Finding Happiness

In my Philosophy class we are just starting a new reading section on St. Augustine's Confessions. As told by my Professor, Father Thomas Regan SJ, it is "one of the greatest books to ever be written!" So far I am enjoying the themes and topics that St. Augustine presents. So I just wanted to share a few of them in this post.

St. Augustine wrote this book with the main goal of challenging the reader to be an authentic human being and be true to who we are. The book is a story of his life begins when he was a young 19 year old boy and makes promises that he will get his act together.

 St. Augustine became a great student and was excellent at rhetoric (speaking and debating). He was a rich and famous lawyer. He was so good that he could send the innocent to jail and the guilty free. He had everything that he could ever want, girls, money and fame. When he woke up one morning and looked in the mirror, he realized that he had totally forgotten about his goals that he had set for himself back when he was 19. Augustine realizes that he has more money that he knows what to do with, he doesn't really know what happiness is and he has no clue what true love is.

Augustine's Confessions is his story about his past search for happiness and how he came to find the happiness in God, that he always wanted. This book is an excellent story for all college students to read, for one it talks about learning and growth. It explains struggles that we all have and the genuine search for happiness that many end up searching for in all the wrong places. 

As young adults, I feel that it is so easy to be affected by the environments that the world sets up for us. As a result, we forget to be authentic human beings. This is an excellent book to relate to and will help people become who they really want to be. It reminds that only in God can we find the true happiness that we long for.

Demand Your Dignity

Sexual temptation is a huge problem in our world. No longer is sex sacred, but love between a husband and wife is nearly taken out of the picture. That's why it is such a blessing to have teachings on Theology of the Body! Sr. Helena Burns, a sister of the Order of St. Paul, who's mission is to evangelize using media, gave a talk to us on Theology of the Body a few days ago. In her talk, she reminded us about the importance of chastity and abstinence. She said that we have to be the evangelizers to those who struggle with sexual temptation, teaching them the importance of abstinence until marriage,. Surprisingly, girls are more sexually tempted than guys. It is out job to reach out to them and help them, where other guys wouldn't. We can be good counselors and supporters.

Here is a video titled "Demand Your Dignity" made to show girls how important abstaining from sex is. It features guys giving their advice to girls about how they should do their best to live chaste and not give in to sexual temptation. I invite you to watch this video and pass it along to your friends.

Free and Easy Way to Learn More About Your Faith!

In addition to my last post which was a response to a question I had received about the Year of Faith, I have decided to post a link about the Catechism of the Catholic Church. For this Year of Faith, Pope Benedict has encouraged us to study and reflect on the Catechism. Here's an easy and free way to do it on this website- http://www.flocknote.com/catechism. Simply enter your email address and you'll start getting a little bit of the Catechism emailed to you every morning. Read that little bit every day and you'll read the whole catechism in a year. What a great way to keep learning about our faith! It is also a great way to evangelize! Please visit and subscribe!

God Bless!

Town rallies around Bullied Teen as She Prepares for Homecoming

This article really hit home with me. As a high school student, I had witnessed a lot of bullying and had felt bullied as well. This article which highlights Whitney Kropp, a young high school girl, shows the importance of standing up for those who are bullied or made fun of. It is the story of a town, rallying around this young girl and encouraging her to continue to live life to the fullest, to follow her dreams and to never be afraid to be herself. Please read this article and pass it along to others. Become a friend to those who are friendless! Show love to those who do not feel loved! Be Christ for those who do not know him. Whitney my prayers and support are with you:)

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/michigan-town-unites-behind-bullied-teen-voted-homecoming-court-a-prank-article-1.1168033

Family Day and the New York Public School District

As I was looking at Cardinal Dolan's blog, The Gospel in the Digital Age, I found out that today is Family Day! In his blog post Cardinal Dolan states,

There’s now more than a decade’s worth of research, all of it supporting the idea that the more a family gathers around the dinner table, the less likely a child is to engage in any kind of substance abuse, whether it be smoking, drinking or drugs.  What you eat for dinner isn’t really important – no fancy gourmet meals, or elaborate menus are required.  What is important is spending that time talking – and listening – with your kids. 

Here at St. Joseph's College Seminary, I feel that I have found a second family. My brother seminarians eat together, work and play together. Spending time with my seminarian family helps me to continue to be focused on why I am here. Being with each other in community; praying, eating, studying and playing, we get to know each other better and we are able to help each other to gain a greater knowledge of our Lord and His holy will. The more time I spend with my family, the less likely I will be distracted by anything that is not of good nature.

Yesterday was Seminary-Appeal Sunday. All of us seminarians were sent out to parishes to talk about vocations and St. Joseph's College Seminary. One of the main things we were asked to include in our talks was the importance of a family's involvement in their sons vocation. We urged the importance of daily prayer, of regular attendance at Mass and of good moral teaching. Teaching them good morals and right judgement is particularly important since today, New York public school's have issued "emergency contraception! This means that they will be distributing contraceptives and injections to students as young as 14 years old. Since when do they get the idea to do this without parent's permission? The school system is so misguided! We ask that parents lead their children by example and not let them be open to this tragic idea. If you, as parents, strive to follow Christ, your sons will follow them. Not only are you as parents called to help your children become successful human beings, but you are also called to teach them how to become good disciples of Christ, in a world that wants nothing to do with that.

As Family Day continues, I hope that you not only eat and spend time together with your families, but I also hope that you also pray with and for each other. I hope that as you pray, that each and everyone of you comes to know Christ better each and every day, as a  beloved member of His family.

Feelings

It seems that every time someone looks like they have everything together, does the right thing or seems holy beyond measure, it seems like at that moment that the Devil will come after you hard. He will try to tempt you, try to exploit your weaknesses, trying to get you to let go just once from God and what he wants you to do.

This is something that I'm sure everyone has experienced, and unfortunately its something that I'm going through right now. At this point in my life, I feel under attack, then again doesn't everyone feel this way once in a while? Still, this feeling really bothers me. It bothers me that people look at my blog, write to me asking for advice, telling me that I will make a great priest someday and look at me as someone who is surely on the right path. It bothers me that I write back emails answering questions, counseling fellow friends, trying to give away words of wisdom, all while I struggle with very same things. I feel like a complete hypocrite.

It's easy for me when things are going right to say: "Lord, give me a cross to carry, and let me bring others closer to you and lead by example," but then as soon as a little temptation hits me, I'm done and I give up. On the outside I may look like I persevere through temptation and sin but on the inside when no ones looking over my shoulder, at that moment, that's when I give in to temptation. People tell me that I am strong in my faith, but in honest truth, my faith is weak. The quote, "How do you live your life, when no one is watching?", makes me think of myself every single time.

This may seem like a dark and depressing blog post, probably one that many of you will pass over. Some of you maybe thinking to yourself, "He used to have strong faith, and now it looks like he is no longer faithful to God. He has lost all hope and trust." But isn't this true for all of us? Isn't this something that we all face? Everywhere we look there are distractions, traps, bad decisions and sometimes they do get the best of us, but the challenge is making sure that no matter what we do, no matter how far down in the dark we feel, that we still stretch out our hands toward Jesus and His loving mercy.

Jesus loves us no matter how many bad things we do or say, but its up to us to make an effort towards Him. If we even so much as take a step in God's direction, we know that He will run a million miles to where you stand. We all have ups and downs, we all have difficult challenges that we face, but no matter how many times we fall, no matter how many times we feel worthless and down and covered in sin, we must remember how important it is to get back up and continue on the path to forgiveness. Christ will meet us there, guaranteed.

True Compassion

I recently got a new job at Heritage Assisted Living, a nursing home near my house. I work as a dietary aide, so my responsibilities include helping prepare food and then delivering it to the many different dining rooms around the home. After the meals are done being served, then I make my rounds again and take the dirty dishes back to the kitchen in order to wash and return them. It is not a very challenging job, and it can also be very fun and very rewarding.

One of the things that I love about my job is being able to work with people. Many of the people at the home are very sad. They feel helpless, no longer independent. They are no longer able to do the things that they like to do. They feel depressed and lonely, hardly getting to see their family except for a couple of times a year. When I bring food to them, I can't help but feel sorry for them. Here are people that worked hard all of their lives and now are being deprived of their independence.

When I prepare the food for the next days meals, I pray for each and every resident that lives their. I pray that they may remain healthy and do not become sick. I pray that they have a little joy and happiness in their lives, that they are not overcome with loneliness and boredom. I pray that they might see God in their lives each and everyday and know that he is right beside them always.

After preparing the food, it is now time to deliver it. When I do this, I make sure to put on a big smile and be friendly to the residents when I make my entrance in the dining room. As I make my way to each table, presenting them with their food I make a point of asking everyone how they are, how their day has been going or maybe throwing in a couple comments or questions about the latest Green Bay Packers score.
At work my job is to prepare food, but I think that it should also consist of spreading a little joy and laughter into the residents hearts. Perhaps some of them have not had or experienced any in a long time.

I like to look at my job as a great ministry opportunity. A priest makes hospital visits and house calls, visiting with people and showing them the love and peace of Christ. If this is what God truly has planned for me, then I think I am on the right track with what I am doing at Heritage. This job can be used as great practice for my future vocation. We all need a little happiness and love in our lives, and I am happy to give it to all.