No, I haven't died, but I did go to an ordination

Sorry that I have neglected to write for a while. Classes started last week, and I’m still sick from the plague. Aka a cold that turned into a hacking cough and grossness. 10 days later I finally decided to be smart and pick up some medicine.

Being over here has been a wonderful witness of the beauty of religious life. It seems wherever you go you run into a priest, deacon, seminarian, or religious sister. Three of the classes I am taking are taught by Dominican priests. Now that classes are in full swing there are religious habits flocking the courtyard and hallways of the Angelicum. I’m starting to feel the need to dress up more and feel out of place when I’m not in a skirt or in black. Actually it is really just quite funny but also very beautiful. The presence of all these religious figures is a true blessing, and as I get to know some of them more personally, I am excited for what the coming months will bring.

So I guess I’ll backtrack to two Thursdays ago—Thursday October 9^th. In the evening we went to the ordination of the deacons from the North American College Seminary. There were 25 men (I believe) being ordained to the transitional deaconate at St. Peter’s Basilica. Just think--in one year we will have 25 new priests! Praise the Lord! The ordination was absolutely beautiful. If you ever have the chance to go to a deaconate or priestly ordination…I strongly encourage you to do it. The tradition and the beauty and the JOY of this celebration is overwhelming and extremely grace-filled.

The whole time the men were being prayed over by the bishop and seeing their faces as they processed in and out I could not help but feel the joy on each of their faces of knowing one’s vocation. God is calling us to a life of joy. No matter what vocation you choose, God is asking you to share in his love…and of course there is suffering in that but there is also immense happiness. This is so true for the religious life. If anyone has any doubt about the happiness of the vocation of the priesthood just go to an ordination. I could not help but seeing the joy reflected in the faces of these men as the same joy I saw in my cousin Dan and brother-in-law Arch this summer on their wedding days as they bound their lives with their wives.

These 25 men may not have a physical wife that they are giving themselves to, but they had that same joy reflected in their faces and the whole celebration was about this…the joy of giving themselves entirely to Holy Mother Church. It was also very exciting being there with the thirteen seminarians in our group…this must be especially exciting for them, considering this very well could be them in a few years! All in all it was a wonderful grace-filled evening, ended with some wonderful pasta and wine of course! Praise the Lord for Pastarito!