Have you forgotten who you are?

I apologize for the lack of update since February. A lot has happened between then and now that I would love to blog about, but for now just a quick update:

• Second semester FLEW by. My classes were very interesting, I know the topic of my tesina (thesis) as well as my director, have the outline and selected bibliography so I should be in good shape come October and the start of the next academic year. And grade wise, last semester was my best semester since SENIOR year at SHS!! Maybe it had something to do with the fact that...

I AM NOW A PRIEST OF JESUS CHRIST!!!!

         Holy Orders really does come with a special grace! More on that later...

• During Easter break I was blessed to travel with Catholic Relief Services to Senegal, Guinea Bissau and The Gambia to see the work CRS does on behalf of the American Catholic Church around the world. I've already written an article for the Archdiocesan newspaper, The Pilot, so I will let you know when it's published!
• I returned home to the States on Mother's Day and had a couple days of retreat before priestly ordination on Saturday May 20. It was such an incredible day, though it has remained so cloudy in my head because of the pure joy of the ceremony. Here's a link to the RCAB Flikr account with the pictures from the day.
• Un/fortunately I had to return to Rome on Memorial Day to prepare for my 8 final exams and 1 final paper. It was sort of a kill-joy. However, before heading back I was able to get out to the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis for two of my classmates from NAC's ordination, so one week after my ordination, I was able to participate in the ancient gesture of laying hands on the ordinandi as they were being ordained. And since one of them is one of my closest friends from Rome, it was a very blessed moment for me to share with him.
• Finals were ok...The fortunate part of me returning to Rome for finals was that I was so blessed to be able to celebrate Mass at various Churches in Rome the three weeks I was back, such as St. Peter's, the Gesú, the Rooms of St. Aloysius Gonzaga, the Rooms of St. Brigit of Sweden, the Basilica of S. Francis in Assisi...it was so incredible! A further blessing was that many of those days I had my closest friends, Mark and Michael to deacon for me since their priestly ordinations were the end of June/beginning of July.
• The fortunate part of going back was that I got my break post-finals before my assignment began on July 6, so I was able to go to Michael's ordination June 24 as well as Mark's ordination July 1, and then spend a few days with them. It was bittersweet because they've been two of my closest friends at NAC the past 4 years, so it was amazing to celebrate Masses with them, have priestly fraternity with them etc, but they are not coming back to Rome this year to finish their STL programs, so it was our last "hoorah" together for the foreseeable future.
• July 6 was the date the Cardinal set for me to begin my two month assignment at Immaculate Conception in Marlborough. It has been incredible to come back to the parish I've been at the past 2 summers as a priest! Since I'm familiar with the parish I was able to dive right back into communion calls, as well as adjust to being the celebrant at the Sunday Masses vs. being the acolyte. Knowing that the weeks are winding down before I have to return to Rome for the school year is another bittersweet moment, because the chances of my receiving this as my permanent assignment when I return in June 2018 are probably pretty low. IC Marlborough will always hold a special place in my heart though!
• Today is 86 days since priestly ordination, and I am blessed to be able to celebrate the Memorial of St. Maximilian Kolbe (one of my FAVORITE saints) with my good friend Fr. Dave, who is a priest of Manchester, NH. Fr. Dave and I were classmates and good friends at SJS--in fact he was the deacon who vested me last September at my diaconate ordination! 
• That's a "quick" update. Below are some thoughts on St. Maximilian Kolbe, patron saint of addicts.

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Without using your name, answer the question "Who are you?" What did you say? Athlete? Musician? Teacher? Accountant? etc...

But...is that really who you are, or is an aspect of what you do? 

The clip above is to the scene in the Lion King where Rafiki helps young Simba to realize his true identity. It has a very Christian message to it. When one is baptized into the body of Christ, s/he becomes a beloved daughter/son of our Heavenly Father. And for all eternity THAT is our identity. If/When we forget who we are, that is, beloved daughters/sons, I think that's when we can most easily fall off the path toward living a holy and virtuous life. However, when our identity is rooted first and foremost in being a beloved child of God, I think we're more open to discerning what He has created us for, what our vocation is, and we will seek to live a Godly life.

Today the Church celebrates the feast day of St. Maximilian Kolbe a Polish Franciscan who was killed in the Nazi concentration camp Auschwicz on August 14, 1941. On July 31 of that year, a prisoner escaped the camp, and in order to teach the other prisoners a "lesson", 10 men were selected at random to be starved to death. When Franciszek Gajowniczek cried out that he had a wife and children, Fr. Kolbe stepped up and offered to take the man's place. When asked who he was, he didn't respond "16670", as was expected, but rather he calmly answered, "I am a Catholic priest." St. Maximilian Kolbe was so rooted in his configuration to Christ that happened at his priestly ordination that it penetrated to every part of his being...all that he did, all that he said and taught, and all that he was. He truly lived out the verse from John 15:13 (No greater love has man than this, than to lay down one's life for one's friends). 

St. Maximilian Kolbe was able to be so convicted in his priestly vocation because at the core of his being, he truly believed, he knew with every fiber of his being that at his baptism he was adopted by the Father as a beloved son. It was from that rootedness that St. Maximilian was able to discern God calling him to serve Christ at the Altar in His very person as an ordained priest. 

It should be noted that of the 10 prisoners, Fr. Maximilian was the only one who did not die of starvation. After about two weeks without food or water, he was still alive and serene. The guards at the camp injected him with poison in order to kill him. (Most likely a reason he is the patron saint of those who suffer from drug addiction)

For me during my six years of seminary formation, St. Maximilian Kolbe was a great influence and role model to me,  and continues to be. He taught me what it looks like to nurture one's priestly character, to cultivate ever deeply one's priestly heart. St. Maximilian Kolbe has taught me much about loving my Blessed Mother, about being faithful in my vocation, and about modeling for me what it means to give my all to Christ Jesus.

Today as the Church remembers St. Maximilian (and prepares to celebrate the great Solemnity of the Assumption of our Blessed Mother), may we too be rooted completely in our status as beloved sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father. And from there, may we discern His will for our lives, and have the courage to do it, no matter the cost.

Praised be Jesus Christ...

---RevKev