Back at ND

I'm back at ND for the Spring 2010 semester -

Lots of good things to look forward to - new classes, new profs, new adventures

Christianity in Africa - sounds like a fun course!
Religion & Literature In Light of Job - also sounds like an interesting course!

Also, there are two potential major travel adventures looming on the horizon

Rome for a Conference courtesy of the ND Theo dept / MDiv?
and the Holy Land - courtesy of a Summer Course with Gabriel Reynolds....

More to come!

New Year's Resolutions?

I'm trying to think up New Year's Resolutions.

Here's my 2009 List:

* Respond promptly to all emails & phone calls.
* Stop AVOIDING things!
* Develop a regular workout routine.
* Flirt.
* Get out of the house daily (go do something - interact with people!)
* Work on self-transcendence.
* Learn to love others for their own sake.

Here's how I did:

* Generally, I did a lot better at responding to emails & phone calls.
* I continued to avoid those people or things which I didn't want to deal with. My boundaries are improving, so I'm learning how to deal with difficult people or situations (aka confront people). I've also learned that avoiding people or situations is not always a bad thing, but that avoidance can in itself be an effective boundary.
* I did NOT develop a regular workout routine, although I've come to the happy realization that I only do physical activity if it is in the context of PLAY / FUN. So if it's going for a jog vs. iceskating or elliptical vs. broomball - I'll take the iceskating and broomball and skip the jogging and elliptical machine! The trick next year will be to do more fun physical activity! At the same time, the point of me wanting to exercise more was to lose weight... and I've done that without exercising by learning to eat better! I did Weight Watchers for a few weeks in the spring & lost almost 10 lbs and have continued to use some of the tricks I learned to keep it off!
* I have discovered that I'm very shy. Yes, I'm an extrovert, but I'm very shy especially around people with Y chromosomes. I made slight gains in this regard, but I'm still working on it!
* I don't always get out of the house (or my dorm), especially when the temperature outside is -20F; I have been more intentional about forcing myself to go to social events, etc. Again, still more room for improvement here!
* As far as self-transcendence goes - my prayer life has been up and down this year. I feel that it has weakened in some ways, and grown in others. It is far more sporadic and unstructured, (I've been more drawn to walking in nature and reading the Bible randomly) but I find that I have had an unusually clear ability to see the Spirit at work in my life despite the messiness of my own interior life!
* This last point, by far, for me has been the biggest area of growth this year. I've learned what it means to love without strings attached - this one thing was the hardest thing to come to grips with - but it has given me an appreciation of the gratuitous way God loves us even when we don't even acknowledge Him or thank Him in return!

So, what are my 2010 Resolutions? Here, I'm reminded that the more specific they are the better!

2010 Resolutions:

* Continue to eat healthy (mostly vegetarian w/ some cheating once in a while!)
* Daily Mass 3x a week; 30 min. adoration 1x week.
* Go to two social events per week outside regular MDiv socializing.
* Improve my relationships with my parents and close friends by improving communication and being more open and vulnerable about what's on my mind / heart.
* Spend at least 1 hour per day in the library and less time playing Spider Solitaire on my Laptop - in other words, keep my 3.9 GPA.
* Do some fun physical activity 2x per week!
* Go on AT LEAST ONE DATE next year! (an improvement over 2009).
* Continue to grow in compassion for others.
* BOUNDARIES BOOTCAMP RESOLUTIONS!

What are your New Year's Resolutions?

Merry Christmas!

I was just reading through some emails, and each day I get one from ZENIT - Vatican News - to keep up on what's going on in the universal Church.

Anyway, I usually skim through and just read what interests me. So when I saw that Benedict XVI had had a meeting with University students, my interest was piqued.

I'll post the whole thing [well, almost the whole thing] because I think it is a beautiful reflection us students should keep in mind!

Your Eminences,
Venerable Brothers in the Episcopate,
Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Brothers and Sisters,

What is this wisdom born in Bethlehem? I would like to ask myself and all of you this question during this traditional pre-Christmas meeting with the University world of Rome. Today, instead of Holy Mass, we are celebrating Vespers, and to mark the felicitous coincidence with the beginning of the Christmas novena we will soon be singing the first of the "Greater Antiphons": "O Wisdom from the mouth of the Most High, you fill the whole world. With strength and gentleness you order all things: come to teach us the way of prudence" (Liturgy of the Hours, Vespers of 17 December).

This wonderful invocation is addressed to "Wisdom", the central figure in the Books of Proverbs, Wisdom and Sirach. These are in fact called the "Sapiential" Books, and in them the Christian tradition discerns a prefiguration of Christ. This invocation becomes truly stimulating and even provocative when we find ourselves before the Nativity scene that is, before the paradox of a Wisdom that "from the mouth of the Most High" comes to lie in swaddling cloths in a manger (cf. Luke 2: 7, 12, 16).

Already we can anticipate the response to that initial question: the One born in Bethlehem is the Wisdom of God. St. Paul, in writing to the Corinthians, uses the phrase: "a hidden wisdom of God" (1 Cor 2: 7): in other words, a divine plan, which has long been kept hidden and that God himself has revealed in the history of salvation. In the fullness of time, this Wisdom took on a human Face, the Face of Jesus, who as recited in the Apostle's Creed "was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary; suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell; the third day he rose again from the dead; He ascended into heaven, is seated at the right hand of the God the Father Almighty; from hence he shall come to judge the living and the dead".

The Christian paradox consists precisely in the identification of divine Wisdom, that is the eternal Logos, with the man Jesus of Nazareth and with his story. A solution to this paradox cannot be found if not in the word "Love", which naturally in this case is written with a capital "L", in reference to a Love that infinitely exceeds human and historical dimensions. Therefore, the Wisdom that we invoke this evening is the Son of God, the second Person of the Most Holy Trinity. It is the Word who, as we read in John's prologue, "was in the beginning with God", or rather, "was God": who with the Father and the Holy Spirit created all things and who "became flesh" to reveal the God whom no one can ever see (cf. Jn 1: 2-3, 14, 18).

Dear friends, a Christian professor, or a young Christian student, carries within him a passionate love for this Wisdom! He reads everything in her light; he finds Wisdom's imprints in the elementary particles and in the verses of poets; in juridical codes and in the events of history; in works of art and in mathematic formulas. Without Wisdom not anything was made that was made (cf. Jn 1: 3) and therefore in every created reality one can see Wisdom reflected, clearly visible in different ways and degrees. Everything understood by human intelligence can be grasped because in some sense and to a certain extent it participates in creative Wisdom. Herein lies, in the last analysis, the very potential of study, of research, of scientific dialogue in every field of knowledge.

At this point I cannot omit to reflect on something a bit disquieting but nevertheless useful for us here who belong to the academic world. Let us ask ourselves: who was present on Christmas night at the grotto in Bethlehem? Who welcomed Wisdom when he was born? Who hurried to see him, to recognize him and adore him? They were not doctors of law, scribes or sages. There were Mary and Joseph, and then the shepherds. What does this mean?

Jesus was one day to say: "Yes, Father, for such was your gracious will" (Mt 11: 26); you revealed your mystery to the little ones (cf. Mt 11: 25). But then is there no use in studying? Or is it even harmful counterproductive in understanding the truth?

The two thousand-year-old history of Christianity excludes the latter hypothesis, and suggests to us the correct one: studying entails deepening one's knowledge while maintaining a spirit similar to the "little ones," an ever humble and simple spirit, like that of Mary, the "Seat of Wisdom". How often have we been afraid to draw near to the Grotto in Bethlehem for fear that doing so would be an obstacle to our critical sense and to our "modernity"!

Rather, in that Grotto, each of us can discover the truth about God and about humanity, about ourselves. In that Child, born of the Virgin, the two came together: mankind's longing for eternal life softened the heart of God, who was not ashamed to assume the human condition.

Christmas Gifts

So I got some pretty neat things for Christmas.

Our family decided to keep it simple this year, and so each of us just got a few things. I am so excited about one gift in particular which I got: an authentic tallit, which I had put on my Amazon.com wish list but never thought I would actually get!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tallit

It's a Jewish prayer shawl.

Why am I excited about it? Well, for a number of reasons.

* I might be going to Israel in the Spring (I know... I was thinking of going over this Christmas Break (the trip leaves tomorrow!), but I decided not to...). Anyway, there's a class on the Holy Land being offered in June sometime, and I'm hoping to go then!

* I want to use it in catechesis - when we talk about the Jewish people, the Old Testament, the Covenants, etc. I think it'd be a great piece for a sacred space.

* Perhaps for personal prayer. Apparently, it's traditional to wear it on the Sabbath and also for morning prayer.

This is the one I got: