This is my awesome spiritual director dealing with my craziness per usual. #blessed #marchforlife #priest #friendship

Forever re-post or re-blog.

This little epic video should be seen!(:

Tomorrow, he flies to Wisconsin to begin postulancy with the discalced Carmelites. This is a very difficult cross for me, but also such a beautiful one. I am blessed to know him. I am blessed that the Lord has a special love for my own friends. Things will change, but friendship rooted in Christ breaks the barriers of time or distance. Please keep my friend Frank in your prayers during this important time for him!

St. Therese of Lisieux, pray for us

St. Theresa Benedicta of the Cross, pray for us

St. John of the Cross, pray for us

St. Theresa of Avila, pray for us

Our Lady of Mount Carmel, pray for us

And the new year is starting..summers end is bringing joyful tears and blessings from Christ! Eric left for major seminary today..this weekend will be frank’s going away party because he leaves for the discalced Carmelites in Wisconsin in a few weeks..it’s a strange feeling! Bittersweet. But see you can see how good the Lord is. He gives us friends that help us in our Christian life, leave marks on our hearts, that we can laugh with and more recently even burst into tears with. Then some, He wants for Himself. And when they say yes, it’s a beautiful witness. He may take them from your direct contact, but they are still friendships rooted in Him, and He repays your faithfulness one hundred fold, too. This starts a new chapter in their lives, and more time for me to grow in mine. I am so happy to have the friends I do, even if my weekend plans will change. “I’ll meet you in the Eucharist”

Next summer, July of 2013 on my way to World Youth Day Rio, I will first be (God willing) going back to Lima, Peru! I have seen an immense poverty in living situations, education, and especially love. Thankfully, with help from some of you, I had that experience, and it changed my life. I do feel like I need to go back, and to serve Christ in the face of His poor, and of His children. This time we will be building in an extremely poor shanty town in Lima - funds would help us not only get there, but get materials to be able to build and hopefully with left overs, help in any way we can. Last summer, in July of 2011 with some friends in the Christian Life Movement, I witnessed one small room in an entire shanty town which was a “classroom” for the hundreds and hundreds of kids living in it. They don’t go to “school” after around the age of 5 or 6. They are in great need. I pray you find it in your heart to help us make this happen, I thank you for your help in the past, and I will keep you and all of your intentions in my prayers!

You can donate directly to me through my GoFundMe page! Here is the link below

Donation Page: http://www.gofundme.com/10fdpg

Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/events/145423255595656/

PLEASE PLEASE REBLOG EVEN IF YOU CANNOT DONATE! Also, PRAY FOR ME EITHER WAY!

Today was the wake and Mass, and tomorrow the funeral Mass, of the first priest I have vivid memories of being part of my life. Father Furey was the pastor at my parish for 9 years, and became a close friend of the family. I will never forget his joy; he was the “guitar priest”, whipping out his guitar at any moment, sometimes finishing his homily with an original that supported that Gospel. The entire parish suffered a great loss when he was moved 14 years ago. Still, he touched so many lives. Father Furey had a heart attack last Wednesday which was so shocking, and out of the blue - I had just seen him recently looking so alive! It was an instant reminder of the need to belong to Christ in the present. Looking at his body tonight, in his vestments, was such a mix of thoughts and emotions - here I am, sad, because of the loss of the first priest I knew to love His vocation SO much, to love the life of a priest, so why would He be taken so soon? But Deacon Blier said something in his homily - he wasn’t taken from us now. Christ took him 41 years ago, when he was ordained a priest. And he is a priest forever! How quickly my thoughts changed: if he loved his vocation so much here on earth, imagine how happy he must be with his creator, who called Him, in heaven. And now I have my own special heavenly priest rooting for me, and my holiness! I am blessed to have had him in my life, and I am all the more inspired to live in his example of responding to Christ in any way I am asked!

This is one of Father’s original songs, one he wrote while nearly dying of pneumonia when he was in the seminary in the 60’s:

Thank you Lord for my eyes that see.
Thank you for all the things You’ve done.
Thank you Lord for everyone.

Thank you for the birds that sing your sweet song.
Thank you for your love that conquers over wrong.
And for all the times I was too blind to see,
that your love was coming after me.

Thank you for the friendly smiles that come my way.
Thank you for the cheerful words that people say.
And in hours when I am feeling blue,
It’s then I know your love will always see me through.

And for all the people gathered here today,
as we’ve lifted up our voices joined to pray.
That we all realize the dignity that lies within our brotherhood to Thee.

Requiem aeternam dona eis Domine et lux perpetua luceat eis

You may also appreciate that I creep behind Father Kinally like this because I love him. The end. #creepypost