Back to School!

Pig roast to celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary

Well, I'm a week from starting my 20th year of studies. When I was younger, people always asked me if I wanted to be a doctor like my father. I always said 'No', because there is too much schooling involved. Little did I know that I would be putting in more classroom time than a med student would. On Thursday in St. Peter's Basilica, Bishop Hebda of Gaylord, MI will ordain 31 men to the transitional diaconate. They will then be ordained priests in there respective dioceses next summer. So this week is a big one here at the college with all the families and friends in town for the celebration. I am singing in the choir again for the ordination. The collection of sacred music we are singing is one of the best I have ever heard. It truly adds a lot to the mass.

One Sunday some of us took a trip to Monte Casino, where St. Benedict started his order. This is the altar where brother and sister Saints Benedict and Scholastica are buried.

Some may ask me what we were doing at the seminary for the month of September since classes don't start until the second week of October. Well, early in September, I helped with orientation for the new men. I was the Student Activities Chairman. This entailed making sure the student lounge was open and operating as well as our student store KNAC (like Kmart). I was also responsible for organizing different activities in the afternoons such as ultimate frisbee, basketball, soccer, and other sports. Its interesting to notice that more guys every year are interested in sports and playing sports. It seems that my class is more active than the class ahead of us and so far, there seems to be more new men playing sports than my class. I've mentioned this before, but who else at the age of 26 can play competitive sports as often as I can. It truly is a blessing for someone as competitive as I am.

We also had a number of week long workshops. One was on spirituality, another was on priestly identity in particular focusing in on celibacy as an invitation to love and serve as Christ did. We also had a week focused on preaching. I gave my first three homilies. It went better than I expected, but it is definitely something I need work on. I need to find my own style both in composing and actually preaching homilies, but that will come with time. We also had a week of retreat. A week of silence, rest, and prayer. I was telling some of the guys what a blessing it is to have the opportunity to do that once a year. I realize all of you are busier than I am but if you could work that into your life once a year, you would cherish the fruit that comes from it. I know the Jesuit Retreat House in Demontreville in Minnesota has men's retreats every week. They usually start Thursday evening and run through Sunday afternoon. I know a number of men who look forward to that weekend all year.

It was a great summer. I don't think it could have been anymore productive, and everything went smoothly for me. After returning to Rome from China, I flew an hour west to the Island of Sardinia. Its still Italy and therefore I had the opportunity to improve my Italian. I stayed at a large house owned and run by the Sons of the Immaculate Conception, a religious order founded by Blessed Luigi Monti. It is a place where different groups will come and have Catholic summer camps, retreats, and other conferences. While I was there, there were three different groups that came through. The first two were from the same parish. One camp was for 10-11 year olds and the other was for 15-17 year olds. The third one was more of a retreat for the Directors of Religious Education throughout the local diocese. Each group brings there own counselors, campers, and cooks. Therefore, I didn't have much real responsibility. I basically hang out with the kids (we played a lot of soccer), help clean, participated in small group discussions when possible (this was all in Italian) and basically be present as a seminarian pursuing the priesthood which I find more and more is fruitful in itself, especially when they see that a seminarian can still play sports and play them well.

I enjoyed my time there greatly. I was up in the mountain and therefore much cooler than it is in Rome. I don't think my room has dipped below 75 degrees since I have been back. The food was great as well. For the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Father Giuseppe (the priest in charge of the house) had some of his family over. They cooked a pig on rotisserie over an open fire which was delicious. Also, the town just down the mountain has a unique devotion to their patroness "La Nostra Donna Delle Neve" (Our Lady of the Snows). I was thinking we should adopt her as well for those of us living in Minnesota. That feast lasts almost a week and includes a procession up the mountain, a mass at the shrine, a large pranzo (Italian lunch), a procession back down the mountain and then up to the basilica that sits at the top of the town, a fireworks display followed by Eucharistic Benediction.

Now maybe in the southern parts of the US, especially with the higher percentage of Latinos, there is something of this sort, but where I'm from there is rarely anything like this and never on this large of a scale. The processions were cool. There were people riding horses (Naomi, you would like this part) followed by a big cart with the statue of "La Nostra Donna Della Neve" with the child Jesus pulled by two huge Red Oxen followed by men and women praying the rosary and singing Marian hymns. I also appreciated the fireworks display. They had a type of fireworks that I had never seen before. It was like a machine gun spraying bullets in one direction and then the other. The night ended as I said with Eucharistic devotion and a homily given by the parish pastor. Almost everyone in Italy is Catholic, but few actually practice their faith. But the whole town was there, and as a result an event like this gave the pastor an opportunity to speak to those who otherwise wouldn't have come to the Church.

Going up the mountain!

The final stretch of the procession into Cuglieri.

My Italian improved during my time in Sardinia. I fixed a few things as far as pronunciation is concerned and I believe my listening comprehension also improved.

In looking back over my summer I am definitely content with it. Most guys either do language study or some other type of pastoral work such as a visit to China. I was able to do both along with having most of my family visit for an entire week which was a blessing. On the other hand, even though my summer was great, I still couldn't wait to get back to the NAC and see the guys again. In fact, I basically ran back from the train station last Saturday evening. That is a blessing in itself to be happy where you are in life, because I realize not everyone is. So praise God!

La Nostra Donna Della Neve with the child Jesus

China Wrap up

Some random pics that I finally uploaded:

Enjoying some 'Hot Pot'. Each person cooks his or her own raw food in the pot of boiling water. One priest commented on Hot Pot, "If I wanted to cook I would have stayed home!"

This was an interesting bunch. They are all co-workers. I thought these women were going to fall off the wall. They were hiking the Great Wall, now very rough and steep in many places, in HIGH HEELS! It was absurd.

At the Great Wall

Wang Wei, Mike, Nick, and myself

North Korea in the background. At this location I could, with one glance, see three of the most isolated countries in the world. Russia, China, and North Korea all shared borders here.

Taiwan

After our excursion into Southeast China and Macau, we spent the night back at the retreat house. The next day, Friday July 23rd, we flew to Taiwan. There we met Fr. Joy Alito a priest of Maryknoll who is originally from the Philippines. He was our host for the weekend. We had the opportunity to ride to the top of the 'Taipei 101' building. The elevator goes a whopping 36 mph. It is the second tallest building in the world. It was the tallest until last January when the Burj Khalifa opened in Dubai. Saturday evening we took the 'bullet' train to Taichun which was about an hour south. The parish there was almost 100% Filipino migrant workers. Father wanted this assignment for obvious reasons, wanting to help his people. At mass 98% of the attendees were between the age of 20 and 30 and 75% of them were women. They are so young because the maximum number of years a person can work is eight years, and there are mostly women because the main industry there is technology, specifically computer chips. Therefore, women are hired more often because of they have steadier hands. They make computer chips for organizations such as Intel, Apple, and the military.

We had the opportunity to speak to a number of them Saturday evening for a little while. Eventually most of them had to leave. I didn't quite understand this so I asked one of them named Nilda. She said she had curfew, yes curfew. At these factories, the workers are required to live in dormatories, they are also required to be in every night by 11:30pm. They are allowed to spend the night elsewhere only two times a month, and this she told me was difficult to get permission for. And we think seminary is strict! She makes about $320 a month after deductions for housing and other things. And even to work in Taiwan she had to pay a very high placement fee. I've heard of people being unjustly subjected to conditions such as these but never met one, never had the opportunity to listen to someone's personal experience of it. She said until last year, the companies would keep the worker's passports, making it impossible for them to leave. It was only after a journalist wrote an article and mentioned Apple as one of the companies benefiting from this factory did that practice cease. Now they are having problems accessing their savings/checking accounts when they want to leave. The companies are keeping the workers' 'chop' a chop is like a stamp. It verifies someone's identity. So if a worker decides to leave the factory and go back to the Philippines for any reason (which they are legally permitted to) although they may have their passport, they aren't going to leave if they don't have their money, which they cannot access unless they have their 'chop'.

Fr. Joy is very knowledgeable of the situation, and he is very good at letting the workers know what they are legally able to do. He does a good job pastoring his sheep in this way. He mentioned that this tactic of keeping the workers' 'chop' is the next injustice they are working to change. In the end, he said the only way to bring about justice for these workers is to allow them to unionize, which Taiwan will not permit. Therefore, other governments such as the U.S. need to put pressure on Taiwan to allow their people to unionize. He admitted that to boycott one company doesn't work (he has an Iphone), because all companies in order to stay competitive take advantage of cheap labor. It must start with the workers themselves, allowing them to find strength in numbers.

This encounter was also an opportunity to encourage them. I was able to explain to them that their suffering and work has meaning, that God is pleased with their suffering especially when done with love and for others. I tried to explain that although Christ has redeemed the world, we still play a part in its redemption. We can help bring it about in its fullest sense. As Paul says, "Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ on behalf of his body, which is the church" (Col 1:24).

The following Monday the Chargé d'Affaires of the Holy See to Taiwan, Msgr. Paul Russel, invited us over to his place for lunch. He has all the responsibilities and authority that an Apostolic Nuncio would have but because of the tension between Taiwan and China he is not given that official diplomatic title. That title would imply that Taiwan is its own sovereign nation, something that China disagrees with. And if the Holy See would ever recognize Taiwan as such, there would be no dialogue between China and the Holy See. So this title of Chargé d'Affaires shows Rome's openness to China.

Closing Barbecue

We returned to Hong Kong Monday the 26th of July, and spent some days being debriefed about our experience in the Orient. On Friday the 30th, our last full day, we hosted a barbecue at the retreat house for all those who had a part in making this pastoral experience a success. It was just a small way to show our gratitude. We cooked burgers with onions, and cheese inside of them. We had sausages with a special Mexican salsa, there was a delicious fruit salad, we made a special desert, and we even made some sangria. At the end of the dinner we had a small program that explained our trip, what we encountered, and we also shared some of the most significant moments each one of us had. Mine was my encounter with the migrant workers, what I explained above. The only mistake of the night was that we didn't mention to the personnel that the sangria had wine in it. So at the end of the night one of the women wasn't feeling too well. That's the problem with sangria, you can't taste the alcohol, and you end up drinking it like juice. I know that wasn't funny, but it was a bit funny.

The next day, the 31st we left for Rome and arrived in Rome the same evening. What a trip! Something I will never forget, and people I will never forget, especially those who were so kind and generous to me. Praise God.

China Part III

After Arriving back in Hong Kong on the 14th of July we spent a number of days visiting the places we had yet to see there.

We visited the Hong Kong seminary and a number of Hong Kong churches including their cathedral. We made a stop at the downtown Catholic center. To my surprise they have almost every book you would hope to find at a Catholic book store in the United States. The churches like almost all that I have seen in my visit were of Gothic architecture. It was interesting to see the European influence. I don't remember seeing a distinctly Chinese church except for maybe the Hong Kong Seminary's chapel. And there have been little to none of what we would call modern church architecture.

Human Rights Group

On Monday the 19th, we visited with a few people who work at the China Human Rights Lawyers Concern Group. This group is a non-governmental organization which helps lawyers in China in various ways. They help them with funding and advice in order to bring their case through the courts. They also get the word out, mostly through email and blogs, about injustices going on throughout China. This, slowly but surely, puts pressure on the govt to give a little bit by bit. Because China has signed the United Nations Human Rights Accord, this group does what they can to hold China to what they agreed to. This has been the most successful method of putting pressure on China, using this accord that China has agreed to.

Later that afternoon, I found my way to the shipping yard which is just Ginormous! I really enjoy seeing the big ships come in and out. These are different than the ships that come to Duluth. These are container ships rather than iron ore or grain ships. I'm not sure how much business is done through the Hong Kong port but whenever I look out the window of the retreat house there are at least five huge container ships passing by. I haven't done any research but I have a lot of respect for the guy who invented the idea of the container, who standardize shipping in that way. They can be moved by train, tractor-trailer, or ship. It makes it really efficient. I appreciate efficiency. Remember, I am also a business major.

Dinner with a Communist

On the 20th of July, we took a ferry back to the mainland where we met a few priests, one who was elected bishop and is now waiting approval from the Vatican. The highlight of the day was our dinner with a woman who was taught English by a Maryknoll priest and has a relationship with other Maryknoll priests and brothers. The catch is that she and her husband are members of the Communist party. After dinner, she took us seminarians for a walk and to a tea-shop. That was really cool to see how they do tea. It is a science/art and something I can really appreciate. Anyways during the tea, we learned that she was a Communist and we got talking about how and why we wanted to become priests. We mentioned how we want to help people and I in particular mentioned how I want to share the hope and peace that I have from knowing Christ and living a Christian life. She said that our beliefs coincide with what she desires as well. But I had to point out that our hope lies in the life to come not what is here on earth. This is a big difference even here on earth. If you believe in God and the life to come you aren't going to be as concerned with squeezing every ounce of enjoyment out of life. In this way you are free to sacrifice for others. However, if you believe this is all there is, you will tend to take advantage of this life and others in a negative way. We also talked about other realities of life such as death, suffering, and the meaning in life. It was a great blessing to actually talk to a Communist and actually get a sense of what they believe, how they think, their philosophy on life.

Leprosarium

The following day, the 21st of July was one that I will never forget. We visited a leprosarium in the rural part of Southern China. Like everything in China, they have a director from the Communist party but there is an Italian Salesian priest, a lay Italian woman and four sisters that help run things around there. And I mean "help" run things around there because the people with Hansen's disease are given a lot of responsibility and are able to do a lot for themselves. It is a self sustaining community. They have a few men who make shoes for the community. These shoes are very important because with Hansen's disease the person's nerve endings are destroyed and so they don't feel pain when they over use their feet walking. So these shoes are modified to lessen the pressure in particular places where there are sores developing. There are also men there who fabricate prosthetics there. They had some very nice equipment brought in from Germany so that they can make them right on site. The sisters help with the clinic where they change the bandages every morning of the people there.

There is a blind woman there named Maria who when the priests and sisters were kicked out during the Cultural Revolution, kept the faith going by leading prayers daily until the Church was allowed back in around '79.

The World Health Organization pays fully for the medicine to treat Hansen's disease. The catch is that the person must be registered through the govt, and because leprosy makes a region look bad and affects the economy, they are reluctant to register the people.

But this medicine if taken correctly for two years will make a patient noncontagious and stop the disease from killing more nerve endings. Even with an active case of Hansen's disease, only 3%-5% of the world's population is susceptible to the disease. Therefore, there was no risk at all touching and loving these people. In fact, this was what I enjoyed most about being there. Most of the guys said they could see Christ in these people very easily. I agree, but I also felt like I could be Christ to them. They were so joyful and just wanted to touch and love on you. They didn't want any money,just your attention. In that way I was able to give them what they wanted, I was able to love them as Christ does, which was a true blessing for me.

We celebrated mass with them. There is no pre-requisite of being catholic to live there, but 99% of them are catholic. The organist has one hand that works normally, but one hand that suffers from contraction which is a symptom of Hansen's disease. So in his right hand he puts a chopstick in order to push the keys.

The following day we stopped in Macau on our way back to Hong Kong. Macau is a small Island which used to be a Portuguese colony but was given to China in much of the same way Hong Kong was. We visited a nursing home for elderly men and celebrated mass with them. It is such a joy to see the faith of these men. Some blind, some not being able to do much, yet they are singing and vociferously saying the prayers.

Unfortunately Macau is becoming the Las Vegas of the Orient. Gambling and prostitution and drugs are becoming more and more prevalent. The more I see of the world the more I realize how much we need Christ!

China Part II

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July 9th, the feast of Sts. Augustine Zhao Rong and companions. These are Chinese martyrs who died in the past 150 years or so. This includes those who died during the Cultural Revolution, 1966-1976. Mao Zedong is believed to be the biggest force behind the Revolution. He wanted to eradicate anything and all things that were seen as threats to the Communist party. This included all religions. So many Christians were martyred during these years. We visited the graves of 14 Christian martyrs from the rural parish we were staying at. Seven priests and Seven sisters were martyred for their belief in the Christian God. It was special to be able to pray at the graves of these Chinese martyrs on the day that the Church recognizes the Chinese saint martyrs.

That evening we took the bus from Shenyang to Changchun. There we met Fr. Li who is the Diocesan administrator for the diocese of Jilin. There bishop died a year ago and they are now finally preparing to elect another. Remember that in China the official Church elects there bishops and hopefully they are faithful to Rome and ask to be recognized by the Holy See. Fr. Li studied in Rome so we communicated to him in Italian. Its crazy to think that we would be speaking in Italian in China, that that would be our language of communication, but there were about four priests total who studied in Rome so we communicated in Italian because they knew very little English and we knew no Chinese.

The following morning, July 10th, we took the bus to Yanji where we spent three nights with Fr. Tom Egan who is a retired Maryknoll priest from Pennsylvania. He is in Yanji because they have a large number of Koreans living there and he spent 14 years in Korea as a pastor. He teaches English now unofficially and has a few bible studies and covers the local parishes every once in awhile. He his technically a tourist and has to "tag up" every three months. This means he just has to go through immigration and then he is allowed to go back in. It doesn't make a whole lot of sense if you ask me. During our time in Yanji we visited the parish there and and a number of parishes in the area. Almost every parish offers masses in both Chinese and Korean. We also had the opportunity to go to the North Korean and Russian borders. There is a spot close to the Sea of Japan where China, Russia, and North Korea meet. It was quite remarkable to see three of the most isolated countries in the world at once like that. There is very little traffic back and forth from China to North Korea. China puts forth great effort to ensure that North Koreans are not sneaking across the border into China. For most of the border between the two countries, it is the Tumen River which separates the two.

Again the priests in this area were so generous. One priest, who had a van drove us all around the area, showing us the various parishes and was the one who took us to the border.

Also, during our time in Yanji, we visited the Yanbian Hospice. It is run by St. John of God brothers. This is a good example of how the Church works with the Government. The Government owns the land, they own all the land in China, and the people lease it. Therefore, they can take it back whenever. The St. John of God community paid for the construction of the hospice and pay for its operations. They are not allowed to do anything religious related. No prayers with the patients, no crucifixes in the rooms. If one of the patients is Catholic, they have to have an outside priest come and anoint the patient. The craziest thing is that the communist party appoints some doctor from their party to be in charge. Now, this communist doctor like the heads of all other sorts of organizations doesn't do much at all. In fact, he rarely comes around. But his job is to check on things and make sure that they aren't doing anything they aren't supposed to. So this means that the hospice must have their own doctor who actually does work around there. These doctors are considered co-presidents of the hospice. The worst part is that the brothers are forced to pay for this communist party doctor to be the overseer of their work. This is one of the ways that the party keeps control of things. They do the same thing with schools. The school will have an active principle who actually cares about the school and the kids and they will be forced to pay for another principle from the communist party who has control and veto power over the operations of the place.

On July 12th, we went back to Jilin City where we were to fly out in the morning back to Hong Kong. Life was much different in Northern China. It was much cooler, 70's and the sun rose much earlier as I pointed out in my previous post.

So on July 13th, we arrived back in Hong Kong where we briefly said hi to Martin and Jun, the other NAC seminarians who were basically switching places with us. They were going North and we are going to spend time in the southern part of China and Taiwan.

Our time in North East China was great. Fengxiang was our photographer while we were in Beijing. She is Wongwei's friend. She was always taking pictures. I am grateful to her for helping me rember the time through her photos. Wongwei, (Wrong Way! haha) Fr. Brian Barrons' secretary was so good to us. She is fluent in both Chinese and English and she knew everywhere to go and what to do. I couldn't imagine a better way to travel China. She got us everywhere we needed to be. We were so blessed. So I am so very grateful to her.


Praise God!

China Part I

Tianemin Square



I am a pro now with the chop-stix

The Beijing Crew in front of the Bird's Nest!

Myself, Mike, Wongwei, Fengxiang, and Nick Barnes

I just returned to the Maryknoll retreat house in Hong Kong last night. I enjoyed the past two weeks on the mainland of China. Ho had the opportunity and wanted to put up a few posts while I was there but the communist government has this website blocked. To be honest this was the only real personal negative experience I had of the communist country. I wasn't able to check facebook or create a new post on my blog, other than that I really didn't feel as if I was in a communist country except for talking to other people and listening to their experiences.

On July 1st, flew to Beijing. We spent four nights there at a youth hostel. This was the first hostel I have stayed at, and it was a much better experience than I had expected. For four nights it was less than $40 (U.S.). Lodging and food is so inexpensive for foreigners. I should qualify that. Food that isn't from an American chain is very inexpensive, however, a coffee from Starbucks, McDonald's, a blizzard from DQ costs as much as it does in the States. With that said, you can understand how expensive those items are for the Chinese. Electronic prices are also relatively comparable to the States. Most nights we ate a full dinner for less than $3 each.

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Why is this? China "pegs" their currency. Meaning the government artificially injects Chinese dollars into the market so that the supply increases which causes (all other things held equal) the value of the Chinese Yuan to decrease. The U.S. for years has been trying to get China to stop this because it creates an unequal balance between our exports and imports with China. We buy all their goods because they are inexpensive, but they buy very few of ours and we buy few of ours because we can get them cheaper overseas. This is one of the reasons why a lot of our manufacturing companies are struggling and moving overseas. So with everything there is a tradeoff. This strategy of keeping the Yuan devalued helps Chinese businesses, American visitors (me) to China, but hurts the Chinese consumers, and American businesses.

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Now that we are done with the economics lesson, I shall continue. In Beijing, we visited the Great Wall, the Forbidden Kingdom, the Temple of Heaven, the Water Cube (home of the swimming events at the 2008 Olympics), the Bird's Nest (home of the opening and closing ceremonies along with the track and field events), and Tianemin Square where I saw Mao Zedong. Mao is the first Chinese chairman, he is the founder of the Communist party. He looks as if he is an incorruptible saint. They have him lying dressed in a suit in a glass room and people are allowed to walk in and see him. The guards keep the people moving and you are not allowed to take pictures. I'm not sure how they have him looking so good, it may be just a wax replica of him or they may have electricity running through his body ( his face seemed to glow orange).

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We also visited two parishes and the seminary there. Both these churches looked like a church you would find in Europe or the U.S. there wasn't anything distinctly Chinese about them. The people have a great love for our Mother Mary, they have a great reverence for the Eucharist and a particularly strong devotion to the Sacred Heart of Jesus. They are drawn to the Sacred Heart of Jesus because it is an image that attracts all and speaks to all cultures. Every culture including the Chinese refers to the heart as the center of the person, so the Chinese can really relate to the Sacred Heart of Jesus.

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On July 5th, we took a night train up to Jilin City which is to the north-west of North Korea. We attended mass at the local parish there a couple of mornings, visited the seminary, and the catholic social services center there as well. They do good work but don't get help from the government. They allow it though because they do work that the government doesn't have to.

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On July 8th, we traveled south in a bus and spent the night at a rural parish where 4000 of the 4000 inhabitants are catholic. It was so great to see. It was just as you see in the movies of old parish life and what some of our older blog readers would be familiar with. At mass the children all sat up front with the boys on the left and the girls on the right. The men sat in the back on the right and the women sat in the back on the left. The two sisters at the parish were up front making sure the kids were behaving. More than once the sister would take one of the boys back to sit with her. Mass was at 5:30 but the church was full at 5pm. The teenage girls led prayers including the rosary before the start of mass. It was very encouraging to see the faith of this small village. The next morning we celebrated mass at 5:10am. It used to be at 4am but the priests wanted it later so they compromised. Why so early? First, everyone in the town farms. Second, because Mao ( the dead guy they have on display for everyone to see) wanted everyone in China to be on the same schedule, he implemented one time zone for the whole country! So when I was there, the sun rose at 3:30am. We have four time zones in the States and we are comparable size to China, so you can get an idea of what it would be like to have one time zone.

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I'll write Part II tomorrow. There is just so much to talk about. The people have been so generous and kind to us. Part of the reason why Maryknoll has this program for us is so that can experience China and in particular the Catholic Church in China and someday return as missionaries for 3-5 years with the consent of our bishops. It is something that feel I should consider. I have truly only been receiving the generosity of others here. I haven't done much and want to return the favor in some way, someday. So God willing, I'll be back here some day.

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The interesting thing is that it won't be for awhile. This is because China will not allow any foreign priests into the country. They will shut down whatever you are doing within a matter of months. The priests in China are strictly teaching, and celebrating a mass here and there as a substitute. So I was confused, all these Chinese priests we met said I hope you come back some day, but why would I come back just to teach English and have some pastoral work on the side. So I asked one of the priests about this confusion, something has to give. He said that he doesn't think communism can last here. The only thing holding the country together is the communist party. China is too big and the more it grows economically the harder it will be for so few of people to control this great number of people. He thought in thirty years there will be not be a communist party in charge. What will the country look like then? He didn't know, maybe a number of smaller countries, sort of like the U.S.S.R after the fall of communism there. Now I don't know how common of a view that is but it seems to make sense. I think that is why in Hong Kong there are many, many priests and religious. They are all just waiting for the opportunity to get into China.

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But while there is a communist party in charge, there is little that a foreign priest could do.

Hong Kong!

I'm in Hong Kong!
I never thought I would be able to say that

So my last post was during Easter...I apologize for that.

Anyways, wow! I am officially done with my first year of Theology. I had my last exam on the 11th, most of my family arrived the 12th and departed Saturday the 19th. Time flies. I don't have the exact quote in front of me, but in Eschatology, then Cardinal Ratzinger writes that one of the best signs for heaven is the fact that the most joyful times in our life, when we are most content, the times with our friends and loved ones, don't seem to last like they should. That they are often cut short. I think that makes sense. We are always left wanting more.

Let's tie up a few loose ends...

The soccer team here at NAC got second place out of sixteen teams in the Clericus Cup. We lost 1-0 to Redemptoris Mater, the team that has one the tournament three of the four years it has been around. We'll only lose three starters from this year's team. Hopefully we'll have a few new men come who can play the game well. We sometimes joke that when Msgr. Mueggenborg visits college seminaries in the winter we should send one or two of our teammates to recruit the good soccer players from each seminary so to improve our team. Whether a guy is a good soccer player should be one of the criteria on which the seminary assesses an applicant to the college.

Exams went well. I had eight exams total, six of them were oral exams while two were written. I am getting more comfortable taking oral exams. I am getting better at conveying to the professor that I do know the material and that I understand the the main ideas the professor was trying to impart to us. I did a better job this semester of internalizing the material, by reviewing my notes throughout the semester. Hopefully, I can do that even more often next year.

So I'm in Hong Kong at the Maryknoll retreat center. The people have been so generous and kind. Ms. Chan made sure that I had scrambled eggs, bacon, hot coffee, and some english muffins this morning.

Each seminarian is required to do at least a four week apostolate during their summer. This can be living at a parish and helping the pastor, working with a religious order serving the poor, working at a pilgrimage site such as Lourdes in France, or teaching English somewhere. Some guys even study a language which suffices for their four week apostolate.

I will be spending five weeks with Maryknoll missionary priests in the far east. There will be five guys from the NAC including myself. We will break into two groups for the majority of our time there.

June 25th-June 30th

Spend time in Hong Kong, including being a part of Maryknoll's 99th anniversary celebration, with Cardinal Zen, Bishop Emeritus of Hong Kong.

July 1st-July 6th

Beijing. Myself and two other seminarians will visit the Beijing Major seminary, Tiananmen Square, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, and Matteo Ricci's grave. He is one of the first Jesuit China missionaries and concerning his cause of sainthood is a Servant of God.

July 6th-July 14th

We will leave for Jilin City. We will spend some time giving testimonies at rural Catholic parishes and visit the Jilin City Medical College where one of the Maryknoll priests, Fr. Brian Barrons, has been bringing the gospel to the Chinese as he is the head of the English department there.

July 15th-July 19th

We will return to Hong Kong to visit some parishes there and the local mission centers.

July 20th-July 22th

We will visit Southern China to visit the first Maryknoll missions and some leper villages.

July 23rd-July 26th

We will head to Taiwan, where we hopefully get a chance to visit with the Apostolic Nuncio, Monsignor Paul Russell, who we met a few weeks ago here in Rome. The Apostolic Nuncio, is the liaison between the Vatican and the local church that he is the Nuncio to.

July 27th- July 31st

We will finish up with a BBQ and then head back to Rome on the 31st.

This experience will be invaluable to myself and to my ministry. It is another opportunity to experience the universal Church. As you know, China is a communist country and therefore their control of religion is something that I have never seen before. The current situation is complicated and one that can't be stereotyped. We must remember that as everywhere else in the world, there is one Catholic Church which is in China. However for the sake of coming to some understanding of the situation we can recognize two extremes of the Church in China. One side is the so called "Open Church" which is recognized by the Chinese Catholic Patriotic Association (CCPA). The other is the so called "Underground Church" which refuses any control from the CCPA, and meets in private homes or buildings. Most of Chinese Catholics are somewhere in the gray area between the two.

In the "Open Church" all bishops and priests are recognized by the Chinese Government. Often times appointed by government officials and then validly ordained by a bishop. On the other hand they may not be recognized by the Holy See and therefore illegitimate. In his letter to the Chinese faithful in 2007, Pope Benedict mentions the three groups of clergy. 1) Those appointed by the Pope, 2) those not appointed by Pope but later on seek to be legitimized by the Pope, and 3) those not appointed by the Pope and not seeking Pope's approval. The Pope prays that all illegitimate clergy will seek Rome's approval

In the "Underground Church" all bishops were appointed by the Pope and priests validly ordained by legitimate bishops. These clergy, however, are not supported by the CCPA.

Whether legitimate or not, the sacraments these bishops and priests celebrate are valid and confer sanctifying and actual grace. Therefore, the Pope has said that where legitimate priests are lacking the faithful may in good conscience receive the sacraments from the illegitimate validly ordained bishops and priests.

In 1980 the CCPA organized a national conference of bishops much like we have in the U.S. This conference like the other national conferences seek to establish pastoral guidelines that would pertain to the faithful of the whole country while not impeding on the authority of the local bishop. However, because this conference includes illegitimate bishops and doesn't include legitimate bishops recognized by Rome, the Pope and Holy See do not recognize The Chinese Conference of Catholic bishops as an Episcopal conference.

As you can see the Church in China is a complicated one, and the people are definitely derserving of our prayers.

I will try to keep you posted more often throughout my time here. I will not always have internet access. God bless you all and pray for me and know that you are in my prayers.

"Therefore, gird up the loins of your mind, live soberly, and set your hopes completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ." --1 Peter 1:13

Nick

Its Still Easter!

This is (from left to right) myself, Neil Atzinger of Lansing, Michigan and James Baron of Colorado Springs, Colorado. We are just about to start our tour of the Stella Artois brewery in Leuven, Belgium. Taken during Easter week.

The Easter message is something we can never lose sight of it. Our whole existence depends on it.

This year has flown by, especially this spring semester. In less than fifty days I'll be done with my first year of Theology and no more than three years until ordination to the priesthood, God willing. There is a part of me that cannot wait to be a priest in the diocese of Duluth, but another part that is a bit more sober, meaning I am understanding more and more the gravity of being a priest. What comes with that is a desire and thirst to drink in all I can in these years before priesthood. I will never have this much time again to devote to prayer and study. It is a time that must not be wasted. There is a temptation for us seminarians to just slip by, to pass the exams, to jump through the hoops of formation without ever having integrated it into ourselves. You, the men and women of the Church deserve more than that from your priests.

I have been reflecting on how blessed I am. I hope I am someone who reflects gratitude for the gifts God has given me through the hands of others. I am twenty-six years old. Friends of mine are married, have kids and are working just to survive. When I'm hungry, I just go down to the refectory to eat, I don't have to worry about food being there. Through the hard work of so many others like yourselves I am able to do this. I am able to study what I love, I am able to focus on being a better person and as a result a better priest in the future. Yeah being away from home is tough at times, yes, the sacrifice of celibacy pricks at times, but there is no reason for self-pity or ingratitude in the life of a seminarian. And in general, I pray that you never feel sorry for priests or seminarians. Because that means that either the priest isn't living a joyful life, or that you have a distorted view of the priesthood including celibacy. Celibacy is such a great gift to the Church and to priests. It is not something that should be looked at as a handicap or an unfortunate circumstance a priest finds himself in.

I'll share a few thoughts on celibacy. These a few insights Fr. Barron a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago shared with us just last week.

1. Celibacy and Apostolic freedom

Its hard to think that Mother Theresa, St. Thomas Aquinas, or St. Francis of Assisi could have done the things they did if they were married with a family.

St. Paul understood this, "I should like you to be free of anxieties. An unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, How he may please the Lord. But a married man is anxious about the things of the world, how he may please his wife, and he is divided." 1 Cor 7:32-33

As a celibate the priest is able to devote himself fully to the people of the Church. He can truly be their Father. A father of spiritual children.

Don't get me wrong, a husband who works to please his wife and visa versa, most often is pleasing the Lord as well. But I hope you can see the difference.

2. Celibacy and Levitical purity

Almost every culture has at one point has identified celibacy with holiness (simply meaning set apart), purity, the sacred. From the vestal virgins of roman antiquity, whose job was to tend sacred fire, to the celibate monks of Buddhism and Hinduism.

Like the Levitical priests in the Old Testament, the priest is a bridge between God and man. The Levitical priests where the only ones allowed to enter the Holy of Holies, where the Ark of the Covenant was housed, where God would come to dwell. With Christ that veil was torn. There is no longer a separation between us and God. Through the sacraments, through grace, we are able to meet God, most especially in heave. The priest is the bridge of the material to the spiritual. It is obvious that the priest is material, we can see him, but by being celibate there is a supernatural spirituality that is his. It is fitting that the priest should be set apart in this way as a mediator between God and man.

This in no way should imply a Manichean view (soul good, body bad) of the body . We believe God made all things good, most especially our bodies. But we can see that there is something supernatural involved with celibacy. This makes sense, the celibate needs God's grace to persevere in this life. This brings us to my last point.

3. Celibacy and way of attachment

Attachment- (n) anything we are convinced we cannot live without

Poverty, Chastity (celibacy here), Obedience, the promises that the priest makes, allows the priest to live radically unattached. The Celibate is able to witness to the ultimate end that we are all going for. His or her witness says, "Marriage is great, but there is more to reality than just this life. I am waiting for the ultimate wedding feast in heaven." The celibate is a sign of heaven.

You can tell a lot about a person by whether they want the celibate to succeed or not. Those that don't want the celibate to succeed are those that don't believe in God or his grace, and by the celibate failing they are able to say that this is evidence of their unbelief. However, those that pray and root for the celibate are those that want to believe in God and his grace. That what the celibate is pointing towards actually exists.

This next quote is meant to support celibacy, but it is meant for all, even those with the vocation to the married life.

"Live your life in a way that is totally ridiculous if God doesn't exist. Live in a way that only makes sense if God exists. In this way you will be the greatest witness to His existence."