Monday, 14 December 2009 21:06
"Normal" days?
Monastic life may seem to be pretty mysterious to the person observing from the outside. They might wonder what the monks do all day besides pray a lot. I was reflecting on what we do and how we live and I must admit that to us its all pretty "normal." Our founder St. Benedict was a master psychologist when he wrote the Holy Rule. Even though the particular instructions require adaptation to contemporary conditions, Benedict found a way to encourage his monks to be generally happy and peaceful in what they did day after day. The combination of obedience and responsibility rests on a healthy balance between obedience extended to the abbot and those in charge and at the same time the individual monk finding personal satisfaction in developing their skills and interests within the monastic life. The overarching desire which brought the monks to the monastery in the first place, namely the desire to grow in holiness and intercede for all people through prayer, is the real motivation behind the life of a monk. Simple and easy, right? Not!! The weaknesses of human nature weigh on us as they weigh on anyone else and yes, we sometimes forget the focus and purpose of our life. That is where the encouragement of one another and the structures of this lifestyle keep pushing us forward, just as St. Benedict intended. The search for the right balance, finding the balance between work, prayer, holy reading and leisure never ends. Once that balance is found one can hope for the fruits of inner joy, peace, and productivity. Some days are pretty successful, but then again, some days can verge on disaster. Perhaps if you average the highs and the lows we come up with "Normal." A friend of mine who is dealing with cancer has given me a term which captures the idea that drastic changes in our life call for a new attitude. He calls it a "new normal." May we seize the normal, whether old or new, and realize that this is where we meet the Lord, and then live life to the full!
Thanksgiving Meetings and Jubilees:
Thanksgiving means the students leave for home and the monks on mission come home to the abbey. We had the annual tradition of the business and community meetings with everyone present and the combined celebration of jubilees and anniversaries on Thanksgiving Day. Our jubilarians were Fr. Joachim (70 years professed), Fr. Donald (60 years professed), Fr. Kenneth (50 years ordained), Fr. Paschal (50 years ordained), and Fr. Karl (50 years professed). Although the infirmary renovation was not yet finished at the time of the Thanksgiving meetings, the abbot and community assembled in the infirmary (now to be renamed the St. Stephan’s Health Care Center) to bless the building. We all look forward, especially the residents, to its completion in a few weeks.
Br. Mark:
When someone dies there is truly a loss, a vacant space in our lives. That loss becomes all the more painful when that person was very visible and active in the daily life of the community. This is certainly our case as we adjust to the death of Br. Mark (74) on Nov. 30, 2009. We printed a good supply of death notices at the time of his funeral. I would be glad to send one to anyone who would like to receive it. Br. Mark certainly has had a lasting impact on our community and his many friends inside and outside the community. We will miss his smile, his jovial personality (he loved a good joke!), and the many ways he served the community. His work in development for thirty years was very productive and gathered many loyal friends for the work of the abbey. His work as porter in his final years provided a warm welcome to many visitors.
Winter Blast at last!
With the beginning of December our unseasonable warm autumn was blasted away by the first major snowstorm and arctic air. The blizzard conditions on Dec. 9 kept a good number of faculty and employees at a distance. Of course the faculty members who are monks could simply trudge across the campus and classes could continue as normal much to the students’ delight!
Last Updated ( Monday, 14 December 2009 21:09 )
Monday, 16 November 2009 18:08
All Saints and All Souls:
Some of us old timers around here tend to associate the feast of All Saints and All Souls with the change of beautiful autumn to simply nasty weather. That was not the case this year as Nov 1 and 2nd came along with delightfully sunny and warm days. Since All Saints fell on Sunday this year it was a special way to mark the weekend.
The feast began with First Vespers of the feast on Saturday evening announced by all five tower bells pealing across the rolling Missouri hills backlit with the setting sun. On Sunday we celebrated the feast but also honored over one hundred of our devoted and loyal donors with a special celebration and banquet. In the name of the seminary and the abbey, Abbot Gregory presented a special award to Bob and Carol Miller of Kansas City. Bob and Carol have been so generous in helping us in so many ways over the years. Their suggestion and promotion efforts have been an important driving force behind several fund-raising events which continue to benefit both the seminary and the abbey. Needless to say we appreciate all our donors who share their blessings and talents with us as partners in the work of our various ministries.
All Souls was a day filled with traditional ways of remembering our beloved dead. Since we have a large percentage of Hispanics in our student body, this day, called "Dia de los Muertos" (Day of the Dead) was marked with a special display in the corridor just outside the north entrance of the basilica. A colorful display of foods, candles, pictures and statues reminded everyone that our beloved dead are still close to us as we remember and honor them.
The unusually pleasant weather allowed the monks and seminarians to gather for the traditional All Souls Day procession to the cemetery right after lunch. While singing the psalms in procession and praying for the departed in the cemetery all our departed loved ones were remembered to the Lord. May they intercede for us.
Encounter with God’s Call:
The weekend of Nov 14-15 was the first of two "Encounter" Weekends hosted by the seminarians each year. This brief but intense experience of hearing and observing seminarians describe their vocational discernment has been a very important step for many of our present and past seminarians. We had about 70 young men and several vocation directors from Midwestern dioceses with us for the weekend. We hope and pray that the grace of discernment touched many people during their short visit. It’s always amazing to me to see how people receive the call of service in different ways and at different stages in their lives. For those who are listening, the grace of vocation comes at the right time, and then as they say, "the rest is history."
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Tuesday, 03 November 2009 21:45
Partnering for Future Priests – St. Joseph- Oct 9, 2009
It’s always nice to be part of a new successful venture. On the evening of Oct. 9, Conception Seminary in conjunction with our development staff launched the first annual Partnering for Future Priests fundraiser in St. Joseph with a focus on the northern deaneries of the diocese. We had a wonderful crowd which filled the tables of Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish hall in St. Joseph. The people supported the work of forming future priests not only by purchasing banquet tickets but also joining in the excitement of the silent and live auction. The seminary mariachi band provided some lively entertainment as people were gathering before the banquet. We have great hopes that our loyal friends will be back again next year having recruited their friends and neighbors in the process.
Board of Regents and Soccer/Volleyball Tournaments
The weekend of Oct 16-18 was special for a number of reasons this fall. This was the weekend meeting of our Seminary Board of Regents which meet here twice a year. Our very good friends, including sponsoring bishops and lay people, gather with the seminary administration to share ideas and the future of our seminary. Since we traditionally ask two of the Regent bishops to be principal celebrants at the Eucharists on Friday and Saturday, it provides the seminarians with the opportunity to hear the thoughts of bishops other than their own. Conception Seminary College values very much the loyal and insightful suggestions made by the Board of Regents.
While the bishops were inside, warm, and dry, pondering various seminary position papers and specific questions an exciting soccer and volleyball tournament was shaping up up on the outside. Picking up the tradition of last year, Conception hosted the annual gathering of soccer and volleyball teams from various seminaries. This year we had teams from Mundelein, St. John Vianney, the Josephinum, St. Gregory’s and Our Lady of Guadalupe (the latter two from the Lincoln, NE diocese). The games were played with great verve and the final outcome saw Conception pick up the win in soccer and Mundelein winning in volleyball. Besides the fierce competition on the field and courts, this occasion provides some good opportunities of sharing at the student level among seminaries.
"Fire in the ‘tube’"
We had some excitement just before supper on Wed, Oct 21. After a day of rain some underground power cables going from the new St. Michael’s junction box to that building shorted out and caused an insulation fire in the conduit. The seminarians going by on their way to supper had quite a sparks and smoke display from the junction box. The emergency crew from St. Joseph, MO arrived quickly and began the repairs which continued into the early morning hours. The monastery power was turned off for about two hours as part of the repair work. Since the internet and computer services are headquartered in St. Michael’s which was without power until early morning there was a bit of "internet deprivation syndrome (IDS)" throughout the campus as no one could send or receive emails! Oh, how dependent we’ve become on those little computer chips!
Monday, 05 October 2009 18:54
Underground cables! As I get back to adding items to this Prior’s Journal one interesting piece on the news list is our new underground power lines. Many centuries from now archeologists will probably find an amazing system of underground cables coursing the ruins of Conception Abbey. They will notice that it was a state of the art system at the time, reducing the need for dangerous and troublesome overhead lines around campus. No more danger of a curious squirrel getting more than they bargained for when exploring overhead transformers or a passing ice storm knocking out the system. We were fascinated as specialized machinery drove a remotely controlled “duck-bill” bit through the ground under and around obstacles and then emerged exactly on target. As this piece is being written the final switch-over from the old overhead system to the new system will soon take place at different parts of the campus on different days. I can’t help but wonder what an x-ray view would look like, an amazing spaghetti pattern of cables, water lines, gas lines, sewer lines, and drainage tile below the serene picture of green grass of the surface. Just imagine the frustration of some mole or gopher trying to set up housekeeping down there! Alumni Reunion – Sept 25 The annual Alumni Reunion was again a successful gathering of about eighty alumni, many with their wives, on a beautiful fall afternoon. This year we celebrated the anniversaries of the class of 1949 (60 yr anniversary), class of 1959 (50 yr anniversary), and the class of 1969 (40 year anniversary). The class of 1969 had the largest number of participants with twenty-five. It was certainly a walk down memory lane for the fellows who had not been back for many years. They enjoyed seeing the changes on campus but especially they enjoyed each other and renewing old friendships. The Conception Seminary Distinguished Service Award was granted to ninety-three year old alumnus Fred Meyer, brother of our deceased Fr. Alfred Meyer. Since Fred was not able to make the trip from his home in Gig Harbor, WA, his youngest brother, Norbert Meyer, of Iowa City, IA and his wife Lois represented Fred in the award presentation. Fr. Samuel, rector of the Seminary, pointed out that throughout his military career as a pilot and civilian career as a teacher in military academies, Fred continued give consistent personal and financial support through the years to the seminarians at Conception. This year’s celebrant and homilist at the 4:30pm Community Eucharist was retired bishop and alumnus, Bishop Anthony Milone who resides near Omaha. The dates for next year’s Alumni Reunion are Sept 24-25, 2010. Infirmary update: The work of renovating the infirmary continues to move ahead of schedule. The new floor plan with larger bathrooms, showers and closets will be a great improvement. The present plans call for the monks returning for the Thanksgiving meetings and jubilee celebration to join the monks at home in an official walk-through and the blessing of the new rooms. Some of the elderly monks who were vacated to temporary quarters in the monastery during the renovation have already “staked out” their room in the new infirmary. The rest of us will have to go on the “waiting list.”
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