Brothers

One of the most memorable aspects of seminary life is to be in a fraternity based on our shared purpose to be formed as men of Christ and future priests for His Church. Here are my brothers from the Diocese of Boise with whom I have the potential to share in ministry throughout the state in the coming years of our lives.

Bridesman

To receive one of the sacraments of vocation makes for an unforgettable day. Lately I have been able to witness many friends undergo the transformation of Matrimony or Holy Orders and celebrate with them. Their lives will never be the same.

On Thursday at Mount Angel, 17 seminarians were admitted as official candidates for Holy Orders, meaning they are on track to become transitional deacons on their way to the priesthood. Archbishop Sample heard these brothers make their commitments verbally in front of the gathered community, including many visiting vocations directors and bishops, and he blessed their continued journey. I was in the choir loft at the back of the long Abbey Church, but I did manage to snap a couple photos. Seeing so many priests in one place makes me grateful for the sacrifices they make to be Christ and bring the Eucharist to the people each day.

Last weekend I flew to Boise for the wedding of Derek and Kayla. Kayla and I grew up at St. John's Cathedral, went to Seattle Pacific University, volunteered together at multiple parishes, and have shared in friendship for over a decade. A few months ago she asked me to be in the wedding with one catch: That I give some thought to being on her side of the aisle. I agreed with trepidation, but I felt more at ease when she said Derek's sister would be on his side. So this was my first (and likely only) time acting as a "Bridesman." Derek's sister served as a "Groomsmaid." I even have an engraved flask to commemorate the occasion. The dancing was rowdy, the food was tasty, and the celebration was worthy of two lovers rejoicing in their sacramental union. I was glad to take part. Her marriage to Derek is a beautiful culmination of young adulthood. Now she is equipped with a Master's of Social Work from the University of Washington, a new job in her field, and a triathlete husband who adores her. 

Finally, yesterday in absence I celebrated with the six permanent deacons ordained for the Diocese of Boise, two of whom I know well enough to congratulate: Deacon Mac Chester and Deacon Clyde Brinegar. They are principled, humorous, caring, and abiding individuals who will serve their parishes and the greater community well.

May you invite the Holy Spirit into your journey at each step, my friends. Congratulations and thank you for allowing me to share in your joy.

Sisters

Have you ever wondered what a nun does? Do you know anyone that wants to give their life to Jesus in a special and particular way? I was surprised and moved seeing the sisters in the video below direct their lives to serving the Lord in medicine, education, prayer, and many ways of interacting with the world. Watch this video. Forward it to friends and family. Parents, encourage your daughters to invite the Lord into their life decisions. Let us do all we can to foster the life of women in the Church, both in religious vocations and secular vocations.


Light of Love from Imagine Sisters on Vimeo.
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Presented by Lighthouse Catholic Media and Imagine Sisters, in association with the Institute on Religious Life, Our Lady's Rosary Makers, and the Laboure Society. Created by Lumen Vere Media and Altius Studies. Please thank them for their incredible support!

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Shakespeare

Last weekend, I enjoyed two plays at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland with brother seminarians and a few faculty members. For an upcoming issue of the Catholic Sentinel for the Archdiocese of Portland, I wrote about this experience. Below is the article, along with a few photos.

Seminarians Study Shakespeare, Encounter Characters

Picture this: The Shakespearian comedy A Midsummer Night’s Dream set in 1964, the king and queen morphed into a priest and nun set to leave their religious vows to be married, the four young lovers played by two black and two white actors, ripples from the Second Vatican Council and the Civil Rights Movement onstage amid the poetic musings of history’s most renowned playwright.

These directorial choices aroused varying responses among the 17 seminarians from Mount Angel Seminary that attended the Oregon Shakespeare Festival on Sept. 27 and 28.

“That was jarring,” seminarian Paul Grandi of the Diocese of Tucson said. “It added a layer to the play beyond what Shakespeare intended. It took me out of his world.”

The seminarians journeyed four-and-a-half hours to Ashland, Oreg., to see A Midsummer Night’s Dream and King Lear. The trip to Ashland is an annual staple for those double-majoring in literature and philosophy and other interested students. Literature Professor Creighton Lindsay said the tradition started around 2006 with a group of seven students.

“I like it when the students get excited about something, whether they are critical or not,” Lindsay said. “It’s a joy to share my appreciation of things, when students give themselves over to the pleasure of theatre.”

King Lear similarly evoked varied reactions. In a climactic scene of the cognitively declining king enduring a tremendous storm, two of the main characters were stripped of their positions and seeming dignity. They were also stripped of all but their underwear. Some liked the symbolism. Others thought it went too far.

“They do that just to get a reaction out of us,” said John Hesla, seminarian for the Archdiocese of Portland.

Grandi appreciated the scene.

“They captured some moments beautifully, like Lear in the storm and his descent into madness,” Grandi said.

In addition to the plays, seminarians experienced sleeping over at the Southern Oregon University Newman Center, a game of bocce ball in the park, sharing dinners at Standing Stone Brew Pub and Pasta Piatti, and time away from campus.

“It’s nice to be off the hill to just relax with other seminarians and the good doctors and their wives,” Hesla said, referring to two of the four faculty members that also attended, both of whom brought their spouses.

For 10 individuals, Saturday featured a backstage tour of the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Students were led by an actor as a tour guide, sat in the green room, saw a time-lapse set change, walked behind and on the Elizabethan Stage, and learned that student groups such as theirs make up 25 percent of ticket sales.

“Studying literature in general and Shakespeare in particular is a wonderful way for seminarians to challenge themselves,” Lindsay said. “Students tell me literature is good training for becoming a priest, because in literature you get to explore a variety of the types of people you might see in your diocese or parish.”

Huddle

I haven't been around much lately, but I promise I will return soon. The start of soccer season involves endless detail work -- rosters, uniforms, league fees, player cards, field painting, scheduling, and lack of free time. But I have adventures to share about pastors having the "stench of the sheep," seeing Shakespeare performed in Ashland, and the inaugural game of our season, a four-all tie with Willamette in dreary rain and blustery conditions this afternoon. For now, you must be content with this photo taken as our team huddled to conclude the afternoon. Until we meet again...

"Pink"

I discovered inspiration in a strange place tonight: An obituary of a woman I never knew. I happened to click on a friend's Facebook post, and the story of Mary A. "Pink" Mullaney sounded like a cross between my nurturing, crazy Aunt Jackie, my faithful, holy friend Lorissa, and many other characters I have the privilege to know. I hope you enjoy the tale of "Pink's" life as much as I did.

If you're about to throw away an old pair of pantyhose, stop. Consider: Mary Agnes Mullaney (you probably knew her as "Pink") who entered eternal life on Sunday, September 1, 2013. Her spirit is carried on by her six children, 17 grandchildren, three surviving siblings in New "Joisey", and an extended family of relations and friends from every walk of life. We were blessed to learn many valuable lessons from Pink during her 85 years, among them: Never throw away old pantyhose. Use the old ones to tie gutters, child-proof cabinets, tie toilet flappers, or hang Christmas ornaments.

Also: If a possum takes up residence in your shed, grab a barbecue brush to coax him out. If he doesn't leave, brush him for twenty minutes and let him stay.

Let a dog (or two or three) share your bed. Say the rosary while you walk them.

Go to church with a chicken sandwich in your purse. Cry at the consecration, every time. Give the chicken sandwich to your homeless friend after mass.

Go to a nursing home and kiss everyone. When you learn someone's name, share their patron saint's story, and their feast day, so they can celebrate. Invite new friends to Thanksgiving dinner. If they are from another country and you have trouble understanding them, learn to "listen with an accent."

Never say mean things about anybody; they are "poor souls to pray for."

Put picky-eating children in the box at the bottom of the laundry chute, tell them they are hungry lions in a cage, and feed them veggies through the slats.

Correspond with the imprisoned and have lunch with the cognitively challenged.

Do the Jumble every morning.

Keep the car keys under the front seat so they don't get lost.

Make the car dance by lightly tapping the brakes to the beat of songs on the radio.

Offer rides to people carrying a big load or caught in the rain or summer heat. Believe the hitchhiker you pick up who says he is a landscaper and his name is "Peat Moss."

Help anyone struggling to get their kids into a car or shopping cart or across a parking lot.

Give to every charity that asks. Choose to believe the best about what they do with your money, no matter what your children say they discovered online.

Allow the homeless to keep warm in your car while you are at Mass.

Take magazines you've already read to your doctors' office for others to enjoy. Do not tear off the mailing label, "Because if someone wants to contact me, that would be nice."

In her lifetime, Pink made contact time after time. Those who've taken her lessons to heart will continue to ensure that a cold drink will be left for the overheated garbage collector and mail carrier, every baby will be kissed, every nursing home resident will be visited, the hungry will have a sandwich, the guest will have a warm bed and soft nightlight, and the encroaching possum will know the soothing sensation of a barbecue brush upon its back.

Above all, Pink wrote -- to everyone, about everything. You may read this and recall a letter from her that touched your heart, tickled your funny bone, or maybe made you say "huh?"

She is survived by her children and grandchildren whose photos she would share with prospective friends in the checkout line: Tim (wife Janice, children Timmy, Joey, T.J., Miki and Danny); Kevin (wife Kathy, children Kacey, Ryan, Jordan and Kevin); Jerry (wife Gita, children Nisha and Cathan); MaryAnne; Peter (wife Maria Jose, children Rodrigo and Paulo); and Meg (husband David Vartanian, children Peter, Lily, Jerry and Blase); siblings Anne, Helen, and Robert; and many in-laws, nieces, nephews, friends and family too numerous to list but not forgotten.

Pink is reunited with her husband and favorite dance and political debate partner, Dr. Gerald L. Mullaney, and is predeceased by six siblings.

Fear

Fear seizes me sometimes. I might not identify the fear or call it by name, but at moments, I fear the obstacles before me. I fear loneliness. I fear restlessness. I fear foregoing my ambitions. I fear the disapproval or disappointment of others. I fear losing control.

This time at Mount Angel directs my gaze at those fears. The Lord stands alongside me and beckons me to humble myself, to acknowledge the presence of worldly passions, to allow the Holy Spirit to gently melt that which delays and prevents revelation and self-mastery. In this inner struggle toward holiness, I have an anthem. My alarm each morning is set to this song, and its message echoes through my waking hours.

The song is I Shall Not Want by Audrey Assad. In it, she blends the Litany of Humility with the well-loved line from the twenty-third psalm.

I tend to be serious in blog posts, but in reality, I'm not that way most of the time. I make wise cracks and use sarcasm. I laugh with brother seminarians. I enjoy my time here. Yet even humor can be a crutch disguising discomfort at the formation process. When I am forced to reflect on how I spend my time and prioritize life, I can grow uncomfortable. That's the nature of growth. Growth is not putting giftedness to use and laughing all the way. Growth confronts weakness, inaccuracy, and ignorance and asks how to burn it away. Matthew Kelly emphasizes the creation of habits to teach virtue, to stimulate growth, to give individuals the impetus to become the best version of ourselves. Cultivating healthy, life-giving habits necessarily entails the confrontation of fears.

At Mount Angel, I meet every other week with a Formation Director assigned to me. We examine my life from a number of aspects -- spirituality, sexuality, academics, physical wellbeing, social life, discernment, discipline. From our meetings, my formater brings his impressions to the entire formation team -- the president-rector, vice rectors, formaters, and staff that participate in the process. And they make recommendations to my local bishop and vocations directors on my continuing formation. When I get to the end of the year, this group of people will decide whether I am fit to begin more intensive and focused theological studies. At the end of the formation process, this group makes a final recommendation as to whether an individual is adequately prepared for ordination to the priesthood.

I say this because in our current world, many Catholics and many non-Catholics are concerned that priests are not sufficiently screened or prepared to be celibate, chaste, holy, competent leaders for God's people. In my experience, the Church is doing everything it can to find the right people and equip them to shepherd parishes and people. Each day I am part of a rigorous program that examines my fears, keeps me busy, fills my mind with the knowledge and training I need, and pushes me beyond barriers to personal growth.

No matter how my journey ends -- in ordination, in realization of lay vocational calling, in mission, at peace -- this time at Mount Angel Seminary will be an immeasurably valuable time of reflection. I feared coming to seminary, and I still have trepidation about being ordained as a priest. But I no longer fear where this time will lead. God cares for me. The Lord has an end meant expressly for my life, and it will bring about my deepest joy. I experience peace reflecting on that reality. Fear fades. I taste God's goodness. And I shall not want.