Kicking and ScreamingKicking and ScreamingA liberal Catholic's diary on his first year in a Seminary with the Paulist Religious Community Articles
Away on Retreat
2008-05-05 16:24:00 My finals are done! Very exciting - unfortunately between school and because I have been busy working on the video project for the Paulists' 150th Anniversary I have not been able to keep up with the blog. I am looking to do some more writing within the next couple of weeks and definitely over the summer. I am going to be away on a private retreat this week - it will largely be a silent retreat with some guidance by a Jesuit at the Retreat Center. I just wanted to wish everyone well - I will keep you in my prayers and any prayers/happy thoughts/well wishes would be definitely appreciated as well!
Two Worlds Collide
2008-04-22 16:34:00 A few years ago, my roommate would come home every night from a long day at work. He was employed as a social worker, so he didn't get home until a little bit before 9. Upon walking through the door, he would take off his tie and make a bee-line for the TV in the back room.At first, I used to make fun of him - WWE... C'Mon... I would snicker in the background but he did not pay me any mind. My regular TV date usually was Meet the Press on Sunday mornings, but as our TV schedules did not collide with anything, I stayed to support my roommate. Slowly but surely, I began to find myself tangled into the dramas of Triple-H, Batista, Evolution, Rick Flair "The Nature Boy"... two years later, the heroes I spent my time focusing on are Paul and Moses. Yes, they are entertaining in their own way, but every once and a while I find myself wishing that the Apostle Andrew would smack James over the head with a folding chair, just to keep things exciting. Yes, WWE was just a phase, like ... More About: Worlds , Two Worlds
Awesome!
2008-04-17 23:06:00 "Awesome speech your holiness." It's not audible, but his Holiness responded, "Dude."
Papal Parlaying Paulists
2008-04-17 04:09:00 I just wanted to take a moment to toot the horn of a Paulist brother that you might see on TV over the next couple of days. Fr. Dave Dwyer, who used to work at MTV and Comedy Central back in the day, hosts a radio show on Sirius radio called "Busted Halo" and has been making the rounds on the news channels in the midst of the coverage of the Papal visit. I have had the privilege of being interviewed on his show a couple of times so I thought that I would just send a shout out to Dave and for people to keep on the look out for him.Click here to see Dave's interview on CNN.Here is Dave with two random, unidentified people on the White House lawn.
A Very Important Endorsement
2008-04-17 03:59:00 I am knee-deep in finals, so sorry I have been off-line for a while. I will be adding some more posts concerning the Papal Visit as well as finishing some posts from my trip in Rome once exams are done in a few weeks. BUT, if there there are any Pennsylvanians out there, I have one vital endorsement that I thought might be of value:Dear Friends and Fans: Like most of you, I've been following the campaign and I have now seen and heard enough to know where I stand. Senator Obama, in my view, is head and shoulders above the rest. He has the depth, the reflectiveness, and the resilience to be our next President. He speaks to the America I've envisioned in my music for the past 35 years, a generous nation with a citizenry willing to tackle nuanced and complex problems, a country that's interested in its collective destiny and in the potential of its gathered spirit. A place where "...nobody crowds you, and nobody goes it alone." At the moment, critics have tried to diminish Senat... More About: Endorsement
We can do that.
2008-03-19 02:23:00 Okay, I haven't gotten my "Russert" on in quite some time, so forgive me for a moment... There's a stereotype of the "gushing" Obama supporter. And as an aspiring theologian, I too raise my eyebrow a bit at some of the messianic folowing the Senator from Illinois has been generating. Still.Most politicians would have thrown any threat to their campaign under the bus. Most would have given platitudes, sang "God Bless America," and moved with trying to be "inspiring." Usually when a candidate reaches for "inspiring," they try to channel JFK... they usually end up channeling Mayor Quinby. Often in the campaign, his opponents tried to paint him as just a guy with a pretty speech about "hope" - it hasn't stuck. The reason it hasn't stuck is because any politician can raise platitudes, few back it up with intelligence and sincerity. It hasn't stuck because he actually means it - it's the only explanation for the course of action of putting all of those things we are afraid to ...
FINALLY finished with mid-terms!
2008-03-18 06:58:00 It's been a crazy few weeks. I was slammed the week before going to Rome, vowed not to do any work while I was in Rome, and then I was slammed the week after Rome. But I have just submitted my last mid-term so I have some (academic) freedom for a while. I'm excited because I have been anxious to get back to that Paulist "Ken Burns Effect" project I have been working on. I am also hoping to do some more writing on my Rome trip.The last final was on the Philosophical Foundations of Theology... which sounds crazy (and it is) but I kind of like it. It's just that when you write a paper on this stuff, it can get a little heady. Someone made this analogy - you know when Frodo gets stuck in the gigantic spider-web in Lord of the Rings? Writing a philosophy paper is like that... you start asking yourself "Can I substitute the word 'transcendental' for 'universal'? Is that saying the same thing or am I opening up new ground?" So for St. Patrick's Day, having the competing re... More About: Terms , Finally
Class Prayer
2008-03-13 14:10:00 Not in every class, but in most classes at the Theological school I am atending we say a prayer before class. Long-term readers of this blog might that that I have a problem with this, but that is not the case. Last summer, while attending a different institution, I protested starting off our Philosophy of God class with an "Our Father" - needless to say, most of the priests back at the dinner table did not understand where I was coming from. For me, it was about me trying to keep my educationabove board; if we students in the class were going to be opening ourselves up to the different thoughts on God, wouldn't it be somewhat intellectually dishonest by starting each day praying to a Jewish carpenter? Wouldn't that be like taking an economics class to evaluate different economic theories, yet starting each day by saluting a bust of Ronald Reagan? It's an imperfect example, but one of my own personal goals as I go through my Catholic formation is to make sure that ideas present... More About: Prayer , Class
Turabian Style
2008-03-10 02:43:00 Working on a paper that is due tomorrow and, not surprsingly, I have to footnote everything, including the Bible. But it gets complicated, because there are all of these editors and publishers of the Bible... and what about the author? Plus you have to underline some sections, italicize others... it's a real pain.It's late, and I am thinking that I don't have time for all of this sophistication in accreditation. I may change my mind in the morning but right now this is what my Bibliography is looking like:God, The Bible. (Published date - unknown). More About: Style
Rome 3, EPCOT 1
2008-03-08 21:49:00 Spring Break In Rome (Continued)The Church History class I took last semester focused largely on ancient Rome, and one thing my professor told us really stuck me. He said that the roads that were built for ancient Rome still exist, and that often times when there is construction on one of the more modern bridges, the detour usually re-routes traffic over the ancient bridges because the engineers know those bridges are sturdy.Things here are built to last. On our ride from the airport on our first day we are passing edifices that are thousands of years old ? in America something is old is it over a hundred. Buildings now are erected out of glass and steel with basic geometric shapes; the olden days featured an intricacy and grandeur not seen in ages. Recently I remarked to a friend about the sense of awe I experienced when visiting Hoover Dam; he remarked that he didn?t think that we had that kind of greatness in us anymore ? that if something like that needed to be commissioned ... More About: Epcot
Back in DC
2008-03-08 01:46:00 We landed a couple of hours ago and now we are back in DC. The past few days were so busy with events that I have not had the chance to update, but I have been jotting down thoughts along the way so I hope to have some new posts about the trip up soon.Needless to say, when we landed the passengers did not shout a joyous "Dulles!" as they did for the destination city when landing in Rome last week, but it is good to be back. I have a take-home mid-term due on Monday, so there is no rest for the weary. I will get some pictures and some more stories up soon. More About: Back
United 966
2008-03-04 21:42:00 Spring Break In Rome, Part WhateverI have an Exegesis paper on Exodus (again, for those of you who suffer through life with a stutter, this is no joke) due on the Monday I get back, so I had these grand ideas of beginning work on the paper on the flight across the pond. Alas, there was no electrical outlet for my laptop in my seating area, so I HAD to watch movies during most of the flight. I had a strong suspicion from the two previous times I had flow red-eyes that I would get no sleep on the plane. I was not disappointed. It did give me the opportunity to view some of the in-flight movies. Ironically, the first movie I saw en route to a pilgrimage of the center of the Catholic Church was ?Elizabeth: The Virgin Queen? ? a film about how the English monarch beat back the evil Spanish Catholic invaders (with fanatical Jesuits and members of the Inquisition in tow). It?s funny - I find it hard at times not to cast a longing eye at the Anglican Church when I reflect on the stru... More About: United
The Inquisition
2008-03-01 12:20:00 "The Inquisition... Let's Begin! The Inquisition... Look out sin!" - Mel Brooks, History of the World Part 1 Spring Break in Rome , Part 4It says "Part 4" even though I am in the midst of writing parts 2 and 3 right now, but I am in need of prayers.A few weeks ago in my Church History class, we got around to talking about the Inquisition. My only previous awareness of the Inquisition was from the Mel Brooks film "History of the World, Part 1," so I was anxious to find out specifically how effective musical numbers were in its implementation.A few weeks ago in my Church History class, we got around to talking about the Inquisition. My only previous awareness of the Inquisition was from the Mel Brooks film "History of the World, Part 1," so I was anxious to find out specifically how effective musical numbers were in its implementation.Originally started by Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, it was designed to maintain the central tenets of Catholic belief within Spanish borders in o...
I Ate
2008-02-29 21:34:00 Spring Break in Rome , Part 1I was really treading water last year until a friend of mine lent me a book. It wasn't a religion book per say, but it did help me out a lot with my spirituality. It's the book "Eat, Pray, Love." It is about a woman who, after a terribly painful divorce, lives in Italy for 4 months to learn the language sample Italian cuisine in order to strengthen the secular side of her life, then studies in an Ashram in India for four months in order to strengthen the spiritual part of her life, and then lives in Indonesia with a Medicine Man in order to lean how to balance both the secular and the spiritual.The book was placed in my hands at just the right time last year - a TOTAL chick book, I know, but I was desparately needing some sort of guide through this rather unique phase in my life that related both to the secular and the spiritual and this book hit the spot. And as it turns out there was even an overlay in the early part of the book that had an overlay wi...
Just a lot of homework
2008-01-31 17:08:00 Sorry I have not had the opportunity to post - I have had a lot of school work going on and have been doing a lot of scanning work for the Paulist rememberance project I am working on. I found some more good pictures that I hope to put up soon.Also been geeking out on all of the primary news. (Please forgive this moment of indulgence)McCain is now the nominee for the GOP - I know Romney and Huckubee are still in the race, but after winning Florida it's official. As one of the few members of the GOP who have not been trying to throw Latino voters under the bus in order to get upper-middle class white votes, McCain will easily carry California, Arizona (his home state), and Texas. He is also the only Republican who has ANY shot of winning in November, and I think on some level Republicans are staring to realize that. I supported McCain in 2000 - even wrote him in on election day - but after the past eight years it'll be a long time I vote Republican. That being said, I still th... More About: Homework
Election
2008-01-25 14:01:00 Okay, for the record, although I am an Obama man, I am not anti-Hillary. My reasons for supporting Obama are two-fold. One, while I know nobody's perfect I do see a lot of greatness in the man, and after the past eight years I think we need some honest-to-God greatness. My second reason is that I have serious questions as to whether Hillary will ever be able to win 51% of the vote.That being said, this video clip form the movie Election is brilliant. If you ever get a chance to see the full movie, I think it reflects both the psychology of Hillary Clinton as well as the insanity some people drive themselves towards in relation to her amazingly well. Enjoy!
Glossary
2008-01-23 20:24:00 I am taking a break right now form my paper, the topic of which is "Exegetical Exodus." That's right, Exegesis on Exodus... the funny thing is that if I were to say that to a person outside of religious life, they would wonder if I was making that up. Talking to a theology student, and there is not blinking of the eye, not acknowledgment of irony that adding the word "extremely" would make the topic of the paper a tongue-twister. There is a whole new universe of words in this life, which in some cases does make sense because I don't know of a simple word to replace it with... like exegesis. Exegesis is a word you hear A LOT in theology circles. For most of last year I had not idea what anyone was talking about because I thought it sounded like the process by which amoeba reproduce. The short definition: a critical interpretation of the Bible. But that's nothing. At my school, the planners for services were talking about the need to purchase "liturgical aids" - I wondered wh... More About: Glossary
Details
2008-01-22 21:19:00 One thing about this life that I am noticing is that people who are of different ages than myself are now part of my life in a more immediate way than they were before. It actually gives me perspective for the long-term of this life, especially when I look at some of the older priests in the community. When I was in Berkeley, one of the priests was 84 and still active full time with a loving community around him... it often makes me think how in today's society there are fewer and fewer opportunities for people to fully participate past a certain age when I think about the life ahead of me.There is another priest in his eighties here in DC who is also still active in his work as a community historian. One day when I was scanning in some images for the video project I am working on, he came up to me with a question."Are you familiar with this magazine?"He was holding a copy of Details Magazine, so I responded "It's a magazine for single guys in their twenties. For male yuppies....
Lecture on Racial Reconciliation at St. Paul's College: Friday Jan 25
2008-01-22 21:02:00 Here is a shout out for the annual lecture being held at our house this Friday .The 2008 Hecker Lecture will be held Jan. 25 at 7:30 p.m. at St. Paul?s College ? North American Paulist Center in Washington, D.C. This year?s lecture features Father Clarence Williams, C.P.P.S, Ph.D., speaking on ?Leadership that Makes Real Reconciliation .? Father Williams is a member of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood and is currently senior director of Racial Equality and Diversity Initiatives at Catholic Charities USA. He is the first black priest ordained in his hometown Diocese of Cleveland in 1978. He served in the Archdiocese of Detroit for 30 years, first as pastor of St. Anthony Church and then as director of the Office for Black Catholics. Father Williams holds a doctoral degree in global education and cultural communication and serves as the president of the Catholic African World Network. As an educator, Father Williams established the Institute for Recovery from Racisms located at...
State Quarters
2008-01-21 21:56:00 Two weeks before I had that experience which let me know that it was time to pack up and join the Paulists, my girlfriend and I broke up. Well, if I am going to be completely accurate, she broke up with me. The internet dating service had done a pretty good job of matching us the previous fall and we spent two magical months together? it was the following four months that were bumpy. For reasons I couldn?t explain at the time, a part of my soul started to check out of the relationship while the rest of me was grabbing onto it to try to prevent it from leaving the room. So in late March, after suffering through an emotional confusion I thought I was doing an okay job of containing, Marie decided to call it quits so I could go and figure myself out. Although it went unspoken, we both had the sense that it was going to be a temporary break. Because I had the sense that we were simply on a ?break,? I refrained from running off and sleeping with the girl at the copy center like Ross d... More About: State
Paulist Vocation Retreat : Feb 2-3
2008-01-11 04:43:00 If anyone (and by "anyone," I really mean single males over twenty) is interested in learning more about the Paulist Fathers and would like to come to D.C. for the weekend, we are having a vocation retreat here at the house on the weekend of Feb 2nd and 3rd. It's a no-pressure weekend for anyone who is thinking about religious life and just wants to ask some questions, or if you are looking at different religious communities and interested in seeing what we're about. We often cover travel expenses for those coming a long distance; if you're interested in getting more information, e-mail me at ks_intention@yahoo.com. We have a couple of big screen TVs, a pretty bitchin' movie collection, and an indoor gym, so it's definitely worth checking it out. And for the women, I do keep arguing that we need to start letting chicks come... when I make more headway on that, I will let you know. More About: Vocation , Retreat
Video of the Paulists
2008-01-07 03:48:00 It's on Google Video (not YouTube yet) but here is the link to a new video that's been produced about the Paulist Fathers. It's been made for the vocations office, but it provides a great overview of what the community is about in addition to that. I even make a small cameo, listening intently to the wisdom imparted to me by a fellow Paulist. I don't blink or nothin'! It's a great video: CLICK HERE to check it out.
The Ken Burns Effect
2008-01-07 02:55:00 I haven't always wanted to be a priest, but I have always wanted to be a filmmaker. I know, that does not make me a whole hell of a lot different than a lot of Gen Xers, but it's something that's never quite left me. In fact, before I decided to join the Paulists, I had been taking some classes in film... in fact, the very next morning that sleepless "Field of Dreams" night, I had a visit scheduled to American University to look at their documentary film program.When I told people that I was going to be entering seminary, people were mostly supportive but one or two people asked me if I was still going to do film. The funny thing about entering religious life is that it has made me more able to pursue film and multimedia work, especially with the Paulists because of their focus on communications. While it's far from being the only reason I am here, it is a big part of it, and opportunities to pursue that are coming sooner than expected. This year we will be celebrating the ... More About: Effect , Burns , Ken Burns , Burn
Downbound Train
2008-01-02 03:49:00 I had two tickets to the Springsteen concert about a month ago, an experience of Sonic Coitus not to be missed. A few nights before, Jersey-bred Jon Stewart did a Daily Show after the New York show and asked the audience, ?Are you a fan of joy?? I know that I am coming off like ?one of those people,? but I assure you that Stewart was low-balling it.I bought two tickets to the show the minute they went on sale (if I had waited two minutes, the show would have been sold out) and just assumed it would be easy to find another buyer for the ticket. But a decided inconvenience of religious life is that most everyone is old (?He plays his music too loud!?) or broke. Or if they are not broke, have severely misguided sense of priority as to where limited funds should be allocated; trust me, if it was a David Haas concert (the composer of every song you?ve heard in church since 1981), they would have coughed up double the ticket price in an instant.Thankfully, someone in our finance offic... More About: Train
Slow healing in the Catholic church
2008-01-02 01:00:00 An op-ed piece in the Boston Globe was recently written by our Paulist Center in Boston. Here is the intro to the article with a link to the full article on the bottom.AS THE CATHOLIC community continues the difficult process of healing and reconciliation in the wake of abuse scandals, church closings, and critical social issues, the decision by Pope Benedict XVI to avoid Boston on his US visit next spring is a missed opportunity. A face-to-face meeting with Catholic s in Boston would have signaled a desire to begin honest and open dialogue on the hurt, anger, separation, and alienation many still feel.If history teaches us anything, it is that avoidance of conflict rarely leads to reconciliation or healing. Failing to face those on the opposite side of the breach tends to breed more resentment, bitterness, and misunderstanding. The resulting alienation poisons people's hearts, stunting generosity and feeding cynicism that leads to hopelessness.Years after the revelation of clergy ... More About: Church , Healing , Catholic Church , Slow
Christmas in New York
2007-12-29 06:09:00 I have been home in New Jersey for about a week now and? well, I DO love my family, but? I?ve been home for a week now. Before I left for Christmas break, I was talking to my spiritual director and I told her that I was thinking about spending the night during break in New York City. My spiritual director asked why didn?t I take two nights. So I said, ?Hey, I?ve got a great idea ? why don?t take two nights??One of the great gifts of this life is the ability to have a place to stay in almost any region of the country, and the Paulist Mother House is located about a block from Central Park and is within walking distance of practically everything the Manhattan Christmas universe. And the nice thing is that, having been part of the community for eighteen whole months, is that now most of the New York guys know my name when I come into their common room and start drinking their beer.I hopped on the New Jersey transit, opened a book I got for Christmas (Into the Wild by Jon Krackeur),...
Papal Fever!
2007-12-28 14:22:00 Last month the big news was announced that the Pope is going to be coming to Washington, DC in April, which has produced mixed reactions in the house. Now we have our contingent of ?Pope-a-philes? who have been trading Cardinal Ratzinger bubble gum cards since the Reagan administration. And we also have our contingent who, if they were not going to someday promise unswerving loyalty to this man, would be organizing protests and? well, I don?t know if they?d be burning Vatican flags? but they?d have big signs on any number of issues. BIG!!! As for me, I?m rather agnostic on the matter. On the one hand, being that we have a lot of spare rooms and the Pope will be saying Mass about a half of a block away, I think that our house should ring all of the money we can out of this event for the community. On the other hand, I don?t find myself compelled to join the ?People excited the Pope is coming? community on Facebook; I just saw Bruce Springsteen play two live shows with the E Stre... More About: Fever
Ralphie and Golden Compass
2007-12-28 05:42:00 A few weeks ago, a friend of mine e-mailed me wondering what I thought of the big controversy with the movie "The Golden Compass ." At first I didn't know what she was talking about - I had seen the trailer in the theaters but it looked like another knock-off of "Lord of the Rings," except this time starring James Bond. But then when I heard that the movie was being condemned by the Catholic League, I thought to myself "Okay, what's Bill Donahue frothing at the mouth this time?"In the interests of full disclosure, I have not yet seen the film, so as much as I'd like to I can't throw in my usual argument of not criticizing a film until you've seen it. (Rats - I usually love that argument too.) But I had two knee-jerk reactions that I find worth exploring.My first is that by reacting hysterically to a movie... the terrorists win. At first, I didn't pay it too much mind because a movie reviewer for the US Catholic Conference of Bishops... who SAW the movie... gave it a good r... More About: Golden Compass
Christmas Grace
2007-12-25 13:32:00 For Christmas dinner, in my new state in life I am now being expected to say grace for all of the main holiday dinners. My family has never been big "grace-sayers," so a part of me is getting over some akwardsness at being the new "representative." But I did find a great quote by our founder Isaac Hecker in our Paulist Prayer book under the Advent prayers that I thought summed up the "reason for the season."To send a man back eighteen [or twenty-one] centuries, or tell him to read a book, however good, when he feels the pressing need of the love of the infinite God in his heart, is downright mockery. If Christ is to be to us a Savior, we must find him here, now, and where we are, in this age of ours also; otherwise he is no Christ, no Savior, no Immanuel, no ?God is with us.?So on this Christmas, we thank God for all of the times he has been with us in this past year, whether we knew it or not, and we thank God for all of the times He will be with us in the coming year and on th... More About: Grace
Santa Claus and other Patron Saints
More articles from this author:2007-12-24 19:38:00 A few weeks ago, the Catholic Church (as well as other denominations) celebrated the feast of St. Nicolas. Yes, the one and the same: Santa Claus . As it turns out, before his years of battling the Heat-Miser, he was a very important bishop in modern day Turkey in the early 300s - there is even a tradition where he served at the Council of Nicea. That evening, my formation director walked by my room with his head buried in the Ordo. The Ordo is like a Wikipedia of prayers and feast days of saints for the Church year? except in book form, so I guess you could also say it?s like an encyclopedia? except it?s more like a single volume encyclopedia, and it?s smaller? Okay, you get the idea. Anyway, he was completely amazed at the number of things that have St. Nicolas as their patron saint. A patron saint is kind of a ?sponsor? of a particular group of people or a specific cause, kind of like how Tostitos sponsors the Fiesta Bowl or how Good Year sponsors aerial footage. (On a side note, ... More About: Saints , Patron 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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