It is exam season, folks!
I have my first of 7 exams this coming Friday, 4 next week, and two the following week. The study guides are being created, encyclicals printed, coffee brewed, theology manuals consumed by the chapter, coffee brewed again, and prayers for diligence made. While the stress of exams here at the NAC is much like the stress faced anywhere during a finals period, there is something amazingly profound about studying this much concentrated theology over the course of 3 or 4 weeks. Sometimes, while I'm sitting at my desk, I'll stop and realize: "holy cow, I'm studying the Psalms right now!" or some little revelation of that sort. It's not always fun, but the Lord always gives the growth and the strength to overcome the little obstacles. And, at the end of the day, this is the stuff I'm going to spend the rest of my life teaching to others! That usually makes it hit home a bit.
Please pray for me! I will offer my coffee-induced studiousness for all of you.
In Christ,
Colin
Wednesday, January 25, 2017
Friday, January 13, 2017
Holy Land, part 2: "And he went down with them and came to Nazareth..."
"...and was obedient to them."
The two primary "poles" of our Holy Land pilgrimage were also the two primary poles of Our Lord's public life: Galilee and Jerusalem. They were the places where he called his disciples, where his preaching took place, where his miracles were performed, and where he eventually underwent his passion and death. These places are more or less the setting for most of the Gospel text, and thus were understandably the focal point of our 10-day pilgrimage!
And yet, we know too that the overwhelming majority of Jesus' life took place, not in the fishing villages around the lake, nor in the hustle and bustle of Jerusalem, but in the town of Nazareth, an essentially insignificant Jewish town which happened to be, for Mary and Joseph, "their own city," as Luke describes it (2:39). It was there that Christ lived his quiet years within the loving embrace of the Holy Family, assisting his foster-father St. Joseph in the humble trade of a carpenter, and praying with His Blessed Mother, who no doubt treasured these many peaceful years in her heart. This city, while neither the place of Christ's birth nor of his public ministry, nevertheless carries great significant for us as Christians, because, in fact "he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, 'He shall be called a Nazarene.'" (Matthew 2:23)
But the site of this home of the Holy Family is significant not only because of what happened after Mary and Joseph returned from Egypt, but also for what happened there before. For indeed, Mary, having grown up in her parents' home in Nazareth, and having met her future husband there, also received, on one seemingly ordinary day, a message which was to change her life and the lives of all those who had ever lived and would ever live. It was in this little insignificant town that the angel of God appeared to a young girl who seemed, in the eyes of the world, to be an insignificant Jewish girl. We are all familiar with Mary's answer, and of the rest of the story of the Incarnation, a story which continues to this day, and which will continue for the rest of eternity. But the reality is that Mary's fiat occurred at one moment, in one place, in one earth-shattering decision which set humanity free. And the place where this moment took place was here, in Nazareth.
In our Mass for the day at the Church of the Annunciation, we read for our Gospel the passage which contains that most significant event in the history of the universe: the moment of God's becoming man. The accompanying priest who preached that day drew our attention to the mystery of insignificance which God seems so pleased to use throughout history, whenever he can. Here we were in this place which, to the Jew of the 1st century - or to anyone of the 1st century, for that matter - would have been so insignificant and unimportant. And yet it was here - in Latin, hic - that God had chosen to come and first pitch his tent among us. And this girl to whom he had appeared was young, poor, and unmarried - in the society of the time, a woman of no social standing or significance. And yet, it was her - his lowly handmaiden - whom God had chosen to be the mother of his only-begotten son! If God was able to do such marvels in that time, and in this insignificant place, then what could possibly prevent him from working in the midst of those poor, lowly, insignificant areas of our lives, areas which we might have already written off as being "outside" of God's providence?! This brief stop in the place of Christ's Incarnation has brought all these reflections to light, and helped me to recognize that the Incarnation, which began here - hic - in the town of Nazareth, will always continue in my heart and in the hearts of all who welcome him in lowliness and meekness!
The two primary "poles" of our Holy Land pilgrimage were also the two primary poles of Our Lord's public life: Galilee and Jerusalem. They were the places where he called his disciples, where his preaching took place, where his miracles were performed, and where he eventually underwent his passion and death. These places are more or less the setting for most of the Gospel text, and thus were understandably the focal point of our 10-day pilgrimage!
And yet, we know too that the overwhelming majority of Jesus' life took place, not in the fishing villages around the lake, nor in the hustle and bustle of Jerusalem, but in the town of Nazareth, an essentially insignificant Jewish town which happened to be, for Mary and Joseph, "their own city," as Luke describes it (2:39). It was there that Christ lived his quiet years within the loving embrace of the Holy Family, assisting his foster-father St. Joseph in the humble trade of a carpenter, and praying with His Blessed Mother, who no doubt treasured these many peaceful years in her heart. This city, while neither the place of Christ's birth nor of his public ministry, nevertheless carries great significant for us as Christians, because, in fact "he went and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, 'He shall be called a Nazarene.'" (Matthew 2:23)
The Church of St. Joseph in Nazareth commemorates the great patron of the Universal Church.
But the site of this home of the Holy Family is significant not only because of what happened after Mary and Joseph returned from Egypt, but also for what happened there before. For indeed, Mary, having grown up in her parents' home in Nazareth, and having met her future husband there, also received, on one seemingly ordinary day, a message which was to change her life and the lives of all those who had ever lived and would ever live. It was in this little insignificant town that the angel of God appeared to a young girl who seemed, in the eyes of the world, to be an insignificant Jewish girl. We are all familiar with Mary's answer, and of the rest of the story of the Incarnation, a story which continues to this day, and which will continue for the rest of eternity. But the reality is that Mary's fiat occurred at one moment, in one place, in one earth-shattering decision which set humanity free. And the place where this moment took place was here, in Nazareth.
The inscription on the altar at Nazareth reads, "The Word was made flesh here."
In our Mass for the day at the Church of the Annunciation, we read for our Gospel the passage which contains that most significant event in the history of the universe: the moment of God's becoming man. The accompanying priest who preached that day drew our attention to the mystery of insignificance which God seems so pleased to use throughout history, whenever he can. Here we were in this place which, to the Jew of the 1st century - or to anyone of the 1st century, for that matter - would have been so insignificant and unimportant. And yet it was here - in Latin, hic - that God had chosen to come and first pitch his tent among us. And this girl to whom he had appeared was young, poor, and unmarried - in the society of the time, a woman of no social standing or significance. And yet, it was her - his lowly handmaiden - whom God had chosen to be the mother of his only-begotten son! If God was able to do such marvels in that time, and in this insignificant place, then what could possibly prevent him from working in the midst of those poor, lowly, insignificant areas of our lives, areas which we might have already written off as being "outside" of God's providence?! This brief stop in the place of Christ's Incarnation has brought all these reflections to light, and helped me to recognize that the Incarnation, which began here - hic - in the town of Nazareth, will always continue in my heart and in the hearts of all who welcome him in lowliness and meekness!
Tuesday, January 3, 2017
Holy Land, Part 1: "Come Away to a Lonely Place..."
"...and rest awhile." - Mark 6:30
It was these words from Our Lord to His apostles which beckoned me and 36 of my brother seminarians to the Holy Land for a 10-day pilgrimage of prayer, as we visited the places which have truly been made holy by the presence of Jesus Christ Himself. Like Christ's apostles those many centuries ago, I too had been feeling in my own life a great desire to come away with the Lord and to rest with Him. This desire had grown especially in the first months of this academic year, a year which has been filled with a lot of work and countless up's and down's! After an arduous few December weeks of house responsibilities and class work, there was no greater feeling of relief than to depart the North American College and fly off to a place which is so unlike any other place I have ever set foot. While all of us were certainly leaving behind a place of relative comfort and familiarity in exchange for a new and eye-opening culture, we were spurred on by the knowledge that He whom we seek is the Lord! Just as those two disciples, having asked Our Lord where He was staying (John 1:38), were invited to "Come and see," so too we, as Christ's disciples, left our Roman home to see this place where the Son of God was born, where He lived, worked, and taught, and, ultimately, where He died and rose again for our salvation. I, for one, had many ideas in my mind of what to expect upon arriving in these Biblical sites, but nothing could have sufficiently prepared me for the beauty of that holy place. As one studying for the priesthood, it is my great hope that I might be able to share my experience of this beauty with all of you, and with whomever else the Lord might place in my life!
"And passing along by the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net in the sea; for they were fishermen." - Mark 1:16
Our pilgrimage began on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, or, as it is sometimes referred to in the Scriptures, the Lake of Gennesaret or Tiberias. We arrived in Israel in the evening, when it was already dark, so we were not able to see any of the surrounding terrain when we arrived at our hotel. But already the crashing of the waves could be heard nearby! That first morning, we awoke to the beautiful sight of a gray, misty lake, surrounded by hilly bluffs and rocky shores. As a Minnesotan, I can say that any lake, insofar as it is a lake, is a welcome and heart-warming sight. The peaceful rhythm of the tide, the intermittent jumping of fish in the misty morning, the scattered buoys anchoring in seemingly random places...it was all so similar to many-a-lake I have seen and enjoyed throughout my life. And yet, this lake is sacred. It is, in its own right, a relic, a testament to the life of several men who once walked its shores and fished its waters. One of these men, of course, was the Son of God, who chose to spend many days of His public ministry around this particular body of water, teaching in their synagogues, healing their sick, and "preaching the Gospel of God" (Mark 1:14). But then, there were the ordinary men who made this lake sacred as well. They did not choose to be born in the surrounding towns of Bethsaida and Capernaum, but they were born there, nevertheless, and would go on to serve the Lord in extraordinary ways. They were simple men, men of little education and negligible influence, men who had hardly any reason to expect that their lives would take them away from their insignificant, isolated little corner of the world. But it was a simple encounter with a man named Jesus which changed everything...
"And Jesus said to them, 'Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.' And immediately they left their nets and followed him." - Mark 1:17
For Peter and Andrew, those simple Galilean fishermen, this encounter with the itinerant preacher from Nazareth was mysterious. Doubtless it would have left them full of questions and uncertainties. And yet, in a single profound movement of God's grace, Jesus' words beckoned to their hearts. Scripture does not give the reason why they dropped their nets - and essentially their entire livelihood - to follow this man. But their lives, and indeed the entire world, would truly never be the same! From that moment on, they were disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, walking with Him through the surrounding villages, learning from Him, speaking with Him, oftentimes struggling in their understanding of Him, but all the while growing in their love for Him. When he left his net that day and followed after Jesus, could Peter ever have expected to one day find himself in the center of the world - Rome - presiding over the local Church and ultimately dying at the hands of the Romans on account of His love for Jesus? The adventure which lay in store for these men was something which they never could have comprehended...And yet, their Lord remained ever true to His promises. By His grace, these Galilean fishermen would one day be crowned the princes of God's holy Church!
It was on the shores of these sacred waters that we now found ourselves. What a perfect place to contemplate the mystery and the awesomeness of God's action in our lives! What better place could we choose to meditate upon God's faithfulness to His people, and indeed to every single one of His friends? For it was near these same waters where Christ first called his disciples that He also appeared to them after the Resurrection, having undergone His passion and death with hardly any of His friends beside Him to conform Him. But, just as He came to these fishermen at the beginning of His ministry to call them to Himself, so would Jesus later call them to Himself in a moment of reconciliation and forgiveness.
"Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the beach; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. Jesus said to them, 'Children, have you any fish?'..." - John 21:4
"...He said to him the third time, 'Simon, son of John, do you love me?' Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, 'Do you love me?' And Peter said to him, 'Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.' Jesus said to him, 'Feed my sheep.'" - John 21:17
This part of the beach where Christ cooked breakfast for His disciples and allowed Peter to confess his love for Him was a mere 10-minute walk from our hotel! It was a tremendous blessing to be able to spend several hours on that sacred shore, sitting on one of the large rocks - to listen to the tide roll in and to pray about that day when Peter was able fall at Our Lord's knees and undo the denial which he had committed just days before. How many times has Jesus offered me these moments of reconciliation too, in the wake of my own fear and failure? Sitting upon those rocks, the Lord's mercy and faithfulness were quite literally before my eyes.
* * *
* * *
But it was not only on the shores of that sacred lake that Christ revealed Himself to the world. The whole surrounding region of Galilee was bathed in the peace of Our Lord's presence, whether it was the synagogue where he taught (Mark 1:21), or the house where he cured the sick and the possessed (Mark 1:32), or the tax office where he called a man named Matthew to follow him (Matthew 9:9).
A 4th century synagogue built in Capernaum stands on the site of the synagogue in which Jesus Himself would have taught and ministered!
The ancient town of Capernaum, and the modern church built over the site of St. Peter's house.
In all of these places, we stopped to read the Scriptures which described the particular scene. It was amazing to see entire chapters of the Gospels suddenly fitting into place and coming alive as we realized that we were standing in the very places where Our Lord had preached the Kingdom of God. Surely, a little more imagination was needed at some places than others, since much of what was once this Biblical world is now either turned into ruins or built up into an ordinary, modern town. But even to see these sites and to know beyond doubt that they do exist was enough to bring the Gospels to life. We were left to imagine what it might have been like to sit in the synagogue of Capernaum on that most ordinary day when Our Lord first made His appearance, or to see the four men carrying the paralytic to Him on a stretcher, or to see Him heal the demoniac who could not be restrained by even the strongest of shackles. In all of these beautiful places, we were able to open the Scriptures and enter into those profound scenes in which Christ proceeded to reveal Himself to the simple men and women of Galilee.
"Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'" - Matthew 5:1-3
Another site of great peace and spiritual renewal which Galilee offered us was the proximity of the Mount of the Beatitudes. It was not far from the shores of the lake, nor from the towns and villages where Jesus had been preaching, so it made sense that He would have retreated there with His disciples and brought with him all the people eager to listen to His teaching. While on the mountain, we seminarians read through those 3 chapters of Matthew's account of the Sermon on the Mount, the sermon which stands alone as the greatest sermon every preached, and which has always been regarded by Christ's followers as the institution of Our Lord's law of love, prefigured by the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Sitting in the grass as the sun descended toward the horizon, Jesus' words hit me in the way that they have always challenged me and called me to examine my own life as a Christian. And yet, there was something about being in that sacred place which urged me to listen to those words even more attentively...How do I respond to Jesus' words? Am I living the Beatitudes by giving myself over to Him in poverty of spirit, meekness, and purity of heart? Do I harbor thoughts of anger towards my brother or of hatred toward my enemies? Do I pray in such a way that I may be seen my men? Am I anxious about the unimportant things of life, without surrendering all these cares into the hands of my heavenly Father? All these thoughts, and more, came to mind as I prayed through the perfect sermon. How much our world is still in need of hearing the Sermon on the Mount!
At this point, dear friends, I will end this first Holy Land post. I hope to write another update or two in the coming weeks about our subsequent days in Jerusalem, where we, like Our Lord and His disciples, traveled from the peace and tranquility of Galilee to the bustling noise and chaos of David's city. There too, the graces were abundant! I am grateful for all your prayers, and want you to know that you have all been in mine over the course of these blessed days.
Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
-Colin
"Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them, saying: 'Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.'" - Matthew 5:1-3
Another site of great peace and spiritual renewal which Galilee offered us was the proximity of the Mount of the Beatitudes. It was not far from the shores of the lake, nor from the towns and villages where Jesus had been preaching, so it made sense that He would have retreated there with His disciples and brought with him all the people eager to listen to His teaching. While on the mountain, we seminarians read through those 3 chapters of Matthew's account of the Sermon on the Mount, the sermon which stands alone as the greatest sermon every preached, and which has always been regarded by Christ's followers as the institution of Our Lord's law of love, prefigured by the giving of the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. Sitting in the grass as the sun descended toward the horizon, Jesus' words hit me in the way that they have always challenged me and called me to examine my own life as a Christian. And yet, there was something about being in that sacred place which urged me to listen to those words even more attentively...How do I respond to Jesus' words? Am I living the Beatitudes by giving myself over to Him in poverty of spirit, meekness, and purity of heart? Do I harbor thoughts of anger towards my brother or of hatred toward my enemies? Do I pray in such a way that I may be seen my men? Am I anxious about the unimportant things of life, without surrendering all these cares into the hands of my heavenly Father? All these thoughts, and more, came to mind as I prayed through the perfect sermon. How much our world is still in need of hearing the Sermon on the Mount!
At this point, dear friends, I will end this first Holy Land post. I hope to write another update or two in the coming weeks about our subsequent days in Jerusalem, where we, like Our Lord and His disciples, traveled from the peace and tranquility of Galilee to the bustling noise and chaos of David's city. There too, the graces were abundant! I am grateful for all your prayers, and want you to know that you have all been in mine over the course of these blessed days.
Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!
-Colin
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