What's New

The fact is that nothing is new, and I mean that in two sense: first, that everything is continuing in my life in a normal fashion, and second, that I have neglected my blog in the normal fashion. I didn't realize how much time it would take to post every day, but there is really no excuse for letting a month go by between postings. Mea maxima culpa.
Today is my niece Teddy Belle's birthday. I tease her about being only seven years old, but today she turned nine. She has become a wonderful young lady, and I wish her continued growth in the knowledge of the faith and of herself. I had the opportunity to go out to Troy yesterday for lunch, and as usual, it was a pleasant time. I have heard a number of men in the seminary say that when they go home, they begin to entertain thoughts about what it would be like to be married with a family. Thanks be to God, I don't ever have those thoughts. I love my family dearly, but I am quite satisfied with being the uncle.
I will relate something that happened at St Cecilia's today. The director of Hispanic Ministry at the parish is going to have Aztec dancers during the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe and possibly at the Confirmation in the Spring. He knows that I do not approve of such things, but being that I am a part-time weekend warrior, my opinion matters not at all. In any case, after trying to convince me that liturgical dance is a legitimate expression of worship among Hispanics this director has rejected any idea of changing his mind. I suppose what I will have to do is email him the direct words of Cardinal Arinze, and, if necessary, I will email the Archbishop about this abuse. I will be a hated man, I suppose, but I feel I have to say something.
Does anyone out there have an opinion?

Amphibious Assault on Kenrick

It amazes me how much attention we have received on account of our video for Kenrick Alumni Day. We have run into "fans" at St Francis de Sales, at parishes, through emails, and on blogs from all over the world.

Well, today as we were filming our next movie for the October gaud, a lady drove by, rolled down her window, and shouted, "I saw you on YouTube." All the guys looked at each other and smiled, not knowing what to say. This lady parked her car and came by us on her way into the Rigali Center. She told us that her husband is in the group Una Voce, a movement that apparently promotes wider use of the Mass of 1962. He is leaving to Rome soon, where he will be running into a few friends of his at the Vatican, ALL of whom have seen the video and think it is excellent. The VATICAN! That's not to mention that Deacon Patrick Driscoll emailed a link to his friend at the CDF, who will likely share it with Cardinal Leveyda.

This is all very interesting, and a great deal of fun. For me, it is a reminder of the grace of God: with some little effort, God can make it into a great big success.

In the interim, this new film for the October Gaud is called Amphibious Assault on the Old Kenrick. We are all pretty much in agreement that this will never make it to YouTube, not only because it is not as wide a concept as the last one, but because it is too over the top. If you know how the old Kenrick building is being used right now, you might have an idea what I mean.

Enjoy a few pictures on the set of Amphibious Assault!

Prayers for Rita Brown

I ask your prayers for Rita Brown of St Louis. She is a young lady who was sideswiped by a car and is now in a coma with serious injuries. Together with all the members of her family and her friends, I ask that you join us in praying for her recovery. May God's will be done.
Christus Vincit! Christus Regnat!

First Friday Devotion

We come upon another First Friday, on which we celebrate the devotion to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. Of course, I plan to head down to St Francis de Sales Oratory for a Solemn High Mass.

It seems sometimes that pious devotions have fallen off over the last forty yeas, and great devotions like this one have been neglected. The USCCB released a document in 2003 called Popular Devotional Practices: Basic Questions and Answers, in which they say: "Popular devotional practices play a crucial role in helping to foster this ceaseless prayer. The faithful have always used a variety of practices as a means of permeating everyday life with prayer to God. Examples include pilgrimages, novenas, processions and celebrations in honor of Mary and the other saints, the rosary, the Angelus, the Stations of the Cross, the veneration of relics, and the use of sacramentals." (Paragraph 2) And the Second Vatican Council adds that "Popular devotions are to be highly recommended." (SC 13) Yet despite these exhortations, we fail to see the great numbers of people streaming to churches and holy shrines as we once did. What is the problem?

Well, I think the problem is clear: insofar as devotions are meant to extend the liturgical life of the Church, drawing its inspiration from the Sacrifice of the Mass, since there is a deficiency in instruction on the True Presence and in solemnity in our parishes, devotionals will appear as antiquated, useless, pietistic customs meant for blue-haired old women. On the contrary, devotions, like the Sacred Heart Devotion that we celebrate today and every First Friday, can fill the hearts of the faithful with many graces. To neglect this aspect of our faith is to deny ourselves the opportunities to grow. Rather than allow these benefits to pass us by, why not accept the invitation of the Sacred Heart, sacrificing a little to gain so much through Christ?

Seminarians in the Third Millennium

We finally finished the video that we were making for Kenrick Alumni Day. The video is called Seminarians in the Third Millennium, and it features Evan Harkins as Billy O'Malley. I did the voice-over for it, Nick Winker was the devil on the computer, and Dylan Schrader brought all of us drinks and sandwiches as our gofer. Just Kidding! Schrader made a few appearances in the video, especially as the Robot Arm. It seemed to go over very well with the jubilarians and other priests, and even the Archbishop seemed to like it.
There may be a few things that are theologically unsound, but we were aiming at being so over-the-top as to make it completely unbelievable. In fact, if you actually believe anything from the video (except for the bit about the pride a seminarian should have in his cassock) then you probably need a vacation. I hope you enjoy it!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxzbUAo-MSQ

Ma Petite Soeur Thérèse

Happy Feast Day, St Thérèse! There are a ton of guys here at the seminary and, I imagine, all over the world who have strong devotions to this little saint. It amazes everyone how this obscure cloistered nun from France has captivated the world in so short a time. Many will argue that she is not deserving of so much attention (especially her dignity as Dottoressa della Chiesa) because, compared to the likes of St Thomas and St Augustine, she is much more associated with pietistic affectivity, a.k.a., she's too squooshy. But any serious reading of her life and her spiritual doctrine will reveal the enormous depth of her little way and confirm the judgment rendered by Pope Pius XII.

St Therese said that she joined Carmel to pray for souls, especially for priests. She also said that she would create a whole army dedicated to the Merciful Love of Jesus, and I like to think of myself as some small part of that group. Her example of childlike confidence in the goodness of God, her insistence that we remain small and trusting of our Father in heaven, and reach out always after we fall is an inspiration for me and millions of others throughout the world.

I would like to say a special word of greeting to my niece Alexandria Janine Powell who, like me, carries a loving devotion to this little saint of Carmel; also to my sister, Andrea Teresa Murray, who bears the name of the Little Flower. May you both be blessed today, through the intercession of St Therese.

My Crooked Face

Just in case you have forgotten what I look like, here is a picture of me from Mexico. Yes, I know this is really corny to put a picture of me up on the blog. Who would want to see this anyway? It will be funny when, in a few months, we see how dorky this started out. Hey, at least you can say you were here from the beginning, for whatever it's worth.

Some Changes to the Blog

For the two or three of you who actually come to visit this poor site, you may have noticed that things look a bit different. With the help of Nick Winker, I am beginning to put some...how do you say...flare?...onto the page. See? I even have a picture of our Lady. I figure that as soon as I can get things looking nice, and as soon as I can learn how to post links, pictures, and interesting things, this is going to be one heck of a site. I'm not sure how.
Congratulations to all the First Year Theologians who received Candidacy tonight. Step one toward the priesthood is in the bag. Now the fun begins!

Building Renovation?

It appears that Archbishop Burke is intent on improving the seminary at all levels. Over summer break, he had well-known architect Duncan Stroik (sp?) at Kenrick, looking at the chapel. Now, you know as well as I do (or maybe not) that he would not have brought in the church architect unless he wanted to make some changes.
This afternoon, the theology students were invited to speak with some other architects who would supposedly be working on the rest of the building. They fielded ideas on how to improve the seminary structure: should we add rooms? Should we make an amphitheater? Should we make walkways and a park? Should we add elevators?
I must admit that I know nothing about this sort of thing, and when it comes down to it, I have no creativity or insight on how to improve buildings. If I were building a chapel or seminary, I would simply copy one of the old beautiful ones from Europe. Besides, we have a couple of architects (Dan Shaughnessy, Noah Waldman) who are now seminarians, and they seem to know what to do. Either way, it is pretty exciting to have these changes under way...all part of the wonderful things occurring at Kenrick. I doubt I will be here when everything is all done, and hopefully that means that I will be an ordained priest by then. Keep praying...

Welcome everyone!

Hello to my family. So far you (and two other guys who helped me do this) are the only ones who have this blog address. I don't really know what i am doing here in cyberspace because i know nothing about positing pictures or anything else. Hopefully I will be able to put up some nice shots of me and the seminary, and maybe we can keep in remote touch through this media.
Allow me to explain the name of the blog (blog, by the way, is short for web-log, for those who did not know). I made the consecration to Our Lady on the Feast of the Visitation of our Lady to her cousin St Elizabeth. I had unwittingly used the date from the old calendar, July 2nd, which is fine. Then, when I received a cooperator of Opus Dei, it was on the date of the Visitation in the new calendar. Wow! Our Lady must really want me to be close to that mystery! Of course, it is on this feast that we recall the words of our Lady's Magnificat: "My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior..." In the Rosary, the special grace is charity, so I feel particularly challenged and supported in this regard.
Anyway, I was looking up the readings and prayers for the Feast of the Visitation and I found an interesting connection. In the reading from the Canticle of Canticles, we find the phrase: "columba mea, in foramínibus petrae, in caverna macériae, ostende mihi faciem tuam, sonet vox tua in áuribus meis: vox enim tua dulcis, et fácies tua decora." This means--"My dove (that is, God) in the clefts of the rock, in the hollow places of the wall, show me thy face, let thy voice sound in my ears: for thy voice is sweet and thy face is beautiful." And in the Gospel, we read that when Elizabeth speaks to Mary, she says, "Ecce enim, ut facta est vox salutionis tuae in auribus meis, exsultavit in gaudio ingans in utero meo." This means--"For behold as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in my ears, the infant in my womb lept for joy."
Wow! Almost like it was planned that way! Ha ha. Anyway, sonet vox tua means something like "let your voice sound" and it connects both reading very well. I thought it appropriate to entitle my blog Sonet Vox Tua so that we can speak to each other, so that we can continue to listen to the voice of God in our lives, through the voice of our holy Mother. It may be corny, but it's the best I got.
I love you all!

Solemn High Mass

I would simply like to mention that the celebration of the Solemn High Mass on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross was one of the most memorable experiences of my life.