It is finished!

Final exams are over, and I feel very confident in high marks across the board. Some classes are already determined and the grades published and the last ones I should hear about in the next few days. We studied long and hard until the end here, also preparing for the Seminarian Scholarship Dinner, to be held tomorrow night here at St. Clement's in Boston.

I also concluded my meetings with the psychiatrist/psychological counselor, and spiritual director for the year, preparing for the summer with both. We have a massive Spring Cleaning operation slated for next week before we all take off, and everyone at the house is gearing up for summer work and assignments. The main project at St. Clement's is to re-roof the church, a continuation of work that was begun last summer on other parts of the property.

As for me, I will be returning home until the last Saturday of August. While home, I will be working doing odd jobs in several areas including web design and development, IT support, and academic tutoring. I am open to coach children on violin and viola and provide training for others on any of the above areas - spread the word and refer to my main website: www.pnguyen.net on which I have posted my resume suitable for seeking summer employment at this time. It contains complete contact information for others to reach me.

It has been a truly phenomenal year, and it has been a great blessing to have such a welcoming and vibrant community of Oblates here in Boston, the militant support of prayer warriors here, at home, and everywhere, and maintained contact with family and close friends as I embark on this new journey of seeking to do the Lord's will particularly through preparing for priestly ministry. Many thanks to all of the academic personnel and everyone who has contributed to my vocation and formation through your prayers, sacrifices, and (even silent) approbation of this path.

I am also grateful for the sisterly support of Sr. Teresa, who celebrates her first birthday in religious life today. Happy Birthday!

Finally, on this feast of Our Lady of Fatima, who first appeared to Lucia, Jacinta, and Francisco on this day in 1917 in Portugal, let us charge forth with great vigor bringing the whole world to:
Love the Immaculata!

And let us say with Venerable Fr. Pio Bruno Lanteri, whose 252nd birthday we celebrated yesterday:
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca

Mothers' Day

I would like to open this post with the alternative prayer for today, the third Sunday of Easter:

Father in heaven, author of all truth,
a people once in darkness has listened to your Word
and followed your Son as he rose from the tomb.
Hear the prayer of this newborn people
and strengthen your Church to answer your call.
May we rise and come forth into the light of day
to stand in your presence until eternity dawns.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.

This is such a beautiful prayer! When the church provides alternative prayers for Sundays or other feast days, they are taken from more colorful texts and are generally older. Both are valid, though, so we should be careful not to be caught up in chasing appearances.

But here is an "appearance" worth looking at - these flowers opened up over the last few days and are such a timely gift for Mothers' Day:

On this Mothers' day, it is also important for us to remember our heavenly mother, given to us by Christ on the Cross, His own Mother Mary. Many people have posted on Facebook the words of Our Lady of Guadalupe to Juan Diego, comforting him over his uncle's worsening health:

My child, my littlest one, listen to my words
and allow them to penetrate your heart.
Allow nothing to afflict you or cause you anguish.
Let nothing disturb your heart.
Am I not here, I who am your Mother?
Are you not in my shadow and under my protection?
Am I not the source of your life?
Are you not in the folds of my mantle,
in the crossing of my arms?

These words also came to me this morning as I wanted to post something for Mothers' Day, and I later discovered so many people with the same inspiration. At Evening Prayer today, I also felt inspired to post Mary's song of praise, the Magnificat, which is part of Evening Prayer each day:

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day, all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his name.

He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.

He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.

He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.

He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.

He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise He made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.

Pray for us, Most Holy Mother of God, that we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ!
(Ora pro nobis, Sancta Dei Genitrix, ut digni efficiamur promissionibus Christi!)

Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca

Springtime in Boston!

Enjoy these photos of the beautiful flowers and new growth around Boston - just last week things were still pretty gray and dead-looking... what a change!

Springtime in Boston (2011)

Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca

The Holy of Holies

Mid-way through this Holy Week approaching the Paschal mystery, we pause to reflect on what it all means.

Yesterday, we attended the Chrism Mass for the Archdiocese of Boston with many other seminarians, a handful of bishops, and about 250 priests, including 4 Oblates and the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan Methodius and an accompanying priest from that church. At the Chrism Mass, the oils of Catechumens and of the sick are blessed and the sacred chrism is consecrated. It is a special time when the priests present renew their vows and are commissioned for the next year to administer the sacraments with the oils blessed and consecrated by their bishop. I was able to attend the Chrism Mass here in Boston last year during my final Come-and-See visit, and was likewise moved by the number of priests who showed up and their exercising the power of Christ the High Priest in unison during the Consecration of the Eucharist, the pinnacle and source of the priestly life. I was also on the "other side" so to speak; we had a come-and-see visitor accompany us, as well, a position I was in last year. Cardinal Sean O'Malley's homilies have been encouraging for his priests to continue to give their lives for the Church, aware of the gravity of the work that they do and aware also of the great strength we all have in Christ to do this work.

Tomorrow night begins the holy Triduum of Easter with the Commemoration of the Last Supper. The Church slows to real-time in these days, reliving with precision the events of so many centuries ago. We step through the Last Supper and keep vigil as the apostles were asked to do in the Garden of Gethsemane. We enter Friday fasting as Our Lord is on trial, and commemorate His carrying the Cross at noon. At the 3pm hour of mercy, we will offer the Chaplet of Divine Mercy as the first day of a novena leading up to Divine Mercy Sunday, and at 7pm, when Our Lord is in the tomb, we will again read the Passion narrative and share in His body and blood in the consecrated species conserved from the night before. Saturday, as Our Lord is in the tomb, we continue our fast and make preparations for the celebration of Easter. Then, as we approach that glorious Easter morning, we commemorate all of salvation history and share in Our Lord's triumphant resurrection.

This is a time for much prayer and reflection, and it is a time of great mercy. It is in this time in which we commemorate Our Lord's salvific self-sacrifice that His abundant mercies flow forth the strongest. On Divine Mercy Sunday, our having repented of our sins and received the Sacrament of Confession during Lent along with having received Holy Communion and prayed for the intentions of the Holy Father grants us the remission of sins and all temporal punishment, restoring us to Baptismal purity. What a tremendous gift! God recognizes our weakness and also our ability to leverage His strength. He loved us into being and offers us His love at every moment of our lives, should we choose to accept it. Let us accept it with open arms and open hearts. Let us join with Mary and allow her to convey to us God's merciful forgiveness and grace, as He has chosen that she do.

Let us enter into silence as much as possible these next few days, keeping watch with the Lord, sharing in His sacrifice, made for each of us and for all of us. Let us then rise triumphant with Him on that glorious Easter morn!


Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca

Fifth Week of Lent!

Time is flying by; I will be home in 6 weeks! We are approaching the deepest part of Lent with this final week before Passion Sunday and Holy Week before the glorious octave of Easter and the Beatification of John Paul II on May 1, Divine Mercy Sunday, which begins our final week of instruction. After a week of final exams and another week of cleaning house, I will come home for the summer. It really makes me stop and think, look back on my first year, when I got off the plane in Boston early August 23, 2010, when I got Provincial Fr. Dave's message in the desert in Arizona, when I visited during Holy Week last year and committed myself to the application process, all those little bubbles on the psychological examination, and refused my admissions offer at the University of Virginia. It is truly tremendous how much happened in the last year, and how much I have grown and lived.

I wanted to blog last Saturday; it was the 6th anniversary of John Paul II's death (April 2, 2005) and we went to the North End to take part in the first evening of the Boston Eucharistic Congress. Over 300 young adults were gathered in adoration with the monstrance blessed by Pope John Paul II and sent to the United States to be used at times when the faithful gather to pray for vocations. It was a very powerful evening with live music from students of MIT and Boston University and a dozen priests hearing confessions in the lower church. Attendees took shifts making holy hours throughout the night and into the next day; they took the morning off to offer their time and talents in service to the community in various ways, and returned in the afternoon for the vigil Mass of the 4th Sunday of Lent with Cardinal Sean O'Malley, OFM Cap. We remembered the late pontiff in our liturgies and joined the universal church in celebrating so wonderful a gift. "Be not afraid."

The week before that, we attended the Worcester Men's Conference. It was a powerful showing of over 1000 men from around Massachusetts (Boston's was canceled this year, driving attendance in Worcester). Four Oblates attended, myself included, marketing for vocations but also looking for various opportunities to network and connect with other groups in the area. One of the chief speakers at the Men's conference was Deacon Jack Sullivan, whose miraculous healing, attributed to Cardinal John Henry Newman, from complications after an operation to address a spinal cord injury, was the miracle that led to his beatification this past September. It was inspiring to see so many men seeking to be strong in their faith, singing together at the Mass, and reinforcing their zeal.

The seasons are definitely changing. With snow on the first day of Spring, it was a bit confusing in the Northeast, but the past weeks have borne some sunny days and the new shoots are visible many places. Rambo the turtle is out of hibernation now, and the Italian fig tree in the courtyard is out of its winter protective wrapping. Changing seasons is something I did not notice so markedly in Southern California. My confreres from the Midwest and Northeast rave and marvel about the changes happening and to come, and comment about signs that indicate the severity of those changes. I am slowly beginning to appreciate the changes; after a month or so without snowfall, I was presently surprised to see snow falling one morning and smiled to myself without realizing it. Boston weather continues to be quite unpredictable, though.

The Red Sox had their first home game yesterday (they play the Yankees three times this weekend), and the stadium's activity spills out onto our sidewalks as thousands of game-goers walk to and from the park, wrapping around St. Clement's. The noise of pedicabs and rambunctious fans pollutes the normally (though ironically) quiet atmosphere inside the Shrine.

Something that has come up in recent reflections is the reality of brotherhood and family in this Oblate community. It is something that I have begun to consider more directly and personally. How much do I trust my new brothers? How willing am I to talk to them? How willing are they to share things with me? The distance between us all continues to shrink, and, though I have always felt very welcome and at home, I did not immediately feel the warmth that is family. My sister Christina mentioned to me in the Fall that I have a new family now, and that was nominally true then, but has grown so much deeper now.

For a spiritual reflection, I noticed the Intercessions from Vespers of Thursday of the Third Week of Lent and I have been meaning to put them to use somewhere. The evening that we prayed them, all of my special intentions were included in the general ones, and I just felt a great sense of peace, that there was no need for me to voice my particular prayers because the Church, in her goodness, already anticipated all of those difficulties. That completeness was profoundly touching. It was not just that something that crossed my mind that day happened to be one of the intercessions; every single one was personal, but they were also printed in the same book of prayers governing the liturgies of thousands of English-speaking religious and laypeople who prayed them that same day! Here they are:

Christ the Lord gave us a new commandment, of love for each other. Let us pray to him:
    Lord, build up your people in love.
Good Master, teach us to love you in our neighbor,
—and in serving them to serve you.
On the cross you asked pardon for your executioners,
—give us strength to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
Through the mystery of your body and blood, deepen our love, our perseverance and our trust,
—strengthen the weak, console the sorrowful, and give hope to the dying.
Light of the world, you gave sight to the man born blind when he had washed in the pool of Siloam,
—enlighten catechumens through the water of baptism and the word of life.
Give to the dead the perfect joy of your eternal love,
—and number us also among your chosen ones.

May we strengthen our Lenten observance in these final weeks before Easter, uniting ourselves to Our Lord's Sorrowful Passion, that we might also share in His glorious Resurrection, offering everything that we are and have in the hands of our merciful Mother.

Love the Immaculata!
Mariam cogita, Mariam invoca