The last few days has been very much all over the place.
Wednesday and Thursday I spent the mornings with students at La Salle. They really are good young people. I had a student compose a poem clowning on the Arizona Wildcats as his assignment. Another student hid another a desk as his mother came to my classroom to pick him up. Then a couple of students followed me to the car to make fun of what I was driving. High school freshmen they're funny!
On a more serious note, the assignment give to student on Thursday was to compose a poem on a topic of their choice. Wow! They were powerful.
I'll share one:
As I walked down the street
I see kids playing soccer
with no shoes
the step on the dirt with gravel and don't care.
As I walked down the street
I see the poor people
with their houses broken down.
I felt bad so I helped them.
I miss those good old times
when the streets were filled with joy
where everybody could walk freely.
I sure do miss those good times.
Those good times when everybody
trusted everybody.
Now the world is turning dark.
Now no one trusts anyone.
The world is sad and unhappy.
I wish everything can go back
to the loyal and happy people.
I wish I live in the good times
with family and friends.
This poem was composed by a student who lives with his mother and 5 brothers. I took him home on Thursday and dropped him off at a house, it looked like a 1 or 2 bedroom home. Yet, it was his home! He's a good young man.
A highlight of today was hearing from Ezequiel Santamaria, former student of mine at San Miguel High School. We were able to communicate on the phone.
Thursday is my cooking night, so I made a taco salad and corn on the cob.
Friday:
I spent Friday pretty much working on the San Miguel High School website. I am having fun with the project. Check out the new and improved website at http://www.sanmiguelhigh.com/.
I was also greatly relieved to hear that De La Salle High School in Concord will let us borrow two of their vans next week for the Lasallian Leaders Conference. Thank you De La Salle and a special THANKS to Marilyn Paquette at De La Salle Institute.
I also spent much time reading Thomas Merton's, "Contemplative Prayer."
We didn't go out Friday evening as we usually do. Instead, we ordered some pizza and watched a movie (Flag of our Fathers). Good movie! It was a Br. Dan order from NetFlix.
Saturday:
A day to sleep in was greatly appreciated. I began the morning by helping scrape some paint off the wooden porch, which is being refurbished.
I then headed to Michael's crafts to pick up some material for a prayer service. San Miguel is in charge of one prayer service next week at the Lasallian Leaders Conference.
I also had a chance to phone my family in L.A. We talk about 3 or 4 times a week. Mom, dad, and sisters are doing fine!
After Michael's, I headed to Starbucks to do some more spiritual reading spending about an hour and a half there.
I came home around 12:30 just in time to catch the Dodgers-Giants nationally televised game on FOX. Go Dodgers! They won 8-7.
I also spent some more time working on the San Miguel website.
In the evening, Br. James Joost and I headed downtown to check out the Folk Music Festival. We went the a bar, Bob's, had dinner and listened to some good music. We spent about 2 hours there, before heading to a different place for dessert and more music.
Sunday:
Yakima is surrounded by many smaller towns, which are anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours away. Br. James suggested we head to White Swan for mass. White Swan is about 45 minutes away. We made the drive only to find out that mass was at 8:30 AM and not 9:00 AM as Br. James thought. So Br. Dan, Br. James, and I headed back to Yakima.
I made myself an egg sandwich and then headed to mass with Br. James to St. Joseph's Parish downtown. It was a parish I was curious to check out. I also wanted to experience a mass in Spanish so the 11:00 AM was a good choice. I loved it! Great church and great community.
During our ride back, I experienced a "only in Yakima" moment: a herd of cows being moved across a street. Quite a site! Wish I would have had my camera with me!
After coming home, I picked up my reading material and headed to Starbucks for some more reading, finally finishing Merton's "Contemplative Prayer." It's a good book and resource. I also used my time to prepare for class tomorrow.
I then headed to the movie theater to catch a matinee.
I ended Sunday working on the SMHS website, again a project I am having a lot of fun with.
Well, it's late so off I go...good night!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Can You Hear Me Now?
It's God Calling…
This morning when I glanced at the first reading I didn’t of it much. In the Gospel, what captured me was: “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to out laborers for his harvest.” Vocation automatically came to mind, an invitation. When I re-read the 1st reading, it came to me, “wrestling with God.”
The Gospel in a sense challenges us to respond to the master’s call. Are we one of the laborers sent out for his harvest? Jesus is moved with pity for the “troubled and abandoned” for they were “like sheep without a shepherd.” There probably isn’t a day in our lives where we don’t have the opportunity to step it up—to indeed look around us and look for the troubled and abandoned. We are challenged to respond.
God’s is always inviting us to respond. How much time do we spend wrestling with Him? Yet, wrestling with God may be a good thing. Something that allows us to reflect, to deepen our relationship with God and in the end, like Jacob, ask for God’s blessing. Wrestling with God may allow us to see him face to face in our prayer, in our relationships with others, in our response to his call. God knows that we may wrestle with him, but in the end, in our own openness, in our own faith, God will prevail. Much perseverance is needed.
I am currently reading Contemplative Prayer by Thomas Merton. I paraphrase a passage I ran across today.
There is a movement of meditation, expressing the basic paschal rhythm of the Christian life, the passage from death to life in Christ. Sometimes prayer, meditation, and contemplation [dare we say…wrestling] are “death”—a kind of descent into our own nothingness, a recognition of helplessness, frustration, infidelity, confusion, ignorance; a profound distress of man in his nothingness and his total need of God. Then, as we determine to face the hard realities of our inner life, as we recognize again that we need to pray hard and humbly for faith, he draws us out of darkness into light—he hears us, answers our prayers, recognizes our needs, and grants us the help we require—if only be giving us more faith to believe he can and will help us in his own time.
It’s comforting to know it is okay to wrestle with God. Again, with great perseverance and openness, God in his time will give us the courage to respond, for “the master of his harvest” will send out laborers.
This morning when I glanced at the first reading I didn’t of it much. In the Gospel, what captured me was: “The harvest is abundant but the laborers are few; so ask the master of the harvest to out laborers for his harvest.” Vocation automatically came to mind, an invitation. When I re-read the 1st reading, it came to me, “wrestling with God.”
The Gospel in a sense challenges us to respond to the master’s call. Are we one of the laborers sent out for his harvest? Jesus is moved with pity for the “troubled and abandoned” for they were “like sheep without a shepherd.” There probably isn’t a day in our lives where we don’t have the opportunity to step it up—to indeed look around us and look for the troubled and abandoned. We are challenged to respond.
God’s is always inviting us to respond. How much time do we spend wrestling with Him? Yet, wrestling with God may be a good thing. Something that allows us to reflect, to deepen our relationship with God and in the end, like Jacob, ask for God’s blessing. Wrestling with God may allow us to see him face to face in our prayer, in our relationships with others, in our response to his call. God knows that we may wrestle with him, but in the end, in our own openness, in our own faith, God will prevail. Much perseverance is needed.
I am currently reading Contemplative Prayer by Thomas Merton. I paraphrase a passage I ran across today.
There is a movement of meditation, expressing the basic paschal rhythm of the Christian life, the passage from death to life in Christ. Sometimes prayer, meditation, and contemplation [dare we say…wrestling] are “death”—a kind of descent into our own nothingness, a recognition of helplessness, frustration, infidelity, confusion, ignorance; a profound distress of man in his nothingness and his total need of God. Then, as we determine to face the hard realities of our inner life, as we recognize again that we need to pray hard and humbly for faith, he draws us out of darkness into light—he hears us, answers our prayers, recognizes our needs, and grants us the help we require—if only be giving us more faith to believe he can and will help us in his own time.
It’s comforting to know it is okay to wrestle with God. Again, with great perseverance and openness, God in his time will give us the courage to respond, for “the master of his harvest” will send out laborers.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Trust and Courage
Summer classes started up again at La Salle after the 4th of July break. Students needed some help refocusing. We had a good day in class talking about classical drama and beginning the Greek Classic: Antigone.
Monday is 1 of our 3 mass days. In the last two days, I have really been struck by the readings and back-to-back, well-delivered homilies!
Today's readings come from Genesis and the Gospel of Matthew. Readings for Monday, July 9th.
I titled this entry "Trust and Courage" because of my reflection on the readings...
The theme of trusting in God comes up in today’s first reading. Yesterday, I found myself really connecting with the homily, which focused on the idea of “courage” and leaving behind our extra, unnecessary “baggage.” Which leads us to ask the question: “What is the baggage in our life that holds us back?” What a great reflection question.
I don’t know which is first courage or trust. My guess is that in our world today we are all guilty of being courageous for all types of reasons. We need to prove ourselves! You can do it! Yet, what good is our courage if we don’t trust in God?
In the first reading today, God speaks to Jacob in the following words: “Know that I am with you; I will protect you wherever you go, and bring you back to this land. I will never leave you until I have done what I promised you.” God asks Jacob to have courage, to take a risk, and go forth on the journey because he can trust in God.
We are called to do the same. How? Well, God came to Jacob in a dream, but sleeping and waiting for a dream may not be the most rational thing to do. However, if we “dream” by reflecting/praying and give God a chance to communicate with us might be something we can do before we go out and act courageously.
Jacob had already embarked on his journey, but God reassured him. Therefore, we too, must look for the signs God gives us to have courage, to indeed trust we are on the journey with Him. Our journey is nothing if we do not allow God to accompany us. Our journey will fail if we do not trust in God.
All this has great relevance for me at this present time in my life. I find myself missing the comfort of Tucson. I find myself missing the comfort of San Miguel High School and its familiar faces. I find myself “missing” a lot of people. Yet, it reassures me to know that the signs are there for me where I can see God. For example, in the last two days I find God challenging me to trust and to continue to have courage.
The end of the first reading gives us more to reflect on. I think it is important what Jacob does following his dream: he honors the place where he has experienced God in a special way. He makes a vow. I think it is important because it reminds us that we must honor God with great thanksgiving in the end. It reminds us to return to our roots, to the place (physical or spiritual) where God let us experience him in a special way. For me, it is obviously San Miguel High School where I felt God clearly spoke to me and gave me the affirmation to take this journey. I often return to SMHS in my prayers, thoughts, and imagination seeing how God called me. If God has called me, then I must trust he will remain with me and protect me on the journey, just as Jacob did. The responsorial psalm of the day says it clearly: “In you, my God, I place my trust.”
The Gospel is a great reminder of faith. These desperate people have come to Jesus with great faith. Sometimes our desperation allows us to have great faith, but we must practice faith outside of such circumstances, in order for it to come alive at those points where we find ourselves desperate. Faith thus allows us to trust, have courage, and continue on the journey towards God. And it is a cycle; trust and courage allow us to have faith.
Monday is 1 of our 3 mass days. In the last two days, I have really been struck by the readings and back-to-back, well-delivered homilies!
Today's readings come from Genesis and the Gospel of Matthew. Readings for Monday, July 9th.
I titled this entry "Trust and Courage" because of my reflection on the readings...
The theme of trusting in God comes up in today’s first reading. Yesterday, I found myself really connecting with the homily, which focused on the idea of “courage” and leaving behind our extra, unnecessary “baggage.” Which leads us to ask the question: “What is the baggage in our life that holds us back?” What a great reflection question.
I don’t know which is first courage or trust. My guess is that in our world today we are all guilty of being courageous for all types of reasons. We need to prove ourselves! You can do it! Yet, what good is our courage if we don’t trust in God?
In the first reading today, God speaks to Jacob in the following words: “Know that I am with you; I will protect you wherever you go, and bring you back to this land. I will never leave you until I have done what I promised you.” God asks Jacob to have courage, to take a risk, and go forth on the journey because he can trust in God.
We are called to do the same. How? Well, God came to Jacob in a dream, but sleeping and waiting for a dream may not be the most rational thing to do. However, if we “dream” by reflecting/praying and give God a chance to communicate with us might be something we can do before we go out and act courageously.
Jacob had already embarked on his journey, but God reassured him. Therefore, we too, must look for the signs God gives us to have courage, to indeed trust we are on the journey with Him. Our journey is nothing if we do not allow God to accompany us. Our journey will fail if we do not trust in God.
All this has great relevance for me at this present time in my life. I find myself missing the comfort of Tucson. I find myself missing the comfort of San Miguel High School and its familiar faces. I find myself “missing” a lot of people. Yet, it reassures me to know that the signs are there for me where I can see God. For example, in the last two days I find God challenging me to trust and to continue to have courage.
The end of the first reading gives us more to reflect on. I think it is important what Jacob does following his dream: he honors the place where he has experienced God in a special way. He makes a vow. I think it is important because it reminds us that we must honor God with great thanksgiving in the end. It reminds us to return to our roots, to the place (physical or spiritual) where God let us experience him in a special way. For me, it is obviously San Miguel High School where I felt God clearly spoke to me and gave me the affirmation to take this journey. I often return to SMHS in my prayers, thoughts, and imagination seeing how God called me. If God has called me, then I must trust he will remain with me and protect me on the journey, just as Jacob did. The responsorial psalm of the day says it clearly: “In you, my God, I place my trust.”
The Gospel is a great reminder of faith. These desperate people have come to Jesus with great faith. Sometimes our desperation allows us to have great faith, but we must practice faith outside of such circumstances, in order for it to come alive at those points where we find ourselves desperate. Faith thus allows us to trust, have courage, and continue on the journey towards God. And it is a cycle; trust and courage allow us to have faith.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Back at it!
So it's been a while since I've posted an update, mostly because not much has gone on than the usual. For me it was like a reflection on the past 3 weeks.
Br. Kevin, the Director of Postulants, arrived on July 4th to check in with me. We spent much of the time discussing life in the classroom this summer, community life here, my personal prayer life, and my assigned readings. It was a great time of reflection and sharing with each other.
We did celebrate the 4th of July here in the community here at house with a BBQ and friends of the Brothers. I got to do some of the grocery shopping and appetizers. It was a carne asada BBQ, so I also made some guacamole. Yum!
Thursday, July 5th was spent in discussion with Br. Kevin. It was also my cooking day so I used the left overs to make a taco salad.
Friday, July 6th was also spent in discussion with Br. Kevin. The community went out for our Friday routine. We caught a movie in the afternoon followed by dinner.
Today's been a slower day with time for some reading and a haircut. I probably had the "chatiest" stylist ever. However, she was very nice.
Br. Dat and I wrapped up our discussions on the Adult Catechism. He is taking off for Seattle where he will be flying out tomorrow for Paris. A good chunk of his family is in France.
I've also had time to grade throughout the holiday break. I'll use Sunday to prepare for the week.
It's been nice to hear from a lot of students and friends at San Miguel over the past couple of days.
Today, Clementina Fernandez (business manager at SMHS) got married to her long-time boyfriend and great man, Jerry! Congratulations Clementina!!!
Br. Kevin, the Director of Postulants, arrived on July 4th to check in with me. We spent much of the time discussing life in the classroom this summer, community life here, my personal prayer life, and my assigned readings. It was a great time of reflection and sharing with each other.
We did celebrate the 4th of July here in the community here at house with a BBQ and friends of the Brothers. I got to do some of the grocery shopping and appetizers. It was a carne asada BBQ, so I also made some guacamole. Yum!
Thursday, July 5th was spent in discussion with Br. Kevin. It was also my cooking day so I used the left overs to make a taco salad.
Friday, July 6th was also spent in discussion with Br. Kevin. The community went out for our Friday routine. We caught a movie in the afternoon followed by dinner.
Today's been a slower day with time for some reading and a haircut. I probably had the "chatiest" stylist ever. However, she was very nice.
Br. Dat and I wrapped up our discussions on the Adult Catechism. He is taking off for Seattle where he will be flying out tomorrow for Paris. A good chunk of his family is in France.
I've also had time to grade throughout the holiday break. I'll use Sunday to prepare for the week.
It's been nice to hear from a lot of students and friends at San Miguel over the past couple of days.
Today, Clementina Fernandez (business manager at SMHS) got married to her long-time boyfriend and great man, Jerry! Congratulations Clementina!!!
Monday, July 2, 2007
Start of the Third Week
It's about 6:15 AM here in Yakima.
I had to get up early this morning to prepare a test review for my class. We only have two days of class this week and then they have a 4th of July break until next Monday. So works out perfectly to have test Tuesday before the break.
It was a nice weekend. Relaxing. Friday evening we went out miniature golfing. Wow, I did horrible! But it was fun. After golfing, we went out for a burger at the famous Yakima "Miners." Pretty good and massive burgers.
Saturday was a cleaning day. We did a lot of work in and out of the house. Br. Dan Morgan moved in his stuff on Saturday also. He and Br. Jonathan arrived from Portland. Br. Dan actually did officially move in until Sunday. Anyway, before Br. Dan and Jonathan left we went out for mexican food. It was my first Mexican meal here in Yakima. We went to a restaurant called "El Porton." It was pretty darn good!
Sunday we went to Selah for mass at St. John's. They actually have a very nice pastor who called the Brothers up at the end of mass to introduce them to the community. After mass, I did some reading and then went out to a movie with Br. James. Did you know that matinees here are only $4.00? Well, it didn't matter. Apparently, there is one lady who owns all the theatres in Yakima (3 of them). She give the Brothers an annual pass to watch movies free! So we saw "A Mighty Heart." It was a very intense and touching movie. I highly recommend it.
After the movie, I read some more and we prepared dinner. We had burgers! Well, Sunday kind of wound down from there.
Well, we leave for mass in about 20 minutes before heading to school.
Have a great day and week!
I had to get up early this morning to prepare a test review for my class. We only have two days of class this week and then they have a 4th of July break until next Monday. So works out perfectly to have test Tuesday before the break.
It was a nice weekend. Relaxing. Friday evening we went out miniature golfing. Wow, I did horrible! But it was fun. After golfing, we went out for a burger at the famous Yakima "Miners." Pretty good and massive burgers.
Saturday was a cleaning day. We did a lot of work in and out of the house. Br. Dan Morgan moved in his stuff on Saturday also. He and Br. Jonathan arrived from Portland. Br. Dan actually did officially move in until Sunday. Anyway, before Br. Dan and Jonathan left we went out for mexican food. It was my first Mexican meal here in Yakima. We went to a restaurant called "El Porton." It was pretty darn good!
Sunday we went to Selah for mass at St. John's. They actually have a very nice pastor who called the Brothers up at the end of mass to introduce them to the community. After mass, I did some reading and then went out to a movie with Br. James. Did you know that matinees here are only $4.00? Well, it didn't matter. Apparently, there is one lady who owns all the theatres in Yakima (3 of them). She give the Brothers an annual pass to watch movies free! So we saw "A Mighty Heart." It was a very intense and touching movie. I highly recommend it.
After the movie, I read some more and we prepared dinner. We had burgers! Well, Sunday kind of wound down from there.
Well, we leave for mass in about 20 minutes before heading to school.
Have a great day and week!
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