This where you'll find the musings of Patrick McLaughlin, currently a postulant and the only seminarian for the Pennsylvania province of the Oblates of St. Joseph, a congregation dedicated to the imitation of St. Joseph and humble service to Holy Mother Church.
Well, world (ha!), I hope that the first day of the Christmas season (i.e., yesterday), went wonderfully for you, and that the rest of what is in reality a season will also be joyful and holy. In other words, let's not take down the tree simply because the presents have been unwrapped. I don't really have much more to say, but, again, my kindest regards, prayers, and well-wishes to all of my supportive and helpful readership.
For those who do not yet know, the story seems to have broken on Whispers yesterday that one of the United States' most beloved Princes of the Church, Avery Cardinal Dulles, SJ, has fallen asleep in Christ. Dulles, a world-renowned professor of theology at New York City's Fordham University, and a man who could boast of the esteem of none other than the reigning Holy Father, died yesterday (the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe) at the age of ninety. He will be laid to rest next Thursday afternoon from St. Patrick's Cathedral, and will be interred among his confreres of the Society of Jesus.
Requiem aeternam dona ei, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat ei. Requiescat in pace. Amen.
Before I even begin, allow me to explain a little something: When I mentioned, in my last post, that I wanted to hear from the readers and get a little input on my radio idea, I was referring to you, the person reading this blog. That's right, you. If you can understand the words on this screen, then I welcome and encourage your e-mails at the address previously given in the afore-mentioned post.
That aside, it's Advent. It is, in fact, the second week of Advent already. Time has simply flown. Imagine, it's already finals week at school. It's already the middle of December, and Nativity Parish in Scranton has already celebrated the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe with Bishop Martino (which went great, by the way).
Advent, for me, is a difficult liturgical season. Lent is very clear. Lent is penitential. Lent has managed to maintain a great deal of its spiritual and supernatural character. Advent, on the other hand, is not so explicitly penitential, and has been so vastly overshadowed by the so-called "Holiday Season" of Wal-Mart and Hallmark that it is truly difficult to live out any kind of Advent spirituality in contemporary American culture. That's one man's opinion, anyway.
Nevertheless, I would like to offer to you, my readers (even those who have not responded to my request for input), a chance to enter into some Advent spirit with a much-loved even if not-so-time-honored chant, "Veni, Veni, Emmanuel."
As classes wind down, I will hopefully be living up to this responsibility of blog-posting a little more, well, responsibly. Until next time...
Patrick McLaughlin is a postulant with the Oblates of St. Joseph, currently in his senior year of studies at the University of Scranton. He writes to give the public a seminarian's view of the Church, the clergy, and American society.
