Friday, November 11, 2011
Friday, June 10, 2011
Happy 4th of "JUNE?"
Four years ago yesterday, there were 28 of us washing the floor at All Saints with our tears and trying to contain our fear, enthusiasm, elation, and terror all at the same time. June 9, 2007 was when the very first class of Permanent Deacons were ordained in the Diocese of Knoxville.
As is often the case, this day often falls in the week when all the priests are on retreat so many of us were very busy presiding at communion services during Mass times in some of our parishes. I was lucky enough to preach at my own parish as well as at All Saints.
Shortly before the 12:10 service began, I walked out into the dark Sanctuary and stood for a while over my spot where I lay prostrate on the floor, begging God to help me understand the enormity of what was to happen next regarding the ordination rite.
Four years later, I'm still asking God the same question as I ponder all I've experienced, learned, and continue to hope for. There are a few things that I have learned for sure that I thought I might share:
1. Don't offer God your life in vocation unless you are ready to be radically changed.
2. Don't run from that still small voice in your heart.
3. Tears are evidence of immeasurable power rather than shallow weakness.
4. The Eucharist is absolutely central and seminal in understanding our relationship with Christ Jesus.
5. Maybe the only meaningful thing we can offer God is our thanks and praise.
These four years have been wonderfully difficult, but through it all I am now a little closer to the person I was created to be than who I was when I began this journey. Since all of you are part of my vocation and horizon, know that I love being a Deacon, even on the worst days, and that I have received countless blessings in the last four years. Please pray for me that I would continue to grow in faith, place my trust in the Lord with everything, and that I would cause no harm to the people Jesus places in my path.
As is often the case, this day often falls in the week when all the priests are on retreat so many of us were very busy presiding at communion services during Mass times in some of our parishes. I was lucky enough to preach at my own parish as well as at All Saints.
Shortly before the 12:10 service began, I walked out into the dark Sanctuary and stood for a while over my spot where I lay prostrate on the floor, begging God to help me understand the enormity of what was to happen next regarding the ordination rite.
Four years later, I'm still asking God the same question as I ponder all I've experienced, learned, and continue to hope for. There are a few things that I have learned for sure that I thought I might share:
1. Don't offer God your life in vocation unless you are ready to be radically changed.
2. Don't run from that still small voice in your heart.
3. Tears are evidence of immeasurable power rather than shallow weakness.
4. The Eucharist is absolutely central and seminal in understanding our relationship with Christ Jesus.
5. Maybe the only meaningful thing we can offer God is our thanks and praise.
These four years have been wonderfully difficult, but through it all I am now a little closer to the person I was created to be than who I was when I began this journey. Since all of you are part of my vocation and horizon, know that I love being a Deacon, even on the worst days, and that I have received countless blessings in the last four years. Please pray for me that I would continue to grow in faith, place my trust in the Lord with everything, and that I would cause no harm to the people Jesus places in my path.
Friday, May 27, 2011
Editing the Senior Video and my years at KCHS....
It seems odd to me that I'm posting a blog post here for the first time since August... I guess I migrated everything to the "dpatsblog" blog and sort of left this one fallow...
So, maybe no one will even read this one and maybe it will be my last post...
At any rate, I spent about nine hours yesterday working on my version of the Senior Video for the class of 2010 at KCHS. I went back through various spirit weeks to look for footage and found some really cool things. This is actually the very first class that I travelled the entire experience from freshman year through graduation. It has been an amazing journey to be sure. I will miss these guys (most of them), and their class was really different than previous year's. The good kids were exceptional and the kids at the other end of the spectrum gave us all challenges we'd all like to forget.
The senior retreat was a fantastic experience for all who participated and I think having it so close to the time they actually graduate has it's advantages.
I'm hoping to finish the video sometime in the next few days and post it on vimeo so you can see the result. It's going to be a cool piece, but it will never truly capture the vivaciousness of being in high school, or the pain of adolescence, or the pure joy and excitement of new love so often discovered in this four year stretch. To be in high school is to be alive! That I have received the gift of repeating the experience is a cause for thanksgiving and wonder.
All that energy, all that growth in such a short time, and all the challenges they face in 2011....
That so many of them chose to share bits and pieces of their lives and struggles with me calls me to a much deeper humbleness and a greater appreciation of how smart, quick, and deep high school age people are. They "get" so much more than we realize. We see them silly in the hallways during break, but then they can stop a teacher in their tracks with one question that manifests their capture of vast concepts and proves their real command of knowledge. It's an awesome thing to behold... a huge group of people becoming... That I get to wander in and our of their lives and even in sometimes their hearts has been my honor and privilege.
So, maybe no one will even read this one and maybe it will be my last post...
At any rate, I spent about nine hours yesterday working on my version of the Senior Video for the class of 2010 at KCHS. I went back through various spirit weeks to look for footage and found some really cool things. This is actually the very first class that I travelled the entire experience from freshman year through graduation. It has been an amazing journey to be sure. I will miss these guys (most of them), and their class was really different than previous year's. The good kids were exceptional and the kids at the other end of the spectrum gave us all challenges we'd all like to forget.
The senior retreat was a fantastic experience for all who participated and I think having it so close to the time they actually graduate has it's advantages.
I'm hoping to finish the video sometime in the next few days and post it on vimeo so you can see the result. It's going to be a cool piece, but it will never truly capture the vivaciousness of being in high school, or the pain of adolescence, or the pure joy and excitement of new love so often discovered in this four year stretch. To be in high school is to be alive! That I have received the gift of repeating the experience is a cause for thanksgiving and wonder.
All that energy, all that growth in such a short time, and all the challenges they face in 2011....
That so many of them chose to share bits and pieces of their lives and struggles with me calls me to a much deeper humbleness and a greater appreciation of how smart, quick, and deep high school age people are. They "get" so much more than we realize. We see them silly in the hallways during break, but then they can stop a teacher in their tracks with one question that manifests their capture of vast concepts and proves their real command of knowledge. It's an awesome thing to behold... a huge group of people becoming... That I get to wander in and our of their lives and even in sometimes their hearts has been my honor and privilege.
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