to the 'end of something' or until the 'start of something' so since the first day of class I have said to myself afterwards "Another 5% over..." It dawned on me that even though I am physically present in the class and I participate in the conversations...a lot of tim...

O seja: "Milho cozido...estilo Português!" This evening Mike and I were able to meet up with Cardinal Seán and his friends. They picked us up at the seminary and we drove to their house. It is gorgeous! They even have a chapel on the first floor, where Cardinal Seán celebrated Mass before jantar. The altar in the chapel said "Magister Adest et Vocat Te" from John 11:28. (Our translation "The Master is here and is calling for you"), which reminded me of the Pastoral Center in Braintree. We were hosted by João and Maria and their children. They have 7 and an 8th due next week! It is very heart warming to see a strong Catholic family these days. You're all probably wondering when the title of the blog comes into play....now. Their eldest son, Martin, grilled husks of corn on the cobb. For those not aware, European cultures typically aren't corn eaters. After we had partaken of the corn, the 3 Americans (Americans FTR do usually eat corn on the ...

Proclaim the word; be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient; convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching (2 Tim 4:2) Always be ready to give an explanation to anyone who asks you for a reason for your hope, but do it with gentleness and reverence   (1 Peter 3:15-16) These verses have been so true for me the past 2 weeks in Portugal, specifically yesterday afternoon after class. The DLCP (Departmento de Língua e Cultura Portuguesa) arranged for the summer course students to go on the Cruzeiro do Rio Tejo tour. It is a great opportunity to get to talk to your classmates outside of class, and (hopefully) in the target language. While waiting, I introduced Mike to Michael, a German man from my class. He asked if Mike was a seminarista também, and then conversation went from there. We spoke of the need for the Church to do something to reach out to lapsed Catholics. Next the conversation switched slightly to how the world is watchin...

...nada me falta. (Ps 22...23 in USA). Though I've already blogged today about the weekend, this update is more so my "God thoughts" of the past couple days. One thing I need to continually remind myself about God is that: 1) I don't and can't  tell God to do anything . and 2) When I ask God for something in prayer...thats 50% of it...the other thing I usually have difficulty doing is listening for His response. I do believe that if I spent enough time in quiet, I would hear the voice of God daily...but a problem most people have, including myself, is that we are "too busy" to just stop and listen. One of my main goals for this time in Europe is for me to learn to do just that... Yesterday in the Sé Cathedral while admiring the grandeur of that place, I was praying about what I want...I was lost in thought about all the things I have petitioned God for that I am patiently awaiting a response for. Mike suddenly brought me back to reality and sai...