faith – Page 2 – Seminarian Parents

August 18, 2013August 18, 2013 KitC Reflections

Change of Life Indeed

I have always joked with the adage “If you are going to go, go big”. Didn’t mean to do it quite to this degree in my life.

Evan leaves this week and that alone is a major life change. Fr. Clarence (our parish priest) mentioned to us that although other people have children move away, this is different. The largest difficulty that our priest’s family experienced was that he was no longer available for time normally considered family times (Holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, etc.) Evan is now, as Fr. Clarence was then, joining a new community, a new family. And effectively leaving our family. Just as Hannah prayed for Samuel and then gave him to the Lord (Samuel 1:27-28), so too, I prayed for Evan and now must give him to the Lord. NOT EASY. I admire Hannah but don’t feel as sure as she was. Guess I have to work on that. Pray for me.

I’m experiencing another change; the one most commonly associated with the phrase “the change”. After almost 28 years of marriage using natural family planning (sympto-thermal method) I am officially post menopausal. For those who are familiar with the method, this now means that we are now permanently post ovulatory. Quite a change after two years of almost constant pre-ovulatory rules. I am probably one of the few people I know who has undergone a natural path to menopause and I know I am the only person of my acquaintance who couldn’t wait to be post menopausal. I have always loved the method and glad my husband and I practiced it. I think it made us closer. I do wonder how long till I stop checking my “symptoms”. I thank the Lord that I married a man brave enough and confident enough in our love to practice our faith together in all aspects of our lives.

And just because I don’t have enough stress in my life (or maybe because I do) I quit my career of 28 years as a clinical laboratory scientist. I spent 24 of those years were at the same laboratory. I have been feeling called to something and praying desperately for guidance. I was presented with an opportunity to assist with formation at our church. My career would not allow me the time or freedom to really involve myself. My husband and I worked at me finding alternate employment that would allow me an out with enough income to not stress us in a new way. I have become the print-shop assistant at The Davis Applied Technology College. The same place my husband works and where I did a two year stint as a night phlebotomy instructor. (Insert your own vampire joke here.)

I know the people at the college as friends already, and love being creative and working with big machines. It is a perfect fit. The salary is a third that of my prior job but my (wonderful) husband and I looked over the budget and decided to cut some and make the leap. I will not miss the stress of my former job; you can only worry about life-altering consequences of your actions so long. I will miss terribly all the phenomenal friends that I will no longer see on a regular basis. I cried as I cleared out my locker after the wonderful “so long” party all my co-workers gave me.

Now for the next phase. New physical conditions, new family conditions, new work conditions, new volunteer conditions, same glorious husband, same loving Lord. Thank you Lord

– Mom

August 8, 2013August 9, 2013 kevinleec Reflections, Spirituality

Foodie Priests

The Paulist.org website has a nice article about the “Paulist Plunge” retreat for this year. The article does a gives a peek into the experience, but it doesn’t mention the amazing dinner that Fr. Larry cooked for the men participating in the retreat.

Evan reported that it was an amazing meal featuring grilled salmon and some sort of risotto and (to be honest) I sort of lost track after that as I was very hungry at the time and Evan’s description of the entrée briefly sidelined my ability to process new information.

Fr. Steven Bell, who also participated in the retreat, is a cohost on the Busted Halo podcast and a foodie as well. At various times on the podcast he’s reported on meals he cooked and I had the same mouth-watering-brain-derailing reaction. He has also been heard to say that Jesus was a foodie.

The whole idea of foodie priests might seem strange. A lot of people think of priests as severe ascetics who go out of their way to avoid worldly joys. These same people tend perceive Catholics as dour, pinch-faced individuals. I think they’re confusing us with Puritans.

One of the fundamental teachings of Catholicism (and, as a convert it took me a long time to understand this) is that the world is good. Fallen and corrupt, but good in its very creation. If God — who is all good and loving — created the world, how could it be otherwise?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church asserts this truth in the very beginning.

339 Each creature possesses its own particular goodness and perfection. For each one of the works of the “six days” it is said: “And God saw that it was good.” “By the very nature of creation, material being is endowed with its own stability, truth and excellence, its own order and laws.” Each of the various creatures, willed in its own being, reflects in its own way a ray of God’s infinite wisdom and goodness. Man must therefore respect the particular goodness of every creature, to avoid any disordered use of things which would be in contempt of the Creator and would bring disastrous consequences for human beings and their environment.

…

341 The beauty of the universe: The order and harmony of the created world results from the diversity of beings and from the relationships which exist among them. Man discovers them progressively as the laws of nature. They call forth the admiration of scholars. The beauty of creation reflects the infinite beauty of the Creator and ought to inspire the respect and submission of man’s intellect and will.

In a similar vein, the Bishops of Mississippi and Alabama wrote a pastoral letter to their congregations in 1989 asserting:

For Catholics, Biblical teaching has always maintained that our world is good and has been entrusted to our care by God. We do not see it as something evil to escape, rather we embrace our world without embracing the sin within it.

In practical terms, this means that the we are not only free to enjoy the world — we are actively encouraged to engage with God’s creation. The world is ours to enjoy. Beauty, good food, and and all the delights of the senses reveal parts of God’s love for his creation to us. Our God is an awesome God and it’s okay to acknowledge that and embrace his creation.

And that includes good food.

The link between food and faith is particularly strong. Jesus practiced what is known as “open table fellowship” and is often shown dining with people from a variety of social classes. The Last Supper is one of the pivotal moments in the New Testament — so important that we reenact it at every Mass and given it special prominence during Holy Week at the Mass of the Lord’s Supper.

The folks at CatholicFoodie.com know this. Their website and podcast explore the relationship of food and faith. Plus they have some great recipes.

So, strange as it might seem to some, the idea of a “foodie priest” makes perfect sense. Enjoying good food (but not to excess) is an act of embracing the gifts that God has given us.

Over the years, Evan has shown himself to be an outstanding cook. This past summer he and his roommate make a massive batch of incredible pork tamales. As an undergraduate, he regularly hosted dinners for his friends — calling home to ask advice on food pairings and preparation.

He comes by his talent naturally. His mother is an awesome cook who learned the craft by working in the kitchen at her parent’s restaurant. And I think he might get a bit of his talent from my side of the family too. And, given what I know about the Paulist community and its relationship to food, I think Evan is going to fit right in.

–Dad

August 4, 2013August 9, 2013 kevinleec Seminary

Promises, Promises

Evan is back from his week long retreat in New York. He had a wonderful time of prayer, liturgy, contemplation and relaxation. This retreat — like the others he’s been on — energized him and further confirmed his commitment to the Paulist Community.

A few days ago, Michael Hennessy, made a very public commitment to the Paulists. Michael was the entire novice class in the fall of 2012. Evan had a chance to get to know him last summer at the 2012 Paulist Plunge. At a July 27, 2013 Mass at St. Paul’s College in Washington, DC, Michael made his first promise to the Paulists.

The idea of a “first promise” might sound a little strange — particularly to those who are more familiar with the idea of religious vows. The Wikipedia entry on the Paulists explains:

The Paulists are a Society of Apostolic Life, meaning they do not take the traditional vows of consecrated life; rather, by means of promises they are supposed to pursue their mission through living in community and developing holiness in their lives.

A better explanation shows up on the St. Paul the Apostle Catholic Community (Los Angeles) web page:

As a fully approved congregation in the Catholic Church, the Church looks on the Paulist Community in a very particular way. We belong to a group of congregations called societies of the apostolic life. Only 15 religious congregations have that status today. These communities do not take the three traditional vows that characterize consecrated life, but instead concentrate on their mission. The Church sees three dimensions to a society of the apostolic life.

Our primary purpose is our mission

We accomplish our mission through living in community

We seek holiness through living our mission and common life

The Paulists, therefore, are not like Benedictines or Dominicans or other great Orders whose lives are grounded in the three vows. Rather than taking vows, we take a promise to obey our Paulist Constitution that lays out our mission, our pursuit of holiness, and our living simply, obediently and chastely. Fr. Hecker and the other early Paulist founders felt that taking a promise reflected more directly the way things are done in North American society.

Like a vow, the promises are an important step in the formation of a Paulist. By making the first promises, Michael Hennessy has stepped away from the title of Novice and is officially a member of the Paulist community and a seminarian. At various stages of their formation, the seminarians make additional promises until they reach the final promise which is the penultimate step before ordination.

Each of these promises — as momentous as they are — is but a milestone on the journey toward God. All of us are on that same journey and we each have our own milestones. For me, one of those milestones was Evan’s revelation that he felt called to the priesthood. Certainly it was an important part of his journey, but more than that, it caused me to reflect on my own faith — on the promises that I had made at my Confirmation. Had I lived up to them? Could I do better? What role was God expecting me to play in my son’s lives now that they had become adults?

Honestly, I don’t have all of the answers to those questions; I’m not certain I even have complete answers to any of them. What I can say is that the very act of seriously asking those questions has deepened my faith and brought me closer to God. I expect that the promises the Paulists make do much the same for them.

–Dad