From Rome:

Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Today the Church celebrates Ash Wednesday, the beginning of her Lenten journey towards Easter. The entire Christian community is invited to live this period of forty days as a pilgrimage of repentance, conversion and renewal. In the Bible, the number forty is rich in symbolism. It recalls Israel’s journey in the desert, a time of expectation, purification and closeness to the Lord, but also a time of temptation and testing. It also evokes Jesus’ own sojourn in the desert at the beginning of his public ministry, a time of profound closeness to the Father in prayer, but also of confrontation with the mystery of evil. The Church’s Lenten discipline is meant to help deepen our life of faith and our imitation of Christ in his paschal mystery. In these forty days may we draw nearer to the Lord by meditating on his word and example, and conquer the desert of our spiritual aridity, selfishness and materialism. For the whole Church may this Lent be a time of grace in which God leads us, in union with the crucified and risen Lord, through the experience of the desert to the joy and hope brought by Easter.

Pope Benedict XVI,
Ash Wednesday Audience,

February 22, 2012

Let's Get Thankful

Whether you had a good, great, excellent, horrible, beautiful, wonderful, excruciating, ok, perfect, or downright miserable Thanksgiving experience, there is yet so much to be thankful for. 


I think one thing we do not thank the Lord for enough is His calling in our lives--our vocations. Whether that be married or single or consecrated or clergy, doctor or lawyer or teacher or cashier--whatever He has called us to, He has done so for a reason. And such gratitude we should have at such a thought...that He would love us so intimately and personally that He would let us know what He wants of us, what He wants for our lives.


May this video be a blessing to you this day, however belated it may be from Thanksgiving.

"How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!"

Today, liturgically, the Church finds Herself at table for the Feast of St. Andrew the Apostle. And we are that Church, we are invited to that feast. And this is very symbolic of the first feast, the first preparation--for in today's Gospel, Jesus is gathering His Twelve Guests, His Twelve Apostles. This should spark so much joy and excitement in our hearts, especially as seminarians or those discerning...for the Lord is calling us to Him! He is calling us to His Table, to His Altar! "Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men."
And how do we respond? In our hearts, we know how we desire to respond. With all that is within us, we desire to follow Him. We desire to answer, "YES!" For this is what we were made for! We were made to be a people in the light, a people with well-lit lamps, a people set apart. Let us take hold of this calling of the Lord today; let us claim His mission in our hearts! For how truly "beautiful are the feet of those who bring the good news!"

St. Andrew the Apostle, pray for us.                                              Posted by: Jared R.

Beignet Brothers

There is beauty in our apostolates. Such a great joy it is to see our kids question their faith in order to strengthen it, rather than to tear it down as the world does. It really is a blessing to witness.

But today, after experiencing the joys that our apostolates have to offer, we take the time to wind down and join in community with our brothers.

As previously mentioned in another blog, Sundays are a chance to do something special at dinner for your brothers. And we like to do these things...that is what help keeps the family loving. Tonight, many of us pitched in to make the dining room a little more elegant--candles and some sweet table settings, jazzy music in the background. It was a nice touch to add to Fr. Armand's wonderful food. (He tends to spoil us every Sunday by cooking something extremely delicious.) Added to the dinner was the dessert--beignets. Being from New Orleans, it meant a lot to have some homestyle food.

And this is a beautiful thing about community--everyone wants everyone to feel at home. We work, we play, we laugh, we live as one. We share in each others' joys and each others' pains, though recognizing that only the Lord can truly save us. We rely completely on His Love in order to truly love one another.

May you be blessed this night and all nights!
We cannot thank you enough for your prayers.

Posted by: Jared R.

The Battle of the Dining Rooms

The following blog was inspired by the FOOD Network:

   Sunday--the glorious day of the Lord. It is also the day where both dining rooms (Sons of Mary and the Brothers') challenge each other to making dinner especially special. We call it: BATTLE OF THE DINING ROOMS! Where one brother and one candidate risk it all to make their brothers' days that much more joyful. Whose dining room will rule supreme? Only time will tell.

   And what a glorious reflection this is of religious life. We constantly push forward in holiness, calling on those around us to step it up as well. And hopefully, when all is said and done, we can all meet to enjoy the beautiful feast--the heavenly Jerusalem--with all those brothers who came before us and the many, many to follow after us.

   There was no clear winner in this epic battle, but isn't that like the heavenly race as well? We aim to achieve heaven with fervor and with endurance; but, at the end of our days, we don't put so much weight on who arrives first. It is about making it there successfully. So thus, after discovering this truth (and after the lack of judges), we determine the battle to be a successful stalemate.

   It is my hopes that this blog was both an uplifting of the Salesian way of life and an expression of our great joy of living together in community. Until next time, keep the joy!

St. Dominic Savio, pray for us.

Posted by: Jared R.