December Update

Dear friends,

With the Advent season in full swing (and already almost over - how did that happen?!), I just wanted to brief you on a few different things that have been going on here at the NAC over the past few weeks. It's certainly been a busy time!  We've had some beautiful liturgical celebrations, exciting community events, and, of course, a steady dose of academic work. There certainly hasn't been much time to rest in these past weeks, but the Lord has certainly been close in all the hustle and bustle - after all, this is one of the busiest times of the year for priests as well! So it's been good to get a taste of that in this penultimate year of seminary.

On the Sunday after Thanksgiving, we had our 61st annual Spaghetti Bowl, a flag football game between the new men and the "old men" (the returning guys). It's always a great time, and, of course, a surprising display of athleticism and highlight reel-caliber play. This year, rather than resurrect my unimpressive role of 2nd string free safety, I was asked to help out in the broadcasting booth, which is essentially one of my favorite things in the world! I've always loved watching and listening to Al Michaels, John Madden, Joe Buck, Jon Miller, and all those guys, and, when we would play sports on my block as a kid, I was most content when I could sit on the curb and provide the play-by-play call. The three of us in the booth had a great time that day, and I think (or at least hope) it added a bit to the overall experience as well!

Then, on December 8, we solemnly celebrated the patronal feast of our beloved country and our College - the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception! If there has been one particular grace of living over here these past two and a half years, it has been coming to a greater appreciation for the saints and devotions which have played such a formative role in the history of our homeland. One instance of this is seen in the North American College's dedication to the Immaculate Virgin Mary, who had been declared by the American bishops to be the special patroness of the United States at the 6th Provincial Council of Baltimore in 1846, in order "to gratify a pious desire pervading the whole United States." Our Immaculately conceived Lady has truly been our protectress and our queen since the beginning, and it was only fitting that our Roman seminary would also be entrusted to her protection! We celebrated the solemnity (which is also a day off of school) with a beautiful Mass in her honor and a big banquet to follow. What a blessing to re-consecrate our lives to her maternal intercession!

This past week was a busy one, with Christmas caroling at the Gregorian University, a practice homily for Christmas Midnight Mass, and, on Friday, our house Christmas party, which my class (the third year men) were in charge of planning and hosting. Last night, we had a Region VIII party for the men from the ecclesiastical province of Minnesota, North Dakota, and South Dakota - a wonderful opportunity to enjoy the company of other men who hail from the beautiful lands of the Upper Midwest and the Great Plains. We also celebrated the upcoming Pallium reception of Archbishop Hebda, who will receive his Pallium today as a sign of his authority as the shepherd of the flock in the metropolitan see of the Twin Cities. Be sure to keep him in your prayers as he carries out his very difficult task!

On Wednesday, 30 men from the house, including myself, will be traveling to the Holy Land for 10 days of pilgrimage! I will keep you all in my thoughts and prayers, and certainly update you when I'm back in Rome. A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all of you!

At Home with the Man of the Beatitudes

Every saint is, in some way, captivating. They are captivating because of their stories, their journeys, the paths which their lives took in the pursuit of something incredible. And each saint's story is as unique as our own: some lived long lives, while others had only a short time to live. Some were blessed with that spirit of holiness from the beginning; others spent decades searching in the wrong places, before finally meeting the One who fulfilled all their hopes and dreams. And yet, for all the differences which these stories carry with them, a few constants remain. These saints, the great men and women who captivate us, were sinners just like you and me. They too struggled in this life, facing pain, weakness, guilt, and loss - all the trials which confront men and women of every time and place. But, in addition to their sharing in the same struggles of life, the saints are also united in the fact that they themselves were captivated by God. In the midst of their own weakness and sinfulness, they found "the pearl of great price," the "treasure hidden in the field," and they decided to sell everything they had to buy it. It is this aspect of sanctity which can truly captivate us: how these men and women, each in their own way and in their own particular situation, have been able to leave everything to follow Christ.

This past weekend, I spent several days with a saintly young man who has captivated many, many young people in our world today. His name is Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati.

So much can, and indeed has been said, about the extraordinary life of this young man, a life which indeed was so extraordinary precisely in the fact that, in many ways, it was quite ordinary too. He was a man of great joy and tremendous energy, a man who loved life and who loved those whom God had put into his life. He loved the outdoors, especially the mountains, and found in them some of the most powerful signs of God's beauty and goodness. But for all this, he found God's beauty most especially in the places where he knew God to be most present: in the Eucharist, and in the hearts of his brothers and sisters whom he encountered every day. When Pope John Paul II beatified Pier Giorgio in 1990, he did so by calling upon him under the title by which he is now so well known: The Man of the Beatitudes. Yes, this young Italian man - a mountaineer, student, son, brother, and friend - this man who had only reached the age of 24 before succumbing to tuberculosis, this man became a living incarnation of Our Lord's words in the Sermon on the Mount:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.

Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.

Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God.

Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven."

I had the chance to meditate on this passage from Matthew's Gospel as I sat in the room where Blessed Pier Giorgio died. The room was so full of peace and joy, certainly not the kind of eeriness we might associate with being in the very place from which someone we love has left this world. Rather, this was the place from which Pier Giorgio had gone forth to meet the One whom he loved more than his own life. It was from there that he had gone to be comforted, to obtain mercy, to see God, and to inherit the kingdom of heaven.

Above the bed hangs the crucifix which Pier Giorgio clutched to his breast as he lay there. Nearby stands an altar, which is now used regularly by pilgrimage groups who wish to celebrate the sacred mysteries in this sacred spot. Outside the window, one can see the very hills which Pier Giorgio would climb every morning on his way to Mass in the nearby town. On the bed sits a pile of letters and pictures brought by men and women from around the world - many of them my age - all of whom have been captivated by the extraordinary life of this young man.

The place where my three classmates and I were staying during this blessed weekend was, in fact, the summer home of the Frassati family. It was owned by Pier Giorgio's grandparents, and, according to a custom not too different from our own summer traditions in Minnesota, he and his sister Luciana would spend almost the entirety of their summer vacations there. Nearly the entire house has been preserved as it would have looked like when Pier Giorgio was there, from the family portraits on the wall, to the old piano in the living room, to the furniture which has remained mostly the same since it was put there in 1908. Outside in the yard, the swing which he and his sister would have played on still hangs from its tree.

Outside Pier Giorgio's room stands a case with many of his belongings: his shoes, climbing crampons, outdoor cooking utensils, and wallet. One of my favorites was a transaction recorder in which he wrote down all the money he spent. Without fail, almost every other entry was marked down as "elemosina," that is, alms!

A biography of Saint Catherine of Siena given by Pier Giorgio to his sister in 1923, dedicated with the words, "To my good dear sister, on the day of your graduation, so that she might be your guide in along the way of ascent toward spiritual perfection. With affection, you brother, Pier Giorgio."

During one of the days in the region, we took a "hike" up to one of the local mountain ranges. I say "hike," because we basically drove our rental car to the foot of the mountain, took a cable car to a high point, and walked around from there. What would Pier Giorgio say?! Even still, it was a blessing to enjoy the autumn weather, and to scamper over the rocks which he himself knew!

The four of us stayed in the basement of the house, which is comfortably furnished for guests, and has a kitchen which we used for heat and cooking. In the evenings, we would sit and play cards, enjoying each other's fraternity, and sharing our own joys of being a friend of the young Italian mountaineer who has captivated each of us as well.

We met two young women from France there who loved Frassati too!

It was a truly a blessed weekend, my friends. I prayed for all of you while I was there, and I hope that Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati might be for you a ready guide and steady example of what it means to live the Beatitudes!

"You ask me whether I am in good spirits. How could I not be so? As long as Faith gives me strength I will always be joyful!"

Ora et Labora

When the glorious diaconate festivities had died down a little, it was time for some weekend rest before the beginning of another academic year. After the long hours of pastoral and homiletic workshops, the choir practices in preparation for the ordination Mass, and the various logistics of hosting priests, friends, and family from back home, it was truly time for a little break from Rome!

So, for a brief, but restful weekend, I joined two priests and a permanent deacon of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis on a wonderful, prayerful journey to the tiny Umbrian town of Norcia. The town is beautiful in its own right, nestled peacefully in the Sibillini mountains in north-central Italy. Plus, it's small enough that you could pretty much walk through every street in town over the course of a couple hours; quite a big change from the ever-chaotic eternal city! Like many other such quaint towns in Umbria, Norcia draws tourists from all over Italy, Europe, and other parts of the globe by virtue of its picturesque landscape, small town feel, and very, very tasty food. In fact, Umbria is one of the few places in the world that can boast the local harvesting and sale of all 4 species of the infamous truffle (in Italian, tartufo). As I learned soon after arriving in Italy, seeing "truffle" on a menu usually doesn't mean that you're ordering something chocolatey...But, the tartufo has a flavor all its own, and as soon as you sprinkle some on pasta or spread it over a slice of bread, you know immediately why they are so highly sought after!

Little meat and cheese shops abound in Norcia!

But, in addition to its many natural qualities, Norcia boasts another, much more meaningful treasure: the birthplace of St. Benedict and St. Scholastica, the twin brother and sister who founded Western Monasticism! St. Benedict's Rule, which he regulated for his newfound Benedictine monasteries would come to be unwavering source of stability in Europe following the fall of the Roman Empire, calling men into a life of community centered around worship of God and monastic obedience, a life of Ora et labora (pray and work). St. Scholastica, for her part, would go on to form the first female branch of the Benedictine order, making her, in essence the mother of female religious life, at least in Western Christianity.

Considering the great importance of Norcia in the lives of these two saints, it is not surprising that there have been Benedictine monks living and working in Norcia since the 10th century, thus giving the city a thoroughly Benedictine tradition. However, in 1810, the monks of Norcia who had lived in the monastery since its founding were forced to flee during the persecution of Napoleon, thus leaving the birthplace of Benedict and Scholastica bereft of its beautiful monastic tradition...

But, through God's grace, the monks returned! This time, however, the monastery was not to be the home of Italian, or even European monks, but of Americans! In the 1990's an American monk named Fr. Cassian received the inspiration to bring monasticism back to Norcia, and, after receiving canonical approval, moved into the monastery of Norcia with his brother monks in the year 2000. Since then, the monastic community has grown and flourished. They have made additions to their building, restored the old basilica which stands majestically in the center of town, created a spirit of deep prayer and silence in their worship of God, assisted the Norcia community in countless ways, and even opened a brewery! By means of their beer especially, the monks have been able to reach people across the globe, Catholics and non-Catholics alike, who are fascinated by the monks' proud tradition of brewing beer ut laetificet cor hominum ("to gladden man's heart"). Trust me, when you drink the Norcia brew, your heart really is gladdened!

Unfortunately, the town of Norcia, like many towns in the nearby regions, was significantly damaged by the earthquake which rocked central Italy just two months ago. Thankfully, no one in the town was killed, but the damage caused to many of the buildings, including the monks' beautiful basilica and living quarters, was substantial. For a few weeks immediately after the disaster, the monks had moved to Rome in order to remain together and decide how they would respond. In such a situation, with their place of worship architecturally condemned, and the majority of their monastery unlivable, it may have seemed natural for the monks to have continued their life for many months in Rome, where things were, seemingly, much safer.

But one thing that is amazing about Benedictine monks is their vow of stability. When a monk professes his religious vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, he also makes a fourth vow of stability, in which he promises remain faithfully attached to that monastery in which he will, conceivably, live out the rest of his life. It is one of the most beautiful aspects of Benedictine life, and one which allows monasticism to continue to be such a fruitful enterprise, both within the Church in that local area and in the lives of those may not have any interest in the faith. This vow of stability is just as radical today as in the days when St. Benedict was establishing the first monastic communities! In a world which seems to place such a high premium on the need for novelty and change and the ability to move from one thing to the next almost at a whim, the stability of the Benedictine monk stands as a testimony to God's faithfulness, as well as His love for us in the ordinary, mundane aspects of our daily life, in the ora et labora, we might say.

And so, the monks came back. After a mere two weeks in Rome, they returned to their home in Norcia, to join with their fellow citizens in the task of rebuilding their city, to continue to offer their daily prayers with and for the universal Church, and, of course, to keep gladdening men's hearts with their beer. They are currently divided as a community, with 6 of the monks living in the few undamaged cells in the monastery itself, and the other 10 living outside the walls of Norcia in makeshift tents! The monks are truly making many sacrifices, the heaviest of which much certainly be this temporary separation from one another. Certainly, there prayers will continue to make a difference in the lives of their brothers and sisters in Norcia, as well as in the lives of so many around the world!

So, this weekend was a chance to visit these simple, prayerful, quiet, awe-inspiring men who call themselves Benedictine monks. These men have something to teach all of us about God, about prayer, about work, and about ourselves. May we strive to imitate their example of stability, remaining faithful to God always, even in the earthquakes which shake up our own lives.

The Best Week of the Year

The beginning of every academic year at the NAC is marked by arguably the single most beautiful event of the entire year! This coming Thursday, 30 of our brothers who are entering theology IV will be ordained deacons in St. Peter's Basilica at the hands of Sean Cardinal O'Malley, the Archbishop of Boston. It's an amazing experience to watch hundreds of American prelates, priests, deacons, seminarians, family members and friends pack into the vast space behind Bernini's iconic baldechino, at the breathtaking altar of the chair. There, on the marble floor at the center of Christendom, my 30 brothers will literally lay down their lives in service of God and His people, and, upon rising once again, will be conformed to Christ the Servant when Cardinal O'Malley lays his hands upon them.

For the third straight year, I will participate in the celebration by singing in the choir. To be honest, a church as big as St. Peter's has a really difficult acoustic to sing in! But we always do our best, and the music always does turn out beautifully. The beauty of an other-worldy liturgy is truly a wonderful gift that we are able to give the newly ordained men and their families.

Probably the coolest thing about the ordinations (at least from the point of view of a "younger brother") is that, every year, the reality of ordained ministry becomes more and more vivid! This year, for instance, I will be able to witness the ordination of two of my best friends in the world, Tim Wratkowski and Nick Hagen, both of whom are to be ordained for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. I've know both of them for so long, and it's going to be so surreal to see them kneel before the Cardinal as laymen and rise again as deacons! I'm so proud of both those guys, as well as the entire class of ordinandi, and it's so cool to think that, in roughly one year's time, it will be time for my classmates and I to lay down our lives on that marble floor!

The morning after the ordination Mass is always quite a treat too. Every newly ordained deacon chooses a church in Rome in which to have a Mass of Thanksgiving with his family and friends. It is at this Mass that he is able to proclaim the Gospel and preach a homily for the first time! Having been to a couple such "first deacon Masses" now, I can honestly say that there are few things cooler! (A "first priest Mass" is probably one of those cooler things!)

Tonight, we will be celebrating a Mass in our College with all the friends and family of the deacons-elect as an "opener" of sorts to this amazing week. Then, on Wednesday evening, all the priests and seminarians of the College will gather in this same chapel for an hour of adoration, a reflection on the diaconate, and procession to our outdoor statue of the Blessed Mother, where we will entrust our 30 brothers to the motherly care of Our Lady, Queen of the Clergy. It is always one of the most wonderful, heart-warming moments of prayer in the entire NAC year. And this year, it promises to be more moving than ever, as I think about these amazing friends and brothers who will soon be receiving this tremendous gift of the diaconate.

Please pray for Tim, Nick, and the other 28 men who will be ordained this Thursday! May God bless them and grant them joy and generosity in their vocations!

Christ's peace to you all!

-Colin

Coming Down from the Mountain...

Hey folks,

Yesterday, my 45 classmates and I returned from our retreat in the town of Ariccia, nestled in the beautiful hills just an hour or so south of Rome. We stayed at a lovely little retreat house overlooking Lake Albano, a pristine volcanic lake surrounded by quaint Italian towns and beautiful foliage (green is a color we don't get to see so much in the busy streets of Rome!).

On a clear day, it is possible to see the dome of St. Peter's Basilica off in the distance, little more than a speck on the horizon. West of that, we could look out onto the shore of the Mediterranean! Even though our retreat took place in silence, almost every evening was the occasion for many of us seminarians to gather silently on the large patio overlooking the lake, taking in the beauty around us and meditating on the tremendous graces which God has given us in allowing us to live amidst so much beauty. We were even blessed with a little crazy weather during the week too! Wind and rain and funky clouds and everything that was awesome...we got to see it all!

The retreat itself was grace-filled beyond belief. Outside of Mass and Evening Prayer as a group, each of us spent half an hour each day meeting with a spiritual director, receiving a few Scripture passages to meditate upon for that day, and sharing any particular graces or struggles on his heart. While not formally an Ignatian spiritual exercises retreat, it certainly had a similar feel. The focus was on imaginative prayer, in which you attempt to delve more deeply into the Sacred Scriptures, oftentimes through imagining yourself in the particular scene. As you might be able to imagine, this can be pretty difficult with all distractions and random thoughts which run through the average person's head in an hour! But the Lord calls us to be faithful, not successful! Through persevering with the Lord and continuing to be generous toward Him with your time, it is amazing what beautiful things He can accomplish.

This coming week, my class is at the College for our final week of conferences before the diaconate weekend craziness rolls into town. This week, it will be a series of homiletic conferences, combined with a couple opportunities to give some practice homilies. Should be a very growth-filled experience, as usual!

Until next time,

Colin

After 23 Months: Stateside!

When my classmates and I boarded the plane at Newark International Airport on July 14, 2014 and soon watched the shoreline of the United States pass out of sight, we knew that it would be another 23 months before we would see that shoreline again! Certainly, the thought of beginning our theological studies, the joy of meeting our new brother seminarians, and the prospect of living in the heart of the Church gave us all deep peace and great excitement as we began our journey into what was largely an unknown chapter in our formation lives. But, for all the wonderful blessings which we knew the Lord had prepared for us "across the pond," there couldn't but be a sadness at the fact that we were leaving our home! Family, friends, parishioners, priests, brother seminarians, baseball, the English language, real hamburgers...It was tough to leave it all behind.

It had been far too long.

With so many days standing between our leaving America and our long-desired return (somewhere around 700 I think!), the focus was obviously to always live in the moment. I learned during that time the valuable grace of being able to sprout where I am planted, and to seek ever more to cling to the Lord throughout all the trials and difficulties which transitions can create. Live in the moment. Don't count down from 700 days until the moment when it's time to go home. Allow the Lord to guide you every single day, in the midst of the amazing experiences, and those which might just make you homesick...This was our task as NAC seminarians in our first and second years of theology: to live each day as a gift, to allow the Lord Himself to guide us a care for us during this transition.

What wonderful advice this was! Over the course of the next 23 months, the Lord blessed me with two amazing years of formation: a tremendously challenging and life-giving seminary community, centered around the Lord and focused on a life of prayer and virtue...no fewer than 250 brothers, all of whom, whether close friends or men whom I might run into only rarely, have called me on to a deeper love of God and His Church...blessed experiences of travelling, not only in Europe, but also in Africa, experiences which have offered me so many opportunities to connect with God's people and encounter the vast treasures of the Catholic Church. Indeed, sitting on that airplane as it left America behind, I could never have imagined how good the Lord would be to me during those next 23 months!

Minneapolis, how I missed you

And then, almost before I knew it, the time came. It was my turn to go home! Almost in the blink of an eye, it seemed, spring semester 2016 had come upon us. And, while it was the most out-of-control-crazy and how-on-earth-am-I-going-to-survive-this semester of my academic life, it was overshadowed by the joy of going home! My classmates and I were buying our plane tickets, receiving our summer parish assignments, asking each other what our first meal back in America would be (Chick-Fil-A ended up being mine!), and just generally geeking out over all the wonderful graces and experiences that awaited us stateside. We even had a customized Google Map with pins on all our different summer assignment parishes; we were really all over the place!

No trip to St. Paul was complete without a stop at the Cathedral!

Sometime in February, my vocation director Fr. David Blume brought me the happy tidings that I would be spending the summer (as well as summer of 2017) at the Church of the Epiphany in Coon Rapids, Minnesota! It was really a winning decision for everyone, since it kept me close enough to home to allow me to see my family on a regular basis (a big win for Momma Jones especially!), while also allowing me to observe the daily life of one of the largest suburban parishes in the Archdiocese, something I've always desired to be a part of.

During my first two years of theology at the NAC, a certain phrase which is often repeated by the faculty priests in their conferences and conversations is: "you cannot imagine how good the people of God will be to you!" Boy, did they get that one right!

From day 1 at Epiphany, the people of God truly were so good to me. Every morning, I had the opportunity to assist at Mass by distributing the Blessed Sacrament! As an installed acolyte, this is a ministry which I can now perform anywhere in the Church, and, since it such a huge part of diaconal and priestly ministry, it was pretty cool to be able to jump right in! Many times, as folks would be coming up for Communion, I would be hit with the thought that I am giving Jesus to His people right now!! Pretty amazing stuff.

Before and after Mass, whether the 8 am daily one or any of the 5 Sunday Masses, I got a taste of the very simple priestly activity of greeting people...it was sometimes quite a crowd. Since I was wearing clerics like the priests, I often had to tell people that they didn't have to call me Father, but it was still pretty cool to be able to tell folks that I was their summer seminarian. They were all so welcoming, and it was amazing how, as the summer went on, I really was getting to know many of those wonderful families.

Don't get me started on the hometown 9...

One of the most amazing and, perhaps unexpected, graces of the summer was the time I was able to spend with the Epiphany youth. Believe it or not, I entered the summer a little freaked out by the prospect of being around American middle-schoolers and high-schoolers! I mean, it had been two full years since I had been home; I didn't know a thing about "what the kids are doing these days," and I was afraid of being out of the loop!

Well, I learned on roughly my first day in the parish that that was a pretty dumb thing to be afraid of. The kids were so incredible, and my time spent helping out in the parish's youth ministry programs ended up being one of the most powerful experiences of those 6 action-packed weeks. In June, I spent 6 days at Extreme Faith Camp, which offers middle-schooler the opportunity to encounter the Lord in prayer, community, and the Sacraments, especially Reconciliation and Eucharistic Adoration. The evening of Confession was especially cool. The small group leaders helped their kids to examine their consciences, and answered any questions they might have about the Sacrament. Many of the kids, understandably, were originally a little freaked out at the idea...But, thanks be to God, they all went! The joy and peace which many of them recounted was truly incredible, a sure testimony to the fact that God truly wants to encounter us in His Sacraments, if we merely go before Him with an open heart. What a blessing, too, to realize how much He used all of us youth ministers as instruments to "prepare the way before Him." Our hard work and prayer truly paid off in the lives of those kids!

I also had the opportunity to be quite involved with the Epiphany high-schoolers, who are pretty much the coolest people I know. In many parishes, the summer presents many challenges and obstacles to doing any sort of real high-school ministry. But those obstacles couldn't slow the roll at Epiphany! Every Thursday, between 20 and 25 boys and girls from the parish's youth group would gather for the 8 am Mass, drink coffee and play games in the youth room, before heading out to the field for what were some of the best ultimate frisbee games I've ever been a part of. Seriously, those kids put me to shame week after week. I guess I've got some work to do this coming year!

The youth ministry experience at Epiphany was highlighted by an amazingly grace-filled 5-day trip to Steubenville, Ohio in late-July. We were 6 chaperones with roughly 30 kids, in for two very long bus rides to and from the youth conference. It was so much fun to simply get to know the young men and women, most of whom were so deeply seeking the Lord and open to whatever He might have in store for them in their lives. Even those kids who may have been present more because of parental compulsion were moved by the Lord in powerful ways, especially in the moments of prayer which took place at the conference, and in great sense of community which the youth group continually fostered.

The kids are alright

Then, there were the priests! I was incredibly blessed to be with 4, yes, 4!!!! wonderful priests this summer. Three of those priests were assigned to the parish, while the fourth worked full time at hospitals in Coon Rapids and Fridley, but the impact of such strong, consistent priestly witness in one place was truly felt. In fact, one Sunday, there were so many priests around saying hello to people after Mass, that one woman who was visiting Epiphany for the weekend asked me, "Is there some sort of religious order here at this parish?" Her question really wasn't a surprising one, since most parishes are lucky to have even 2 priests around. And yet, thanks to the grace of many vocations to the Archdiocese in recent years, as well as the many pastoral needs of a parish as large as Epiphany, the parish is blessed by the presence of these 4 very holy, prayerful men.

If you've stuck around for this big 'ole update, thank you so much for reading. Currently, I'm back in Rome, where my classmates and I have been enjoying a week of swapping summer stories, doing some pastoral counseling workshops, and, of course, trying to kick jet lag in the face. We'll be going on retreat tomorrow in a beautiful little town near Lake Albano, roughly an hour from Rome, for some much needed time of prayer and rest. Know that I will be keeping you all in my prayers; I ask the same from you. Until next time!

-Colin

Recollection

Once a semester, those of us here at the North American College are blessed to have a day of recollection. For roughly 24 hours, the various obligations and general busy-ness of the community's schedule grind to a halt - of course, with the exception, of that which is most important: Jesus Christ, and time spent with him. (Incidentally, it also happens to be a great day to catch up on sleep!)

During these blessed hours, we celebrate Sunday Mass together and eat our meals in silence, while our spiritual directors open their doors to hear confessions and talk with us about the Lord's action in our lives. It's truly amazing how this little oasis of peace and quiet can make such a difference in a hectic semester of studies!

And of course, without fail, a day spent with the Lord always leaves us more ready to serve Him, more open to hear His voice once the routine of life begins again!

On this peaceful day, know that I will be lifting up in prayer all those who continue to be with me on this journey. I don't say it enough, but I am so grateful for the prayers and support of everyone whom the Lord has placed in my life!

May you and your loved ones also find the peace of recollection in this Lenten season, that the Lord's voice may become clearer every day.

-Colin