Essay Season

Yes. The season is upon us. Essay season. I'm making progress at least. My room looks like a library though, with at least a hundred books (not exagerating sadly) stacked up all over my floor. I lack shelf space. I was noticing though how there are several books on my floor that I really should take the time to read cover to cover. Unfortunately essay season doesn't accomodate for this.

Books on my floor that I wish I was reading right now instead of having to actually write the essays . . .

Called to Communion by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
The Spirit of the Liturgy by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
God is Near Us by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Introduction to Christianity by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger
Crossing the Threshold of Love by Mary Shivanandan
The Cleaving of Christendom (Volume 4) by William E. Carroll
True Devotion to Mary by St. Louis de Montfort
Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma by Dr. Ludwig Ott

I've got all the Ratzinger stuff out right now because I was working on a paper for Philosophy on Pope Benedict XVI's newest encyclical and I needed secondary sources. Crossing the Threshold of Love is a book I bought over a year ago when I was studying the Theology of the Body but I haven't had the time to read it cover to cover yet. I stole, ummm... I mean, acquired, my dad's four volume set of The Cleaving of Christendom and am using the fourth volume right now for my essay on Jansenism for Christian History. The True Devotion to Mary is one of those personal spiritual reading books that I just haven't gotten around to yet. Finally, the Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma is just an all-round must have reference book and a good read for any Catholic student.

Now that's what I want to read off my bedroom floor. Unfortunately, I've got other stuff that I have to get through first. Such are the woes of a university student.

I handed in my Philosophy essay today. I'll hand in Ecumenical Dialogue tomorrow. I ended up writing on the 1982 Munich statement between Orthodox and Roman Catholics on "The Mystery of the Church and of the Eucharist in the Light of the Mystery of the Holy Trinity." Very interesting document. Orthodox-Roman Catholic dialogue is certainly a complex topic. Many dimensions. So much hope yet so many deep wounds as well.

After that I have to write a paper on Atala by Chateaubriand for French 18th-19th c. Literature. I also have a paper to write on polygamy in Africa for French World Literature. Still need to finish my Jansenism essay too.

On that note, I better get to work.

Thanks be to God that there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Let us pray, my friends!

Keep praying, keep praying. And if you haven't already discerned your vocation, may God grant you the courage to do so.

Benedict XVI Urges Prayers for Vocations
On Occasion of a World Day

VATICAN CITY, MARCH 30, 2006 (Zenit.org).- Benedict XVI is appealing to all Catholics to intensify their prayer for vocations for a Church in need of more priests and consecrated persons.

"The priest's mission in the Church is irreplaceable," the Pope wrote in a message for the upcoming World Day of Prayer for Vocations.

"Therefore, despite the fact that in some regions there is a decrease of the clergy, the certainty must never be lost that Christ will continue to inspire men who, as the Apostles, putting all concerns aside, dedicate themselves totally to the celebration of the sacred mysteries, the preaching of the Gospel and pastoral ministry," the Holy Father wrote.

The 43th World Day of Prayer for Vocations will be observed May 7. The Vatican press office published the Pope's message today.

Reflecting on the World Day's theme, "Vocation in the Mystery of the Church," Benedict XVI also analyzed the call to the consecrated life, namely, the vocation of men and women who consecrate themselves to "the total and exclusive following of Christ."

After recalling Jesus' recommendation: "The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few. Pray therefore to the Lord of the harvest to send laborers to his harvest," the Pope added: "We experience intensely the need to pray for vocations to the priesthood and the consecrated life."

"It is no surprise that wherever there is prayer, vocations flower," he said, as "the holiness of the Church depends essentially on union with Christ and openness to the mystery of grace that acts in the hearts of believers."

Look who's coming to town!

I found this picture on Open Book today. It's a photo of Sister Mary Elizabeth, left, and Sister Immaculate, with the Sisters of Life in the Bronx, NYC, that was published in the New York Times.

The picture reminded me to remind you, or at least those of you that live in the area, of the upcoming Eucharistic Event being held this weekend. Three of the Sisters of Life (and a postulant) will be coming to give the key note addresses at the various events being held around the Archdiocese. These Eucharistic Adoration Events are being held to foster prayer for an increase to religious and priestly vocations as well as to pray for the sanctity and protection of family life. If you're in the area, please come.

The four day event, starting on Thursday will feature Eucharistic Adoration at various venues for different groups and the general public throughout the diocese. A monstrance, blessed by Pope John Paul II in the year of the Eucharist will be used. Check out all the details at www.vocationsvancouver.com there you will find a schedule of the various events.

The virtue of charity

Here is a Lenten reflection that I thought I'd share with you from a sermon by Pope Saint Leo the Great:

In the gospel of John the Lord says: "In this will all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love for each other." In a letter of the same apostle we read: "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God; he who does not love does not know God, for God is love."

The faithful should therefore enter into themselves and make a trues judgment on their attitudes of mind and heart. If they find some store of love's fruit in their hearts, they must not doubt God's presence within them. If they would increase their capacity to receive so great a guest, they should practice greater generosity in doing good, with persevering charity.

If God is love, charity should know no limit, for God cannot be confined.

Any time is the right time for works of charity, but these days of Lent provide a special encouragement. Those who want to be present at the Lord's Passover in holiness of mind and body should seek above all to win this grace, for charity contains all other virtues and covers a multitude of sins.

Honest Sex

Here's another throughtful post by Fr. Stephanos.

Honesty in giving one's all— that is what opens sexual intercourse to the horizonless, infinitely honest Self-Gift— Agàpe— that is God.

And further more. . .

On being a godmother

I've recently discovered a new wonderful blog, The "Refusal to Grasp", by a soon to be graduate of the John Paul II Institute of Marriage and Family in Washington, DC. You'll find some great reflections on the Theology of the Body there.

Amy , who runs the blog, recently was commenting on the role of being a godmother since she was just asked to godmother a friend's newborn. Having just become a godmother this past weekend, I share her wonder at the awesome responsibility that being a godparent is.

What she had to say really struck a cord with me:

Superwoman asked me to be the godmother of her beautiful girl. It very nearly brought me to tears right there in the kitchen as I brewed my tea. This isn't the first time that I've been asked to be a godmother but I think it's the first time that I get it, even if I don't get it at all.

Can we be more than mothers and fathers? Dr. S used to ask this question in class often.

"Spiritual parenthood, as a sign of the inner maturity of the person, is the goal which in diverse ways all human beings, men and women alike, are called to seek within or outside matrimony. This call fits into the gospel summons to perfection of which the father is the supreme model. So then, human beings will come particularly close to God when this spiritual parenthood, of which God is the prototype, takes shape in them." Karol Wojtyla Love and Responsibility

The Eucharist as Covenant

Last night I discovered the new blog of Fr. Stephanos, O.S.B. a Benedictine (am I being redundant?) monk in California.

His first post was short and sweet and to the point. We need to remember the Eucharist is a Covenant. Very important. Very relevant. Please read the post.

Fr. Stephanos is also blogging his homilies at One Monk of the Order of Saint Benedict.

Summer Reading

Guess what I just ordered myself? :-)

They're marked down to $19.95 CDN for a hardcopy until Friday, so get it cheap while you still can.

Remember to Pray for Them

Today, as I was travelling back from visiting my family for the weekend, I went to noon-day Mass at a parish that I don't normally attend.

At the end of Mass the priest said he had something he had to say. It was obvious that he was struggling to speak and choking up a bit as he took of his glasses to wipe his tears. He told us that he needs our prayers. He said he's been a priest for fourteen years, but he's "just a simple man who needs your prayers." "Please pray for me, I need your prayers," he said. It was a very sincere and earnest request for prayers.

Now, I don't know this priest at all, I don't even know his name, but I will certainly be praying for him, and I ask that you do the same. Please remember to pray for your own parish priest and the many priests who have brought Christ and the Gospel into your life in various ways.

I don't know exactly what this priest who requested our prayers today is struggling with, and it doesn't matter. All that matters is that he needs our prayers. I think it was a good reminder to me that all priests need our prayers.

I'm a mother! Godmother that is...

Church of Christ, rejoice!

Meet one of your newest members, Lucia Therese...

March Madness

Why do things always get so crazy around mid-March? It's the go crazy time of year I guess.

I'm feeling really overloaded right now. Probably because I am. I'm not doing too well on the whole eight hours of sleep a night thing. My emotional / academic / social / psychological / physical / interpersonal / spiritual life is suffering. Not in that order. I'm an integrated being - everything is under pressure. My life in general is maxed out right now. This probably has something to do with eighteen semester hours (six full courses) and way too many extracurricular activities. I'm a horrible "can't say no" kind of person. That means I'm way too busy right now.

Only a few more weeks. Exactly one month from Saturday I will be done the semester. Unfortunately I'm taking three courses in the spring starting the Monday after final exams. Oh well. It'll be a little more sane then.

A day in my life? Got up at 5:00am to work on paper. Fell asleep again. Reading at 5:00am in bed? Of course I fell asleep. Got up at 6:00am and actually worked a bit. Shower. Breakfast on the run. Went to school early to go visit Jesus in the chapel before 8:00am class. Class. Class. Home for a couple hours to work on paper. Class. Reading Aquinas on Human Nature. Class. Straight to teaching Catechism. Straight from Catechism to a meeting. Home around 9:45pm. Working on paper again.

I have to get up at 5:30am tomorrow so I can drive out to the airport and fly to my hometown for the weekend for a baptism. I still have to finish my eros/agape paper which is getting way out of hand. . . not in a bad way, just that now that I'm into it I have so much I want to say but I can't say it all and I'm not sure that I'm even making sense. I still have to pack. I should probably clean my bathroom. I need to do laundry but I think I'll just have to make do with what's clean already and do laundry when I get back on Monday. I should fit some sleep in there somewhere.

Anyways, that's where I'm at right now. Still alive but going a little insane. As long as I make it through to the end of the semester.

Does anyone else out there though ever stop and wonder what this madness of life matters in the eternal scheme of things? Being a student is such a weird stage in life, especially when you don't exactly see how it fits into God's plan. I'm spending hours and hours and hours writing papers and reading when will any of it matter when I die? I doubt it. Ok, maybe my paper on God's eros/agape and the Eucharist might be relevant, but my French foreign literature paper sure won't be.

On that note, back to my paper. Sorry, I needed to rant a little.

Deus Caritas Est and St. Thomas Aquinas

I'm working on a paper right now for Philosophy of the Human Person, drawing from Deus Caritas Est and St. Thomas Aquinas as primary sources. My thesis is essentially that it is in uniting himself to God's love in the Eucharist that man's eros becomes his agape and these dimensions of love are fully integrated in the human person.

I got a little side-tracked on the research end of things though and ended up coming across some really profound material. My paper may not be done because I got off track and ended up reading Mysterium Fidei instead of writing, but I think God doesn't mind. It's just a good thing the paper isn't due tomorrow.

So here are some words worth contemplating.

“. . .the gaze of the Church is constantly turned to her Lord, present in the Sacrament of the Altar, in which she discovers the full manifestation of his boundless love.”
Ecclesia de Eucharistia

“For if the sacred liturgy holds the first place in the life of the Church, the Eucharistic Mystery stands at the heart and center of the liturgy, since it is the font of life by which we are cleansed and strengthened to lie not for ourselves but for God, and to be united in love among ourselves.”
Mysterium Fidei

“Anyone who approaches this august Sacrament with special devotion and endeavors to return generous love for Christ's own infinite love, will experience and fully understand -- not without spiritual joy and fruit -- how precious is the life hidden with Christ in God[69] and how great is the value of converse with Christ, for there is nothing more consoling on earth, nothing more efficacious for advancing along the road of holiness.”
Mysterium Fidei

“From this it follows that the worship paid to the Divine Eucharist strongly impels the soul to cultivate a "social" love,[71] by which the common good is given preference over the good of the individual. Let us consider as our own the interests of the community, of the parish, of the entire Church, extending our charity to the whole world, because we know that everywhere there are members of Christ.”
Mysterium Fidei

Adoration

“Adoration means entering the depths of our hearts in communion with the Lord, who makes himself bodily present in the Eucharist.”
- Pope Benedict XVI speaking to members of the Roman Clergy.

Prayer for Troops

I'm not a big forwards person but I was surprised and encouraged when I received the following e-mail from a highschool friend of mine who's in the Canadian Military and who wasn't Christian when I was in school with him (at least not explicitly. . . maybe I just didn't know. . .):

I know that I'm sending this to a lot of people, who don't have a lot of faith, but myself, having a lot, and I mean a lot of friends/co-workers serving overseas right now, this email meant a lot to me.

Prayer Request

With what has happened to our Canadian troops recently, and to those of other nations,....we should have no problem doing this.

I'm keeping it going by sending it to you, now it is up to you to keep it going by sending it on to your friends and they to their friends, as it is deemed appropriate!!!

Our troops need our prayers for strength, endurance and
safety.

"Lord, hold our troops in Your loving hands.
Protect them as they protect us and others.
Bless them for the selfless acts they perform
for us and others in times of great need.
Bless their families as they worry about
and support their loved ones."

AMEN

When you receive this, please stop for a moment and say a
prayer for our troops around the world.
There's nothing attached; just send this as you feel led.
Of all the gifts you could give a Soldier, Sailor or Airman, deployed in harm's way, prayer support is one of the very best!!!

BC Ferry Sinks

This makes me glad I'm flying home and not taking the ferry this weekend to go up for the Baptism of my soon-to-be-Goddaughter.

And off they go . . .

I recently found out that I have one friend entering here and one friend entering here this summer.

Please keep them in your prayers. It's very exciting but also challenging times for them right now!

To Build Your Life on Christ

From the Papal Message for Youth Day 2006
"Your Word Is a Lamp to My Feet and a Light to My Path"

To build your life on Christ, to accept the word with joy and put its teachings into practice: This, young people of the third millennium, should be your program! There is an urgent need for the emergence of a new generation of apostles anchored firmly in the word of Christ, capable of responding to the challenges of our times and prepared to spread the Gospel far and wide.

It is this that the Lord asks of you, it is to this that the Church invites you, and it is this that the world -- even though it may not be aware of it -- expects of you! If Jesus calls you, do not be afraid to respond to him with generosity, especially when he asks you to follow him in the consecrated life or in the priesthood. Do not be afraid; trust in him and you will not be disappointed.

I Love my Benedictine Friends!

A couple of weeks ago I went up to visit the library at the nearby Benedictine Abbey to do some research for my Philosophy and Theology papers. The librarian is a dear little ol' monk well into his eighties. He's just so cute in the way only lil' ol' monks can be. He spent forty-five minutes helping me find three books and gave me his full attention. He was one of those people that you meet who right away seem to radiate holiness and the love of Christ.

After returning home with the books (which I technically shouldn't have been allowed to take but he said "for you dear, we'll make an exception") I wrote him a short note thanking him for his time and assistance. Much to my surprise, today in the mail I got a thank-you note for my thank-you note from him!

Included in the envelope were several untitled poems typed out on a typewriter. I think they may have been poems that he wrote himself since each slip of paper with a poem on it has a date at the top of the page and the dates are all different dates from within the past few months. I'm not certain though. Regardless, it was interesting to see what poetry my dear Benedictine friend had selected to share with me.

Here are some of the stanzas that really struck me:

"Keep us one, every moment,
as we live and come to you.
Give us a good night in hope,
and seal our hearts,
and render us more faithful still,
until we reach you, see you,
Holy Family, Sancta Trinitas!"

and from a different poem:

"So one is never alone, or if so,
only for others, in You, Lord -
loving in faith, living in love,
loved, then loving those with less,
seemingly lost, poor, hoping against hope,
such being the human lot,
all my brothers and sisters, everywhere.

O yes, an hour of confessions too,
mostly unseen, all humble to come,
for you never cease to knock, Lord,
like the Bridegroom at the lover's door,
in Song of Songs. . . .
Or the Bride herself, we,
when we come knocking, Lord.
Come, Lord Jesus."

Solemnity of St. Joseph

Saint Joseph, patron of the universal Church, watch over the Church as carefully as you watched over Jesus, help protect it and guide it as you did with your adopted son.

Saint Joseph, patron of Canada, guide and protect the Church in this Land and intercede on behalf of all its people. In these times of moral confusion we pray especially that you would intercede on behalf of Canadian families for the protection of family life and the sanctity of mariage.

Saint Joseph, patron of pregnant women, watch over and guide all pregnant women and protect their unborn children. We pray especially for your intercession for those who are contemplating abortion.

Saint Joseph, patron of the Archdiocese of Cologne, intercede on behalf of all people in that area that the fruits of World Youth Day last year may be plentiful.

Saint Joseph, patron of fathers, watch over our fathers wherever they may be and through your example draw them closer to Christ.

Saint Joseph, patron of families, guide and protect our families. Through imitation of your Holy Family, may our own families come to reflect the love of God and be obedient to His will.

Saint Joseph, patron of travellers, be the protection of all those who are travelling this day.

Saint Joseph, patron of workers, may all those who are emoployed carry out their work with joy and dedication in imitation of you. Intercede on behalf of those who are without work and struggling to provide for themselves and their families.

Saint Joseph, patron of the dying, guide all those who are facing death into eternal life.

Amen.

Ancestrial Amnesia

I completely missed out on St. Patrick's Day yesterday. . . what kind of Irish does that make me? A horrible one I'm sure. I stayed home reading Aquinas on Human Nature rather than going to the Irish pub. A tragedy perhaps, although, Aquinas was good company.

I'm exactly one quarter Irish so I do have some of the Irish blood running through me, not to mention that it is from this Irish line of descent that I get my solid Irish last name. I'm a conflicted Irish though. . . a faithful practicing Catholic with orange roots. Talk about identity crisis. My Irish ancestry is Protestant from Northern Ireland and so I don't know how to reconcile that to my strong Catholic faith, but nonetheless, I suppose I should have celebrated St. Patrick's Day in some way yesterday. I did go home on and put on a green sweater after realizing at morning Mass that it was St. Patty's Day. That's got to count for something.

Happy belated St. Patrick's Day!

Spirit of the Liturgy Talk

I went to a really good talk the other night on the Spirit of the Liturgy. It was the last in a series of talks on the liturgy sponsored by the Serra Club in our archdiocese but it was the only one I could get to since the previous talks have conflicted with my catechism class (no class this week since the kids were on spring break).

Point form, this is some of what I learned and some of what I was reminded of (some random trivia, some not so random):

- Mass prayed to the East because Christ returning from the East
- Gospel used to be read facing North because its traditionally believed that Satan's Kingdom is North. . . hmmm. . . interesting.
- Words of the Gloria are not to be changed. Huh. I've heard plenty of 'alternative' glorias in my young life.
- Hermeneutics of Vatican II ---> hermeneutic of continuity = good; hermeneutic of discontinuity = bad and so called, infamous, "Spirit of Vatican II"
- "Spirit of Vatican II" ---> the actual words of the documents don't mean anything.
- Real Spirit of Vatican II ---> the actual words of the documents are there for a reason and are authoritative. True Spirit of Vatican II in the letter and words of the Council.
- Hegel's Theory of Truth = insane, crazy, madness.... it doesn't work! (try fitting any absolute truth into the thesis, anti-thesis, and synthesis model and you'll see it's impossible).
- What are "Canadian" values? Duh Canadian values.
- Whenever applause breaks out in the liturgy because of the accomplishment of a human person the essence of liturgy is lost. (cf. Spirit of the Liturgy by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger a.k.a. Pope Benedict XVI)
- The meal is not what's made present in the Mass. The Mass was established within the framework of the meal but it's the sacrifice and not the meal that we were commanded to offer. The Mass is not a meal, it's a sacrifice.

Another post of just random thoughts. For my fellow blogger and real flesh and blood friend who wanted to go but couldn't, if you want I'll photocopy my actual notes (which amazingly enough are a little more structured and organized than this post) for you.

Prayer for Bishops

I don't have much time to post tonight.

I just have prayer requests for two bishops.

First of all, Archbishop Roussin, who has been on leave since August struggling with depression (he wrote a pastoral letter explaining why he was taking leave back in August). He just returned this week and is slowly easing back into his work and duties as bishop. Please keep him in your prayers for continued healing, courage, strength, and an abundance of God's grace in his life.

Secondly, Bishop-elect (I think that's the right term) Gary Gordon, a priest who has been in our Archdiocese for many many years, who was just recently been appointed Bishop of Whitehorse and who's episcopal ordination will be on Wednesday. Please keep him in your prayers as he begins his ministry as bishop and adapts to a radically new life in the service of Christ and His Church. Also, please pray for the assistant pastor at the parish he previously was at who has all of a sudden found himself alone serving a rather large parish.

Thanks for your prayers for the universal Church! :-)

Spirit Day Pictures

A couple weeks ago I was involved with Spirit Day, a sort of youth day with skits, worship, talks, and of course, Mass, for the grade sevens in our Archdiocese preparing for confirmation. The theme was "Great Power, Great Responsibility" and we had over a thousand kids register.

Anyways, unfortunately the team picture of the "Spirit Team" (the leaders who worked with the Youth Ministry Office to organize and carry out the event) made the front cover of this weeks edition of the B.C. Catholic. That means I've made it into the paper four times in the past seven months. This time, wearing a cape and pointing off into the distance. . .

I've got to admit though, the above picture is not half as embarassing as the one of the Youth Ministry Office director, dressed as "Spirit Day Man!"

Craziness of Life

Last night I received a message on my voice-mail from my childhood-best-friend's-sister. It's the kind of message where you're wondering what on earth this person could have been calling about since you haven't talked to them in forever. Well, I finally got a hold of her this afternoon, and it turns out that she was calling to ask if I'd be willing to be her newborn baby's Godmother! It was a completely unexpected question, but I feel very honoured. It looks like I'm going to be making an unforseen weekend trip home for the baptism.

As you can tell by my limited blogging, I've been incredibly busy and am incredibly busy and will be up until the first week of May! There's something going on every single weekend, not to mention six upper level courses to work on and final exams speeding my way. I filled out my graduation application (to make sure I've taken all the right courses and such) this past weekend for graduation in April 2007. That was encouraging. It made it seem as if there was some sort of dim light at the end of the tunnel! Now, if only I knew for certain what I'm supposed to do with the rest of my life after April 2007.

I went to Mass this morning in French. I really enjoyed it and it helped me to really focus on every aspect of the Mass since it was different from what I'm used to. It looks like next week I might be going to Mass in Latin. It'll be my reward for pushing through and get a couple more essays done this coming week.

I really don't know how I'm going to do it. I've been pulling long days and still it seems like I'm not making any progress. Maybe it's because I have too much on my plate. Today I spent most of the day coaching at a swim meet for Special Olympics. It was good fun, but now I have a tonne of homework left to do and I'm already exhausted.

So, for those of you who are curious, I'm still alive. Barely. I'm hanging on here. If I can just make it to May I'll be alright.

I'm looking forward to the Fall Semester though. I just did my course selection and it's going to be an amazing semester:

- Theological Vision of Pope John Paul II
- Christian Apologetics
- Contemporary Christianity
- Catholic Spirituality in the Modern World
- Metaphysics of St. Thomas Aquinas
- Latin

Yay! Ok, let's not get too excited though. Those courses will also have essays and a lot of reading. Come next November, I'm sure I'll be complaining all over again about how much I have on my plate. Hopefully there's an end in sight though.

I'm looking forward to getting back to more leisurely blogging after this semester is over.

So I'm trying to get into academic mode and get myself organized. There's way too much going on. Ahhhh... I don't know if the reading break really helped or made things worse.

This week I'm trying to get three major essays done, or at least rough drafts, on the following topics:
1. Jansenism in 18th c. France for Christian History
2. The extent of the consensus, where the differences remain, etc... in relation to the Lutheran-Catholic Joint Declaration on the Doctrine of Justification for Christian Theology in Ecumenical Dialogue
3. Comparing St. Thomas Aquinas and Pope Benedict on "charity" for Philosophy of the Human Person

Ok. So I'm being a little overly ambitious but I really really really need to get going on these things because the end of is going to get busy.

March 30th - April 2nd we've got a travelling monstrance blessed by Pope John Paul II in the Year of the Eucharist coming to our Archdiocese for a Eucharistic Event. Various Adoration events will take place throughout the diocese where we will be praying for family life and vocations to the priesthood and religious life. I'm involved in the planning of the event for university students. We're going to do an outside Eucharistic Procession at the University of British Columbia! YAY! A couple of the Sisters of Life from New York are coming as guest speakers. That's also exciting.

Also on the schedule for the end of the month are various other events, not to mention Easter is going to come before we know it.

Holy Week / Easter is going to be very busy because I'm sponsoring a friend who is entering the Church at the Easter Vigil. There will be a bunch of friends coming from out of town to be there for the occasion as well. Unfortunately, final exams start Easter Monday. Easter Monday! I don't get it. The secular universities all have Easter Monday off, but the only Christian university schedules final exams. It makes no sense. Anyways, when am I going to study? Holy Week takes priority over my finals. I'll just have to study the week before and hope for the best. I won't stress about that now though. First things first, I need to get through my essays. I've still got over a month to go.

Ok, all that being said, I'm going to return to my "blogging light" status. There is plenty I want to post on. I keep on coming across some fascinating stuff, but my blog just can't be a priority right now. I'm not strictly speaking "fasting" from blogging, so I may or may not pop in on occasion in the next little while, but I'm just making a prudential call to draw back and focus on other things for the time being.

Update

Survived midterms. Felt more like finals. Made it through.

Survived "Spirit Day" with over one thousand grade seven confirmation candidates. Vocations talk I had to give went well. The entire day required a lot of energy. Theme? "Great Power. Great Responsibility." Challenged me to recognize that we have a responsibility to do something with the graces we receive. Not that I didn't already know that. Reminders are helpful though.

Thought my wallet was stolen. Found it a few days later. Lesson in humility.

Reading break. Went on road trip to friend's summer home with a bunch of friends from university. Spilt water on my laptop. Laptop not working so well now. :-(

Finished thirty page take home midterm for Philosophy of the Human Person yesterday. Thirty pages! That's just ridiculous.

Going to the Rite of Election this afternoon with friend I'm sponsoring who's entering the Church at Easter.

Baby I know is getting baptized at Mass tonight.

Back to classes tomorrow. Six essays to write in the next three weeks. Lord have mercy!