November 1, 2006 (All Saint's Day)
With a Holy Day brings no school and a Sunday schedule meaning getting up at 9am instead of 7am. Following the Mass celebrated by Abbott Gregory we had a nicely set up lunch where wine was served. After the meal I ended up going to Saint Joseph with Anton because he had to pick up something that he ordered. We ended up making a Coldstone stop and then looked around a few stores in the city before returning to school. At 5:30pm we had Evening Prayer with the monks and that lasted 35 minutes. The next thing on the schedule was our Day of Recollection which started at 8pm. This time the speaker is Msg. Murphey who is Ian's uncle. The Msg. gave a good talked which reflected upon his vocation story.
November 2, 2006 (All Soul's Day)
Our Day of Recollection continued today with Msrg. Murphey. He continued to do a great job with the retreat and gave a good homily today. Today being they day to remember the dead as we did when the school got to join the monks on their procession to the cemetary to remember and pray for all those who have died. Since today was Thursday we had News & Views. News & Views started off with the big rock, paper, scisors match up between Father Samuel and Antonio. Antonio ended up winning the match up. I gave my first News & Views today by getting up to talk about this Monday's special Holy Hour for the defeat of Admendment 2.
November 3, 2006 (Friday)
Another week is finally over, but before I could get out of here I had to do my stewardship job of raking the leaves. I ended up turning my Metallica on my ipod and getting to work for close to an hour. After Evening Prayer I took off with a few of the guys to go to Cheddars. The food was OK, but the menu was very small and was not amazing. Going here would become tiring very quickly.
November 4, 2006 (Saturday)
Something is always broken at Conception this time it is the hot water. By about 8pm they had it going again, but the email said they beleive it will break again soon. If it breaks again we will have no one to look at until sometime Monday. This could be a very stinky week if we do not get any hot water. Towards the close of the day I went to Wal-Mart and got some food items which will hopefully last until Thanksgiving break. After Wal-Mart we went to Perkins to meet up with the Bomb.
November 5, 2006 (Sunday)
Hot water was working in the morning, so I did finally get a shower. After lunch a few of the juniors finally got around to cleaning up the Refectory from their party. Once I got back up to the room I was in a hurry because of a Knight of Columbus meeting. As I was rushing out the door I got a call from Brian Causus, but had to talk to him later due to the meeting. The meeting went well and we yet again advertised the Holy Hour that will take place tommorrow night for the defeat of admendment 2. I voluntered to be on a committee for makeing the star award. It looks like this council might just make it which would be a very great accomplishment for us. After the meeting I had some down time and then went off to see old friend Bomb at Benedictine in Kansas. We ended up grilling some steaks and just hanging out together for the night.
November 6, 2006 (Monday)
It was good to have a new week under way, a week were I have to do two philosophy papers. I did not get to start any of them today because of a Holy Hour that was held for the defeat of Amendment 2. I figured the attendance would be small seeing how play practice was held the same night. The total attendance actually reached around 40 people. Even Abbott Gregory joined us for this time of prayer.
November 7, 2006 (Tuesday)
Today was election day and this day left us on the edge with the horrible attack against humanity in Amendment 2 taking place. I stayed glued to CNN.com hoping and praying that this will lose. When I turned in for the night no was the favor of the vote, but the two big cities did not report there reults yet. While keeping up with this issue I did finish my Ancient Philosophy. I must also add Amendment 1 in Tennessee was passed. This amendment will outlaw gay marriage within the state.
November 8, 2006 (Wednesday)
The rest of my week will stay busy and I highly doubt I will be able to get much sleep this week. I meet with Father Dan for my Chaplain's meeting and then had to head to Saint Joseph for apostolics. I had to drive this week because Sam is envolved with the play practice. I ended up not making it for apostolics because I took a wrong turn which left me heading to Nebraska before I turned around. I stopped at a rest stop to get some help and ended up running into some people from Tennessee. Tonight I will not get much sleep because I must start and hopefully finsih my Modern Philosophy tonight.
November 9, 2006 (Thursday)
I am so tired, but at least I finally have my Modern Philosophy paper out of the way. After classes were over I attended the student council meeting and we met for about an hour and fifteen minutes. Some of the committee chairs came in to give a report on how they stand and the issue of smoking was brought up. At News & Views smoking was brought up in order to remind people where not to do it.
November 10, 2006 (Friday)
The weekend is here and with it is the Bomb's 21st Birthday party in Tarkio, MO. We ended up getting pizza for supper and spent the night playing cards and a game called appels to appels. We course also had some great beer to drink.
November 11, 2006 (Saturday)
Made it to morning Mass and then once that was done I had to start cleaning my room so it will be in good shape for the Ecounter Weekend. I get to be the Ambassodor for Anton's brother and a guy studing for Conception Abbey. Both of them really seem to want to be here next year, so hopefully all will go well with their entry proccess. This year's schedule is a bit different because we will see the play tommorrow night. Instead of going to the play today we ended up haveing some talks, and I must say that Jack did a great job with his vocation story. After the talks we watched the great video from the USCCB called "Fishers of Men." I really think everyone needs to see this short 18 minute video because it really seems up what the priesthood is all about.
November 12, 2006 (Sunday)
Started my day early for a Sunday because of events going on with the Ecounter Weekend. We had morning prayer together, had a conference, prayed the rosary, and then went to Mass. After Mass I had nothing to do until 2:30pm when the play started. This year the play is "1984" which is a story concerning Big Brother controlling everything that we do. The acting was good and they pulled off a great show. After the play was another talk, Holy Hour, and then a movie. The movie for the night was "Going My Way" which is an old movie from 1944 staring Bing Crosby. In this movie he plays a priest who must come in and save the parish from financial truble. This movie was very good and was very funny.
November 13, 2006 (Monday)
Finally my last week at Conception before break has arrived. Father McManus is in Omaha today, so we did not have Latin class again. The Ecounter guys joined us today for classes and attended Mass with us before leaving to head back home. Today in Presentational Speaking I gave my third speech. In this presentation I took the role of a priest presenting to those of other faiths. I think I will get an OK grade, but I do think that this was my worse presentation to date. When I was getting out of class I noticed the note on the boad that said the new crucifix will be blessed today at Evening Prayer, so I decided to head up to the Oratory to take a look. The old crucifix that we used was made out of wood and it matched its surroundings, but this new one is just horrid. It matches nothing and instead makes Jesus look like a Japanese Geisha girl. The blessing given to it matched the looks of the crucifix. Father stuck his hand in the Holy Water and then used his hand to slap Holy Water onto the crucifix.
November 14, 2006 (Tuesday)
Another day of meetings. Today we had an open forum to discuss a few issues and it ended up being an argument about prayer. Some say this school does not give us enough prayer and should allow us to spend more time with our Exposed Lord while others think it is dumb that we are even required to attend prayer and Mass. What kind of seminary would one be that claims not to require prayer and Mass? After supper our class had another class meeting and it ended up to be a big horrible job done for the Halloween party meeting. Everything around here is made into a formation issue there is no escaping it.
November 15, 2006 (Wednesday)
I was not able to attend apostolics this week due to a 8pm Conference that was held over the topic of Stewardship. We brought in three speakers from the Diocese of Witchita to speak about the topic. In this diocese stewardship has played a big role. Thanks to people seeing the importance of stewardship the diocese's weekly Mass attendance is at 70-75% and they have 37 seminarians.
November 16, 2006 (Thursday)
We did not have any classes today because of the conference on stewardship. Today we had four conferences spread out over the day on the subject. I gathered that we must be like Blessed Mother Therese of Calutta who seen Christ in everyone. She would always stop people and tell them that she sees Christ in them. After the end of the conferences was the usual Thursday tradition of News & Views which was kept short this week. After News & Views I hard to start working on last minute things to get out of the way before I get out of here tommorrow. I will make an attempt to make an entry before I leave campus, but if I do not get around to it the next time I update will be Saturday.
November 17, 2006 (Friday)
It was a dragging day of school, but I finally can say that it is all over. I will be heading back to Knoxville tonight, so please keep me in your prayers. I will be leaving here at 3:30pm, fly out of Kansas City at 6:30pm, and arrive in Knoxville at 11:45pm after a stop in Atlanta. I will try my best to make an entry every day over break, but things will be busy and I will be usuing a 56K connection. I will return to the seminary on November 26th. Also before I forget I should say that I will be going to Washington DC this year for the Right to Life march.
November 18, 2006 (Saturday)
All went well with my travel home and ended up getting to bed by 2am. I woke up at 6am the next day and it was off to Morristown for Pat Risen's ordination to the diaconte. The Mass was very pretty and very traditional. His ordination was filled with Latin chant and the guys from Saint Charles helped to make things even better. My job for the Mass was to be the priest's chaplain which means I escort the priests. Alejandro was around for the Mass and it was great to see him again. I pray that he will make it back to Conception for next year. After the ordination was over I stayed for awhile at the reception and then was off to Saint Mary's in Johnson City. I figured if I was going to give a conference on vocations I should wear my cassock, so I did. My conference went well and hopefully a few vocations will come from it. It was good to see the old CDC scout camp staff again: Meatballs, Nate, and Mark.
November 19, 2006 (Sunday)
My life remained nice and busy today. I made it to the 8am Mass and led the rosary before hand. Seeing that Father John is gone to Africa Father Casey was the celebrant. After Mass I went home for a quick bath and then returned for CCD. I ended up teaching the 7th grade class because their teacher came in late. I redid my conference from last night for them and ended up showing the great video "Fishers of Men." All the kids seemed to enjoy the movie a lot and so hopefully it will cause a few vocations to grow. After class I served the 11am Mass and this time the celebrant was Father Tony Dickerson. I ended up being the thurifer and served with Abby and Marshall. After Mass I got to see Victoria again, and I ran into Sarah later in the day at the store. After everyone was gone I went to eat some Mexican food with Father Tony.
November 20, 2006 (Monday)
Not much to report today except for the part me actually being able to get some sleep for once.
November 21, 2006 (Tuesday)
Did some running today which brought me to Knoxville to pick up some items with my mother for Father John. After getting the items he ordered we went to the paraclete and I bought a nice statue of Saint Therese of Lisuix. Once getting back to Greeneville I went to Wal-Mart and purchasing my first cell phone. I ended up in Johnson City today to go and pick Cody up for a rage. We first stopped at Rocky's for some pizza and then went to the movies to see Saw III. This movie was very good and ranks right up there with the last two.
November 22, 2006 (Wednesday)
My uncle Rick was over today for awhile this morning to bring some food over for tommorrow. After he left I ended up going to McDonalds for lunch and then did some shopping at Wal-Mart. At 6pm we headed over to the Gantz house for a high school get together. We only had three high schoolers this week and we ended up just eating spagettii and hanging out. Towards the end of the evening Father John shown up and I had him bless my statue. Today is also the feastday for Saint Cecelia so I pray for Victoria who chose her to be her patron saint.
November 23, 2006 (Thanksgiving Day)
Started off my day with Mass which was followed by a small get together in the parish hall. At the Mass we had a baptism of a Mexican child, so the church was filled with people that only came for the baptism. After getting everything vleaned up around the church we went home to get everything ready for our Thanksgiving meal. This year we had a small crowd of only seven people.
November 24, 2006 (Friday)
I barely made it to Mass this morning. After getting back from church I ended up going back to sleep and sleeping for much of the day. I gave Meredith a call once I woke up and I am hoping that I will see her this Sunday at Mass.
November 25, 2006 (Saturday)
This will be my last post from this slow 56K connection. I don't think the connection is the big problem, but this old computer which if not used for five minutes will freeze and all the pictures and things do not load right. It will be crazy to move back to a computer which actually moves. I got to the church around 4pm and prayed Evening prayer and then I prayed my rosary. I espically prayed today for Sarah Longworth who has her feastday today seeing that her patron is Saint Catherine of Alexandria. I served the Mass with Chris, and we did a great job. After Mass was over I had to say my goodbyes to the 5pm crowd. Victoria, Sarah, Meredith, Katie, Chris, and Stephanie were all in attendence and I hope I will get to say bye to the rest of the high school youth group at Mass tommorrow. After Mass I went back home to eat meatball subs for supper and then the family played a bit of Spades.
November 26, 2006 (Sunday)
Attended both the 8am Mass and the 11am Mass. I served at the 8am with Ashley and her sister. Following the 11am Mass I had to say my goodbyes and rush off because of my flight leaving Knoxville at 2:30pm. I got to the airport in time and then it was off to Cincinnati and then to Kansas City. I rode back to Conception with Robert, but he kept on having bad luck on the trip back. When we got to his truck it would not start because of a dead battery. An hour later once that was fixed we were leaving the parking lot and they would not accept his credit card. It took about 15 minutes for them to get the card to work, so we could be onward to Conception. We stopped to eat at McDonalds and once back on the road more bad luck struck. Robert ended up thorowing his retainer away, so we had to turn around and go back to McDonalds so he could dig in the trash. He did not find it, so he had to leave without it. We pulled back in to Conception at around 12am.
November 27, 2006 (Monday)
It was back to the fun class schedule of Conception today. Father McManus gave us the great news that he will be busy in Rome for the last two weeks of the semester. This means that this is the final week of Latin class. After speech I ended up catching up on my much needed sleep. It is just so hard to get back into the routine of classes after having such a nice break.
November 28, 2006 (Tuesday)
It was great to go back to Gambinos today after having a week off due to break. They did a good job at keeping the pizza coming and helped to wake me up for my Modern Philosophy class. After philosophy we had the final alchoal seminar of the school year. At the end we got to evaluate the program, and the idea of it not putting relegion into the picture was brought up. It seemed like everything we went over was only a secular way to handle the problem, but not a christian way.
November 29, 2006 (Wednesday)
It was freezing out today, and a winter advisory was put out. Due to this apostolics were cancelled, so I am now up to missing the last three classes. This makes me feel so bad because teaching the kids really means a lot to me. Hopefully the weather will hold out next week, so I will at least get to wish them a blessed Christmas. I also met with my chaplain, Father Dan, today and all went well, and after this was over the meeting are officaly over for the semester. I truly am finalizing all the "blessed last things" as Father Samuel would say.
November 30, 2006 (Thursday)
Today was a pretty lax day were I got to catch up on my sleep. Tommorrow I will be going to see "The Nativity," so I will report on it later. Hopefully this movie will bring Christ back into the holidays picture. It's to bad that the young woman who played Mary is now pregnant and unmarried. That really takes away from the effect when you have an actress who would do something like this.