BACK IN BUSINESS!

It's been too long, I know. After several chastisements, I'm back on the air. From Antioch to Rome LIVES!

What happened was I thought my password wasn't working. So it WASN'T that I was being lazy but I had a legitimate excuse. Had. I tried to log on today and it still didn't work. But then I tried a different password and Voila! I was on. I must have changed it at some point. So here we are again.

I won't attempt to detail the past 6 months, but know that it has been a lot of prayer, work, relationships, preaching, and traveling. I am now on vacation in Boulder, CO for the holidays, but I've had a lot of fun visiting my family and supporters. As team director for FOCUS at Seton Hall University I have been stretched beyond my imagination. God is truly humbling me, but what more could I ask for?!

In the past month I've been in 10 different states and 3 different countries. Seminars, meetings, fundraising visits, and mission trips have put me on the road. A huge highlight was Ghana in West Africa. It was a blessing to be asked by FOCUS to lead an annual mission trip there. FOCUS's mission department director and I had to go down for about a week just before Thanksgiving to set everything up for the real mission trip which will take place in July.

I hope to visit as many of my supporters as possible to be able to share news more personally. I am in Boulder for a week around Christmas and then another week in mid-January. In the meantime, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

10 Day Report

After the first 10 days here at Summer Training I'm realizing I need to be more disciplined about bedtime. There are so many awesome people to catch up with and stay up late talking to, that I find myself getting about 2-3 hours less sleep than I need. It's fatiguing but at the same time very edifying to get back together with a lot of my brothers and sisters. Please pray for us as we continue our training.

Some of the people I am most excited to get to spend more time with are the McCartneys. There are 6 of them here: Matt, Libby, Cate, Jane, Ann, and Meghan (Matt's younger sister). It's been fun hanging out with them after spending the last year far away.

I hope, as the summer begins, you all are blessed by God's abundant grace, respond to it, and are sealed with the gifts of the Holy Spirit!

Summer Training in Illinois

The St. John's Catholic Newman Center at the University of Illinois opened its doors last week to about 50 FOCUS missionaries who came to prepare for New Staff Training 2009. There will be well over 200 missionaries here by this Saturday, and we are very excited to all be together. I am reporting from week 0 of training. There are several reasons this smaller group of missionaries has gathered before the new staff get here. I am here with a group of about 15 missionaries who are being trained to be team directors. This means they will be sent to a campus and lead the FOCUS team assigned there. At present it is not totally sure, but it's fair to say there is a strong likelihood I'll be a team director next year. This would mean a move, as the U of Maryland already has a TD. I hope to be able to inform you all of my assignment in the next few days.

Life here at training is a bit in a bubble. We spend our days getting excellent formation from FOCUS veterans, then our meals and evenings in the presence of fabulous missionaries in fellowship and fun. This week I've especially enjoyed going to bars in the evening to watch the nuggets!

Some of our leadership classes have been taking teachings from Franklin Covey's "7 Habits of Highly Effective People". I'm sure some of you have read the book. Of course along with the lessons we've been pulling out the more Catholic principles from this protestant writer.

Please pray for us as we soak up these teachings and the renewal of spirit from being with all our missionary brothers and sisters. God bless!

Poisoned in West Virginia

I got a good taste of poison ivy this week that my face bears the evidence of. We had a great retreat in Hedgesville, WV for fall outreach planning. We pumped our student leaders up with dazzling and exciting events on the docket for the first week of next semester. Kyle Ludvik, '09-'10 team director for FOCUS UMD, was present at the retreat to meet and help plan. Fr. Kyle Ingels, our chaplain, also brought great vision and ideas to our discussions, leading us to harmony with programming at the CSC. We discussed a lot of great ideas and sifted through experiences of the past year, but the retreat also presented an opportunity to come together in fellowship off campus. We stayed in one of our student leaders family vacation home. The ladies slept inside on nice warm beds, the guys camped outside in the rain. Both parties were very content with their accommodations. We men like rough living. We also had fun climbing some trees. And now I have poison ivy on my face. Last night I rubbed bleach all over it. This morning I did it again. I'm pretty sure it's toast.

Airplane!

I made an emergency trip home last week for my grandfather's funeral. I saw the plane rides as an opportunity to get some reading done. I had received a copy of Chaput's "Render Unto Caesar" at Christmas, but hadn't had a chance to crack it yet.

It was a great read, very accessible but uncompromising in its stance against lukewarm Catholicism in the public sphere. I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who considers themselves Catholic citizens of the United States of America.

To enter on a brief tangent, my grandfather was a veteran of World War II. As such, the honor guard was present at his funeral and he had a veteran's burial. It was the first time I witnessed a veteran's burial. What a marvelous and wonderful rite! I, as a grandson, felt so honored by their presence, and so inspired by the service of my grandfather that I found myself contemplating joining up. Ha!



But back to the plane ride. I understand the opportunity to witness to the truth of Jesus Christ on a plane. You've got a captive audience right there next to you for anywhere from an hour to three or four hours. Usually, though, I'm a bit timid.


I sat in the plane reading about how I need to be a Catholic publicly and unswervingly. It spoke to me on an evangelical level. I, as an evangelical Catholic missionary, need to be more willing to be a prophet of the truth to the college campus. Just then I decided to ask my neighbor whether she lived in DC or was just visiting. She was in politics and social action organizations. She then asked what I do, and it became an evangelical encounter. Right away she posed many questions on social issues and how she couldn't understand why the Church remains archaic on certain things. She, a Catholic (if non-practicing), was in the buffet camp. It was just the situation the Chaput had just tutored me on. I had the opportunity to sympathize with her and reassure her that her point of view was understandable, or I could love her and call her to a more heroic, higher ground. I remained firm and we had a pleasant though conflicting conversation. In the end she at least seemed to acknowledge that it was good to hear someone ready and willing to stand up for morality who was a regular citizen.

There wasn't really much of a warming up to the Church's Word on her part, but I did at least make her promise me to go see the National Shrine (which she hadn't yet after living in DC for a year) just to look at the art. I, formed in art history, believe strongly in the evangelical power of art and I pray that when she does go the power of the Eucharistic presence will convert her heart.

In Great Appreciation

The past two weeks have been crazy. Events on campus (see below) preceded the great High Feast of Easter. Just a day after Easter Sunday, I received word that my paternal grandfather had died. I rushed home to be with my family. It was a good, if solemn, opportunity to be with my family during the Easter Season. The hour I got back to Maryland I dropped one bag at home and packed another to rush down to Upper Marlboro, MD to join our Catholic Student Center's Spring Retreat. Back on campus this week we've been looking forward to next fall, when we'll have our big outreach push for the year. That planning has been exhausting, as there is much to strategize and organize. This work is enjoyable for me though, so it's been fun work. We will have a retreat next weekend (may 1-3) with our student leaders in West Virginia to talk about what we'll be doing in the fall, vision casting for the systematic incarnational evangelization that we perform.

In the midst of all this, there have been lunches, phone meetings, emails, and much waiting while my placement for next year is determined. I still am unsure where I'll be. Needless to say, it has been a bit of an emotional strain to be unsure whether I'll be back at UMD or not next year this late in the game.

But despite all this, it is incredible to have such a devoted support team who blesses me with such heroic and loving generosity. I am struck with profound appreciation for you all who share with me of your hard-earned paycheck, just to be out here living a life trained on God and encouraging students to do likewise.

The spring semester is what FOCUS calls the "Build Season". It's when we put much energy into forming our disciples through scriptural study, discipline in virtues, and challenges to generosity. Now, as that season comes to a close, we begin to focus our energy outward again, looking ahead to the fall. My disciple, John, has been leading a study for a couple years and now has 2 disciples of his own. His mission for fall outreach will be to support his disciples as they start their own bible studies. Tony has a Bible study but no disciples yet. His mission will be to invest a majority of his energy on those guys in his study already, and hopefully ask a couple of them into discipleship. Chris will be starting a new Bible study. It will be my duty to support him in that and really show him how to do it. I am excited for all these men to step up and respond to these challenges. Please pray for them.

Scourges

As Holy Week drew close at the University of Maryland, a series of scourges began. At the end of last week, we received word that our campus would be screening a XXX full-length pornography film at a huge auditorium in our student union. Our chaplain and many of our students were solicited for interviews by media that went around the country, even into the whole world. By early this week, Australia had shown press on this event. Through government action, the film's screening was blocked. Students then made it a freedom of speech issue. Its showing is one thing, but the fact that students were willing to fight to have it shown is another very saddening thing altogether. The film was shown earlier this week.

On Monday of Holy Week, news reached us that a student with whom I had been meeting, and who was in Raul's Bible study, had committed suicide over the weekend. We also found out that he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia in the fall. None of us had known this. It was very difficult to hear this news, and we continue to pray for his soul and for his family.

The governing bodies of our university also decided this week to abolish a long-standing tradition of a short prayer at commencement. Our chaplain, Fr. Kyle Ingels has had a difficult time lobbying for its maintenance. Happily though, this senatorial decision was overriden by the school's president.

All these events considered, it has been a trying Holy Week. Through this we are growing closer to Jesus as we place ourselves beside Him on His road to Calvary.

I wish you all a very blessed Easter.

Though today is Good Friday and we await Saturday night to seasonally celebrate, we live in an Easter time, we are Easter people. Even now, Christ is Risen!

Oasis in the Desert

April 1st was John Junghans's 21st birthday. My bible study meets on Wednesdays, so awhile ago we realized that John's birthday fell on a Wednesday. We planned to go out that night as a study so for a long time we had looked forward to it. We all headed to a favorite site in Hyattsville, Franklin's. It is a small brewery pretty close to our house. I like the beer, not so much the tableclothes.

John is the youngun of our study, and the last to turn 21. It was a great joy for me to celebrate this momentous occasion with such fine men. It was an awesome opportunity to build fellowship, breaking the habitude of study together. Our bible studies are an important source of formation for young men. But an important part of that formation is fellowship; and especially, how to enjoy one another in a way that is truly loving and appropriate. The strengthening of the bonds of fellowship is an investment in character that will long outlast much of what students learn in lecture halls. What an honor to present and promote the gift of fellowship and fraternity that God blesses us with! The occasion provided us with a little extra feast in the midst of our journey through the desert toward Easter.

Pier Giorgio Frassati

Over spring break I read Luciana Frassati's account of her brother, Pier Giorgio's life. I had taken a liking to Pier Giorgio from seeing his picture hiking and smoking a pipe in the mountains. I thought, this guy knows what's good. After reading his book though, I found there was much more there than I thought. What an incredible generosity filled Pier Giorgio's heart! He loved the poor with an unquenchable fire. He sought social justice in an Italy in destructive turmoil. He persevered in faith under severe social pressures from his family and through their own self-destruction. What I thought to find in Pier Giorgio's life was a rugged manliness who found God in nature and appreciated the pleasures of life. A regular Chestertonian. What I found was a serene youth who loved mystic encounters in front of the Blessed Sacrament late at night, a man scandalized by the poverty that surrounded his family's sumptuous lifestyle. I will ask his intercession for me as I am convicted about my own lack of generosity and love for the other, that God would change my heart to love the poor and deny myself as Pier Giorgio did. And I recommend the book:

"Heart of The World"

I'd been quite intimidated by Hans Urs Von Balthasar. Proclaimed to be one of the most creative Catholic minds, and undoubtedly so at least in the last century, I wasn't sure where to start. While I was in France my brother put a copy of "Heart of the World" on my desk. When I cracked the cover, what a wonder to my mind! His prose illumined my dark room in wintery southern France. What a delight, and as my soul soared on his nigh on poetic phrases, I was no longer intimidated, but befriended. He won my heart by telling me my heart in the first chapter. Then, after gaining my confidence, he challenged me point blank saying, "if you pray for sanctity, that means you do not yet have it". I wondered what this might mean in terms of a directive for spiritual journey, but I've learned it is an important lesson in humility, and also loving God. Jesus, the Heart of the World, has done everything for me. The beloved apostle remarks Christ's words "apart from me you can do nothing". All I do must be done through Him, in Him, with Him. What beautiful love von Balthasar describes as he sounds the depths of Jesus's Heart, the pulsing rhythms beaten out as salvation history runs its course. I hope you all will enter the adventure of von Balthasar with this convicting story of the Heart of the World.

"Naked Without Shame"

(I don't have a picture for this post) Last week I went to our rec center on campus to jog and bike for awhile between meetings. After I finished I went to take a shower. While I was in the communal baths there was an old man who finished just before me, then as I walked back to my locker, he was standing next to mine. As I unpacked the things in my bag before I got dressed, I took my Bible out and set it on the bench. The man asked, "whatcha readin?" I replied, "that's the holy bible". He gave me an affirmative "ahah". We stood there a moment as I thought how weird it was to have this conversation naked together in a locker room. He remarked, "it looks well thumbed". I smiled. Though he was not my usual audience or target, I figured I shouldn't be totally passive. "Are you a professor here?" I inquired. "Yes". "What do you teach?" "Agricultural Economics. We don't get into the Good Book often...what part are you reading right now?" "Well I've been reading through the second book of Samuel. David was a shepherd--" I offered as an attempt to connect with his field. "The Jewish shepherds were actually quite remarkable. Like David defending his flock from lions and bears, the shepherds would lay down their lives for their flocks. And Jesus became the Good Shepherd for all". He seemed quite in agreement, and I was feeling quite awkward as I finally decided to put some underwear on. It gave me a new appreciation for the phrase, “putting yourself out there”.

When Lent drags on

Last night my Bible study convened for our weekly meeting. Since next week is spring break and we wouldn't be seeing each other for awhile, I decided to do a quick check in on how Lent was going and to use the group's camaraderie to encourage one another. As we went around, it seemed like many were struggling through and even experiencing desolation. What do we do when we fail in our sacrifices? Perhaps harder still, even when we're observing our sacrifices, how do we respond when there is little strength, no joy, and we don't see any fruits? Should we continue when our sacrifices perhaps cut us away from a greater good? One of the guys gave up listening to his ipod on his walk to class. He wondered whether it was good to continue, since sometimes the things he heard due to open ears were scandalous to his heart; conversations about weekend activities, slanders, etc. Instead of hearing these things he could be listening to uplifting Christian music. This is difficult.

In our study this week we're looking at St. Athanasius's battle against Arianism. Arians denied Christ's oneness with the Father declaring that he was a created being. Their mantra was "there was a time when he was not". God's fatherhood means that he as Father must have existed before the Son. But we have clear indication from scripture that "in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God". Theologically speaking, this discussion has huge implications. If Jesus was not God, then the Incarnation and the Resurrection lose their redemptive powers. If Jesus was simply a created being like all the rest of us, then there is nothing special about him, but he perhaps becomes as another Lazarus, whom God favored and chose to raise from the dead. But, because of Jesus's Christhood, his Godhead, we are able to say with St. Paul "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I complete what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the Church." Because Jesus is God, our sufferings and our humanness have meaning, are redeemed, and are united to his sufferings on the Cross. Because we are his body, our sufferings are his sufferings. Our anguish is his anguish. Our crosses are his Cross.

Hiking in Catoctin

This past Sunday it was finally nice enough outside to go in search of some hiking (the skiing around here isn't worth it). My disciple, John, and I journeyed north to Catoctin National Park where we had a great chance to converse, pray, and wonder at God's creation. A giant outcropping of rocks provided excellent challenge and fun as we bouldered around together for the afternoon.

I read this article from zenit on the Vatican's efforts and thoughts on web-networks:
http://zenit.org/article-25314?l=english

Also, today is the memorial of St. Macarius, Bishop. St. Macarius was bishop of Jerusalem from about 313 till his death about 334. He was a lifelong and staunch opponent of Arianism and fought strenuously against this pernicious heresy. He was present at the Council of Nicaea in 325 and played a large role in drafting the Creed. Soon after the Council, together with St. Helena he miraculously discovered the true Cross in Jerusalem, and he was commissioned by her son, Emperor Constantine, to build the Church of the Holy Sepulcher. He makes a camio appearance in the great book by Louis de Wohl, The Living Wood, which I highly recommend.

Heroes

Last semester I led two Bible studies. In one I followed Dr. Tim Gray's study on 1 Corinthians and the other was a study written by Curtis Martin, called Boys to Men. During this new semester, I lost a few Bible study members to graduation and a couple to study abroad programs, so I consolidated into one larger Bible study this semester with 8 men.

Last semester I realized I was quite uneducated about the early Church. Names of heresies would come up and I felt I should know more about their circumstances and what Church fathers combated them. I talked to John Junghans, one of my disciples about it, and we thought it might be fun to do a Bible study on heresies. I felt the opportunity was to learn about the process of refinement of Church doctrine. I took the ideas into Christmas break to do some research.

After pondering the options for studying heresies, it became apparent that it might be difficult to make that the center of our study. A better direction seemed to be study of the Church Fathers and through them to learn the heresies they dealt with. So, this semester I've been having a great time writing this Bible study, immersing myself in the teachings of the Fathers. I decided to call the study "Heroes". We started with Clement of Rome and Ignatius of Antioch, then had a great study on St. Polycarp. Next we looked at St. Irenaeus and his dealing with Gnosticism, then Tertullian on the life of the early Christian communities. Last night we had some very good discussion on the Eucharist and some selections from St. Cyril of Jerusalem and St. Ambrose. To accompany these texts from the Tradition of the Church, we look at the topics' scriptural nature as well.

I ask all these holy figures for their intercession over our Bible study as we study their teaching, and I'd like to ask for your prayers too as we continue to look back into our Church's history for inpiration and courage as we strive to live holy lives in the 21st century.

LENT 2009

Click on the title to go to BXVI's Lenten message for this year.

I wish you all a blessed entry into this season of the desert. I have just a couple minutes this morning to share a little about where we are here. At 3 Ash Wed masses yesterday we saw almost a thousand students, standing room only. We've been pondering the incredible influx for masses that aren't even on a holy day of obligation. Yesterday iterated for me the great need for people willing to engage their faith and engage other Catholics who might not practice their faith to its joyful optimum. In other words, we have a lot of work to do. Please pray for us.

Last weekend we had our Eastern Regional Interview Weekend, and it was a great time with great applicants. I'm very excited to see who will end up on staff. I had a wonderful opportunity to be in special relationship with the applicants as a group. I was in charge of fun, so they were very warm to me. Also, as MC of the weekend, they grew to be comfortable with me and were very willing to approach me with questions and also joke with me. It made me feel very close to them as a group after just 2 days. I was sad to part ways, but we're united through the Spirit and the Sacrament.

I pray for you all in your daily walk with Jesus this Lent, as you accompany Him on His journey to the Cross. May He draw you closer to His Most Sacred Heart.

An "On" Weekend

Each weekend in a FOCUS campus missionary's life is indicated as either "on" or "off". 2 of each per month. This weekend was is "on" for me.

This Friday afternoon the FOCUS UMD team began its first "Upper Room" season with a stellar talk by teammate Ali Kopreski on the first clause of the FOCUS mission statement, "To Know Christ Jesus". The Upper Room meetings bring the FOCUS student leaders together bi-monthly for a little fellowship and additional formation to supplement discipleship with missionaries or senior student leaders. Our curriculum is shared throughout the FOCUS network, so the program is run similarly on several FOCUS campuses. Our first meeting went very well. Ali gave a fantastic talk on the imperative of truly knowing our Savior in a personal way. When we consider the Cross, His Passion and Death, what He did for us individually, how can we not come to Him? "We cannot trivialize the Cross" was a message she insisted upon. We cannot toss off light, inauthentic prayers and think it sufficient for relationship. The Crucifixion actually happened, and it happened for each of us individually.

I had my guitar-led praise and worship debut. When I was home in October I grabbed my dusty hammer and brought it out. I've been practicing since then and by the grace of God we'll have some good prayer through music this semester.

After Upper Room, Raul and I went home to get our house ready for it's 3rd annual 80s party. I was in charge of the turntables (a pair of speakers and an ipod), so I got my approximately 3 1/2 hours of 80s music ready. We had several of our students over, the whole Naval Academy FOCUS team and some of their students, and approximately 75... or 80 (if you will?) others from Catholic circles in the DC area. The dancefloor was crowded at 9 and didn't cool down until about 1am. From all the song requests and 80s party discs that were offered for my use, my 80s music library almost doubled.

We got a few hours of sleep, then met students at 8am mass, and went to the local abortion provider to pray for about 2 hours. I've come home now to call some fellow missionaries to get help with a few of my responsibilities for the Eastern Regional Interview Weekend. I've also been uploading pictures from the last few days and doing laundry, then tonight I think we're going to head to Annapolis with some students to get dinner and something to drink. Tomorrow we'll be superbowl party hopping.

Praise God for this incredible work that FOCUS allows me to do as a missionary. And I thank all of you who support me and help me to be present to the students here. God bless!

The Summit

FOCUS has reached a size which makes it impractical to host a National Conference every year. Now we alternate our National Conferences with what we call Local Leadership Summits every other year. The University of Maryland went in with George Mason University and the Naval Academy this year, and our Summit was last weekend, January 24 and 25. We'd been in planning for the past few months, and in the end it came off very well by the grace of God. The Leadership Summits are a bit different in makeup from National Conferences. We invite only our student leaders, and gear the Summit toward the particular apostolate that we are called to within FOCUS, whereas at Conferences anyone is welcome and there is a large spectrum of offerings to cater to the different demographics. From our three schools about 100 people participated.

At our Summit, Sister Mary Gabriel of the Sisters of Life spoke to us about our weekend's theme "Leave the 99". Monsignor Stuart Swetland of Mount St. Mary's Seminary celebrated mass and benediction with us, and Jeremy Rivera from FOCUS National spoke to us about evangelization. To many it was very encouraging and fun to meet the student leaders from the other schools. Meals and break times were spent in fun fellowship. But to many the messages of the speakers carried much weight. After a lazy break, many got the jumpstart of conviction they needed to encourage them to go out again for another semester of faithfully walking with Jesus. An image that Sister Mary Gabriel gave to us stuck out to many students: the yes that we make. Reflecting on Curtis Martin's book, Made for More, she recounted how Martin was adopted. His birth mother made a choice. She said yes to carrying that child to term and giving him up to someone who could better care for him. Now, because of her frail yes, look at all the people, all the fruit that Curtis Martin has born. It was an impressive reflection.

And now we're back to campus, I just held my first Bible study of the semester last night and I'm joyful to be back in this work. I will be conducting a sort of fly-by-the-cuff study on the Church Fathers. Keep me in your prayers, it is tough work. Apart from the regular campus activities, I am a chair for our Eastern Regional Interview Weekend. Getting my hands in a little work on the big picture is fun. Thank you immensely for your financial support and your prayers!

Hitting the ground Running

I've been back in College Park for 2 weeks now, and things have been so crazy I haven't had time to communicate much. Our team was called back to campus a week before classes started so we could meet together. In the meantime, Washington, D.C. heated up. The first black president was sworn into office in front of millions on the National Mall. Barack Obama is also perhaps the most pro-abortion president we've seen. Not two days after his inauguration, pro-life groups gathered to tread the same National Mall in their annual March for Life. Mixed emotions grapple within me as I witness a triumphant historical event for civil rights, and just days later commemorate the tragic transgression of those same rights. How paradoxical that we celebrate Mr. Obama and the civil rights victory that he stands for, when what he has stood for in part is the forceful robbery of other civil rights.

Christmas at the Dairy

As some of you may know, I was able to spend Christmas and New Years with my brother in southern France. It was not all just a holiday, however. We went into the paysage for some work and some mission. It was great fun to work at a family's dairy farm for a few days. We woke up at 5:30, dawned our farming coveralls and went down to the farm. The more than 50 cows had to be milked and fed twice a day. So in the morning we would milk them all and then clean the rooms in which this happens. After feeding them, we went back up to the house for breakfast, including fresh milk that we had just taken! It's quite satisfying eating breakfast with 3 hours of work already under your belt. This farm was right at the foot of the Pyranees, which allowed for fantastic views. And we couldn't resist the mountains. After finishing with the cows one day, we took a car up to the closest ski hill and rented some snowboards for the day. I've now skied the Swiss Alps and the French Pyranees. (In both cases I'm partial to the Rockies).