Come on...

So I haven't posted since Friday.

The weekend was a great weekend. I was able to see all my friends in the formation program which is always fun. However, there were just way to many distractions this weekend. First of all the college campus was having a fall festival across the street from where we were at, so all you could hear was music. It really didn't help that the speaker we had, I felt, was speaking to us all like we were college students and she was the professor. This was my fifth one to go to and the first one where the speaker put information on our tables on how to buy some of her things. We have had other speakers that are authors of books, but never tried to sale there material. She wasn't the most personal person in the world, so that didn't help. It was still great to see everyone. We are in the process of planning a bowling trip for the next program in November, which will be a ton of fun.

Other than that, it has been slow around the house here. I just feel like all the obstacles are coming at me and I don't know how to handle them and I give into them way to easy. I wonder if anybody has ever seriously prayed for the devil, what I mean is the devil and who he is. If he really is an angry person, maybe he needs some prayers and a nice hug, in the hopes that he would leave me alone since I am very vulnerable right now. I must stay positive and beat him through the help of God and the angels that are with me.

I teach 5th graders religion once a week and really don't know if what I am doing is really reaching out to these kids. Well today I got the affirmation I was looking for. I wanted my kids to go home and pray the rosary with there family every night. We all know how hard that could be for 5th graders and especially with parents who might not care so much about there faith. This one girl in my class actually asked her parents to pray the rosary with her and they did and the mom was so impressed that she called the director of religion education to commend me on that. I was in complete shock and my heart was filled with joy because even if I have an influence on just one child, then I am doing my job. So when she was picked up today her mom had made me some apple crisp, which was really good. My goal is to reach all the kids.

Maspeth, New York

This blog is coming to you from Maspeth, New York. You might be wondering where Maspeth is, well Maspeth is in Queens, which is a suburb of New York City. I can go out on the roof and see Manhattan. I am staying the night with the Brothers in Maspeth because tomorrow morning Br. Dan, Brian, and I will head to Morristown, New Jersey, which is only an hour away for our formation program. I am so excited for this weekend you have no idea. It is something about being with other people in formation that really recharges a person and that is how I feel alive, refreshed, and super charged. The people in the program are all super great. It should be a fun weekend and I will blog about it once the weekend is over.

Now, nothing really exciting happened to me this week. I had my good moments and bad moments this week. I really felt I struggled during prayer this week as well, I guess I just had way to many distractions. Hopefully next week will be a better week. I am trying to live out this life the best that I can and it is not going to be an easy task, but hopefully my prayer regardless of how it is will keep me strong.

Now that I think about it, something great did happen. I was able to skype with Br. Chris down in Brazil and got to chat with some of our Postulants over there. Grant there english wasn't the best, but we all tried. It was really great and makes you realize how connected you are to people even though you can't speak the language.

Something else that has been on my mind. I go to the gym almost everyday and try to get some exercise everyday, but those darn mirrors at the gym I think are there to make a person look bigger than what they actually are. I hate to looking at them, when I look at them I see this huge guy and then I get so self-conscious about my weight. So my goal should be not to look at the mirrors, but it is kind of hard when they are on the walls in the gym. Oh Lord please give me the strength.

Slow

For the most part the past few days have been kind of slow. However, on Friday I was able to take Br. Inosessio, who is from our province in Oceania around Syracuse. We first made a pit stop at Dinosaur BBQ for lunch. That place is one of the big places to eat at here in Syracuse. Unfortunately Friday was a very cold and rainy day here in Syracuse, so I could really show him much. We did walk around Lake Onondaga, but it wasn't long because we were getting wet. I wanted to get back to the house at a decent time to welcome Brian our new candidate into the house. He is a really nice guy and I am glad that he has joined us. I know he still has a lot to deal with back in Philadelphia, but he now has a community to help him out.

Saturday I really didn't do too much besides going to the gym with Brian and spending my time in prayer. What was nice about my prayer especially for the 19th Annotated, which deals with the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, is that it had be reflecting on the high and low points in my life. It was really nice because most of the high points I could see how God's hand was guiding me, but even in the bad moments, they were learning experiences, experiences I needed to learn to do what I am doing today. Isn't God grand! It was just really nice to think of all the good moments. I couldn't have asked for a better way of growing up. I also sang at Mass at St. Daniel's with the choir. They are such a great group of people. They are all really supportive and all enjoy laughing. The choir director is super sweet, even when I do mess up and I know when I mess up, she always lifts my spirits up.

Today turned out to be an incredible day. I first got up and cut the grass, which I enjoy doing. My goal was to go to the lake to spend my time in prayer because today's reflection dealt with creation and what a great way to be in creation then somewhere very beautiful. However, the plans changed and Br. Dan, Brian, and I went to Chittenango Falls about 20 miles from us. Gosh was it beautiful. Although I wasn't able to meditate silently or to myself, but just seeing the natural beauty of the world was really nice. New York should be opening up more state parks then closing them because they are nice and right now free to get into. What made the trip beautiful also was driving to get there and seeing all the beautiful leaves change. I am really going to miss this of the year once I move back down in the south. Fall is always incredible here. Pretty soon though we are going to have snow.

Moody

There must of been something in the air today because I was straight up in a bad mood. I am usually a happy go lucky kind of person, but not today. It just seems like all my frustrations just came at me all at once. It doesn't help that it was over cast all day today because the weather does effect my mood. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

I feel tomorrow will be a better day for many reasons. One being is that we have two visitors with us till Saturday, the provincial of New England and a Brother from the Province of Oceania. He is in New England for two months trying to strengthen his english. Hopefully I will be able to take him around Syracuse tomorrow. The other good reason why tomorrow is going to be different is because we have a new candidate moving in tomorrow. His name is Brian Fisher and he is from Philadelphia. I have been around Brian a couple of times and he is a really great guy. He came into contact with the Brothers of the Sacred Heart through our Brothers in Haiti. Even before the earthquake he would go down to Haiti and do work with them. I know he is nervous about the move, but I have reassured him that he will be supported.

It just makes me happy to have someone else in formation with me, even though I am ahead of him.

Canadian aye...

I am still thinking about how awesome the jubilarian celebrations were in New England. I got to meet two Canadian Brothers, one who speaks english fairly well and the other one not so much. However, what is cool is that we are connecte through the Brotherhood, so it feels like we have known each other for so long. Plus they are keeping me in there prayers, which is nice. I also met a brother from our province in Oceania, which is in the South Pacific. He is here learning to speak english better, he is not in any formal classes, but just going to be talking with people.

Today was a holiday in the north since it was Columbus Day, so I did the usual. Got up and spent my time in prayer, went and helped Br. Dan out with some things, went to the gym, but grass, sat outside on this beautiful day, read a book, and then went to my spiritual direction meeting at Le Moyne. It was a great day, ending with our community going out to eat, which is always nice. It also didn't help that I scared the crap out of the brothers pulling out of the driveway to the point that some of there let out a few choice words that are not really holy. They just over reacted I saw the car. For future reference, if you ride with me and something like that happens, the more you freak out the worse it is going to be for you. Usually when people do that it freaks me out and might cause me to screw up while driving. However, I was laughing after it happened, it was just funny how they reacted.

New England

Well it seems like I am only blogging once a week. It is either because I am being lazy with it or because I just don't have anything to write about or no time to do it. It doesn't help that I was in Rhode Island this weekend.

I left for the great small state of Rhode Island on Thursday morning. I was staying at Mount St. Charles, the school the Brothers run in Woonsocket, RI and I wanted to get there earlier enough to unpack and settle in before the social Br. Roland had planned. It was just great seeing the Brothers there. It has been almost a year since I have been to Woonsocket, so it was nice just being back. As I walked through the school some of the students recognized me from last year. To be honest my look hasn't changed. I had a shaved head when I was there last year. Thursday evening after dinner I headed to the Provincial House to visit with my Provincial, one of the Brothers from my province who serves in Rome, and another Brother from my province that lives there. It was great catching up with them all. When we were all together we were joking with each other, which is usually fun.

Friday I really just hung out at the school, I spoke to just a couple of the classes and that was only in the morning time, and it was a great time. I had the kids laughing, but making points out to them. One of the Brothers wanted me to speak with one of the students that I met last year. We kept on making times to meet, but never actually able to meet. I felt bad. It was also a Pep Rally day for the school so students were able to dress down. However, no offense to the school, but the pep rally lacked pep. Probably the worst pep rally I have been too. However, the guy kind of running it was full of pep and showed a lot of charism. So the afternoon was free so I would walk around and came across the cheerleading squad practicing. There squad is co-ed. It turned into a really fun time joking around with the coaches and the students. After that though, I ended up going to have dinner with another Brother from the south who was up in Rhode Island, which was great. We were able to catch up. I wanted to get back to Mount St. Charles to catch the soccer game going on. I was able to make it and I went and stood by the cheerleaders where we were still cracking jokes, they wanted me to cheer with them, but I declined. I was really exhausted and ended up going back to the residence and went to bed.

Saturday I was suppose to meet up with my cousin from Louisiana in New Hampshire who was coming up to see the leaves changing colors. Unfortunately those plans fell through since she couldn't open her eye due to a burned cornea. I wanted her to get better. So I took the time and headed back to the Provincial House where I could let Br. Dan know of the change of plans. So I spent a good part of the day at the Provincial House walking along the property and meditating, they have such beautiful grounds there. It's nice and quiet and it is in the woods. Couldn't have asked for a better place. Soon new plans were made and I was heading to Cape Cod, Massachusetts to see what it looks like. I had never been there before. We were there for just a short while, but it was nice to see the Atlantic Ocean, but it was cold. It was just nice to be in the company with Brothers. We had a blast and we enjoyed making jokes and laughing. I didn't get back to the Mount till midnight and went straight to bed.

Today was the actual Jubilarian celebrations. It was super nice and was a great testimony of the Jubilarians life for me to see. They have set a great example on religious life. I got to sing with the choir, which I was thankful for. I also got to see some awesome people from Bishop Guertin High School. I always have the best time with them. I just wish I could see them more often and there positive spirits. After that was over made the trip back to Syracuse.

It was a great weekend, but I am glad to be back. I hate having my regular schedule messed up, now I get back to praying at my usual time.

This weekend...

So today was what I would call a very productive day. Got a lot of stuff done ahead of time, like my lesson plan for my next religious education class next week. It is not a hard topic next week, I feel more confident with this one because it is the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It's all in preparation for the next class after that one when they really go to confession.

This weekend is going to be a crazy weekend. I take off tomorrow morning for New England to be with the Brothers over there. It's about a five hour drive and it will be the first time I am making this drive by myself. Br. Dan is already over there. I will be talking to a few classes on Friday at Mount St. Charles Academy in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, the school our Brothers run over there. Saturday I will be meeting up with some of my cousins in New Hampshire to go hiking and to visit. I am really thankful that Br. Dan is letting me go visit with them. Then to top the weekend off on Sunday is the Jubilarian celebrations of our Brothers in the New England Province. I will be singing with the choir, which I am looking forward to doing.

Should be a great weekend otherwise!

Peace

It's been way too long...

I didn't realize it had been five days since I last blogged. I guess I was just busy with things around here in Syracuse that I didn't have much time to get on and blog.

Well September 30th was our Foundation Day, it has been 189 years since Fr. Andre Coindre, our founder, brought the first ten brothers up to La Fourviere in Lyon, France where the professed private vows. Last summer I was able to stand in the chapel where this was done. Since I do not live close enough to another Brother residence, we went out to eat for ourselves. Due to the fact that I had choir practice, we had to go eat early. My provincial, Br. Ronnie, was here to join in on the celebration. Gosh it was great seeing him. He was my formation director when I first moved to Syracuse and was my formation director for a year, then he became provincial and as he quotes "I will be putting you in your first assignment." With Br. Ronnie here it is starting to seem like the novitiate is going to go by fast. I know there are tons of things I really need to work on. While he was here, we went downtown for a beer and some chicken wings, which was pretty nice, and he got to hear me sing with the choir at St. Daniel's. When he was here him and Br. Dan sat down and mapped out the rest of the novitiate and picked dates. My actual novitiate will end with a retreat at the very end of July and the date we have chosen for vows is August 20, 2011. It makes me very excited, but I know that I must keep focus during my novitiate. It is just nice to know that the novitiate comes to an end at some point.

Also while he was here, we were able to talk with Br. Chris down in Brazil who is learning Portuguese for the new mission in Mozambique. While chatting with him I had the opportunity to meet some of the Brothers from there, even though they can't speak English, but it is just great to know that we are connected by the same common bond. So when I send messages to them or they send message to me, I usually have to translate the messages first to understand and then when I respond back to them I translate my message to there language. It seems to be working.

Today I began the 19th Annotated, which is the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius spread out over a 30 week period. It is going to have its challenges, but I think it will be very good for me. Keep me in your prayers!