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...