The Beginning of a Year

The year is just starting off which means a bunch of new faces, new rooms, new classes and a return of many of the blessings and hardships of the last year. I was surprised, on move-in day, to find out that I was put in one of the new rooms in the new hallway way up on the third floor over looking the courtyard, which is a HUGE change from last year. Instead of burned out buildings, I see trees and instead of gun shots, I can hear the fountain. It's enough to make you forget what city you're in! The room itself is just a testament to just how much love we receive from the Church: brand new carpet, walls and the best furnishing I could ever hope for. I am the envy of the seminary, I will have to show pictures some night that isn't laundry night (nobody wants to see THAT!).

It is a blessing to have new guys. Guys from two different religious orders the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity or SOLT (there seems to be letters missing in that acronym...) and Companions of Christ the Lamb are joining us this year which positively swells our numbers to capacity. That makes the new faces into a particularly large number and I must say there may be a bit of habit envy going around the seminary because of the SOLT guys (they are just so darn cool). The seminary is big and getting bigger.

Classes started this week after our silent retreat to kick the year off ended. That means a whole new batch of classes for me. My class schedule is going to be a point where you get a bit of a different picture than you would if you were following most college seminarians since I already did my undergrad in philosophy while most guys have education in far more practical and employable degree paths. So, while they get a degree in philosophy, I am working on an MA in Theology! This means I have a schedule that looks like this:

Monday
Theology of the Cross and Suffering 3:30pm-5:30pm (I, unfortunately, miss community evening prayer with this)
Mariology 6:30pm-8:30pm

Tuesday
Philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas 10:30am-12:00pm (my one philosophy class that I'm auditing because I want to be with my college brothers)
St. Augustine the Theologian 3:00pm-5:00pm

Wednesday
Christianity and World Religions 4:15-6:30 (this is an STL course which stands for Super Tough Load... actually I just made that up, STL really is a degree which is like a PhD issued by the Vatican. Means I miss evening prayer and dinner!!! So far I've been scavenging in the house fridge to see if anyone left any food unlabeled- NO NAME, FAIR GAME!)

Thursday
Thomas again (repetitio est mater studiorum)
New Testament Greek year 2- Reading course (hasn't started up yet, and I haven't quite figured out when and where that meets... I kind of like to pretend like it doesn't exist, for now. It will become all too real very soon.)

Friday
No classes (we we we so excited)

So, this includes two classes taught by our resident Jesuits (Augustine and the Cross) which means you will probably NOT be hearing from me on exam week and that may be a good time to remember me in your prayers. Novenas to St. Joseph Cupertino and Divine Mercy Chaplets may be especially timely at that point.

This year is starting off and let's get a jump on it.