My Summer at St. Vincent's

As part of our seminary formation and preparation for priestly ministry, we are placed in a parish during the summer for ten weeks. It is in the parish where we experience firsthand the life and activity of the local Church community. In the parish, we encounter many families and individuals who are striving to serve God and neighbor. In the parish, we, as seminarians, learn what selfless service looks like up close as we serve alongside priests.

St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Dingmans Ferry during sunset

I had the immense privilege of living and serving at St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Dingmans Ferry, PA, for the past ten weeks. This summer parish assignment exceeded my expectations! This little parish has a tremendous understanding of the call to discipleship: many parishioners are involved in various ministries and activities. Fr. Paul, the pastor of the parish, is constantly seeking ways to engage young families and re-introduce the value of the faith community into each of their lives. Fr. Paul does this significant outreach in collaboration with a committed ministry team.

I could not have asked for a better assignment! This summer assignment took me to many meetings with the parish pastoral council, the finance council, the coordinator of ministries meeting, and sacramental prep. sessions. This summer took me to Roanoke, VA, to serve alongside the members of our parish youth group who participated in the Catholic Heart Work Camp for a week. This summer took me into the home of many parishioners, those who are sick and homebound, as well as into the homes of those who prepared generous meals for us. My summer took me to the rectory side-porch where I prayed the Scriptures and drank coffee with Fr. Paul every morning. My summer took me to the church where funerals, baptisms, and the Eucharistic meal were celebrated.

with St. Vincent de Paul Youth Group in Roanoke, VA

In these ten weeks, I have been reminded why I was initially attracted to parish ministry! My summer at St. Vincent's was a formative experience, one that will not be soon forgotten. There is a renewed fire and energy in my heart as I transition from the summer in the parish to the start of a new semester in seminary.

My Life: An Update

I can't believe it is already June! And I cannot believe that I have not posted in this blog since February! I suppose I can give a number of excuses as to why I was busy and did not have the time to update the blog. However, that is not important.


What is important is that we once again have made it through the season of Lent and have celebrated 50 days of Easter! The Lord is risen! He is alive in our midst.


Everyday, we experience the cross; everyday, we experience new life. This is the Paschal Mystery in our lives. This is our faith.


I am experiencing the joys of Easter in parish life. For nine weeks this summer, I have been assigned to St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Dingman's Ferry, Pennsylvania. This active and dynamic parish community is nestled in the beautiful forests and hills of the Pocono Mountains. I am so looking forward to being here with the People of God in the far Northeastern corner of PA.

My hope is to continue to blog throughout the summer and share some of my experiences in the parish.

Also, if you get a chance, check out the blog I had a small hand in developing for the Vocations Office for the Diocese of Scranton: www.scrantonvocations.blogspot.com .


Please pray for me! And pray for vocations to the priesthood and religious life!

Snowfall: A Poem

It begins with
    just one
       awkward
    downey flake,
freely floating
amidst an otherwise
    colorless sky.

Soon, others join
and in their fury
   they race
from the heavens
         to earth.

Pope Francis: Witness and Teacher

"People in modern times listen more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if they do listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses." - Pope Paul VI (1974)

Pope Francis is indeed both a Christian witness and a teacher!
The pope is constantly teaching us about God's love for the poor in his simple acts of pastoral care.

Check out this short video of his visit among immigrants living in a shantytown outside Rome:
http://www.romereports.com/pg160276-a-look-at-the-pope-s-powerful-visit-to-an-immigrant-shantytown-en

[video credit: Palio News - Rome Reports, romereports.com]

Silence and Activity

As always, we can look to Jesus to provide us with an example of how to be present to others and actively minister in both word and silence.

From Mark 1:29-39, we read about the sick and possessed who came to Jesus, looking for words of comfort, acts of healing, and restoration to their communities.

While Jesus chose to be with and heal the multitudes in the fishing town of Capernaum, he also recognized the need to be silent in the presence of God. And so Jesus rises early in the morning, finds an empty place, and is silent before God the Father.

Eventually, Simon Peter finds Jesus in the silence. Simon tells the Lord, “Everyone is looking for you” (1:37). Yes, everybody is indeed looking for Jesus! Jesus can be trusted and sought after because he is the One who both acts in the name of God and is silent before God.

Jesus, our Gentle Master and Teacher, has much to teach us about our ministry and activity, as well as the need for our silent attentiveness to God.

Laughter, Humor, and Joy

One of my favorite spiritual books, "Between Heaven and Mirth: Why Joy, Humor, and Laughter Are at the Heart of the Spiritual Life" by James Martin, S.J., recounts the importance of maintaining a sense of lightheartedness in our lives as Christian disciples. We, as Christians, are not supposed to be rigid and sour-faced curmudgeons, but joy-filled witnesses to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The light of Christ reaches all corners of our lives, including our funny bones!

Here, then, are but a few quotes from various figures throughout the Church's history who have expressed the importance of not taking ourselves too seriously:
_______________________________________________________

"Smiling Jesus"

"Lord, give me the gift of chastity...but not yet!" 
- St. Augustine of Hippo (before his conversion to Christianity)

"I am more afraid of one unhappy sister than a crowd of evil spirits...what would happen if we hid what little sense of humor we had? 
Let each of us humbly use this to cheer others."      
- St. Teresa of Avila

"Christian joy is a gift from God flowing from a good conscience."
- St. Philip Neri

"Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly."

Pope St. John Paul II 

- G.K. Chesterton

"About half of them."
- Pope St. John XXIII (response when asked how many people worked at the Vatican)

"An evangelizer must never look like somebody who has just come back from a funeral!"                 - Pope Francis

"Nonsense and laughter are very important to a community. 
Lord, preserve us from being too solemn, or severe or pretentious. 
Humor is a sign of the best of our humanity. 
You don't find any laughter in prejudice, no joy in intolerance. 
Where there is a rigid and closed mind, there is no smile. 
Humor kind of blushes us with a touch of humility that we need."
- Monsignor Andrew J. McGowan

MLK Jr.

The following are the last lines of the famous "I Have a Dream" speech given by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in August of 1963. We are still peacefully striving for this vision of freedom and equality in our nation and in our world:

...And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up the day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: 
Free at last!
Free at last! 
Thank God almighty! 
We are free at last!