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."

"Seminary Sex Ed?"?

You think they could have come up with a better title?

Live from Rome...

Seminary Sex Ed

Holy Week in Rome!

Some pics with Coach Childress and his wife...

Look! It's Coach Childress and his new quarterback! Ok, maybe its more like Coach Childress and his new water boy.

Another Lent come and gone. I hope your lent has been fruitful. Mine has been good. I haven't done everything I wanted to do. I haven't been as faithful to my penances as I would have liked but its ok. Its not about completing a certain number of tasks or checking things as done. Its about realizing that God's grace is alive and working in each of us. Its about responding to the Holy Spirit guiding us through life. By denying ourselves, we are saying I realize this Coke is good for me but that there is a greater good in the end for me, and that's what I really want. In the end its about being free. Free to naturally choose what is best. I'll talk more about freedom below.

Two Fridays ago, on the feast of St. Joseph, I had the pleasure with some of the other Viking fans of having dinner with Vikings' coach Brad Childress and his wife. My rector, Msgr. Checcio used to be the chaplain for the Philadelphia Eagles. He got to know Coach Childress is Catholic and who would come to the team mass every week. Coach Childress was the Eagles Offensive coordinator during that time. He is a good man and it was a night that I'll remember for a long time. And because I know you are all curious, he believes Brett will be back next year.

Soccer continues to go well, we are 4-1 with 2 regular season games left. I have one goal and two assists so far. I've been playing outside midfield which is more my sister Melissa's and my brother Joe's position. My sisters Naomi, Cassy, Rosie and myself have always played more center midfield. So I feel a little out of place on the outside. We play the perennial power house, Redemptoris Mater, the Neo Catechumen seminary the first Saturday after Easter break. If you wish to keep informed here is the ClericusCup official website.

My former rector Fr. Baer is in Rome as we speak. He visits here once a semester. SJV sends 10-15 guys each semester as a part of the Catholic Studies study abroad program through the University of St. Thomas. My cousin Kayla has participated in it before and my cousin Abby will come next Spring semester. Not only does he visit the SJV guys, he also makes a visit to the NAC. It is always a joy. This time specifically he gave a conference at the the NAC as a part of the preparations for diaconate class of 2010. I really miss his preaching. He is great at exhorting individuals to "be magnanimous" to "make no small plans." Its what the world and the Church needs. We, SJV alum, also got some time with him last night, and I was able to speak with him one on one yesterday as well, which was a real blessing. He was the first priest that really had an effect on me and continues to be a living model of the priesthood for me. This is his last year at SJV. I can't wait to see what he will do as a pastor of a parish.

My classes continue to go well. I enjoy Theology more and more. The more I learn the more I love the Catholic faith. It is so hopeful, so optimistic, and it is so real. One thing for example. I, like a lot of people, had a misconception of what Christian morality is. We think it is a set of obligations. And if that is the case that Christian morality is a bunch of obligations, then Christ didn't bring anything new. We hear of the Old Law and the New Law. St. Thomas Aquinas says the New Law is law only in the broad sense, it is first and foremost the Holy Spirit alive and working within us. With a correct understanding of Christian morality necessarily entails a correct understanding of freedom. Freedom isn't the ability to chose right or wrong, good or evil. The equal chance of choosing either. With this understanding, being more virtuous, more inclined to doing good would mean we are less free. This is incorrect. Our will has a natural tendency for the good. Freedom is true freedom when this natural tendency is enhanced and we are able to choose the good because it is what is most natural to us. Being free entails a sort of spiritual spontaneity. That we naturally and instinctively choose the good. This is why the Virgin Mary can be said to be the most free of all. It is not despite her immaculate conception, but because of it. Her will was always naturally drawn towards what was truly good.

I am currently planning my summer. At the NAC, we are expected to spend the summer between first and second year away from home, unless your bishop insists on the seminarian coming home (Bishop trumps NAC). My family, minus two, will be visiting mid June. I very much look forward to seeing them. After that, I'll be going to China. I'll spend the month of July in various parts of the East: Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China. I'll be with Maryknoll missionary priests already established there. One priest in particular baptized 65 Chinese college students last Easter! After returning from China I intend on spending 2-3 weeks at a summer Catholic Youth Camp in the south of Italy. I hope to be a good witness to the youth as well as improve my Italian during that time.

I pray your Easter Triduum is a prayerful and fruitful time. Try to attend each part of it, the Mass of the Lord's Supper (Thursday evening), The Celebration of the Lord's Passion (Friday evening), and the Easter Vigil (Saturday evening). Our whole life and being is centered around this mystery, the Paschal mystery. You'll notice a number of unique things, particular to the Triduum. For example, all three celebrations are considered one continuous liturgy, no consecration of the Eucharist Friday evening, and the singing of the Gloria and A-word during the Easter Vigil for the first time in over 40 days. God bless!

From the front page of the Catholic News Service. (Pele has put on a few pounds since the days when he was playing in his prime.)

What's new?...

With our new bishop in the Clementine Chapel at St. Peter's Basilica. The bones believed to be of St. Peter are just behind the altar here.

Time for another update!

I met my new bishop for the first time. We celebrated mass with him almost every day he was here and we able to spend ample amounts of time with him. Duluth is so blessed to have such a humble, simple, normal priest for its Bishop. Praise God. With God's grace and the humble response of all of us in the diocese, I see a lot of hope for our diocese. In fact there is a lot of hope for the whole Church and therefore the world in the priests that Pope Benedict is choosing to be bishops. They are all simple, orthodox, prayerful pastors who love Christ and his Church.

I just finished my first set of exams. I finally can say I have been fully initiated into life over here. As I mentioned earlier I had eight classes my first semester and consequently, I had eight finals, five of which were oral finals. There is a technique to doing well on an oral exam and it isn't all studying. At least that is what they tell me, however, I haven't figured it out yet. I did do well on the oral exams but I still feel more comfortable taking a written exam.

We also had our first soccer game yesterday. We won 2-1 in penalty kicks. (I scored on my pk attempt! my siblings would be proud I know) Its really neat. There is a league made up of all the national seminaries in Rome. There are a couple of sponsors that provide uniforms and the Knights of Columbus organize the whole competition. We play seven regular season games, one every weekend, and then there are playoffs. Our whole seminary gets into it, we even have a booster club. Here is an article from the Catholic News Agency on the game

I also officially started my apostolate last week. I spend a little over an hour visiting patients at a local hospital. It is a challenge because most of the patients only speak Italian, but the people are always cheerful and very patient with my Italian. I am going to need to find a way to improve my Italian throughout the week, because visiting patients for an hour a week isn't going to help and it will just get frustrating. Praise God though, its good to struggle, its humility, I need to be knocked down a few pegs every once in awhile and doing this once a week should help. One of the good things is that there are usually always new patients every time I go. So no matter how bad I bomb one day, the next time I go, those new patients won't have a clue about the previous week. There is also a woman who is always in the hospital's chapel when we visit. She is like the prophetess Anna in the Gospels. Every time we go she gives us 5 euros for coffee. So before every visit we get a little pick me up. Although my Italian isn't great I still feel I can bring some joy, or at least a break in the monotony for the patients. Its one of the corporeal works of mercy.

I am happy that Lent is finally here, and its not because I am some holy aesthetic who enjoys doing penance. On the contrary, I was put in charge of organizing the Mardi Gras party for the seminary, and I am glad that that is over with. It turned out well and everyone had a good time. Its just not the easiest getting guys interested in helping out and excited about the party while finals are going on.

Anther sweet thing about Lent in Rome are the station churches. For every day of Lent their is a particular church associated with it. So every day we celebrate mass at a different Church. It is a tradition going back to the 3rd century and made a Latin practice by Pope Gregory the Great in the 6th century. Over the years though it fell out of practice until Pope Leo XIII at the turn of the 20th century and John XXIII fully restored the custom in 1959. Our seminary organizes a mass at each of these churches for all the faithful to attend. So depending on where the church is we leave at different times ranging from 6am to 6:45 to arrive at the church for 7am mass. Some bus, some cab, some bike, but most of us walk, which I have done so far. The great thing is that some of these churches are closed for most times of the year and when they have their station mass, it is one of the few times that they are actually open to the public. Its a great way to see some of the oldest and most beautiful churches in the world. Walking through Rome early in the morning when it is completely dark out and rainy (it has rained three of the four mornings), you really feel like you're on a pilgrimage.

Anyways, I pray that your Lent will be a fruitful one. Remember that we are a sacramental Church. All our external actions point towards an internal reality. So that the prayer, fasting, and almsgiving all represent our desire to grow closer to Christ. It is our making room for Him to come into our lives. These actions also allow us grow in solidarity towards others. They allow us to turn our hearts outwards, we are then more disposed to others' needs and wants rather than our own. An internal conversion needs to take place otherwise we are all just Pharisees, and we all know what Jesus thought of them.

Please feel free if you have any questions or comments to email me @ nnelson@pnac.org

I also wanted to give a shout out to my good friend from back home Ryan who was just engaged to his girlfriend Taylor. Please keep them in your prayers.

God bless!

Pope Benedict!

This past week we celebrated the sesquicentennial (thats 150th for you in Duluth) anniversary of the Pontifical North American College. There were hundreds of priests and thirty or so bishops, all alumni of the college, who were in town for the reunion. Because of this great anniversary Pope Benedict invited the whole college, alumni priests, faculty, and seminarians, in for a private audience.

He came in from the back of the room to our applause and shook everyone's hand who was on the right side as he walked to the front. I couldn't believe that he was going to take that much time to shake everyone's hand who was on the aisle. It took a lot of time for him to do that, but I think he realized how much it meant to each and everyone of us. When he got to his chair we all sang "Ad moltos Annos," which means "may you live for many years." He then sat down and our Rector, Msgr. Checcio addressed him on behalf of the college.

Sidenote: Msgr. Checcio is a good friend of Brad Childress, the vikings coach. So he gets weekly updates on the team. So although from Philadelphia, Msgr. has invited all the Vikings fans for a pre-game tailgate party this evening, the game starts at 7pm Roman time. Go Vikes!

After, Msgr.'s address, Pope Benedict addressed the college. He thanked the college for their work over the years in forming over 5,000 priests and exhorted us to continue to grow in virtue, fidelity to the Church, and pastoral zeal.

Pope Benedict then headed to the back of the room, this time shaking everyone's hand on the left side (facing the front). This is when I was able to shake his hand. I can remember when he was walking in. I thank God for these pictures, because it happened so fast. I grabbed his hand, looked into his eyes, I said, "God bless you," I kissed his ring, and the next thing I knew, he was past me.

Catholics may kiss the pope's ring as a sign of respect, a sign of respect for the authority he holds as the Vicar of Christ and the successor of Peter. Non-Catholics usually just shake his hand.

Also, he gave us his apostolic blessing. But he mentioned how he wished to bless all our families and friends as well! That's YOU!

If this is the first time you have seen these pics, its because you aren't on facebook! Not to name names, Dad, Melissa!