A Milestone along the Journey



Seminarian Jonathan Hill

The long-awaited day has finally arrived. Four years of sweat, blood and tears have paid off. I am graduating with honors from Loyola University in Chicago, with a Bachelor’s degree in Philosophy. I must admit, it is a wonderful feeling. Graduation is the culmination of years of hard work, all boiled down to the satisfaction of holding that piece of paper in your hands.

The Mantle: Mission to Poor Children



Brother Candidate Ryan Thibert:
Holy Week 2012

The Mantle, named after our Lady of Guadalupe, is a non-residential program in Chicago which provides sanctuary for neighborhood children and educational opportunities for their parents.

Parents attend free classes in ESL, GED preparation, basic computer classes and other various family enrichment ministries.

The Meaning of Holy Week

“Only when someone values love more highly than life, that is only when someone is ready to put life second to love, for the sake of love, can love be stronger and more than death? If it is, it is more than death, it must first be more than mere life.

Jesus’ total love for men, which leads him to the Cross, is perfected in total stepping-over to the Father and therein becomes stronger than death, because in this it is at the same time total ‘being held’ by HIM.” Pope Benedict XVI

Sharing Spring Break with Those in Need



Tornedo devestation

Several of us seminarians are on Spring Break this week, and after a few short days of quiet, we began looking desperately for something to fill our time. Originally, we had planned on driving up to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to visit a brewery and see the city. However, news of the recent devastating tornado in Illinois kept filling the internet and airwaves, and requests for volunteers were coming from the United Way.  Seeing an opportunity to do more than just waste time, Jonathan Hill and I decided to drive down to the area that was worst hit, on the Indiana side of Louisville, Kentucky.  After driving all night, we arrived at the deserted United Way building around 3:00 am. There was a sign that said that they would reopen at 9:00 am.  So, with nothing else to do, we slept in the car until the building opened.

The Church is Mission!

Timothy Cardinal Dolan

On the eve of becoming Timothy Cardinal Dolan of New York, Cardinal Dolan gave this speech in Rome on February 17, 2012 before the Pope and the College of Cardinals:

“The Announcement of the Gospel Today, Between Missio Ad Gentes and the New Evangelization.”

Holy Father, Cardinal Sodano, my brothers in Christ:

Sia lodato Gesu Cristo! (Praised be Jesus Christ!)

It is as old as the final mandate of Jesus, “Go, teach all nations!,” yet as fresh as God’s Holy Word proclaimed at our own Mass this morning . . .

Bishop Patrick J. Byrne, M.M. - Modern martyr of Korea



Bishop Patrick J. Byrne, M.M. was the first Maryknoll priest. Orginally ordained for the archdiocese of Washington, D.C., he was given permission by Cardinal Gibbons to join Maryknoll a week after his ordination.  As a young priest, Father Byrnes supervised the building of Maryknoll and was assigned to Korea in 1923.  In 1929 he returned to Maryknoll and was elected Vicar General during the first Society chapter.  In 1935 he opened a new mission in Kyoto, Japan, and was placed under house arrest during World War II.  When the war ended, he helped General Douglas McArthur calm the people during the beginning of the American occupation. In 1947 he was appointed by Rome as Apostolic visitor to Korea, and in 1949 the first Apostolic Delegate to Korea. On July 2, 1950 Bishop Byrne was seized by the Communists and put on trial. Refusing to give in, he was forced to march to the Yalu river along with remnants of the US Army 24th Infantry Division. He died on November 25, 1950 and was buried in an unmarked grave in Hanjang-ni, North Korea.  View Video

A Christmas poem: No Mistake

So how was your Christmas?

If this is the stable
there must be some mistake
but Bethlehem was no mistake
Jesus is born, the promise of God fulfilled
   in a poor village
   a poor family
   poor folks all around
in a cold and strange place
   hungry, crying
   lots of problems
   escaped massacre
   survived

Not all that different from our stable
   poor part of the world
   poor families
   cold especially in the early morning hours
   hungry, kids crying
   all sorts of problems
   living in a relocation camp
   escaped massacres
   (six hundred and seventy-six areas massacred)
   they survived

So we did have a pretty good Christmas
   found the stable
   but it was just that
   lots of problems
   lots of rain, mud
   very cold

But through it all
through the tears we saw the kids
and recognized the place
no mistake, it was Christmas!

by Brother Marty Shea, M.M.