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The Priest ordination was this weekend. Three dedicated men became humble servants of the Lord as priests in the Diocese of Lansing. For those who have never been to an ordination, allow me to detail what happens.
The first thing that happens is the Bishop calls the name of each of the ordinands, to which he responds "present!" This lets the community gathered hear that the men are physically, emotionally, and spiritually present for the important event. The Bishop then asks the men to swear five promises before the people gathered (who, by the way, fill the entire cathedral. David had five rows reserved for his biological and St. Joe's family). These promises are: to accept the duties of priesthood, to celebrate the Mysteries of Christ, to pray without ceasing, to preach the Word, and to consecrate their lives for the salvation of all. After they promise these to the community, they are called one by one to the Bishop. The ordinand places his hands in the Bishop's, and the Bishop asks him to swear obedience to him and his successors. After this, like all good Catholic celebrations, we sing the Litany of the Saints while the ordinands lie prostrate before the altar.
Next comes the Laying on of the Hands. My worship aide reads: "The Bishop lays his hands on the candidates' heads in silence. In this ancient gesture, he invokes the Holy Spirit and confers priesthood. Then, all the priests lay hands on the candidates." ALL of the priests. By the way, there are somewhere around 100 priests in attendance. That is no exaggeration. The process is long but surprisingly well coordinated, and inexplicably beautiful. It is as if all of these men are passing their wisdom, blessing, and a piece of themselves to those their hands touch. I cry, for the first time.
After all 90-something priests lay their hands, the Bishop says a prayer of Ordination over the men, thanking God for their willingness to serve in the Diocese of Lansing. The newly ordained are vested with the stole and chasuble. They are assisted by their fellow priests, in David's case Fr. Brendan and Fr. Charlie Irvin. I cry again. After this, the Bishop anoints their hands with the sacred Chrism. These hands can now administer sacraments. I smile from the choir loft and look at the Bishop Emeritus, who blessed my forehead with so much Chrism on my Confirmation that it dripped and immediately soaked into my left eye. The families of the newly ordained bring up the gifts (there was no collection that I could see, so this went rather quickly). I cry again watching the priests take the gifts from their parents to be placed on the altar. The newly ordained receive their chalices and patens. The Bishop offers the traditional Kiss of Peace to each newly ordained priest. I cry again. Mass proceeds from this point as usual. At the reception afterwards, I receive my first blessing from Father David Rosenberg.
In short, the ordination mass was a beautiful profession of faith and love. The ceremony can be described as a combination of a marriage and a graduation. The priesthood is more than just a job: it's a lifestyle. It begins that day and doesn't stop.
Fr. David's first mass was this morning. The mass was called his "mass of Thanksgiving" to the church, and from the church to him. Bishop Emeritus Carl Mengling was there, along with 10-15 priests and just as many deacons. It was an incredible mass for many reasons. First, I have never seen someone so on fire with the Holy Spirit and so full of energy because of it. Second, I have also never seen someone have so much fun flinging Holy Water all over the church and the congregation. I got pretty soaked, as did my now holy choir book and the grand piano, the young, old, Catholic, non-Catholic, pews, books, purses, and especially the floor. Hospitality ministers came around with towels to make sure the floor wouldn't be slippery for people walking later for Communion. Finally, watching the Liturgy of the Eucharist today was the most powerful thing I have seen in my entire life. Seeing Fr. David filled with such emotion started me crying again. Moments like that reaffirm the fact that what we believe as Catholics is true and powerful. Mass concluded with Fr. David thanking everyone gathered in the church for helping him through his seminary experience and helping him feel welcome at St. Joe's, which made a lot of us cry (again). After mass was finished, people flocked to meet with Fr. David, of course. There was a semi-organized line sometimes wrapping around the font and sometimes extending into the aisles between the pews. We ate. We drank punch. We celebrated the new life that had started for Fr. David Bruce Rosenberg. I left feeling closer to God's call to me than ever. I pray now that I, like Fr. David, can answer.
Author's note: Around the blog, there's a new name and a new aim! From now on, the name of this blog is Cor Ad Cor Loquitur, which means "heart speaks to heart." It was Fr. David's mantra while he was in the seminary, and it really spoke to me this weekend. As the name suggests, the blog will now focus on matters of the heart - God, love, and life advice. It will also detail the author's upcoming study abroad trip! Thanks for reading, and please leave comments!!
Rejoice, Heavenly powers! Sing choirs of Angels! Exault all creation around God's throne. Jesus Christ, our king is risen! Sound the trumpet of salvation!
Easter. Jesus is risen. We praise God and join together in prayer and thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving. What a word. Giving thanks for what?
Today I give thanks for everything in my life. I thank God that He finds me worthy to hear Him in my life, I thank my family for always supporting me and my friends for everything they do. Today, I thank American University for providing me with an education and resources to help me achieve my dream.
But almost more than all of that, I thank the people who hurt me. Starting with the mean girls in elementary school progressing to all the boys who broke my heart. What you've done has made me a stronger person, someone I never would have been had you not come into my life. I am more sure of myself and I can walk proud of that person. Some of you have even inspired my dream of never letting horrible things like assault or trafficking happen again.
So, while you are enjoying your chocolate bunnies, think about the people in your life you need to thank. And do it!
"The Lord be with you"
"And also with you" "Barauch Atah Adonai elohenu melech ha'olam"
It's interesting to see how similar we all are. And how fascinated we are with each other. It's caused me quite the inner struggle - how do I really identify?
For anyone who knew me back in Michigan, you'd think this was an obvious answer: I am a Catholic. Tried and true. Not to sound like I'm bragging, but I knew more than most people my age in my class. I went to church 6 days out of 7 and was involved with everything.
Now I ask, what else did I know?
Religion is a fascinating course of study. It's also a fascinating thing of life. Ari never asked me to go to the synagogue with me; I asked him. I was amazed. There's nothing that I found in the English translations of the Hebrew that suggests a denial of anything I believe. Where do I belong?
A song that was played at last Friday night's special "Shirei Shabbat" (Shabbat of Songs) says the answer to my predicament beautifully. It is a song to Adonai (God) and says: "Oh guide my steps, and help me find my way. I need Your shelter now, rock me in your arms and Guide my steps, and help me make this day a song of praise to You. Rock me in your arms and guide my steps"
I pray every day that God will, in fact, guide my steps in the right direction. Maybe I was meant to be both? I feel spiritually fulfilled after both services. What does that mean?! I guess I'll just find out.
Happy All Saint's Day!
GO NATS! Friday night I went to a Nationals baseball game with my world politics class, professor, family, and of course Ari. I had forgotten how much fun it is to watch baseball. I used to go to Tigers games with my family when I was younger, but we haven't gone in years. I called my dad as soon as I got there to ask if he was watching and if so could he see me. Thank you, Michigan television, for not showing the Nats play the Braves that night. Oh well.
Sitting in the nosebleed section above third base was a pretty good place to view all the action. I watched the Nats score run after run while most of the crowd cheered. I was even more into the game than Ari was! It was pretty funny to come to that realization. When there was a full count, I wouldn't let him talk to me. I was fully focused. I love baseball. I can't say it enough. Now I'm looking forward to CRHP next weekend back in good ol' Michigan. I just hope everything goes superb as I'm sure it will!
This post is a copy of my post on my school blog, Civitas Universitas (civitasuniversitas.blogspot.com)
Might I say I just love living in DC?
The trip to the State Department was really interesting and opened up a new possibility for a career path for me. I like taking these trips because I'm one of those people who really isn't sure what she wants to do yet, and this is like "career day" in high school but BETTER. The speaker was really interesting and I could see myself in that position in the future, maybe.
As cool as going to the State Department was, it wasn't the coolest part of my week. As you probably know, my boyfriend is Jewish and this weekend was Yom Kippur. We went to Kol Nidrei services (for those of you who, like I was, are unfamiliar - Kol Nidrei services are the services the night beginning Yom Kippur.) and at the end of the fascinating service in a beautiful synagogue, we walk to the front to talk to the rabbi. As we are in line, we see a guy with an earpiece who is clearly armed. Ari asked aloud who he was protecting and this lady comes up behind us and says "that's the bodyguard."
"The bodyguard for who?" Ari asked.
"That's the ambassador." the woman replies.
We jump out of line. We walk over and introduce ourselves to Michael Orrin himself, the ambassador of Israel. He said it's great we're at American, and said to stay in international relations. "It's a great field with so many exciting possibilities," he said. Finally, Ari asked him to sign something for us so we could prove for our leadership gateway class that we met him and he explained (to Ari's embarrassment and my great interest) that he can't sign on the holiday but why don't we come down to his embassy sometime this week to get it signed? We were two starstruck kids just about then, and said we would make the arrangements. We are going sometime this week for the signature and probably a tour of the embassy.
If I haven't already said it enough, I love living here.
Have you ever lost someone? A parent, maybe, a grandparent, aunt, uncle? How about a pet?
It was January 1996. I was three years old, almost four. We got dropped off at Grandma and Grandpa Morris' house on Sibley Road and my parents went somewhere while we played and talked to them. We heard the door open and different sets of feet than we were used to bounding in! There was a little golden puppy, full of energy, running circles in the room. I asked Daddy what her name was. He told me we got to pick. He went through a list of names and said Maggie. I decided that would be a perfect name for the little bundle of joy.
Wow, did she grow up fast! I don't know why mom bothered potty training Maggie the first year or two of her life; every time she got excited, like if someone knocked on the door, she'd pee on the floor anyway! She had more energy than the two toddlers mom was raising combined. As a guard dog, she didn't really do much use. She was just too friendly. She loved popcorn, grape popsicles, cheese, and bread.
Maggie soon learned what got us going. She would take my baby blanket to play tug of war with me, took me by the braid and dragged me across the floor, and even sat on my face once! She was always playing around with us. She was also notorious for taking our bread, bag and all, out of the kitchen and burying it in the yard after she was done eating it. She got good at figuring out where mom was going to be and following her around, simply laying in the way once she got too old to walk that much anymore. Mom was constantly tripping over her. She was very good at getting in front of our "first day of school" and Halloween pictures too. But don't try to take a picture OF her! She would move out of the way and be as uncooperative as ever. I think she did it just to spite mom.
As Maggie started to get older, she became overweight. We had to feed our big puppy diet food for awhile. Almost as soon as she lost the weight we decided to put her on senior dog food. She started developing arthritis and moving like an old pooch. She would have a hard time getting up and moving and would lay down most of the time. Sometimes, we had to help her up.
Her vision was going too. She couldn't see the popcorn we threw for her anymore. She had a hard time finding the popsicles we held for her. She ran into walls and couldn't tell when the door was open anymore. The scariest thing was when she fell down the stairs. She would try to get back up and couldn't. We had to wait for dad or Tom to come pick her up and carry her up the stairs. Only once did she make it on her own and that was only because she knew I was scared.
I guess once I left, she got worse. She started holding her head funny and couldn't walk anymore. Dad had me call him last Friday and told me she couldn't do it anymore. They were going to put her down in the morning. I didn't want to do anything, just sat there and cried. That day and the day after were probably the toughest days of my life. Maggie died on Sept. 11, 2010. She was my best friend for all 14 years she lived. I don't know what I'll do in October when I go home and she isn't there. But that's another battle for another day.
Strength, bravery, and the uniform aspect aside, being with a fireman, or at least Ari, is about dedication. Ari is dedicated to.......... well, just about everything. School. Saving lives. Foreign affairs. His family. And, of course, me.
First of all, how many of you know someone who actually gets nicer to everyone when they're sick?! That was sort of a foreign concept to me when upon realizing that he was sick Ari came up to my room, made my bed, and insisted on helping me make the chicken noodle soup we shared that I made to help him get better. Okay, he doesn't even make his own bed and here he is making mine?! Great stuff right there. He is really always passionate and caring about people but when I'm sick I usually take a breather from that and focus on me. Nope, not for Ari. Now that the tables have turned and I'm sick, he is constantly asking me to "please get better! you need to get better!"
He's a brilliant student. Always asking questions, reading, trying to learn more. I can't count the number of times I've come to see him that he's been reading the news or writing a paper or emailing a professor. He has even used my iPod to email his professor while we were making sand art on the quad (yes, that actually happened. It was glorious.) asking about making an appointment to come to his office to ask about a paper. He even encourages me to do my work when I would rather just hang out or go to sleep. It's nice to be able to talk to someone who, I admit, is quite a bit smarter than I am who values my opinions and thinks I'm pretty smart nonetheless. He will talk to me about my intellectual interest, religion, and talk about how it may shape the way we think.
Religion is probably a good thing to mention. Part of what makes our discussion, and really our relationship, interesting is our differences in religion. He's Jewish - there aren't a lot of Jewish people in the area where I grew up but I have always wanted to learn other people's religious practices. He takes an intellectual curiosity to my Catholic faith as well, and we discuss our similarities and differences.
Ari's dedication to saving lives extends beyond firefighting/ EMT work, though one can tell just by talking to him that firefighting is his true passion. He is a freelance peer counselor and has helped many people out of truly difficult situations. One of his favorite things to do is help people. During our first week or so here everybody on his floor discovered he had a full toolkit. It was so fun to see him light up when someone asked to use it and he'd dash off to his room to go get it. He can't say no when someone needs his help. He is always putting others before himself, something that is rarely seen among humankind these days.
People are Ari's biggest priority. He will talk to anyone and pull a story out of anyone. By doing so, he has helped a lot of people including me. His family is important to him as he is always trying to look out for them (like he does for everyone else, only more intensely). You can tell he's a loving and caring person when you hear him talk to his family on the phone. He's honest and passionate towards everyone he meets. Is that from the job? I don't know. But it's who he is and I'm proud of that.
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