July 7, 2011
-
The Return
Hello all!
Thank you for your patience and, for some of you, your messages of concern/curiosity for my extended absence from Xanga! Since my last post I graduated college (finally!). I remind myself of the line from Tommy Boy– Chris Farley: ”A lot of people go to college for seven years.” David Spade: “I know. They’re called doctors.” Well, even Tommy Boy got out of college before I did; I was in school for nine! Granted, God had all sorts of other plans but, needless to say, I’m glad to be taking a break from the books.
After graduating I spent a couple of weeks at home tearing down our old chicken shed:
First my brother and I removed the side walls and then we just pushed the thing over. Last week when I was home again I tore the front and back walls and roof apart and now all that remains is a cement foundation and naught else.
After time at home I flew out to Cincinnati for a big gathering of all the Jesuits in my province as well as the Jesuits of the two provinces we are eventually combining with. It was great to see many of my brothers I hadn’t seen in well over a year.
Next I jetted down to New Orleans for a conference called “The Ministry of Management,” where we learned about business principles regarding human resources, finances, etc. and how to apply them to parish administration and non-profit organizations. I also got to see the French Quarter and the infamous Bourbon Street which, after around 4pm, gets pretty “sketch” as the kids are saying these days. However, late at night I looked down an alley and saw the back of the Cathedral. Though my pic is a bit blurry (given it was a night shot without a tripod) I think you can get the gist of just how encouraging and touching a reminder it was to see amidst the drunkeness, smelliness and mostly-undressed-ness of the neighborhood:
Finishing up after about a week I flew out to Sedalia, Colorado for an eight-day silent retreat. I am hoping to have time tomorrow to write at least the first part of a blog on my experience of that retreat, since such past posts have proven enlightening and/or helpful to people here on Xanga. After my retreat I was home for another week for my dad’s wedding (his second).
But before I do that I thought I would petition you all for suggestions regarding future posts. Besides blogging about my retreat, I thought I might do a series on the Seven Sacraments; besides that, though, I haven’t any ideas.
Is there anything about myself or Catholicism or something else you would all like my thoughts on? This blog is for you! Were it simply a place for me to talk about myself, goodness, I’d have shut it down when I entered the Order!
Post a Comment
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Comments (21)
I think blog posts on the Seven Sacraments would be excellent! Also maybe a couple of posts on the Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church- the Immaculate Conception and the Assumption as I’m always being asked by my Protestant friends about those 2 doctrines.
I was thinking about you the other day and wondered where you had gone… I’m relieved / happy to see that you’re back!
Welcome back!
Sounds like you had a greqat time away. I read your message but I haven’t had time to response which I will do hopefully tomorrow,.
Suggestion:
1.Can you talk about the Holy Triny…
2.Where catholic prayers come from…
3.Why they don’t mention Virgin Amry too much but we have so much faith in her. And a lil about her appearances… like the one she made in the now Mexico with Juan Diego
Thank you!!!
I’m in existential crisis. How about something with God and Destiny?
I wondered why I wasn’t seeing any new posts from you. I’m glad that you’re doing well! Congrats on graduating college!
I look forward to your post on your silent retreat.
Since you ask what we would like to know more about, there are many things I am unsure of in Catholicism. I just want to convey first off that with my questions I will always try to word them politely as I will never mean you or Catholics any offense. My current view is just one of not understanding as well as from an unknowledgeable viewpoint it seems to me that some things in Catholicism do not mesh well with the Bible. So yes, I’d be curious to read your blogs explaining certain things.
* How did Catholics ever arrive at the idea that there was a purgatory?
* Why do Catholics use another book in addition to the Bible? This seems wrong to me, just like Mormons using the Book of Mormon. (On that note, what do the Catholics think of the Book of Mormon?)
* Does Catholicism really teach that Catholics should say the “Hail Mary” a set number of times for sins? If so, what is their biblical support for this, considering the Bible teaches that it is faith and not works that saves us?
I think that’s good for now.
Looking forward to hearing back!
I want to piggy-back on ^HesAContradiction; something dark-night-of-the-soul-ish? More than just the “there’s a purpose to suffering” pat answer (we all know that song and dance).
Just wanted to say welcome back and congratulations on your graduation, Jacob! Very happy for you.
Addy
I would like to see items explaining the RC position(s)on such topics as the literal interpretation of scripture which I suspect is a heresy and which brings ridicule on bible religion from contemporary man.
Contemporary modern man is being repelled from the baby by the state of the bath water and these very public anti-science views just give fuel to the fire of rejection.
I must do a post on that concern. The trouble is, the literalists respond far more than the more “liberal” Christians and the former go away thinking they have won points when the latter have just declined to get involved in what they see as pointless arguments. Well, they are not pointless to the literalists, who are gaining ground while the others are retreating.
Congratulations on graduating!
I’m Catholic too, and I just wanted to say that I love your posts. After I read about your prayer in which you talked to Mary and Jesus, and then asked for their intercession/presence when you brought your prayer to God, I tried sort of the same thing, with something I was having a hard time with, and it totally worked! I felt better right away, too! So thanks ^_^
Maybe you’ve gone over this already, but do you have any favorite saints who did awesome things?
That’s the largest chicken coop I have ever seen. Just how big are Catholic chickens? If the early Protestants had seen your chickens, they would have all reconverted before you brought up the geese.
Congratulations on graduating. I have been wondering where you were. I very much understand taking so long to graduate and not being a doctor. It took me awhile.
I would love to learn more about purgatory – like MyTwoCents suggested.
Your sister was molested and you were not there to protect her from filthy hands. May God forgive you for using her pic as crank material.
Congratulations on graduating. Glad that you are back. I am looking forward to future posts. What is next for you? Will you be assigned to a church?
comment on http://www.REALCATHOLICTV.com
what is your degree in? from which University/college? duh me, sorry for not being up on your blog even though I subscribe!
Congratulations on your graduation! I enjoyed your update and the sketch of your travels.
Since we moved to this little town in NM in March, I joined the women’s Bible study through our Catholic chapel on base. The leader is an incredible lady with quite the testimony. These days, she’s the mother of 5 boys. We have the same drive to read and research and investigate and grow in the Lord. We both have charismatic backgrounds. I think the growing friendship will help both of us grow spiritually. She recently experienced the Dark Night of the Soul for a few weeks. She thought it might be very late post-partum depression, but our priest-chaplain helped her realize that it’s just a desert experience. Her husband responded by taking a 4-day weekend from work (he’s also Air Force) and she went on a 4-day spiritual retreat to Santa Fe to pray and read and rest and be at the Cathedral there. I can’t wait to talk to her about it because I ran into her and the boys at daily Mass yesterday and she’s glowing and happy. What I’d like to read in your blog would be your spiritual experiences…the contents of your retreats, the ways you pray, etc. I think Michelle and I would love to see how another person in love with our Lord spends his time when he’s alone with the Lord.
PS – What’s your degree in? Congrats again!
My comment didn’t make it into the mini box, but it said CONGRATS again, and asked what your degree is in.
@uglygreensofa - @mortimerZilch - @BigToePeople - Thanks all! I graduated from St. Louis University with a plain-old BA in Philosophy, the study of which is part of the canonical requirements for ordination some day and excellent prep-work for theology in a few years. I am now in Milwaukee helping to care for our retired men and will do that for at least a year, probably three, before moving on to theology studies for another three years before being ordained a priest.
@Lovegrove - It was rather large I suppose for keeping chickens, though we never had chickens of our own; we just always called it the chicken shed because that’s what my dad said it was! Maybe it was something else, I have no idea; the farm was all built in the 1930s I think. But considering the man who built that shed was Presbyterian I shudder to think of how big those chickens were compared to the normal-sized Catholic ones!
@RulerofMasons - I have no doubt that Boba Fett conducted himself in a manner befitting a gentleman and was more than able enough to keep the Imperial Stormtrooper in line!
Ok, that translates to “you’re a fucking asshole.” Darth Vader grew strong in the darkside when he found out his mother was molested by a dirty mexican.
@RulerofMasons - Not at all! That is not what I intended; I thought you were joking so I responded in kind. I apologize if you thought otherwise; I don’t welcome people to my blog simply to insult them.