Dear Friends of SJV:
Greetings in Christ from the seminary! It is hard to believe that February has passed and that Lent is soon upon us. The men had their spring break early, which had them on retreat, on a mission trip in Costa Rica, and on adventures ranging from the Colorado backcountry to the west coast of Ireland. This weekend we are thrilled to see three men ordained to the diaconate for the Archdiocese of Denver. Please keep Jonathan Francois, Jason DiRito and Daniel Rivas in your prayers.
This month we will hear from one of our beloved spiritual directors, Msgr. Bernie Schmitz. He brings decades of pastoral experience to bear on our life, and will speak today of the centrality of poverty in the Christian life. Lastly, I am grateful for seminarian Jeff Pooley offering a glimpse into his story through the lens of the gaze of Christ.
Know of our prayers for you and your intentions during the Lenten season.
Fr. John
Musings of an “old” Priest
In his second letter to the Corinthians St Paul says, “Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers,…danger at sea…through many a sleepless night…And apart from these things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches. Who is weak, and I am not weak: Who is made to fall, and I am not indignant?
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.”
I thought of these words as I reflected on my past summer and the travels from Denver to Kansas City and back and to Omaha and to Breckenridge and back to Omaha and then to Kansas City and finally back to Denver. Unlike St Paul I was not walking nor riding my bike rather I was in airplanes and in a car. The travel brought with it beauty as I marveled at the beauty of the Kansas prairie in the early summer and at the beauty of the Colorado mountains in late June. It also brought moments of dealing with intense heat and broken air conditioning units. But the journey more important than the external journey was the internal one. We have all made external journeys and internal ones but it’s the internal one that is most important.
Early in the summer I had an unwanted visitor called Covid. Remarkably, it was the first time I had the honor of hosting Covid. Needless to say, it was an uncomfortable visit, and I was glad when Covid decided to exit the heat of Omaha and I must say he is one visitor I hope never decides to return. But strangely enough that visitor confronted me with my own poverty and the importance of depending upon God. The weeks prior to my visitor making his appearance I had celebrated with two classmates their 50th anniversaries of ordination and with two couples I know also celebrated their 50th anniversaries. Those two couples happened to be two of my sisters and their husbands. After all that joy, my visitor came calling.
It’s often the case in spiritual life that after we have known great consolation that the enemy sets about to convince us that it wasn’t real. My Covid wasn’t serious, but it did cause me to reflect on the importance of accepting poverty and realize how much we need a savior in our lives. As I prayed through the summer Psalm 37 began to speak to me. The author says, “Do not fret…Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart. Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act.”
We are now in a new year and all of us bring with us both memories filled with joy and sorrow and moments of disappointment and frustration. We all bring great hope for the beginning of a new year. But we boast not of what we have accomplished but we boast of our weakness of our need to allow the Lord to work in our hearts that we are filled not with ourselves but with Jesus.
I pray that this year is a time of great joy but most especially it’s a time being poor enough to allow the Lord to work in your hearts.
Peace,
Msgr Bernie Schmitz
Part time Spiritual Director
Do You Remember…
Do you remember the first time he looked at you?
In the 2015 film Full of Grace, Mary says these words to the apostles who are bickering amongst themselves. The movie centers around the last days of Mary the mother of Jesus, and the apostles gathered around her to say goodbye, as they sort through their turmoil, with the Lord Ascended.
After watching this movie this line became such an important line in my own life. When I was just out of college I was volunteering with the parish youth ministry, at a conference, I experienced the Lords gaze for the first time in a real and tangible way.
As the priest was processing with the Blessed Sacrament, he stopped over me and gazed at me. No longer his eyes but the eyes of Jesus looked at me, loved me.
When I begin to struggle in life, through my prayer life I can return to this gaze, and experience anew Jesus’ love. His eyes piercing my doubts and sorrows.
So, I ask you: Do YOU remember the first time he ever looked at you? Can you call it to mind and feel the warmth of his eyes? As we enter into the Lenten season, I encourage you to reflect on these words. Maybe you come to realize that you haven’t seen his gaze, or you have left it behind. Jesus is searching for you, he gazes through the crowd for you. Seek his gaze and be changed forever.
Jeffrey Pooley
Seminarian, Diocese of Phoenix
