THE HEART OF A SEMINARIAN

A Roman Catholic Seminarian opens up his Heart and shares the Faith he Loves.

MY JOURNAL FROM MY HOLY HOUR

2/28

(AP) Thank you for accomplishments.  I love making lists and crossing them off it.  I just know that I must do this everyday; that is to write out my goals and plan for the next day.  Help me to stay focused.  This is a busy and hectic time and focus is what I need. (S) Lord, with a poor prayer life the last two weeks comes a de-formation of good habits.  Lord, I am not having the constant conversations with you like before and worst of all the imaged conversations are coming back which leads to or is a sign of pride.  Lord, I want to pray and pray constantly.  I pray for the grace to do so.  Also, Father talked yesterday on cultural formation and essentially the battle for culture.  Lord, I want to grow in knowledge, intellect, and wisdom to be able to participate in this fight.  Help me Lord with your grace to grow in these areas.  Lead me down the paths for success in these areas such as knowledge and wisdom of spirituality, political, current events and then be able to draw connections with them to our journey and race to heaven.  Help me Lord; give me the grace to succeed.  This is necessary as a father and as a leader of people.  Show me the path.

Challenge: Figure out ways to grow smarter in the realms of culture, achieve the goals for the day, do something for the less fortunate.

 

* In place of all people, I used the name Mary or Joseph.  This doesn’t always have to be the same person.  This is to protect others and also use Mary and Joseph as an intercession for them. (AP) -answered prayers, (S) – spiritual, (R) – relationships, (M) – material (things that I am doing).

posted by: muniz at 06:52 | link | comments (3) |
holy hour

MY JOURNAL FROM MY HOLY HOUR

2/27

(S) Lord, I cannot tell you how much I love confession.  I hate falling, I hate the disappointment when I am going in, but I love knowing I have a fresh start again.  So here we go.  It amazes me how missing prayer can mess with your mind.  The lost grace makes you run in a deficit.  Lord, tell me how my body runs.  I play 5 games in a basketball tournament in 24 hours playing all but 8 minutes.  That whole day I am impressed about how well I felt.  How come until today, I have not been able to wake up at 5am?  For 2 weeks, I started behind schedule and never caught up; it was a time of bad prayer and bad work ethic, no conversations with you and more self-centered and lack of patience thoughts.  Not only that, but why have my runs for the past 2 weeks been the worst all year and then yesterday have my best time of the year? Anyway, all of those are in the past, so what can I learn from these experiences?  I would say to set priorities, but it is hard when the mind is not motivated too and it makes excuses.  The key is that it is not hard to get back on track the first few days and then it gets harder to return to the schedule when the routine is gone.  The key is to get back on the horse soon and don’t lose the holy hour.  God help me; help me to have a great Lent.  Help me reach my goals.  Thanks again for confession and a fresh start.  Thank you.

Challenge: Achieve the goals for the day, Try to think of something to do for the less fortunate.

 

* In place of all people, I used the name Mary or Joseph.  This doesn’t always have to be the same person.  This is to protect others and also use Mary and Joseph as an intercession for them. (AP) -answered prayers, (S) – spiritual, (R) – relationships, (M) – material (things that I am doing).

posted by: muniz at 06:51 | link | comments |
holy hour

MY  COLUMN IN THE “CATHOLIC TIMES”

In the diocesan newspaper “Catholic Times” for the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois, I write two columns entitled “Heart of a Seminarian” and “My Apologies”.  Here is my latest column with all of my previous columns.

 

My Apologies

1          Church’s teaching always grounded in Scripture (2/11/07)

Heart of a Seminarian

17            What does it really mean to be ‘a good Catholic’? (1/7/07)

16            Take time to make proper preparations for Christmas (12/10/06)

15            Use an Advent plan to prepare for New Year’s resolutions (11/19/06)

14            Take a lesson in success from the great Michael Jordan (10/29/06)

13            Sidewalk protest: Confronting reality of abortion (9/24/06)

12            Teachings, like Cardinal souvenirs, not always easy to sell (9/10/06)

11            Secret to evangelization is willingness to share faith (8/13/06)

10            Challenge for families: Make prayer a priority (6/18/06)

9              What values and qualities characterize us to others (6/04/06)

8              Every child needs someone who thinks he’s special (4/02/06)

7              In faith as in life, we take things one step at a time (3/12/06)

6              Seminarians ask for support, not second guessing (2/12/06)

5              Order soda with long conversation on the side (1/08/06)

4              On anniversary, seminarian remembers how God called him (12/18/05)

3              When game is on the line, who’s willing to take the last shot? (11/27/05)

2              When life becomes too much to bear, who will listen? (11/06/05)

1              Seminarian considers giving high-fives to everyone he meets (10/23/05)

Articles about me

A.            Diocesan seminarian showcased on national publication (9/17/06)

posted by: muniz at 21:25 | link | comments |
catholic times

MY JOURNAL FROM MY HOLY HOUR

2/21

(S) Lord, I want this to be a great Lent.  Give me the grace to improve in the places that I need to improve.  Lord, what attachments do I need to detach from?  What habits do I need to form?  Be consistent on my goals for my prayer life, listen to less/no secular music, read ‘Purpose Driven Life’ (that’s more for fun), do the ‘Preparation for Total Consecration according to Saint Louis Marie de Montfort’, and what else?  The rest seems to be taking away to just take away.  Is there anything that I could add?  I pray for the grace Lord to think of something that I can do for the less fortunate. (R) Today, I offer my fasting to all of my Godchildren.  Lord, watch over them, guide them, and never let there be a day that they don’t know that they are loved.  I also ask for your blessing and your grace for the strengthening of my friendship with Mary.  May there be healing where once was hurt.  Thank you.

Challenge: Try to think of something to do for the less fortunate.

* In place of all people, I used the name Mary or Joseph.  This doesn’t always have to be the same person.  This is to protect others and also use Mary and Joseph as an intercession for them. (AP) -answered prayers, (S) – spiritual, (R) – relationships, (M) – material (things that I am doing).

posted by: muniz at 21:13 | link | comments |
holy hour

BOOK CLUB – THE LAMB’S SUPPER

The Lamb’s Supper: The Mass as Heaven on Earth by Scott Hahn

 

What do you think of it?

What questions did it raise for you?

What did you find interesting about it?

What did you like about it?

What did you NOT like about it?

Have you read any other books by this author?

Have you read any other books on this subject?

Would you recommend this book to others?

Why or why not?

From 1 – 10, how would you rank this book?

posted by: muniz at 21:15 | link | comments (2) |
book club

MY JOURNAL FROM MY HOLY HOUR

1/16

(AP) Ok, so I didn’t organize my schedule last night due to time, but I did schedule a time to do it.  Anyway, thank you for a wonderful TEC and thank you that Joseph and I had a chance to speak about his experiences from his weekend.  God, guide him to you even more.  This weekend was wonderful. (M) This is the time that I get back to work.  I really need to step it up.  Anyway the inspiration in that scheduling will come later.  That is the key for today, prioritizing and scheduling my day.  Help me discern what is not important.  (S) First of all Lord, I need to get out of the depressed, probably tired, mode that I had yesterday.  Help me concentrate on the future and what to improve on.  On another note, secular music can and is very harmful.  Just as I am trying to work on conversing with you more, driving and listening to secular music makes it almost impossible to converse with you.  Amazingly, as much as I tried to converse with you during the song, the conservation always turned back to me and my imagination.  What evidence to listen to more Christian music or talk radio.  Secular music just trains a person to be self-centered.

Challenge: converse, schedule, game plan about secular music and driving.

 

* In place of all people, I used the name Mary or Joseph.  This doesn’t always have to be the same person.  This is to protect others and also use Mary and Joseph as an intercession for them. (AP) -answered prayers, (S) – spiritual, (R) – relationships, (M) – material (things that I am doing).

posted by: muniz at 10:49 | link | comments |
holy hour

MY JOURNAL FROM MY HOLY HOUR

1/15

(AP) Jesus, thank you for another day.  Thank you for putting together such a great team.  Thank you for putting people in these kid’s lives that love them.  Thank you for a decent question/answer exchange with the kids about the faith.  (S) Lord, everyday it seems like I get more tired of myself.  Everyday feels like it shows everyone that I am not really a great person.  I want them to see holiness, but in all ways I feel that I fall short.  That leads to one of the most aggravating things for me.  Why do people lie to me and give me compliments when I know that they wish I was better.  Sometimes I long for criticism, I long for what feels like honesty.  God, why is it so hard to converse this morning, to keep my mind from wondering.  Help me Lord.  Anyway, here are some things that I want to improve on.  I want to reflect everything (conversation wise) with people onto them and you and not on me.  I don’t want anything on me unless it is part of glorifying you.  I want to see the good in people.  Not that I see bad, but I want it to come clear and quick and I want to see that everyone has a story of their life.  I want to see them as you see them as you see them.  As always, I want to converse with you more. (M) Help me think of you Lord, I start school tomorrow, a new semester and 5 months away from from ordination.  Tonight, let me get organized, let me reach my goals this year.  Help me find room in my schedule.  I know that I want to do too much or much more than I can do.  Help me to prioritize.

Challenge: prioritize my schedule, converse more, and show you more in interaction with others.

 

* In place of all people, I used the name Mary or Joseph.  This doesn’t always have to be the same person.  This is to protect others and also use Mary and Joseph as an intercession for them. (AP) -answered prayers, (S) – spiritual, (R) – relationships, (M) – material (things that I am doing).

posted by: muniz at 23:29 | link | comments |
holy hour

MY JOURNAL FROM MY HOLY HOUR

1/14

(AP) Lord, thank you for today.  You are constantly reaching out to kids.  The talks are going great, the kids are responding well.  Thank you for all that you have done.  I am so glad for all the ways that you have graced this retreat.  (S) I am so humbled to be around this team.  It is a huge blessing for me to be with these people.  I am so inspired to be more holy by them.  I wish I could be more like them.  I feel so worthless sometimes.  There are so much that I need to improve, these people are great for me; they challenge me to be more seminarians ever do.  Academics are such a trap to get into; you can mistake smarts for holiness.  I am too self-centered, I need more patience, I need loving eyes, not angry or judgmental eyes.  Help me Lord learn as much as I can from these people before I leave.

 

* In place of all people, I used the name Mary or Joseph.  This doesn’t always have to be the same person.  This is to protect others and also use Mary and Joseph as an intercession for them. (AP) -answered prayers, (S) – spiritual, (R) – relationships, (M) – material (things that I am doing).

posted by: muniz at 22:01 | link | comments |
holy hour

MY PERSONAL GOALS  

Every year, I set goals for myself in different areas such as physical, spiritual, and mental.  This year, I will do the same but I will also use you as my accountability partners.  I will list to you my goals and periodically every month I will update you on my progress.  These goals will not be easy, so I ask you to pray for me that I may accomplish them.  Also, feel free to comment, question, or advise me along this journey. 

* Click on the comments button below to see how I am doing.

Spiritual

1) Rosary – I will normally wake up at 5am and start my day walking while praying the Rosary.  This will get my blood flowing early in the morning, do something active, and finally keep me awake throughout the rosary.  I call this my warm-up for the Holy Hour.  Anyway, I want to make sure I have Mary with me as enter into my Holy Hour.

2) Holy Hour – This will normally take place at 6-7am in which I will journal my conversations with God.

3) Read at least 1 chapter of the Bible – While I do this, I will be using a colored pencil to be marking the verses that I learn from and also star the verse that I learned the most from.  You can see this verse in my Bible posts.

4) Liturgy of the Hours – This is the prayer of the Church that all ordained vow to pray.  It consists of 5 prayers: Office, Morning, Afternoon, Evening, and Night.

5) Fast 1 day a week – This will usually happen on Tuesdays.

6) Go to confession at least every 2 weeks.  I will try to go every week if possible.

Physical

1) Lifting Weights – I will lift by using 40 lbs dumbbells.  I will do as many reps as possible for 1 set for the exercises of bench, triceps, biceps, back, and shoulders.  Also, I will do 100 crunches each day and stretch each day.

2) Cardio – I will do something active each day either it be running or sports for at least a ½ hour.

3) Diet – My meals will be no larger than that which can fit inside of a coffee mug. Plus, one of my 3 meals will consist of my protein shake.  Finally, I will take vitamins daily.

4) Eating Out – I will concentrate on portion size and the types of food that I eat.  Every time I go out to eat, I will cut the meal in half and put the other half in a to-go box.

5) Water – I will drink 2 liters of water each day, plus an extra liter for when I exercise.

6) Soda – If I drink soda, I will only drink diet.

7) Weight – I will attempt to reach my primary goal of weighing under 200lbs and my ideal/dream goal of weighing between 180-185lbs.  Update: Jan 1, 2007 – 215lbs; Feb 1, 2007 – 205lbs.

* For all of these goals, Sundays are free days from that obligation.

Mental

1) Studying – I will spend at much time needed to get my work done for my classes.

2) Thesis – I will schedule times for my work on my Master’s Thesis weekly.

3) Book – I will read a book nightly.

4) Spanish – I will attempt to teach myself Spanish by using a workbook and computer program.

5) Liturgy – I will read documents on Liturgy and learn more about correct liturgy.

6) First Things – I will read at least one article from this magazine.

Evangelization

1) Pro-Life – I will go down to the Hope Clinic in Granite City, IL to pray and witness for life almost every week

2) Blogging – I will keep up with at least posting every week.

3) Columns – I will continue to write my columns for my diocesan newspaper Catholic Times every 2 weeks.

4) Website – I will develop a website to better evangelize and spread information.

posted by: muniz at 22:35 | link | comments (1) |
goals

MY JOURNAL FROM MY HOLY HOUR

1/13

(AP) Lord, what a first day to the TEC retreat for the kids.  The talks were great, and the team is great.  Thank you so much Lord for this opportunity to be here. After finishing my retreat on Friday morning to head here Friday night, I was exhausted and partly hoping for the big ice storm to cancel this thing.  I hope that was the exhaustion talking.  I am glad that you made me battle through it.  This has been great so far and I see why people are so committed to it.  Thank you Lord for letting me experience this.  (S) There are a couple things here that I want to talk about with you.  One conversing with you is still a priority for me throughout the day but it is different outside my retreat.  When I am by myself, then I focus on conversing with you, but I realize when I am around everyone here (constantly) then I have less time to converse, but this should not really be the case.  Constantly, I should be conversing with you.  When someone is speaking, I should be talking to you about them, praying for them, even if it is just brief.  I try to listen good to them, but to me a saint is one that prays constantly and especially for others.  On a similar note, I need to redirect conversations.  Humbleness is an art and you notice great art when you see it.  I totally dislike when someone gives another a compliment and they downplay it.  That is false piety.  “You gave a great talk.” “No, it was nothing” or “I did not do anything, it was the Holy Spirit.” (At least that is better) But those aren’t the fullest truth, you are some way lying.  I often do in those cases is just say thank you or share my feelings about it like “I appreciate that, thank you” or “Truthfully, I hs=ave been struggling with it, but it is amazing what the Holy Spirit can do.”  But that is even selfish; truthful but more self-centered.  Help me to redirect the conversation back to them and back to them and you.  “Thanks, what did you like about it?” or “How so?” and at the same time praying for them.  For them the talk meant something for a reason and that reason needs to be realized in my mind for prayer.  The Holy Spirit worked because it hit something that they needed.  I can’t think of the Holy Spirit without knowing that thee is a need that it is hitting.  That is true humbleness, it is to see outside of yourself and notice the workings of God outside yourself.

* In place of all people, I used the name Mary or Joseph.  This doesn’t always have to be the same person.  This is to protect others and also use Mary and Joseph as an intercession for them. (AP) -answered prayers, (S) – spiritual, (R) – relationships, (M) – material (things that I am doing).

posted by: muniz at 22:17 | link | comments |
holy hour

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