.::Firmum Est::. - - My Heart is Steadfast

Priests, seminarians to kick off exclusive soccer championship

By Alicia Ambrosio
Catholic News Service

ROME (CNS) — Students at Pontifical North American College are among those competing in the first Clericus Cup, a soccer championship exclusively for priests and seminarians in Rome.

Seminaries and pontifical universities have fielded 16 teams for the championship series, with 311 players coming from approximately 50 countries. The series is to open Feb. 24 when Pontifical Gregorian University plays Pontifical International College Maria Mater Ecclesiae.

The championship game will be in June.

North American College, the U.S. seminary in Rome, plays its first game March 3 against Pontifical Urbanian University, an institution for seminarians from mission countries.

North American College had an informal team that occasionally played teams from other seminaries, said Jaime Gil, player and coach.

When the invitation came to enter a team in the Clericus Cup, the response from players at the college was enthusiastic, Gil said.

“I was surprised because we’re all busy with our studies, and it’s hard to find time to play sometimes,” Gil said.

Gil, who was born and grew up in Mexico, said he started playing soccer at age 6. He considered a professional career in soccer and during his high school years was called to join the Michoacan state team.

Gil said he realized that as much as he loved soccer his true vocation was to the priesthood. He turned down the invitation to join the state team, finished high school and moved to Boise, Idaho, to start his formation as a priest.

“This (the Clericus Cup series) is a way for me to do both,” he said, referring to his love of soccer and his vocation to the priesthood.

The Catholic Italian Sports Center, which organized the series, described the team from Pontifical Urbanian University as physically strong.

However, Gil said he was not worried by the description.

“Skillswise we’re still learning, but we have the advantage that all our players have experience playing team sports. We know how to play as a team,” said Gil.

There will be a few technical differences between Clericus Cup games and regular league soccer games. Clericus Cup games will consist of 30-minute halves instead of 45-minute halves.

Referees also will have another penalty option. In addition to the yellow warning card and red expulsion card, they can hand out a blue card, which requires an overly aggressive player to leave the field for five minutes.

Yeah, but not in that way. Just last Monday, my Sacraments professor at the Angelicum invited me to the front of the classroom to ‘hear’ a confession. I say ‘hear’ because anyone can ‘hear’ a confession - only a Catholic Priest can by the power of Christ absolve people of their sins. It was just a practicum to make a point. But even so, it has been one week since my last ‘confession.’
I’ve posted before about the campaign in the Archdiocese of Washington - “The Light is On for You.” Now, I have a nifty graphic. It starts this Wednesday.

In 2004, the preacher of the Papal Household Fr. Cantalamessa said,
“Confession is the moment in which the dignity of the believing individual is most clearly affirmed. In every other moment of the life of the Church, the believer is one among many: one of those who listen to the Word, one of those who receive the Eucharist. Here he is the only one; in that moment the Church exists only for him or for her.”

Let the Church exist soley for you in your confession this Lent. I’m praying that you have a blessed Lenten journey in the ‘desert.’ In this time of fasting, prayer and almsgiving, as you give as to pour yourselves out, may you be filled with the knowledge of Christ’s mercy. May His Grace abound that you may rejoice in your redemption at the Resurrection on Easter Sunday

Most of you know that I will be ordained here in Rome in 235 days. Well, maybe you didn’t know that I’m counting the days.

October 4th - the Feast of St Francis - is the day. I would love to have you here with me to celebrate God’s goodness.  For this reason, we have put a travel package together for the week of the ordination. Everything is included, and I mean everything - Ordination itself, all the Major Basillicas (St Peter and St Paul), the Catacombs, the Coliseum, the Roman Forum. Have I sold you yet?!? How about a day trip to Assisi to be with St Francis and St Clare.
Our Travel Agent, Caravelle Tours, has put together this great package. I don’t think they could have packed more in. See for yourselves - Travel Package for Diaconate Trip to Rome

Please email me with questions. I will most likely turn your towards Paola, our agent and friend. Please don’t hesitate - I look forward to praying with each one of you here in Rome in October.

Dear Friends United in Love and Service of Jesus Christ and His Church:

Our daily newspaper here in Milwaukee last week ran an article about February as the “fun month.” Why? They pointed out Groundhog Day, February 2; Valentine’s Day, February 14; and Mardi Gras, February 20. The article elaborated on food, drink, and partying possibilities for each of these days during “fun month.”

Interesting . . . it’s said that we live in a secular culture. That means that we are part of a society which ignores God and faith, or, at best, puts up with religion as long as it’s private and attempts no public influence.

In some ways, there’s no denying that we exist in such a secular market.

Funny enough, though, all three of these “February Fun events” are religious, sacred, and faith-based.

Groundhog Day is on February 2, the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord, forty days after Christmas, when Jesus is proclaimed as the “light of the world.” Thus we bless candles for liturgical use throughout the year, and sometimes refer to the feast as Candlemas Day. It finds meaning in the tug-of-war going on in nature between light and darkness. Which will win? Night or day? Darkness or light? Winter or spring? It’s the same question we ask when the groundhog looks for his shadow. And our faith tells us the answer: the sun, the Son, triumphs. You bet it’s a fun day, not because of the groundhog, but because of Christ, the light of the world.

February 14 is a slam dunk, the Feast of St. Valentine. Plenty of legends to choose from: perhaps this priest in third century Rome had an apostolate of introducing Christian girls to Christian boys; or that he paid ransom to help free young women trapped in prostitution; or that he encouraged the exchange of greetings expressing intentions of pure and chaste love between couples; or that his love for Jesus and His Church was so passionate that people claimed they could see his heart — who knows? But he’s the saint whose feast day gives rise to the most popular occasions for expressions of love. Once again, a religious feast!

And, finally, Mardi Gras (“Fat Tuesday”) sometimes called Carnivalé (“farewell, meat!”). Is this a “February Fun Day” with religious significance as well? You bet it is! Mardi Gras is the final day before Lent, those forty days of more intense prayer, penance, and charity in preparation for the great feast of Easter. It’s almost the “last party” before we begin a season of sacrifice and mortification. No Lent, no Mardi Gras.

I’m not so naïve as to believe that the popularity of these three “February Fun Days” shows a conversion from our secularism. Most people are totally unaware that Groundhog Day, Valentine’s Day, or Mardi Gras are all rooted in a culture of faith and religion.

But maybe we can at least smile at the fact that, while religious feasts might sadly fade, the yearnings that gave rise to them — the hope that light defeats darkness (Candlemas Day); that love enchants and endures (Valentine’s Day); and that one celebrates in anticipation of spiritual struggle (Mardi Gras) — are an innate and constitutive part of the human condition.

Happy February!

Now that February has rolled around, we have forgotten all our New Year’s Resolutions. In a matter of weeks, we will arrive at Lent - the period of penance in preperation for Christ’s Paschal Mystery. As Catholics, we always talk about giving something up for Lent. How about in addition that we try to take something up. This may seem to go against our gut instinct for our yearly Lenten practice. However, taking up a more frequent reception of the Sacrament of Penance is exactly where the Lord wants us to be. Enjoy Archbishop Wuerl’s Pastoral Letter: God’s Mercy and the Sacrament of Penance as you and your families enter make preperations for Lent. Ash Wednesday is only two weeks away.

This is weird, but interesting!

fi yuo cna raed tihs, yuo hvae a sgtrane mnid too

Cna yuo raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno’t mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and my mom awlyas tlod me slpeling was ipmorantt!

This may be a question in many of your minds. It is one that I have processed continually during my time in the seminary. One of the brothers, Vincent De Rosa, has made it easier to share. He complied a synthesis of Church texts and liturgical rites pertaining to the role of the Deacon and the Ministry that I will receive this October. I hope that his synthesis as helpful to you as it was to me.

From his introduction letter:

Dear Friends in the PNAC Family,

In the hopes of making your time in Rome this October a more fruitful experience, I’ve assembled this brief introduction to the diaconate.  It represents an informal look at the teaching of the Church on this special occasion in the life of your sons, brothers, nephews, cousins and friends.

Below are excerpts from various teaching documents, liturgical books and other reference sources having to do with the Sacrament of Holy Orders.  Text in regular print is cut and pasted directly from the sources themselves.  Anything in italics has been added by me as private commentary or “translation” into common parlance.

The first section is taken from the Catechism of the Catholic Church, promulgated by Pope John Paul II during the mid 1990’s.  This particular chapter repeats the Church’s teaching on the sacrament.  As with any teaching, the Catechism is always the best place to start for an overview.

Following the Catechism excerpt is the complete text of the ordination rite taken from the Ceremonial of Bishops, and The Rites of the Catholic Church.  The Ceremonial is the bishops’ how to book for the various liturgies that they celebrate.  The Rites… is a reference text, used mostly by students, that contains most of the same texts as the liturgical books, but with a slightly different layout.  Since the liturgy is the Church’s most effective way of communicating the truths it intends to re-present, and since the ordination liturgy will be the most obvious focus of attention for all those coming to Rome in October 2007, I thought that the best way to teach on the meaning of the diaconate would be through a commentary on the rite itself.

Finally, there are the Appendices: one on famous deacons of the past, a second on vestments worn during the rite (each of which has its own special meanings and origins), and lastly, “gifts traditionally given,” a brief outline for anyone who may be asking questions over the next two years on that particular topic.

Read and pray in good health…See you in October!

Vincent John De Rosa
Archdiocese of Washington

I have heard so much about Father Byrne’s Homily preached at the Youth Rally before the March for Life on January 22nd in the Verizon Center. But this is the first time I have heard it - and have joined fully with the minds and the hearts of those 20,000 people that day. I want to share the homily with as many people as I can - so click here!
In the summer of 1999, Father arrived at the Catholic Student Center at the University of Maryland as its new chaplin. It was the beginning of my freshman year. I have since graduated and moved on into the seminary, thanks to his help in discerning the love of God in my life.

Father’s continued witness to me since my four years with him has been profound. So there is the shout out - and he also gets prime advertising space at the top of the page.