Mid-semester Break and more

Hello all! It was great getting to see some of you when I was home a couple of weeks ago for Mid-semester break. Though I did not have a lot of time to spend with you all, I did enjoy the time we were able to share.

For many of you who remember, I was interviewed by the Florida Catholic last month about my discernment and vocation story. The interview was printed in the Florida Catholic this week – well, a portion of it anyway. To get most of the interview, you have to go to the Florida Catholic online edition. Links are provided below!!

• Vocations Article: “Vocations: listening to God’s direction for your life”
• My Interview: “Experiencing the call as a sense of comfort” (Please note: There is an error in the interview. It should read an “Augustinian priest” not a “Franciscan priest”; a little typo I suppose)
• My Parents’ interview: “Parents support God’s wishes for their children”

I would like to thank everyone who has sent me little notes over the past couple of weeks. Please be aware that I am going to be a little busy this week with some papers that I have to write for classes, so I will write back as soon as I can.

In closing, I would like to thank everyone for all of their support. I would especially like to thank the St. Charles CCW, the St. Charles Knights of Columbus, the Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church Ladies Guild, the Corpus Christi Ladies of Corpus Christi Catholic Church, and all of the members of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church! Thank you for your support!!

Bye for now……..

Month in Review and the Month Ahead

Hello everyone!! I just realized that I have neglected to update this thing for the last several weeks and I wanted to keep everyone abreast as to what I have been up to this past month. It was a month filled with a lot of activities, a lot of studying and a lot of “chill” time. 

On September 20th, we had a Day of Recollection which gave us all an opportunity to collect our thoughts about how our formation had been going so far. It was very relaxing and comforting for most of the guys because we were all able to spend some quality time, one on one, with the Lord. It was refreshing for me because I was able to recognize where God had been present in my life throughout the past couple of months, from the time I began my seminary journey all the way up until now.

During the weekend of September 27/28th, my parents were able to come down and spend some quality time with me for Parent Day (which was actually only on September 27th but they stayed in town so that I could spend the next day with them as well). It was great seeing them!! I know we all had a blast!

October looks as if it is going to be a very busy month, with a lot of different activites and things planned. On Friday night, I was asked to serve at a local parish here in Miami for the celebration of the Transitus of St. Francis of Assisi. I was in charge of ringing bells and assissting Father with extinguishing the paschal candle towards the end of the celebration.

As I write this today, I am taking a break from studying for my mid-term exams which are being administered this week – I needed a break from the philosophy of Plato and Socrates. My exam schedule is not too difficult because the teachers were so kind as to not schedule the exams on the same days – maybe it was divine intervention or something. Here is my exam schedule:

• Monday afternoon I have my mid-term for Ministerial Methods, which shouldn’t be too difficult; the material is pretty self-explanatory. 
• Because I am really enjoying my Introduction to Literature class, I am looking forward to the mid-term on Tuesday morning – I never thought I would be excited to take a mid-term.  
• On Wednesday, I am taking my Introduction to Old Testament mid-term, which will probably be my most difficult exam. However, a bunch of the guys got together and we broke up the chapters amongst us and put together a study guide for each chapter, so I should do okay.  
• On Thursday morning, I will be taking a virtual trip to Spain as I take my mid-term for Spanish (but, this really isn’t a mid-term, just a test on Chapter 3).  
• Then on Friday, I have to take my Ancient Philosophy mid-term, which will be pretty tough, but not something I am worrying over. 

After my Ancient mid-term on Friday morning, my mid-semester break begins. I am looking forward to going home to see all my family and friends next week. It is hard to believe that I have already been in Miami for two months. Things have gone by so quickly so I am looking forward to a week to “chill.” But, the break won’t be all resting. On Monday, October 13th, I have to go to Bishop Moore to speak about vocations and answer some questions by the students. Then, on Thursday, I will be speaking to the little ones at the All School Mass for about 5-10 minutes and then to the older middle schoolers sometime during the day.

In closing, I want to thank everyone for their continued support! I ask that you continue to write me as I will continue to write all of you. I look forward to seeing all of you in the next couple of weeks. May God Bless you and may He continue to bless St. John Vianney College Seminary.