A summer of blessed experiences...

I know, I know...it's been a while. I apologize. Before the summer started, I thought I would have some extra time to blog every couple weeks or so, but in the blink of an eye it's August 31st (Happy 29th birthday Chrissy Hren...Vanston!!!) and the book "Summer 2014" is written! I probably won't get to post this blog tonight since the Class of 2017 (2nd theology) is due back, and tomorrow we begin our September workshops/conferences. Before that picks up I wanted to blog about the summer and what a blessed, grace-filled time it was. Ergo, the blog will be somewhat long...

The Prologue:

Most people know that until late January/early February I was doing everything I could to convince my Vocation Director to let me return to Boston this summer; to be in a parish in the diocese, see family and friends, etc. "You can't come home..." Then I tried to convince him to let me go to D.C. and study sign language for the deaf apostolate of the Archdiocese, "You can't come home...", "DC's not my home..." "You can't come to the USA" Then I pitched Haiti and doing missionary work with Anna& Paul and Life Teen on the mission base down there..."Stay out of the Western Hemisphere!"

After accepting that there was nothing I could do to convince my VD to let me return to the States, or anywhere in the Western Hemisphere, I figured I have to "go big since I can't go home". With the new "go big since I can't go home" attitude, I started talking with classmates and seeing what their plans were. Not much was jumping out to me as something I would want to do. Then a good friend in my class said he was thinking about Calcutta, India and a few other guys were interested as well. I thought back to 9 years ago when I had this extreme burning desire to go to Calcutta and work with Mother Teresa's order (Missionaries of Charity, or MCs for short). It never happened, but I decided that I would get to Calcutta someday, if it was in God's plan...It immediately caught my interest and I prayed on it for a couple days. I spoke with my VD who said "that sounds like a good assignment!". CHA-CHING!!!

Now that I knew what I was doing, it was time to plan out the rest of the summer. Since most guys don't return to the States after First Theology, we are encouraged by the College and our dioceses to travel--see things, experience the Universal Church etc. After final exams, my summer was about 8 weeks long, subtract 4 weeks for my summer assignment, and I needed to find 4 weeks of things to do, on a seminarian budget!

My summer quickly filled, and each "chapter" of the summer brought different blessings and graces that I pray have helped conform me a little more after the Person of Christ.


Chapter 1: Lisieux, France June 18-21

My friend Clark and I decided to go to Lisieux, France for a few days after finals on a mini-pilgrimage to pray with St. Thérèse and spend some time in the town she spent "her childhood" in, the house she lived in and see the Basilica built in her honor.

I was very excited to be able to go to visit St. Thérèse, because Anna and Paul's daughter is named after this Doctor of the Church, and I wanted to pray for baby Thérèse in front of her patron. Of course, when we get to Paris and try to buy tickets for the train we find out there's a strike. Ok, we'll take a bus...nope, no luck there either. It seemed the only way to Lisieux was to rent a car...for a lot more money that the bus/train tickets would have cost!! Clearly, I thought, the evil one is trying to prevent us from seeing Thérèse, because of the graces God wanted to bestow on us during our pilgrimage. We rented a car, and because Clark is a baby (22 years old), I was the driver for the 200km (~125 mile) trip.

Spending time at Thérèse's grave and praying with her, while immersed in her autobiography Story of a soul was awesome. Though I didn't take many pictures of Lisieux...here is one from the Convent Thérèse lived in until her death.

The grave of St. Thérèse of Lisieux

Chapter Two: Split, Croatia June 22-25

After my mini-pilgrimage to France, I went with two classmates to Split, Croatia for a few days of relaxation near the beach. Croatia is a very beautiful country, very friendly people, and very faith-filled! We arrived on a Sunday afternoon, and discovered a youth Mass at a parish near Diocletian's Palace! The communion song was "Mighty to Save" in Croatian!!

Even though Croatia wasn't a "pilgrimage", God was obviously still at work during the trip. On the bus from the airport to the city center, I was in front of a couple who had recently graduated college and were backpacking through Europe before beginning their careers. I struck up a conversation with them, asked where they'd been, where they were going etc. It came up that I live/study in Rome, and when they asked what I study, I replied "theology", it was asked what I intend to do with that and I replied "I'm studying to be a priest". That seemed to be the conversation killer as we didn't speak much after that. The next day however, we ran into them when we were going into a bar to watch the Croatia/Mexico world cup game. The guy and I got to talking, and somehow it came up that he was in a severe car accident over a year ago and busted his back. The surgery wasn't successful and he still has pain now and then. I remembered I had a Miraculous Medal in my wallet. I asked him if he was Catholic, he said no--he's agnostic, but he's open to listening. So I explained to him what little I knew about the Miraculous Medal (I since learned more!), and that Mary promises great graces to those who faithfully wear the medal. Later that night this guy admitted to me that he had decided to put us in a box when he found out we were studying to be priests, but after talking more with us he changed his mind about us. His trip to Europe, he said, was going to teach him more about himself, and the people in the countries he visited, but he wasn't really expecting to encounter Americans who would "challenge" him to think in a new way. Praise God!!

Chapter Three: Josh does Roma June 27-July 1

I had planned for MONTHS for my friend Josh's visit to Rome. He is a First Year Theologian at St. John's Seminary in Boston studying for the Archdiocese of Hartford, and was a good friend of mine during my 2nd Pre-The year at SJS. His visit was to be PACKED because we had MUCH to see in 4 days! (really 3.5!) It was AWESOME to see Josh after over a year of not being able to hang out with him, or do CMC (Christmas Movie Club).

Mark, me and Josh at St. Peter's

Chapter Four: Fátima, Portugal July 1-10

The whole reason I blog is because of Portugal!! I was sent to Lisbon the summer after First Pre-Theology to do a 4 week intensive Portuguese course, and then I volunteered with Pilgrim Services at the Shrine of Our Lady of Fátima for two weeks. Fátima was the first Marian apparition site I had visited, and it was a very moving experience for me. I decided that since I had a week and a half in between Chapters Three and Five of Summer 2014 I would return to Fátima to once again work with Pilgrim Services, and have some time for prayer at this holy site.

Before heading to Fátima, I was able to meet up  with a family in Lisbon that my Bishop introduced me to two years ago and catch up with them for a couple hours. Their oldest son, Martim, told me they would be in Rome in the end of August and hopefully we would be able to meet up then.

My week and a half in Fátima went by very quickly. I worked at the Main Information Desk handing out maps to Pilgrims and pointing out the various spots Pilgrims should see, and telling them the message of Fátima. Unlike two years ago, when the "Informações" people were over a dozen, I was the only one for a majority of my time there! (Some people came on the weekend, and a newly married couple came for a few days) Going to a holy place like Fátima, like living in Rome, allows me to take in the universality of the Church. I love being able to talk to people from all over the world who have made a pilgrimage to a tiny Portuguese village to honor Our Lady and ask for her powerful intercession with Jesus.

Although I was very happy to be in Portugal again, and practicing my Portuguese, I was pumped to start Chapter Five...

Chapter Five: Rome, Italy July 10-20

Once it was decided I would be traveling to India, the three of us that were going had to make a decision...would we help out with the orientation for the incoming New Man class? If yes, which one--the early one in July and then go to India? OR go to India earlier in the summer and be back in time for the regular orientation at the end of August? Mark and I had peeked ahead to Chapter Seven, so we felt it would be best if we didn't re-order the chapters of the summer and volunteer with the Early Orientation team.

On Sunday July 13, the majority of the Class of 2018 departed from the US for the Eternal City. Those of us on the EO Team reminisced about how this time last year it was us on that plane---and we were able to look back and see how much we've grown in these past twelve months.

Being on the EO Team was great. It felt good to be able to welcome the New Men to their new home, and to help them in the first week of a long (for some more than others!) transition period to life in Rome. At the end of the week though, I was completely exhausted, and regretted scheduling our departure for the day EO ended...I was up until past 1 in the morning packing and getting "ready" for India. My friend Michael and I kept calling each other and discussing how we don't feel prepared, yet at the same time we didn't know how to prepare for what we were about to experience...

Chapter Six: Kolkata, India July 21-August 15; Chennai, India August 15-17; Goa, India August 17-19

Months of preparing for the start of the apostolate finally were realized! Before the plane touched down in Kolkata around 3:30 am, we were told that the Flight Attendants would be coming by to spray insecticides, and to cover our noses/mouths if we were uncomfortable breathing them in. That was a new experience aboard an aircraft!

We found a taxi driver who told us Mother House would be closed, and he would take us to a hotel. After barely sleeping on the plane, the three of us decided it would be good to go to a hotel and get a few hours of sleep before beginning our apostolates. We slept from 5-9:30ish, had breakfast and then made our way to Mother House. We were told volunteer registration was at 3 pm, so to go to the Convent we were staying at, rest up and return later.

Mother House, Headquarters of MCs since 1953

Michael, me and Mark in front of entrance to Mother House

At volunteer registration, we were assigned two shifts, the morning shift (8:30-12) and the afternoon shift (3-5/5:30 somedays). There are various houses, but our morning shift was at Nirmal Hriday ("Pure Heart"), Mother's first house for the dying and destitute. Our afternoon shift was at Daya Dan ("Gift of Mercy"), and is a home for disabled, neglected/abandoned children.

I sent an email to some family and friends during my experience in Kolkata, so instead of rewording it, I'll just paste the email below:

Calcutta is unlike anything I've ever experienced.

The city itself is always dirty--you can usually see some man urinating in the street, people, men and women, have no second thoughts of hacking up lugies and spitting them into the path of oncoming walkers. There are no trash cans because the city streets themselves serve that purpose. It's been explained to us that the Caste system really prevents the city from changing as cleaning is considered one of the most degrading things one can do-- so no one does it. The streets at times look more comfortable to sleep on than some of the "houses" I've seen. I've never seen living conditions like it...

It's also a very polluted city-- after 2 days I blew my nose and it was all black. Yuck.

It's also SO loud. Horns are more used than radios. Everyone is always beeping. Even on empty streets, a car beeps just to let its presence be known. As early as 5:15 am and as late as 12:30 am, horns are always in use! I NEVER thought I'd LONG for the serenity and quietness of ROME!

Our day begins with wake up at 5 am to get ready and pray morning prayer before our walk to Mother House for 6 am Mass. The MCs give the volunteers chai tea, bananas and bread for breakfast. We do our prayer before apostolate at 7:30 and then head out to do The Lords work!

Our actual apostolate is wonderful and has been a very blessed time. We were assigned to Nirmal Hriday ("Pure heart"), Mothers first home for the destitute and dying. It's houses about 100 patients, a side for men and a side for women. We do the laundry (by hand of course!!) in the first hour or so we are there, then we sit with the patients for an hour or so during "medicine time". We chat with them, even though very few speak English, they just love the company...we give them massages since a lot have arthritis and such, or help the nurse change bandages. Day one I had to hold Kumar, a man with Down's syndrome who had huge gashes in his hips and butt while the nurse changed the bandages. He got these sores from lying in the street for so long, his skin just started rotting away. You could see right to the bone these cuts were so deep. He had been with the MCs for about 17 years.. He passed away one Saturday morning after the volunteers left. :-(

There have been about a handful of men (I don't know the stats for the women's side) that have died in the 4 weeks I was there.  Being at this apostolate had deepened for me the Catholic meaning of "death with dignity", and reawakened in me the desire of the Church to restore a culture where patients with terminal illness aren't thrown away but cared for until the moment of natural death. From its opening in 1953 until 2005 over 30,000 from the streets died with dignity in Nirmal Hriday.

Outside of Nirmal Hriday ("Kalighat")

Mother had "I THIRST" written under all the Crucifixes

Close up of Nirmal Hriday

 After medicine time the volunteers have a half hour break upstairs with chai tea, biscuits and bananas! After that we go back downstairs and serve lunch, help patients eat and then bring them back to their beds for siesta. No pictures are allowed to be taken inside Nirmal Hriday, so above I've posted 3 from the outside.

Noon until 3 was free time for lunch and prayer. It was also a good community building time with the other volunteers. There were several other Americans, some college students (one from Boston!!) or recent grads, another seminarian, and a college basketball coach who is a very solid Catholic man.

At 3 the afternoon assignment begins. We are at Daya Dan, "gift of mercy", a home for disabled (abandoned or "thrown away") children. I worked on the ground floor doing physiotherapy for an hour or so with the boys-- putting braces on them, giving them walkers and walking them around the hall. Most of my boys were severely deaf, blind, and barely any speak. 

After therapy it's dinner time! Most need to be fed, though some feed themselves. The nurses then get them changed and ready for bed...You are allowed to get a pass to take pictures at Daya Dan on your last day, so these are a few:

Me and Mark with Sister and the boys

Me and my boy Johny

He's such a bundle of joy!!

We usually arrived back at the convent around 7/7:30 for the night-- as you can imagine, the days were quite tiring so we would pray Evening Prayer, eat dinner, shower, pray Night Prayer and hit the sack!

The travelers sickness got to all 3 of us at some point or another, but we were expecting that-- it's bound to happen when food cooking standards are much lower than what our systems are used to. I had a run-in with typhoid fever, we think. I had been having a headache and my right eye had that cloudy feeling like you just woke up...an MC sister who is also a doctor gave me some antibiotics for typhoid, and when the headache was gone the next morning, she suggested I have a blood test to see where my levels were. Because I had a vaccine, my levels should be higher than normal, but she felt my levels were higher than they should have been, so she had me take the antibiotics for 10 days. During that time, I felt much better---so we're assuming that it was typhoid.

After our assignment in Kolkata was over, we spent 4 days traveling within India. We flew to Chennai, which is where St. Thomas the Apostle (Doubting Thomas) brought the Gospel around the year 52 A.D. and was martyred for the faith in 72 A.D. We prayed at the tomb of Thomas, at the cave he used to pray in, and atop the mountain he was martyred on.

After our two days in Chennai, we made our way over to Goa, which is the smallest but wealthiest state in India. Goa was a former Portuguese colony, so there is a heavy Portuguese influence there. St. Francis Xavier, S.J. was sent there in 1542 to restore Christianity among the Portuguese settlers. For more on Francis Xavier in Goa... Francis Xavier is the Patron of the Diocese of Green Bay, so it meant a lot for Mark to be able to go to the Basilica de Bom Jesus and pray at the tomb of Francis Xavier's incorrupt body.

My month in India was an INCREDIBLE experience. I learned a lot from the witness of the MC Sisters about material detachment. I learned a lot from the people I interacted with about my own prejudices and stereotypes, and especially through Johny, I learned a lot about complete reliance on God, abandonment to Him, and trust in His care for me. Johny, completely blind since birth, could never tell if the person approaching him was smiling or was angry. Yet anytime he felt someone draw closer, he would latch on. His complete trust that this person was going to take care of him reminded me of how my faith should be with God. (Cf. Matthew 7:11)

Spending time with the other volunteers was edifying. Some are college students, others recent grads, a newly wed couple, other seminarians, and volunteers who have been coming each summer for years. To see the Corporal Works of Mercy at work, especially among younger people was truly inspiring.

There were challenges of being in India, some of which I mentioned above. One of the biggest challenges for me, however, was staying in the moment. It was very hard for me not to look forward to returning to Rome in late August for Chapter Seven. Despite the difficult moments, and the sickness, I would return to Kolkata in a heartbeat! This summer apostolate is an experience that will shape the rest of my seminary formation and, God willing, my priesthood.

Chapter Seven: Italy August 19-31

After a blessed and grace filled month in Kolkata, it was time to return to Rome for a day and a half and finalize the preparations for my parents visit!!! Even the day before they took off, my mom and I were saying how we still can't believe they are really coming! God really works in mysterious ways...if they hadn't moved in with my grandmother last July to help take care of her, they wouldn't have been able to save the money they did in order to come to Italy. After a little over 8 months of not seeing them, the excitement was growing for their arrival at the airport in Milan!!

Dad and Mom arrive at Milan airport!!!

When they arrived we went off to Venezia for the first part of the weekend. I had found an affordable apartment in a quiet district of the city. We walked around a little, went to a couple musuems, and visited the island of Murano where they blow glass into jewelry and other trinkets. 

Saturday afternoon we took the train down to Rome where my parents were renting an apartment in a residential neighborhood about 8-10 minute walk from the NAC and about a 5-7 minute walk to St. Peter's Square.

Sunday they came to Mass at the College and then we went to the Angelus address of Pope Francis, followed by a quick lunch and touring two of the four papal basilicas (Santa Maria Maggiore and San Giovanni in Laterano). We ended the day by having dinner with the Lebao family (that I mentioned in Chapter Four).

Monday morning we went to "Ancient Rome" to visit the Colosseo and Foro Romano before heading to the Greg Bar at my school for a soda and a snack and a quick walk to the Trevi Fountain. I gave them a riposo in the afternoon and then they came to the NAC for evening prayer and supper, followed by gelato at a NAC favorite.

Tuesday we went to Mass at St. Peter's followed by an *expertly* guided tour by a NAC Seminarian (aka...me), breakfast at a nearby cafe and then pranzo at the NAC. Due to an unfortunate miscommunication on my part, my parents couldn't do the Scavi tour of the necropolis underneath the Basilica in the morning, but two classmates of mine were AMAZINGLY HELPFUL in getting them tickets for the afternoon tour with the New Men group (thank you Michael and Drew!!) Tuesday night we went out to a favorite of mine with my good buddy Tim and then capped the night off with gelato!

Wednesday morning we took a train to Firenze. We arrived and headed to the "Duomo", the Cathedral. We decided not to climb to the top...rather just admire the outside of the Cathedral. Then we walked to Santa Croce and the Leather Making School. We bought tickets to visit the leather school and the inside of the Basilica before going to "The Diner" for a burger and a milkshake! I was overly ambitious in planning a day trip to Firenze AND Siena in the same day!!!...but I did, so after a little walking around Firenze we were off to Siena to meet my good friend Michael for dinner and a quick tour of where I spent a majority of last summer. We didn't get back to Rome until around 11pm, so we had a later start to Thursday...

Thursday we "rested" in the morning, went out for a late breakfast at "HomeBaked", a NAC favorite for American breakfast and coffee! (Mom enjoyed that one!!) Then we headed to the alst of the 4 papal basilicas, and my favorite Basilica in Rome, St. Paul Outside the Walls. I brought my parents to the tomb of St. Paul and we all prayed quietly for a few minutes. For dinner, we went to a local Chinese restaurant that my friends and I like!

Friday morning we were off on the bust to Assisi with the New Men class. We went to Mass with them at Santa Chiara (St. Clare's), visited her tomb and then walked through the town doing some souvenir shopping and making our way to the Basilica di San Francesco. We went through a tour of the upstairs based on what I remember from last year, and then to the lower basilica, and eventually to the tomb of St. Francis of Assisi. I thought it was cool that my dad was able to pray at the tombs of both his namesakes (first and middle, obviously). We took a train back to Rome and they had riposo while I headed back to the NAC to prepare the "Arriverderci" dinner my buddy Mark and I had planned for our parents and some friends (his parents were also in town, though their last night was two days after my parents) Two good friends basically ended up kicking me out of the kitchen and taking over the cooking so that I could spend the majority of my parents last night with them and not in the kitchen. (THANKS TIM AND CLARK!!!)

Saturday morning we had breakfast at their apartment, finished packing them up and then took a taxi to the shuttle-bus stop to the airport. We had no time for a long goodbye as the bus arrived almost right after we bought their tickets. 

The 9/10 days they were here went by in the blink of an eye, but it was SO good to see them, hug them, hang out with them, introduce them to the faculty members and my friends, and show them my "home away from home". I think it also benefited them to see a lot of the sights I walk by daily, to get a feel for where I live and to put faces to the people I constantly talk about! We know how fast the past 8 months went, so thinking that it is another 9 until I am home seems easier to deal with this year!!

Epilogue:

Though I tried desperately to avoid staying oversees for Summer 2014, in the end it wasn't bad at all. I am extremely grateful to those charged with my formation, both those at NAC and my point people back in Boston, as well as to all those who are praying for me during my priestly formation. This summer stretched me in ways that I had to be stretched, gave me great insights in my prayer life that God clearly needed/wanted to reveal to me, and conformed me more into the man Christ wants me to be so that one day, God willing, I will be the priest Christ wants me to be. As I predicted in the Prologue, the blog wasn't posted on August 31st, BUT as promised, it is up before the end of the week!!

Praised be Jesus Christ...

--kpl