July 31, 2005 (Sunday)
I usually attend all the Masses at my home parish, but I was dead tired and did attend Mass last night. I did not roll out of bed this morning until 11:30am which ment I completly missed the 8am Mass and missed half of the 11am Mass. It was good getting a catch up on sleep. The only bad thing is I will not be able to attend any Masses at my home parish next week because I will be gone on a Denery Ropes Course Trip and the week following that I will be leaving for Germany.
July 30, 2005 (Saturday)
Got up at 10am and then headed to the church to put away all the tens that where put up for VBS. We got everything put up around 1pm and then we had to work on the room that we where going to have all the food for the food party in. After getting everything done it was off to Mass where all the children sang some of the songs that they learned at VBS. I served today with Victoria and Sarah. This was only their second time and they did a great job. After Mass we walked over to the Park and Rec where the pool party was. I am thankfull that Victoria & Sarah came because if they didnt come there would have been no one in my age group.
July 29, 2005 (Friday)
Today was the final day of VBS. Its been great spending the week with the children of the parish, but I am tired and ready for some rest. We where able to do everything outside again and today was not a hot day because of all the clouds. I spend most of my day calling Gabe trying to talk him into playing Jesus, but that was unsussefull. Instead we where able to take Brian into playing Jesus which was very funny to his family. The wig that he wore kind of made him look like Braveheart. Tommorrow we will take down VBS and have closing Mass with the kids along with the swimming party that will follow.
July 28, 2005 (Thursday)
Most of the work for VBS was done, so I go take a nap for three hours before VBS started. It was another rainy day, so everything was done inside the parish hall. We had some 3 goats with us today and they got to join us in the parish hall. I guess its a good thing that Father left for Florida today because if he was here he would have disliked the goats being inside.
July 27, 2005 (Wednesday)
My day was filled with a lot of great food. First I ate at a restaurant called Phat's with the High School Work Crew and I had a wonderfull SouthWestern Sallad and a lot of their wonderfull bread. Then I ate Supper at VBS and the Hispanics brought food in by the tons. The weather for today looked like it would rain during VBS. This being a bad thing because the whole event is outside, but we moved everything into our parish hall and the event went well.
July 26, 2005 (Tuesday)
Day two of VBS was even hotter than yesterday. With the whole bible school being outside the kids where always drinking water. I was sweating huge drops due to the heat. Today I brought out the Torah and taught the children about it and I also taught them about the passover meal. Todays skit was done my uncle Rick, he played a Roman Guard, and he did his job of making the kids dislike him. Seeing how he is one of the most hated indy wresters in this area.
July 25, 2005 (Monday)
Spent the whole day working in the 100 degree weather getting everything ready for VBS which will start today. I will be the Rabi and will have the Synagogue. Today I taught the kids that only guys got to go to school in those day and I go to teach them about the hat that Jewish people wear. I think everything went well, and I was happy to see that Katie showed up to help. She truely has the Holy Spirit running threw her in all that she does. That night after VBS I went to Food City with my mom to buy some food for the house, and my mom got jumped by the manager cause her driver liscense number has 666 in it. He told her that its the mark of the beast and he found it hard to write the number down because of it.
July 24, 2005 (Sunday)
It was a long day today which started with attending the 8am Mass. We where a lector and Extra-Ordinary Minister of the Eucharist short, so I had to fill in those spots. I went back to Mass for 11am and finally got to see Katie again. This was the first time I have seen her since leaving for CSC, I hope we find some time to talk about all that has been going on in our lifes before I have to leave for school again. After Mass it was working on getting VBS ready until 8:30pm. There is still a lot of work to do tommorrow, but after that things should get easy.
July 23, 2005 (Saturday)
Slept pretty late today and started my day off going with my mom to drop my sister off at a birthday party. The two of us then spent the rest of the day working on Vacation Bible School which will take place next week. Attended Mass today, but I was not on the schedule to do anything. After Mass went to eat some fish, and I plan to spend the rest of the night reading Harry Potter.
July 22, 2005 (Friday)
St. Mary Magdalene was celebrated today, and it was my first Daily Mass back at my home parish since leaving for YLI. A total of 17 people where in attendance which is pretty good for a small parish. After Mass I returned to home where I finally got to catch up on all the sleep that I lost over the past week. When I got up it was about time to leave to see our town's minor league baseball team play. The church had a group of about 50 attend the game and the Greeneville Astros beat the Bristol White Sox 9-4. Since it was a Friday the Astros had there firework show after the game was over.
July 21, 2005 (Thursday)
In a way I am happy that YLI is over. I can finally get some rest and finish reading Harry Potter. On the other hand I am sad that YLI is over. All these wonderfull leader that I have meet this week I will have to part with. Every person who attended YLI where filled with the Holy Spirit. Hopefully I will run into all of them again someday, and I hope that I will be able to return to YLI next year to be with these great group again.
July 20, 2005 (Wednesday)
Today is the third and final full day of YLI. The classes I attended where on the Byzantine Rite and one on Faith in a Pop Culture. I also got to teach my class today on vocations. A lot of things I wanted to say where said last night, but yet again I think I did a good job. The Mass today was very different, but I liked it. It was done in the Byzantine Rite which I have never seen done before. That night I attended Karaoke, and sang a song in the end with the rest of the adults in attendance.
July 19, 2005 (Tuesday)
The second day of YLI was as fun as the first. My three classes for the day where Divine Mercy, Just War, and How the Bible Came to Be. Also, today I had to talk about what brought me to the priesthood to everyone. I was joined by three other people for this talk, but I was very scared over telling my story because this is the first time I have done it infront of a large amount of people. I think I did a good job with it and hopefully I will enspire the high schoolers in some way from what I said.
July 18, 2005 (Monday)
Started the morning off by praying Morning Prayer with everyone. The kids did better than the priests at the Fall Creek Falls Retreat because they read the psalms slowly instead of doing them fast. We had three classes to attend today and I tagged along with Paul. The classes where on Icebreakers, Servant Leadership, and Faith in the Workplace. During free time I took off to explore the town, but every shop seems to sale the same stuff. I did find one that sold a lot of hot sauces and I tried one which set my mouth on fire for an hour.
July 17, 2005 (Sunday)
Left for Gatlinburg, TN to attend Youth Leadership Institue today. Those attending from Notre Dame where Paul & Abby. We picked 2 high schoolers up from St. Patrick's Church on our way to YLI. All the youth that greeted us at the door when we arrived where filled with energy and seemed to be very inviting to all who came. The schedule for the next three days will be filled with a lot of things to do, so we should be very tired by the end of the week.
July 16, 2005 (Saturday)
Got up early to go to Knoxville for a meeting on World Youth Day. Before I headed to Knoxville I had to stop by Wal-Mart to pick up my copy of Harrp Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. So far this book has been very good and hard to put down. I should have it done by the end of this upcoming week if I keep up with how much I have read it today. Our Diocese has a total of 10 people attending WYD, 5 guys and 5 girls. My Conception pal and roomate Alejandro will be on the trip to keep me company. Right now I am getting everything together for this upcoming week because I will be in Gatlinburg for Youth Leadership Intitue, so this will be my last journal until Thursday night.
July 15, 2005 (Friday)
Things did not go as planned today with Henry's surgery. I do not know why, but they decided not to do it today. I do not know if they will even attempt it right now, but I should find out sometime soon. Went to today's first showing of Charlie and the Choclate Factory. I still prefer the old version to this one, but it was awesome and is a must see. I liked how they gave us a glimpse at the childhood of Willie Wonka. I think they should of left the oompa loompa's song alone and kept it like the originals. Also I got a Wonka Bar at the concession, but did not find a golden ticket inside.
July 14, 2005 (Thursday)
Had a very lax day where the only thing I did was go to Mass in the morning. After Mass I was in the rectory when Father got the news of Henry breaking his hip today. Henry is the 98 year old man whos house I used to go to in order to read to him. I heard he will be having surgry to fix his hip which is crazy seeing how old he is, but he was in very good shape. My prayers will be with him and his 99 year old wife.
July 13, 2005 (Wednesday)
It was another busy day with high school youth. We started the day off with a communion service where I added a little bit of the Latin text into the service. We found our youth house to have trash can dumped over along with thing out of place because a racoon got in threw the chimany. Our first service project of the day was meals on wheels and then we returned to the church to cook cookies that we where going to bring the elderly in an apartment complex. After cooking was done we went to the Dollar Tree to pick up prizes for Bingo which we where going to play with the elderly. I picked a card up for everyone to sign for Stephanie because Meredith it going to visit her in Germany this Friday, so she should have something from us back home. After the Dallar Tree it was off to play Bingo which was a big sucess and I hope we go back to do it with them again sometime in the future.
July 12, 2005 (Tuesday)
Got up early today, so I could walk to Daily Mass. After Mass I headed back home and did nothing until my mom got home. Went she got back home we went to Food City to buy some food for tommorrow's High School Service Project. Tommorrow we plan to bake cookies and then bring them to the elderly as we play a game of Bingo with prizes with them. Today was also my mom and dad's 25th Wedding Anniversary, but they did nothing special because my dad is working out of town. Maybe I will bake a cake tonight and the high schoolers can give it to her at lunch tommorrow.
July 11, 2005 (Monday)
Had my Communion Service this morning using the liturgy for today's saint, Benedict. I brought along a statue that I bought at Conception and read a little bit from his rule after the reading of the gospel. After the service Karin Silva gave me a great book called the Imitation of Christ. I have only read a few pages of the book, but so far it look like it will give great meditations on how to be more like Christ.
July 10, 2005 (Sunday)
The 8am Mass was a mess because no one on the schedule shoewed up to do their job. With no cantor, a few Eucharistic Ministers short, and myself as the fill in server we started Mass. Father Jim seems to have his mind made up that the 8am Mass will be getting the boot because no one want to do any of the jobs. I got to take it easy at the 11am Mass and did not have anything to do for the first time in along time. After Mass we had donuts out in honor of those who will be leaving our parish. The Silvas will be only 3 hours from Conception, so I will get to seems them a lot when I am at school. At 6:30pm the Knights of Columbus held there meeting and I brought up my point about the meeting that will take place next week at 4pm. I explained that in the future we should not push people out of the church, but should try to schedule with consideration of the Masses that are going on. I do not know if me saying something will be considered in the future or if this will become a big deal with me and my council. Many people have sided with me espically the Spanish people who are not very happy about being pushed out of the church.
July 9, 2005 (Saturday)
Slept until 11:30am which is very ususal for me since being back. I had nothing to do until the 5pm Mass, so the day stayed very relaxing. At this Mass I got to teach Victoria and Sarah to be Altar Servers, and the did a great job. The 3 of us will hopefully work together again before I have to return to Conception. It really means a lot to me to teach people how to serve and do it the right way. I am always on the lookout for people who would do an awesome job at this duty that we have to do.
July 8, 2005 (Friday)
Not much going on today. Started off with Daily Mass and then was asked by Father to place an order at the local backery for some donuts for after the 11am Mass, so we could have a little going away party for those who will be leaving our parish this summer. It is a pretty large group and the sad thing is it has to be the people who are always there to give you a hand. After the donuts went to Jonesborough to do some work and then stopped at Wal-Mart on the way back to pick up a few items. My sister left not long ago to stay with one of her friends, so I should have a very peacefull night for once.
July 7, 2005 (Thursday)
My prayers are with those of London after the bombings that happend their today. This attack is a reminder of the war on terrorism and supports the war that we are now fighting against it. I know some of the people of Great Britian where dropping in their support of the war, but threw this horrible attack they may again support Tony Blair and his decision to fight the war on terrorism. I did not find out about these attacks until the intentions at Daily Mass when someone prayed for what happeded. After Daily Mass I found out that the Knights of Columbus wanted to use the parish hall right after the Spanish Mass for a 4th Degree Ceremony. By doing this right after Spanish Mass the poor hispanics will be rushed to get out of the church and finish Mass. The Grand Knight even sent a letter to the Spanish priest telling him to hurry Mass up so they could use the church. We will be having a meeting this Sunday which will be the Sunday before the event and I plan to speak out on this. I think it is wrong to treat the Hispanics like they do not matter and why should a priest be bossed into hurring Mass up for the Knights. The only other thing I did today was meet with the Youth Ministers in the area and eat some great Mexican food in Johnson City.
July 6, 2005 (Wednesday)
I am completly tired out because of all that I did with the high schoolers and the workshop for VBS. Kelly, Paul, Victoria, and Sarah was their for the morning work where we started with meals on wheels and then visited my grandfater in the nursing home. At lunch we ate at a local Mexican restaurant and following that the twins left for band activities. After they left Heather showed up after being harassed the whole day about not coming. We worked on cutting bamboo and lashing it together to make signs for VBS. Later that day I returned to the church to help out at the VBS workshop. Here I made many copies and finished some of the lashings that where not finished. After spending 12hours at the church I am ready for a long nap.
July 5, 2005 (Tuesday)
Did not have to do a communion service this morning like I thought I would because Father Jim showed up to do Mass. After Mass I returned home where I did nothing for the whole day, but sleep. It is really rare for me to have nothing to do, so it seemed like the day lasted forever. Tommorrow will be High School Service and I hope that the attendance will be good. I spent the day tring to get ahold of Heather to make sure she is coming, but have not got to talk to her yet.
July 4, 2005 (Monday)
I hope everyone's Independence Day has went well. I started my day off by giving a communion service which had a very small crowd. Next my family did some work at the old house and after we where finished for the day came back home to watch a King of the Hill marathon on FX. A few fireworks have been launched so far, but it is still to early for them. The dog is off somewhere trying to hide from them.
July 3, 2005 (Sunday)
Tommorrow will be the 4th which I dread because all the fireworks make the dog go nuts. She tries to hide herself in areas that she cannot fit in because of her size. The days leading up to and after the 4th also include fireworks, so the dog is hiding right now. I spent my day mostly at church because I was at all 3 Masses. At the 8am I was a lector, at the 11am an alter server, and at the 3pm Spanish Mass I was an alter server. After getting all the Masses out of the way I went to the movies with my family to see War of the Worlds. The movie was very good and is worth seeing if you get a chance. Also, I have finally found a Wonka Bar at the movie's consession stand. The bar is very good and is a must try if you have never came across one.
July 2, 2005 (Saturday)
Headed to Jonesborough today to do some work on the old house. I mowed the grass while my dad worked on starting a car that was in our driveway. After finishing with the house we went to help Tom Silva move some items from his wife's office. I made it to the 5pm Mass and was able to get Victoria and Sarah to be Alter Servers with me next Saturday. I cannot wait to train them it is always a great honor to train those who want to serve at Mass.
July 1, 2005 (Friday)
I made it to the 9am Mass at All Saints which had an attendance of around 70 people. After Mass I went with Deacon Tony to get some breakfast at the Cracker Barrel. After eating a great meal I spent the day around the rectory until 3pm when I was picked up by my home parish priest. We went out to eat Chinese at PF Changs. After eating this geat meal it was off to the Cathedral to get ready for the Ordination. Father Xavior of Conception Abbey was at the Mass, and it was great to see him again. He truely is a holy man. The chalices that Father David Carter and Father Mike Maples got where nice they were both used by Pope John Paul II, and the bottoms of them had an ingraving saying when they where used by him.