An Unexpected Blessing

Hey all. I've been pretty busy recently, so I haven't been able to write posts on some of the more burning questions and issue that I've been wrestling with lately. To give you a preview, I'll say that I've been thinking more about Dawkins' book, the God Delusion and am eager to really break it open and see what he has to say. I've also been digging into the question of the Protestant views of salvation and justification, and how they compare to the Catholic views. Pretty cool stuff, and I'm really eager to write about them and share my thoughts with you on them. But, in the meantime, I'll just leave you this...

I was eating lunch today with my pastoral supervision, Fr. Steve Hook, and a friend and fellow seminarian. Since it was during the day, Fr. Steve and I walked into the diner with our clerics on, and the area we live in is not one that has been historically very welcoming to the Catholic Church. But there we are, eating our diner food (and was it good diner food!) when an older gentlemen approaches our table and sets some small, pocket size pieces of paper at the edge of the table, saying something along the lines of "just in case you don't have this at your parishes," and walked away. Not too sure of what they were, and even what religion the fellow was, we hesitated. But finally I picked up the materials and was instantly warmed and surprised to find this written on them

Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Unborn

To help stop the anti-life push in the U.S., Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen encouraged the spiritual adoption of an unborn child. This is done by praying that one particular but unknown child's life be spared abortion and be allowed to continue to and after birth.

To accomplish this, it was recommended an individual say the following daily prayer for a period of one year:

"Jesus, Mary and Joseph, I love you very much. I beg you to spare the life of the unborn baby that I have spiritually adopted who is in danger of abortion."

During your earthly life this spiritually adopted child of yours will be known only to God, but in the world to come and throughout eternity both you and the child will find happiness in each other's company.

Indeed, a very heart warming thing to find. It's wonderful to be able to see the little ways in which God reveals Himself throughout the day. Truly, every second of our day He blesses us somehow, in some way. We must only open our hearts so that He can give us the faith to see it. May He bless you today and everyday and give you the grace to see His presence in your lives. Then, He will be able to fill you with "the peace which surpasses all understanding" (Phil. 4:7a). I hope to be able to write more extensively soon. Until then, in the words of the Ven. Fulton Sheen, "Good night, and God love you!"

Another Long Hiatus

I seem to do this a lot. Just when things really get moving with this blog, something has to come up in life that seriously distracts me. This time it was a number of things, from finals to graduation, vacation to my summer parish assingment...there's just been so much going on. And its been mostly good. It's good to stay busy, although one must be careful that he doesn't loose sight of himself and what really matters. God always wants us to be able to look up at the world, see where we're going, and really drink it all in. If we're too busy, we'll never be able to see His hand at work in the little things around us.

And indeed sometimes his Hand is hard to see. I'm in kind of that place right now. About a week ago today I found out that the Archbishop has decided against sending me to the North American College this Fall. It was a blow to the stomach. I had been so ready, so excited, I'd told everyone I knew, my parents were so proud! I was even almost all the way packed! And the Archbishop told me he wants me to stay. It turns out that there are few things that I need to work on before I will be at my best, and ready to tackle the extreme stresses of seminary in Rome.

Although his decision was hard for me to take, and even to agree with at first, I knew that I had to see this all as an opportunity from God. It seems that God is reminding me that I am not perfect, that I have a lot of areas in my life that are broken, that are in need of healing. It's a hard thing to admit--it's very humbling (even humiliating), but it is for my greater health, spiritual and mental. I have to believe that, because if I don't, He'll never be able to work in me and through me as the priest that I think He is calling me to be.

It's a somewhat confusing time for me now. Although I trust in the Lord and am confident that He will show me His way when He sees fit, it's a little bewildering to have had a plan in place, and have it change very suddenly on you in such a manner. As for what I'll be doing in the Fall, I have not yet been told, and so I must take my summer placement one step at a time. Indeed this is an opportunity to learn what it means to trust in Lord always. I only pray that he grants me a deeper sense of His Providence, and a mighty faith that will cling to Him no matter what trials I shall face. May He do the same for you!

It's the Home Stretch...

Sorry that I haven't been posting much lately, but it's fast approaching the end of the school year, and I have a lot of work to do. On top of that, I have to complete my application for the North American College by the end of the month, and that sucker is beastly. As such, I really don't have a lot of time for thinking and writing. Please bear with me and pray for me as I trudge on through to the end! It's going to be tough, but with God's grace, anything is possible.

To hold you over until then, let me draw your attention to the upcoming "apostolic journey" of the Holy Father to the United States by posting his message to America. I think he'll give you plenty to chew on in the meantime until I can get my own act together. Peace, and God bless!

An Easter Call to Holiness

Happy Easter! The blessings of the Risen Lord be upon you! This is a season of great joy for me, as the whole Church celebrates the great victory over sin and death of Her Head, Jesus Christ. With that victory comes the joy of redemption from sin, of the grace of the Holy Spirit, of intimate union with the Father in Heaven. Between the awesome beauty of the Triduum Liturgy - The Mass of the Lord's Supper, The Commemoration of the Lord's Passion, and the Easter Vigil - and the wonderful graces imparted throughout these days, Eastertide has always been a season of great spiritual consolation, even when things have been a little dry. And who could remain cold to the celebrations of Easter, amid the beautiful sights and smells of a lilly-clad altar? The beauty of the Easter decorations in churches everywhere are such sources of grace in and of themselves!

Lately, during the tail end of Lent and throughout this Easter Week, I've been thinking a lot about what it means to be a Christian, how it all boils down in the routine, everyday of our lives here on earth. I think, the reason being, is simply because I don't know if I've been doing the best that I can in my walk with Christ. On top of that is the exciting, and also sobering news from my bishop that I will be attending Major Seminary at the North American College in Rome. This news is absolutely wonderful, and I feel incredibly blessed and honored to be given this amazing opportunity to be so close to the Heart of Holy Mother Church. How truly graced I will be. All this makes me think how un-graced-like I've been acting recently. Without giving away details too personal for the public forum, I'll say that I've been lately worn out by my daily crosses. Most of these are private crosses, things that I bear in silence, that most of my brothers are unaware of. But the crosses themselves aren't really the problem. The problem comes from how distracted I've let myself become in the midst of them. I'm already someone who doesn't deal well with stress. That weakness is compounded a hundred-fold when I allow myself to loose sight of what really matters in life.

So what does really matter? Amid all the trappings of the Catholic - Christian life, the teachings, the prayers, the Liturgies and Traditions, what is the driving principle and last end of all these essentials? What's at the core? What holds them all together?

The Catechism of the Catholic Church puts it wonderfully:

In the waters of Baptism...our Father calls us to holiness in the whole of our life, and since 'he is the source of [our] life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and...sanctification,' both his glory and our life depend on the hallowing of his name in us and by us. (no. 2813)

Holiness. That's our call, that's the first mission and reason for our existence. In everything we do we are to "hallow" his name in our hearts and in our actions. It is this lived Faith, I think, in which real spiritual progress consists. But don't we so often get distracted, even in our Faith? What I mean is, especially for those involved in service to the church, is that sometimes we make our faith all about having the best music at Mass, or being on the right side of all the big debates that divide us today. Now, I firmly believe that many of these things are among the most important aspects of our religion; I said it above already - they're the essentials, because they direct and inspire our Faith, showing us the way to holiness, helping us to pray. But all of them mean absolutely nothing unless we daily seek after Christ. That's what holiness means: union with that God-man Jesus, who died and rose from the dead to deliver us from sin and make us new in the Spirit. It means that every day we have to get back up when we fall; It means every day remembering that it's all His work, and never ours; It means we are hopeless without Him, and living like we know it. It means we pray like our lives depended on it. It means trying to be one with Him, like Him in Heart and Mind. Every morning we have to renew our commitment to Him, give ourselves over to Him, and let His love fill our hearts so it can be the lens through we we see all whom we meet.

It sounds like quite a tall order, doesn't it? I guess from this side of heaven, it does. But it helps to simplify it, I think. It's all about Jesus. Everything else about our Catholic Faith falls into place around Him, pointing toward Him. So here's a bit of advice, if all my talk about Holiness seems like a lot: try and grow in your love for the Blessed Sacrament. It works for me, and has for all the saints. Why? Well, because it's Jesus. Because everything comes together in the Eucharist. There's nothing symbolic about it - Jesus is really and truly there, and that's an essential to our Faith. You can't come to truly know Christ without it. Mary will help you, too; everything she does points to Him. If you find yourself losing focus, getting distracted by your sins or just those lesser concerns, go to her. She'll take you to the Cross, where His blood will wash you clean again...

I hope my Easter ramblings have made some sense. There's a lot of context to these reflections that I admit I've left out for personal reasons, so it all seems to make perfect sense in my head. But the advice I've given has been given by all the spiritual masters. This Christian Life is tough, I know. I've been trying hard to live it for a while now. But I think we'll all be okay if we just manage to focus. That in and of itself can't be done without the grace of God, so again, stick close to Him. He loves us, and wants only the best for us. Well, that's all for now. Until next time, may the Risen Lord fill your hearts and your minds with the peace that is beyond all understanding... Ciao!

So, what's with the name?

Well, the other day I was talking to a budy of mine who checked out this blog the other day and came back to me saying how he had honest-to-gosh thought that my name was Angelo Faquino. I excused the mistake, but realized how odd my screen name may seem to some. My screen name is supposed to be pronounced Angel of Aquino, although I have to admit, the mistake has a nice ring to it.

I chose this name after this prayer book that my mother gave to me for confirmation. It was a hand-me-down from my grandfather, whom I never knew. I was flattered, because my confirmation saint was Thomas Aquinas, who would be the "Angel of Aquino" in question, and I thought it was cool to have this connection with a family member I never got the chance to meet. We both shared a devotion to this really incredible saint. I wish I could go into detail why Thomas Aquinas is so awesome, but I just simply don't have the time. So, to make up for it, I'm going to put a link to a really good site on the guy. If you wanna check out some good biographies on the man, G.K. Chesterton has the best that I know of. I was really impressed with it myself. But what I will say about the man is that I was so impressed with his humble intelligence. Thomas Aquinas is one of the greatest philosophers the world has ever known, and his contributions to the Faith can't be overvalued. Basically, he had a lot to do with the wedding of Faith with Reason. In other words, having Faith didn't make one a dummy, or stupid, or foolish. Becuase, according to Thomas (and JP II, for that matter) Faith makes sense.

Anyway, I guess you could say I wanted to dedicate this blog to him. He's up there in heaven right now lookin' out for me like a little brother. And I see him as my role model, because I, too, have the gift of a great intelligence. I want to use it, just like he did, to the glory of God. But sometimes that seems like an undertaking too great for my strength. Thank God God is omnipotent! So, that would be the origin of my screen name and the title of my blog. I hope that clears some things up!

Enter The Angel

So this is blogging? You hear all about, and I've only just now stumbled alongside the bandwagon. A good friend of mine, Deacon Joe Wiz (that's not really his last name, but I can't spell it for the life of me), from the diocese of Wilmington, Delaware recomended it to me as a great way to communicate. So, here I am. Communicating...

To whom? I mean, is anybody out there? Who reads these things? Is anyone really gonna care about what some random shmuck writes in here about his personal life? I mean who am I? I'm just so...average!

No, I don't have issues with self-worth. I'm just honestly curious, that's all. I mean the idea of a blog is a really interesting one, but if all it does is satisfy your urge to process your thoughts, than why post it for all the world to see? There are so many people out there, so many bloggs and websites clogging up cyberspace. Is it really possible for all of them to be seen?

Well, anyway, despite it all, I thought it was well worth a try. If you've stumbled upon these Aquinas Files and actually find yourself even semi-interested in me, I'd love to strike up some kind of correspondence with you. Be brave! Be bold! Talk to this crazy Catholic and see what amazing things he has to say. Don't worry, I don't bite. I mean, I never was much for Man chops... just kidding, really! Anyway, it's always good to meet new people and expand your horizons. And besides, who knows how we'll impact one another? That's the most exciting thing of all...

Well, I'll guess I'll c ya around crazy world. Untill next time, ciao!