PHOTO SOURCE: Tupelo Geek

A very good morning to all of you! The Triduum arrives tonight with the celebration of the Mass of the Lord’s Supper where we will witness the institution of the Priesthood of Jesus Christ.

As we have seen over recent days and weeks, the priesthood is taking a beating by the media as a result of the news of the sexual abuse scandals. As you go about your day, please remember those priests who have touched your life. Thank the Lord for their “yes” to serving His people. If you have the chance, thank those priests personally and let them know how much they have touched your life. Because of recent weeks, that thank you could mean something so much more than usual.

Also, please remember to pray for all the bishops of the Catholic Church who have been given the task of shepherding  the Church through these difficult days. In a special way, pray for Pope Benedict who needs more prayers than usual these days.

The weekend is upon us…and a weekend of work it will be for me. This weekend is the last here on campus before all of the seminarians depart for their home dioceses to celebrate Holy Week.

The seminarians from the Diocese of Orlando will be serving at the Chrism Mass on Wednesday, March 31. As usual, the Mass will be celebrated at the Basilica of the National Shrine of Mary, Queen of the Universe. Bishop Wenski has invited all of the faithful from the Diocese of Orlando to attend. It is always a beautiful experience to witness the priests renew their vows and their commitment to serving the people of God.

After the Chrism Mass, we will all be switching gears for the celebration of the Easter Triduum. Over the last several days, I have been reminded of the few remaining days of Lent; and, well, “[our] redemption is at hand.” (Luke 21:28) We only have a few days left to reexamine ourselves to see if we are truly living our lives in a way that is pleasing to the Lord. Thank goodness He is patient.

The seminarians all return to the seminary on April 5th, which leaves a mere four weeks in the academic year. Holy Week is the last occasion we have for a little bit of rest; every chance I get, I will be spending time simply relaxing and focusing on the immensity of the message of Easter.

Sorry for the absence over the past couple of weeks. I took the opportunity over the Christmas Recess to really rest, relax and gear up for the new academic semester that began bright and early Monday morning. We woke up to a very chilly 41 degrees , which is down right freezing cold by Florida standards. Before I get into the experiences of the upcoming semester, I wanted to wish all of you a very happy and blessed New Year. But, this is not just a new year, it is also the start of a new decade. So Happy New Decade as well!!

This semester is going to be a little different from the Fall semester, mainly because we do not have any major events planned, except our bi-annual Vocations Awareness Weekend in March–I am already expecting to have another well attended weekend. I always look forward to hosting the countless young men who come to the seminary to discern God’s will for their lives for that brief period of two days. I never took the opportunity to come on one of the weekends even though I had been invited numerous times by people in my parish. So, if there is a young man out there from the Diocese of Orlando who is thinking about serving the church as a priest, please seriously consider contacting Fr. Miguel at the Vocations Office about coming down March 12-14, 2010.