A Post for Jenee

This is a little post dedicated to Jenee.

The real beauty of a human person

is something we cannot see at first.
It is not a firework.




The real beauty of a human person
IS LIKE A BURIED TREASURE.

It is like a pearl deep inside its clam,
leagues beneath the surface
of the sea.






The real beauty of a human person...

is

not stagnant but growing. It is like an acorn, or like the tiny seeds
WHICH BECOME WILDFLOWERS.

The human person is truly beautiful because he is a reflection of the Creator.

On the Christmas Epistle Reading

At Midnight Christmas Mass a passage from Titus was read (Titus 2:11-14). I found it interesting because of its mirror-like structure.

The grace of God our Savior has appeared to all man, instructing us that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly, and justly, and godly in this world, looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God and our Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and might cleanse to himself a people acceptable, a pursuer of good works. These things speak, and exhort, in Jesus Christ our Lord.

"God our Savior" mirrors "Christ Jesus our Lord." Like bookends, these two phrases state and echo the connection between God and man. These phrases communicate an essential aspect of the Judao-Christian God who, unlike the deities of other religions, has a deep love for His creation. He is not just 'God' or 'Jesus Christ'. He is 'our Savior' and 'our Lord'. God's deep love is shown in His dedication to His creation, which is shown most in the life Jesus (and the birth of Jesus is a most important moment in that life) and which is also shown in the heart of this passage.

"instructing us" mirrors "these things speak, and exhort." What Jesus has told us, we are to tell others. The Good News was fist preached to the Jews, but it is not supposed to stop there. So St. Paul tells Titus what he has learned, that Titus might tell others, and then what st. Paul wrote may edify us to communicate to still more people. Like all good things, the Good News is open and growing.

"denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly, and justly, and godly in this world" mirrors "all iniquity, and might cleanse to himself a people acceptable, a pursuer of good works". The first speaks of us actively leading virtuous lives. The second speaks of us being made clean, that is, passively receiving what is being done to us. The first is in the context of obeying what Christ has instructed us and in hope of His second coming. The second is in the context of being redeemed. As the second one explains, Jesus has cleaned us of our sins that we may be acceptable to Him by pursuing good works. The first exhorts us to live up to our redemption: to do what Christ has given us the grace to do. For this purpose Christ came to earth and was born amongst us.

"looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory" mirrors "who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us". Here it is as if we are living amongst mirrors. For we are to look forward to the future, but the means by which we look to the future is nothing else than the past.

"God and our Savior Jesus Christ" calls us back to the beginning and end of this passage. And as God is the center of all the Universe, so His name lies at the center of this passage. In these few words we find a small echo of the incarnation. For first God revealed Himself as a single being, 'God' or 'Yahweh'. Then the Prophets proclaimed to the Jews the coming of a Savior. Next, the angel Gabriel announced to Mary that she was to have a son and name Him Jesus. Finally, Jesus' followers recognized that He was the promised one, that He was the Christ.

This passage is like concentric circles. In the heart of this passage we find God. Next outside of that we find the mission of Christ's life accomplished and our own lives in the context of His redemption. Then outside of that we see the essence of Jesus' mission and how we are to live according to all that He has done for us, actively leading lives in accord with all He has done for us. Then outside of that we discover that as Christ has taught us, so we are to teach others. The Passion does not stop with the Jews or with the first converts but extends to all peoples of all countries and all ages. And finally we find again the name of God.

We see in the first instance of God's name that 'Savior' is connected with 'God'. In the second instance, 'Lord' is connected with 'Christ Jesus'. This shows a melding of two views of God. He is not just our eternal ruler and Lord, nor is He just a Savior who turned up once long ago. Rather, both roles are of the same Almighty Creator.


Although this passage doesn't seem very appropriate for Christmas, it in fact leads us deeply into the heart of what Christmas means.

Surrounded by the name of God which reveals who He is, this passage leads us from
the proclamation of the Good News (as the angels sang to the shepherds)
to the essence of why Christ was born on Christmas day- to redeem us that we may live virtuously and reach heaven to be with Him.
We see Christmas in the context of the entire plan for the redemption of mankind.
From there this passage leads us to Calvary where Christ gave Himself to redeem us; and because of our redemption, we live in the hope of our redeemer's promised return.
Now we see our lives and those of all mankind in the context of our redemption.
And at the heart we again find the name of God,
as it gradually reveals more and more of who He is.

Things You Learn in College that Are Not on the Syllabus

1. Seeing a person every single second of every day does not mean they are your friend.
2. When a girl gets something drastically different done to her hair, it usually means she just broke up with her boyfriend, or something emotionally traumatic like that.
3. When a friend who is a guy punches your arm and smiles it means he's thinking about and hoping you're ok, you but he doesn't have time to talk.
4. When a girl punches a guy playfully, he might take it more seriously than she meant it to be.
5. When a girl punches a guy hard, he had better listen because she has something really serious to say and the friendship just might be over.
6. Funny accent aside, people from Wisconsin are awesome!
7. When you're sad and someone sits down and is willing to listen to you, then you know you have a friend.
8. People who always have the earbuds of their iPods in their ears tend to be odd.
9. Never over-plan your day because ridiculous things that you could never expect will always happen and throw you off schedule.
10. When a professor laughs at a student's silly remark in class, that means he has good ears and a sense of humor. It doesn't mean he'll be a easy person to please when it's time to write an essay for his class.

Hope you enjoy these. Got to go catch up on 5 bazillion pounds of homework. Bye.

Christ, Abraham, and Malchizedek: A Parallel

For Theology Class I have to read chapters 1-28 of Genesis by tomorrow (so I should be reading, not posting, actually, but anyway...). In chapter 14, verses 11-20 I found this very interesting parallel.

So basically there's all these kings (I skimmed that part with all their long unpronouncable names) and some sort of war, and kings charging through lands full of bituman pits (?). And these kings come charging through Sodom and Gomorah, plundering and looting as they go. Abraham finds out and gathers up his army of a big whopping 318 and goes and rescues the inhabitants of Sodom and Gomorah since his relatives- Lot and his family- live there.

After the dust clears, the king of Sodom, Abraham, and the King of Salem meet in the Valley of Shaveh. And the King of Salem is Melchizedek, the priest who offers bread and wine.

The parallel I found was that Melchizedeck and Abraham are both Christ like figures. As you probably know, Sodom and Gomorah were not the most clean and righteous of cities. But Abraham goes and rescues all the inhabitants, not just his family. That's how Christ is. He spoke especially among the Jews, but salvation is not limited to them. No, it is extended to all people, even the most sinful and wretched.

And then we have the prefigurement of the Eucharist. Malchikedek offers the sacrafice of bread and wine even with the king of perverse Sodom right there. Judas was present at the last supper, and Jesus does not confine the sacrament of the Eucharist to only a select perfect few.

And just the other day I found out that there is significance in the number 72 when Jesus sends out 72 disciples to preach. At that time it was thought that there were 72 nations, indicating that Jesus is not confining His good news to just one nation, the Jews. No, Christs wants, through His disciples, all people to come to know Him. Christ came to save all mankind.

'Now the eleven disciples went to Galilee, to the mountain to which Jesus had directed them. And when they saw Him they worshipd him; but some doubted. And Jesus came and said to them, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of hte Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."'

A FABULOUS 24 HOURS

WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY OF LAST WEEK WERE SO FABULOUS! SO LAST NIGHT MANY TMC STUDENTS INCLUDING MYSELF WENT TO THE BOSTON AQUARIUM BECAUSE LAST NIGHT WAS THE ANNUAL FREE COLLEGE STUDENT NIGHT. I SAW ALL THESE REALLY COOL FISH! I WAS SAD ABOUT SOME SAD THINGS HAPPENING IN MY LIFE AT HTE MOMENT, AND LOOKING AT ALL THOSE AMAZING FISH I FELT LIKE JOB, WHO I JUST READ ABOUT FOR THEOLOGY CLASS. I CAN'T UNDERSTAND A FISH; WHO AM I TO QUESTION THE WAYS OF GOD?

THEN WE DECIDED TO WALK TO THIS COFFEE PLACE SINCE IT WAS A COLD RAINING NIGHT. GREAT! EXCEPT THAT THE SHOP SUGGESTED TURNED OUT TO BE ALMOST ALL THE WAY ONT HE OTHER SIDE OF BOSTON, SO WE HAD QUITE A WALK THROUGH RAINY NIGHT STREETS. BUT IT WAS FUN IN THE TOTAL RANDOMNESS SPONTINAITY OF IT ALL. IT WAS ANNOYING, I GUESS, ALL THAT WALKING, BUT I WAS DETIRMINED TO MAKE THE BEST OF IT.

AFTER GOING TO THE CAFE, WHERE I ORDERED GELATO ICE CREAM, WE WERE STANDING OUTSIDE AND THIS STREET MUSCICIAN CAME UP AND ASKED IF HE COULD PLAY FOR US. WE ALL PITCHED IN SOME MONEY AND I DECIDED TO PIPE UP AND ASK FOR A REALLY PRETTY ROMANTIC PEICE OF MUSIC THAT WAS A LITTLE SAD. SO HE PLAYED SEVERAL TUNES, I DON'T REMEMBER THE NAME OF THEM, SORRY. BUT THEY WERE LOVELY, AND THE WAY THE MUSIC ECHOED AGAINST THE BUILDING ON ON SIDE OF HIM AND WAS LOST INTO THE NIGHT ON THE OTHER SIDE OF HIM WAS QUITE FASCINATING.

THEN TODAY WAS THE FEAST OF OUR LADY OF THE ROSARY. I'M IN THE CHOIR AT TMC, AND FOR THE FEAST DAY THE CHOIR SANG THE AVE MARIS STELLA AND THE GREGORIAN CHANT AVE MARIA. IT WAS WONDERFULLY BEAUTIFUL BEINGA BLE TO SING. I PASSIONATELY LVOE MUSIC, AND IT'S ALL THE BETTER WHEN YOU CAN BE APRT OF IT, BECAUSE- HAVE YOU NITICED- MUSIC THAT IS PLAYED REALLY WELL IS ALIVE? HAVE YOU NOTICED THAT- THAT GOOD MUSIC IS ALIVE? AND THEN WHEN YOU'RE ACTUALLY PART OF THE MUSIC, PART OF YOUR OWN SOUL IS GOING INTO MAKING THAT SOUND BEAUTIFUL, AND IN ITS BEAUTY IS GROWS AND IS ALIVE.

THEN AFTER MASS I HAD NATURAL HISTORY, IN WHICH WE ARE LEARNING DIFFERENT TYPES OF TREES AND BIRDS OF NEW ENGLAND. TODAY OUR TEACHER TOOK US ON A FIELD TRIP TO THE 'GREAT MEADOW NATURAL RESCOURCE'. IT'S A LOVELY PLACE. HE SHOWED US DIFFERENT TREES AND PLANTS, AND THEN GAVE US AN ASSIGNMENT AND WE WERE FREE TO EXPLORE FOR AN HOUR. THIS PHOTO IS VERY LIKE WHAT WE FOUND:

WELL, IT'S BEEN FABULOUS, I MUST SAY. KEEP ME IN YOUR PRAYERS, AND I AM PRAYING FOR ALL OF YOU.

p.s. If you click on the pictures you can see them enitrely. None of the photoes except the religious painting were small enough to fit completely in the space Blogger gives, but if you click on them you can see the complete photo. Also click on the drawing below of Cardinal Newman that was drawn by my Dad!

Gallery II ~ My Dad

IN THIS SECOND GALLERY POST, I WOULD LIKE TO SHINE THE SPOTLIGHT ON MY DAD, IN HONOR OF HIS BIRTHDAY TO DAY (AND NAME SAINT FEAST DAY LAST THURSDAY, AS I RECALL)...

The drawing above is of Blessed Cardinal Newman, recently beatified by Pope Benedict XVI. It was done with charcoal from a photograph of Cardinal Newman.

Below is an oil painting of St. Bernadette. Dad worked on it for years. My mom and my brothers and I would come down to Dad's studio in the basement after he had spent all night awake painting and study the painting. Sometimes it was hard to tell what he had worked on all night, but other times it quite caught our breath away. my brothers and I refer to this painting as 'Dad's masterpeice'.




My dad has gone and still goes to several art clubs where artists will get together to paint a model. This is one his best from those sessions.

And here is the link to Dad's blog where you can find photoes of some more of his work: http://http://runartist.wordpress.com/

Feel free to comment on my Dad's blog!

Curious Observation

It has rained everyday this past week, almost non-stop. The only days it did not rain were Wednesday and Saturday. Wednesday was particularly sunny.
Wednesday was the feast of the Archangels, Sts. Raphael, Michael, and Gabriel. (St. Raphael is fantastic, by the way.)
Saturday was the feast of Guardian Angels.

Wisdom Chapter 6

You can find Wisdom Chapter 6 online here.

Keeping Wisdom's laws->Love-> desire of discipline-> Wisdom -> incorruptibly-> God

Of the fruits of the Holy Spirit, Self-control is the seventh. By self-control of the desire of discipline, we control our tendencies toward sin and keep our desire for goodness pure. As it is explained n chapters 1 ad 4, Wisdom cones to those who are good and pure. It is by love that we persevere in disciplining ourselves, for out of love of God and of what is good and of other people, we restrain ourselves from doing thoughtless and reckless things. Restraining ourselves from doing stupid things, keeping our desires pure, and acting accordingly is nothing less than living by Wisdom's laws. Living thus is living virtuously, which leads to heaven. So by desiring discipline, and keeping that desire alive and pure with love, and living according to it we receive Wisdom, the first of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. In this way we reach heaven where we will be forever united with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.