Hello again! Sorry it’s been so long…the weekend and first half of the week just ran away from me. Well, we’re in Week 3 here at North Central, and thank goodness for that. This has been a tough week academically, and I’m starting to feel a little pressure. I just have to remember to stay proactive and on top of things.
I went to my first discernment meeting in Joliet with Fr. Burke Masters and about 15 other guys. FINALLY! PEOPLE WHO GET IT!! 🙂 It was so awesome to be in a room with other people (relatively) my age who are going through the same things that I am and who get why it’s so difficult.
We spent about 40 minutes in Eucharistic Adoration; I had never spent that much time in Adoration, but it was great way to just calm down from the long drive to Joliet from Naperville. After that, we went down into the “big room” as it is called at the John Paul II house, and discussed this week’s chapter from To Save a Thousand Souls by Father Brett Brannen. Who would have thought the priests would have an Xbox? Way cool.
After that, I served my usual 8pm mass at Ss. Peter and Paul here in Naperville. Always a nice way to end the weekend and my brother even came. I wish he went to church a little more; heck, I wish everyone went to church a little more. Random fact…did you know that there are 67 million Catholics in the US? AND 70% of those don’t go to mass reguarly. If you think the parking lot at St. Anne’s is crowded now…imagine 70% more people! Logistically it would be terrible for angry drivers but AMAZING for the presence of Christ in our communities. Another startling number: For every 1 person who joins the Catholic Church, 4 people will leave. That is, as Matthew Kelly writes in his book Rediscover Catholicism, a tragedy. I think about ways that I can help change this, and I think I will figure it out someday…which is why I think God is calling me to do this.
But I digress. Back to Peter and Paul. The responsorial psalm was “Here I am, Here I am; I say Yes, my Lord.” I think the timing is too coincidental too ignore having just come from a discernment meeting. I think it’s funny how God knows just how and when to talk to us…most of the time it is a matter of us listening. Even at mass today, the readings were about priests of the past and how they are all part of a long line, stemming back to the Disciples and to Christ. Once a priest, always a priest, no matter what. Thought it was pretty interesting.
There is a visit to St. John Vianney Seminary coming up in a few weeks, just after the first Operation Andrew Dinner which (thankfully…I don’t have to drive!) is just up the road at Peter and Paul. The visit is Feb 10-12, so I would miss two days of classes here at North Central, but I think I HAVE to see what this place is all about. I’m starting to feel different at North Central…I love it, of course, but this is not the right environment if this is something I am serious about. There are pros and cons to everything, though, so that’s something I’ll need to work out. I dont want to leave NC, but if that’s what the Big Man wants….
So as things wind down tonight, I pray, again, for all of the people my age who do not know God…intentionally or not. I hope that someday they will see the true light and divinity of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior of this world. I also pray for all of the kids who are bullied at school, at home, online, or anywhere else. A high school boy committed suicide around here this week because of bullying…think about that; someone’s “joke” ended someone’s life. No one in this world is any better than anyone else because God made us all the same, and in his image no less. I ask that you pray for the repose of the soul of that young man as he makes his journey to our Father’s house in Heaven.
What is God calling you do tonight? Listen, and you’ll know…I promise.
…and make you always say, “Yes, my Lord.”
