for those of you who like to know more of the facts of the environment here, here are a few of the general specifics of my days here.
weather - it is starting to get cooler. in the morning it is good to have on more than a fleece, but after walking to school i am usually sufficiently warm. i suppose its in the low 60's/high 50's right now, they use centigrade so i am not sure. it rains about once a week. this isn't so bad (thanks to the handy umbrella i bought in Norcia!) but the streets get flooded with water and also really slippery, walking in dress shoes is asking for it.
classes - from anywhere from 2-4 hrs a week i study 1) introduction to Theology and Theological method 2) pentateuch and historical books 3) church history 4) patristics (the early church fathers) 5) fundamental Theology 6) introduction to Scripture and 7) mystery of the Living God (a class on the Trinity). its pretty much all lecture, not many "assigned" readings, and no papers so far. they "recommend" certain readings which are enough to keep my hands from being idle. in all, i spend about 40hrs/week attending classes and studying. at the end of the semester there will be a 10 minute oral exam covering all the material of the whole semester which is the sole measure of my grade. they give you a number from 1-10 for your grade, if you get below 6.0 you fail, if higher, you pass. no pressure. my teachers are mostly Dominican priests from all over the world, they have funny mannerisms
house life - as you might guess, living with 170 some other seminarians there are a fair amount of jokes and puns on the idiosyncracies of liturgical matters. as you also might guess, i don't get most of them. we had our "safe environment training" the last two days by a organization called VIRTUS. now we all know the regulations and how to spot and prevent sexual predators in the Church. it is difficult sometimes to hear the stories (of the victims and the perpatrators) but hopefully it will help us to better serve and protect our children. we get "free weekends" once a month where we can travel if we want to. guys go all over. this time, i think i will go to Assisi. i like it there.
question - "faith" has been the word for reflection as of late. if you get a minute, would you send me a short reflection on what faith means to you? especially if you have children, i am interested to hear what they have to say. well, its feeding time and i don't want to get left out-as if there wasn't going to be enough. take care for another week
pictures:
1) a model of what the NAC campus looks like
2) our little courtyard with orange grove (50, one for each state)
3) the chapel
4) the doors to the chapel - inscribed: "enter into the temple of God lovingly, devotedly, and with attention"
3 comments:
It sounds like you're busy. God bless you for what you do.
well matty libra, It is good to hear you are well.
this isn't really about "faith" but it is cute! it was Sunday, we had just left the Church from Mass. Isaac was with an we were re-reading the readings and talking about thankfulness. Mike ask Isaac what he was thankful for. He just sat in silence for a second and then said "I don't know"
I then asked him if he new what thankfulness was. He said no.
I tried to explain (I'm learning how to explain this to 5 year olds)
the he said, oh, I'm thankful for my root beer!
Isaac loves to talk about Jesus, and he is always quoting sripture at me about how Jesus die so We could live! I love that kid.
God bless you Matt!
Hey, Matt! I always enjoy reading what you're up to. I was thinking about faith after reading your blog a couple days ago and here's what it means to me: Faith is choosing to believe what I know to be true, even when I don't feel like it. And knowing that there is more to life that what we can see. God has definitely been challenging my faith lately, and it's been so good to see that when I continue plugging away even when the emotions or feelings aren't there, my faith ends up stronger. As for what my kids think, they are still a little too young to use the word faith, but Seth definitely is showing a childlike faith. Here's a few examples... we were praying one night for God to give him a new heart after talking about how everyone has broken hearts because of sin. The next morning at breakfast, he asked if God had given him a new heart yet. :) He also knows that God can do anything, so after visiting my husband's grandparents' very nice home, he confidently announced: "someday God can give us a house like this!" He also lost a toy once, but was confident that "If Jesus doesn't have a car, he can walk there and find it for me!" His little faith is so much stronger than my own at times!! Hope your time in Rome continues to draw you closer to the Lord.
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