Matt Henry 11/15/05

Hello everyone!

I thought I would check in to tell y'all how I'm doing and to let you know that you are in my prayers. It has been such a great semester so far. It has really flown by for me, and I am excited to come home for Christmas on December 14. This semester I am finishing my degree in Literature, and next semester I will finish up my Philosophy degree. I am on a little bit of a different track than Matt, Will, John, Tom, or John (It feels so good to list that many seminarians from our parish!). Because I did not have any college before I came to Mount Angel, I am getting my college degrees before I start studying for a master's degree in theology. So, this semester I am taking three literature classes, one philosophy, music history, Greek, and a piano lesson once a week. It has been super busy, but I really love all my classes. I am learning so much here this year both in and out of the classroom. As part of our seminary life, we have spiritual conferences, communal adoration, Confession, and social events. I go out to do ministry on Thursday afternoons to a nursing home where I visit and play games with the elderly. Our days are almost always full, but they are filled with such amazing things! It is truly a blessing to be here discerning God's will for my life, and growing in so many ways.

Lastly, I wanted to share with you the amazement that so many people have when I tell them that there are six seminarians from my parish. They understand how necessary it is for seminarians to have support from brother seminarians as well as from their family and friends. I am so grateful for all the support that you provide for me through prayer and through your friendship. Please continue to pray for the seminarians and for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Remember that the important thing is to say 'YES!' to God always, and He will lead you where He wants you to be.

God bless you all!
Matt Henry

Matt Lowry 11/10/05

Hola St. Theresa!

What a whirlwind of a summer and fall so far! After spending 11 weeks in Guatemala, I had a great time joining the World Youth Day pilgrims in Italy and Germany. It put me on a great high note to start the school year here. This semester I'm taking 5 great classes: Modern Church History (from just before the Protestant Reformation until now), New Testament II (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and the "Catholic" epistles), Church and Orders (what is the Church and what are priests), Fundamental Moral Theology (God wants us to be happy and have salvation so he gives us a road-map), and Spanish (sí, sí!!).

Tonight we had a communal Reconciliation service with all the seminarians and a bunch of guests. What a blessing to be able to come in with a bunch of crud weighing down your heart, and then to walk out feeling so free and clean that you could jump so high as to dunk a basketball - well, at least that's what I feel like :) After the service I spent some time hanging out with several Phoenix priests who are here for a conference - it's a conference to help prepare priests for being pastors. It was good hanging out with them and hearing about their experience. Being a priest sounds like such a wonderful gift - you're invited into the most intimate parts of a person's life - where Christ is needed most. With the gift of celibacy, you're able to pour out all your energy on your "family" - your parishioners and anyone else that God sends your way. It's hard to believe that I'm almost half-way there - June 2008 is the date for my ordination.

One of the things I've been up to is teaching a group of 6th graders about the Catholic faith as they prepare for their First Communion. I drive to Louisville, KY (about 80 minutes away) every Sunday and teach the kids for an hour and a half.....in Spanish!!! It's pretty cool - and luckily most of them speak English too so I often speak in English to help clarify what I'm trying to say since my Spanish is so bad. Some things never change with me though - the other week I brought my guitar and tried to teach them "Banner Over Me." Seeing how hard it was for some teenagers, you can just imagine what it was like with a group of 11 year-olds.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support. The grace of God just keeps flowing from all the prayers you guys throw up for me. It sounds like y'all (very common around these 'here parts) had a good retreat a few weeks ago. Know that you're in my prayers. And remember guys, if you ever think to yourself, "hey, I wonder what it would be like to be a priest," God could be planting the seeds for a priestly vocation...just keep praying. And ladies, some new sisters moved to town and need help filling the buildings they're building :)

Peace, Matt Lowry

Matt Lowry 6/28/05

Bienvenidos de San Pedro Yepocapa, un pueblo muy pequeño, tres horas de Antigua. Esta es mi semana para vacaciones, pero estoy en un pueblo donde no sé nadie. Quería venir aquí porque quería estar solo con guatemaltecos, porque mis amigos hablan mucho ingles (Right now I'm in a town, San Pedro Yepocapa, about three hours from Antigua where I am taking classes. It is my week of vacation, but I'm in town where I don't know anybody, go figure. I wanted to come here because there are only Guatemalans here, and because my friends in Antigua speak a lot of English). I think I'm the only American, or gringo for that matter, in town right now. Wherever I go, all the kids gather around. It's hard to talk to 40 kids at once, but I do my best. I understand better what Jesus meant, "let the children come to me;" - they're so young and innocent and curious. They don't have fear of anyone. I think I need to be more bold like those children.

So far I've learned a lot of Spanish, but I still can't understand people when they talk to me. I have to tell every person, "por favor, mas despacio." I guess I'll always be gringo at heart. With only five weeks left, thanks be to be God, I haven't been sick yet, whereas all of my companions have. The weather here is fantastic. The temperature is in the 60's everyday. Right now I'm on the side of a huge volcano, which spews out smoke all the time, and at night you can see fire coming from the volcano.

I've been able to be a part of Eucharistic processions two times. The whole town came out to march with the Blessed Sacrament. People sang songs the entire time (one procession was one hour long and the other was over three hours - I was one burnt gringo afterwards). People put flowers and "alfombras" made of sawdust in the road for the Eucharist to walk over (like the Palms in Jerusalem). I can't wait to do Eucharistic processions in the states. What a witness and statement that would be. Pues, I hope you are all doing well. I look forward to seeing you all in August. You are in my prayers. Please keep me in yours. Dios te bendiga!

-Mateo

Matt Lowry 6/6/05

¡Buenos dias jovenes!

Estoy en Guatemala por el verano para estudiar español. I am living with a host family, along with two other seminarians from St. Meinrad. The big sport here is futbol, you know, soccer. The other day Guatemala played Mexico and every single person in town was glued to the TV. I've been able to play basketball a couple of times. The hoop is about 9'4" but I've had little success dunking it. There are lots of other Americans here (as well as Germans and people from many other countries). At the school here you talk one on one with a spanish teacher. I meet with my teacher four hours a day. I've been able to learn a lot so far, but I've realized that there is so much to learn.

It is really green here and it rains about every other day. The people are really nice. There's about 30,000 people here in my town (Antigua) and it's the kind of environment where people say hi to each other walking down the street. Well, they don't say hi, they say "buenos dias" but you get the idea. The food has been good, and although my belly has trembled several times I have not had to deal with Montezuma's revenge yet. Also in this area are three volcanoes, one of them still active. They also have "tremors" here. It's kind of like an earthquake but not as strong. It was the first semi-earthquake I've ever experienced.

The school I go to started a project to bring books and computers to children in villages around Antigua. I hope to go on some trips to the librarys (in an school bus made into a moving library). Please keep me in your prayers this summer. There are a lot of ex-Catholics in the school and around town here, and the seminarians have made it their mission to evangelize these people and invite them back to Church. Perhaps you could do the same with your friends this summer - invite them to LIFE TEEN to hang out.

Pues, es tiempo para aprender mas español. Nos vemos! Dios te bendiga,
Mateo

Matt Lowry 9/22/04

Hello everyone from St. Theresa!

Greetings from the land of poison ivy (2nd case of it in six months), cool breezes (lows in the mid-50's at night, BRRRR!!!), and Tatonka (there's a Buffalo farm just down the road).

Life here is going well, but busy as always with school. I have some pretty sweet classes: Pastoral Care (the history of the Church's ministry of care to people), Sacraments of Initation (what are they teens? answers below), Modern Philosophy (rational thought is all we can know...yeah right), Human Freedom & Divine Agency (if God is the cause of everything, is He also the cause of evil?...Hmmmmm..Nope!), Foundational Theology (God loves us, reveals Himself as Trinity, etc), and Spanish (Muy bien! Me gusta espanol
mucho!). I'm working like crazy to brush up on my Spanish because this summer I will be going to Guatemala (south of Mexico) for Spanish immersion for 10 weeks. With half of Phoenix and the U.S. going to be Spanish speaking in 15 years, we'd all better brush up on our Spanish...not just when we're at Taco Bell...

I've been working on reading more Scripture. I found a Catholic website that will help you read the entire bible in a year
(http://www.presentationministries.com/brochures/ThroughBible.asp?printMode=true) There are a bunch of mistakes in the numbers, but you get the general idea. Another good practice to do is to pray over the Sunday readings each week ahead of time (http://www.usccb.org/nab/index.htm). You know, you can never get enough Scripture. :)

This weekend I'm driving with the Phoenix guys from St. Meinrad to visit Tom Parks and the other Phoenix guys at the Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio. I'm looking forward to it, especially because I was born there. Next semester we'll go back there again, this time to find out who has the better basketball team. I'm a little nervous because we only practice twice a week compared to their 'almost every day.' When I met with the bishop this past
summer, he made a point to say that it is important for priests/seminarians (and all of us) to stay balanced with regards to our health. We need to make time each week to exercise; otherwise it will never happen and we'll get unbalanced. He also said that it is important for him as a priest to always pray the Liturgy of the Hours to keep his prayer life on track. I think this point applies to all Christians - to make daily disciplined
prayer a part of your prayer life. Whether it's praying a rosary, meditating on a chapter of the Bible, or going to Mass, it's important to keep a daily (literally, every day) habit of prayer.

Thank you for all of your prayers and support. I enjoy keeping up with everything going on at St. Theresa via godtalk.org. Be holy, keep praying, and invite more people into an awesome relationship with Jesus Christ.

Peace,
Matt

St. Meinrad School of Theology
200 Hill Drive
St. Meinrad, IN 47577

Matt Lowry 5/2/04

Hello everyone!

Greetings from Southern Indiana, only a few minutes away from this weekend's
Kentucky Derby.  You know how people go nuts for the Phoenix Open, well, the
people here go twice as nuts for horses running around a track.  If only the
golfers had such cool names as "Cliff's Edge," "Song of the Sword," or "Read
the Footnotes."

This semester has been a good one, although it's felt like a long one.
Maybe because I didn't have hog-wrestling to break things up like last
semester - although I did go skiing a couple times, learned how to make a
stained glass window, and went to Columbus, Ohio for a basketball
tournament.  I also have been playing soccer recently with the seminarians
and some of the locals.  I actually look pretty good out there (since I like
to run) until I touch the ball.  Then you can tell I've never played soccer
before :)

I've been in some really good classes this semester.  In Bioethics we've
been talking about all sorts of big topics like cloning, abortion, embryo
research, and euthanasia.  Plus, the cost of health care continues to
skyrocket - us younger people don't see this very much, but just ask your
parents and they'll tell you all about the problems of health care coverage.
In Medieval Church History class I'm writing a paper on sexual morality in
the middle ages and the penitentials.  The penitentials were books of
penances that would help guide the priest.  For example, if a husband and
wife consummated their marriage, but weren't doing it for the intention of
having children, they'd have to fast for forty days on bread and water.  I
guess you really felt sorry after forty days - don't worry though - I won't
be talking to Fr. Nick and upping the penances on Saturday confessions.

This has been a truly blessed year.  God has been showering graces upon me
all year, through my prayer, my discernment, my personal growth, and my
classes.  God has proved to me time and time again, the more I give Him, the
more He gives back.  I've never found God to be outdone in generosity.  He's
got a plan for me and each one of us; finding that path is one of the
greatest joys we'll have in life, but one that also requires great
discipline, trust, and humility.  Thank goodness for God's grace carrying me
on the way.

I can't wait to be home in a month.  My summer assignment is at St. Thomas,
so I'll be back to visit St. Theresa for sure.  Thank you for your prayers.
Keep them coming because that's what I need the most.  You all continue to
be in my prayers.

God bless,
Matt

P.S.  I have a feeling any Action This Day by either Minister Eric or Master
David will be in danger of the Cliff's Edge.  They've got to grab their Song
Of The Sword, leave the Limehouse, and using the courage of their Lion
Heart, head to Wimbeldon to fight Imperialism.  Just remember the story of
St. Averil and the Birdstone at Borrego.  The Pro Prado will tell them about
Pollard's Vision at Castledale of the Tapit during Quintons Gold Rush.
Questions?  Look Smarty Jones, Read The Footnotes.  Horses...sheesh....

Matt Lowry 2/6/04

Hey guys,

I know there's been a lot of info flying around about same-sex marriages and things, probably especially with the Democratic Primary in AZ and the recent Massachusetts ruling. I found this link to be helpful in understanding, as well as being able to articulate this issue to others.
http://www.usccb.org/laity/manandwoman.htm

Peace,
Matt

Matt Henry 1/21/04

Dear Life Teen Community,

Greetings from Mount Angel Cemetery (Seminary-read John Muir’s letter for an explanation)! Things are going so well up here in Oregon. God is very good to us all up here. I am so grateful to Him for the prayers and support of a community like y’all back in Phoenix. It is actually a blessing and a not-so-blessing, because I love you so much that it makes me miss y’all a whole heap. I have been learning since I’ve been up here that, in actuality, all things are blessings, even the things that seem like “not-so-blessings”. God’s mercy is just that BIG. I don’t really know what to say that hasn’t been said by our other illustrious seminarians. Be holy! That’s really about it. I think that all we have to show is the desire to grow in holiness, and God will provide for the rest. The hardest thing is to desire Him more than anything else in the whole wide world, and realize that He desires our hearts more than we could ever imagine. That is the meaning of His words on the Cross: “I thirst”. HE THIRSTS FOR YOU! OK, sorry, I’ll stop preaching now. I encourage everyone of you to get a copy of the Prayer of Abandonment and pray it everyday, upon waking and before bed. May God continue to bless you in Jesus and in His Mommy, Mary.

Love, Matt Henry

Will Schmid 1/15/04

To the St. Theresa Lifeteen Community,

My fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, I pray and hope that this letter finds you in the peace and joy of our resurrected Lord. As a new seminarian of the Diocese of Phoenix and as a representative of our community, I feel called to write to you and share with you some of the wonderful knowledge and wisdom that God has graced me with since I started my seminary formation only a few short months ago. I was recently informed about the retreat that many of you participated in that dealt with being created for excellence. I am truly amazed and inspired by how relevant this topic is to the education and formation I have been receiving these past eight weeks at Mount Angel Seminary. Through this letter I hope to confirm your personal call to holiness and inspire you to continue to live a life destined for excellence.

The first thing a new seminarian (or any Christian) must acknowledge and accept is that he is called to a life of excellence, or in other words, a life of virtue. Each person is created in the image and likeness of God and therefore created to live a life that models and reflects the virtues of our loving God and Father. This, however, is not an easy thing to do for we live in a world that loves to cloud our spiritual vision and prevent us from understanding the true meaning of excellence. The world has confused us by reducing all the virtues into one, being kind; and has taught us to measure Jesus by our standards instead of measuring our standards by Him. For when we fall into this trap we allow ourselves to be caught up in a web of false pleasures; pleasures that are destructive to the harmony of our soul.

As Christians we are called to escape the false pleasures and seek that which is good, just and beautiful. We are called to seek the light of Christ. Virtue, according to Aristotle, is a balance between excess and deficiency. It is a balance in which our soul finds harmony. When we live in these false pleasures, we fail to achieve a sense of balance. We fail to live a life of virtue and in turn our soul loses its harmony and is prevented from attaining oneness with God. There are many forces in this world, especially amongst the media (dare I mention MTV, NBC, Comedy Central, Arizona Republic, etc...), that try to confuse us about what is true virtue. This is exactly why we as Catholics are so blessed. We have a Church rich in the graces of wisdom; a Church that has the fullness of Truth. Through the teachings of our Church fathers and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we have the ability to discern the difference between the shadows that cloud our vision (media poo-poo) and the rays of sunlight (Truth) that bring harmony to our souls.

Although we are rich in wisdom and knowledge, we are also called to much more. Understanding is only half of our calling. For as faith without works is dead, so virtue without practice is also dead. We are called not only to know what a virtuous life is, but to live one. To be created for excellence is not just to know what excellence is but to have the ability to live it in our daily lives (i.e. Making virtue a habit). We, as Christians, are called to be the philosophers in Plato's allegory of the cave that go back into the dark corners of the world to free our brothers and sisters from the chains that bind them to the shadows of confusion. We are called to be virtuous in all our actions so that we might bring others to the light of Christ.

For us, as Christians, being "kind" is most of the time not enough. Love is not always "kind." Love is challenging. It causes us to change and to grow. It embraces a person for who they are (as children of God created in His image and likeness) but does not tolerate that which is less. It forces us to step back from our daily lives and evaluate the depths of our souls. This phenomenological process of stepping back from reality and taking a closer look at how we are living our lives is almost always a difficult thing. It is far from being considered a "kind" or comfortable process because it forces us to see our weaknesses. It reminds us of our humanity and that we are imperfect. Those who live virtuous lives are not often liked because they challenge others to do something that is uncomfortable.

Now although this can be quite uncomfortable, it is also extremely beneficial. In reflecting on our lives we begin to see not only our faults, but our goodness as well. It is through this prayerful analysis that we begin to see the power of Christ. When we take the time to pray we no longer see God as some bearded old man in heaven far away from us who judges our every move. We instead begin to see God as the active spirit who is involved in our daily life and who showers us with His unending love. And it is through our active participation in the living out of His holy virtues that we can share God's love with others.

This is exactly what it means to be created for excellence. We are created to live virtuously, to spread the love of Christ to all that we meet. As St. Catherine of Siena once said, "In our love of God we conceive virtues, and it is out of our love of neighbor they are brought to birth." We are created to help save souls. The telos (Greek word meaning "end goal") for every human is to be united with God in heaven. We cannot accomplish this goal alone. We need the help and prayers of others. This is something that I have begun to see more fully through my brief seminary experience. I've realized that I would not be where I am today if it weren't for the prayers and support of my friends or the virtuous people that I've chosen to model my life after. I want to thank all of you for helping me through my spiritual journey towards complete union with Christ. I am truly grateful for all of your prayers and your examples of holiness. As we continue to walk this journey together, let us continue to be virtuous models for one another so that we might obtain the grace and peace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. I love you and I miss you.

Your faithful seminarian,
Will Schmid

P.S. For those of you who might be considering a vocation to religious life: show no fear, give it a shot. You will not be disappointed. In the words of Joe Sotelo, "The Lord provides!"

Matt Lowry 1/7/04

Greetings from Southen' Indiana!  I now live in the land of forests and corn fields, where you have to drive 20 minutes just to get to the nearest restaurant.  The ironic (maybe holy, if you will) thing is that I've never felt so free in my life.  Each morning I get to wake up and spend my entire day praying, studying, and just having fun.  It actually feels a lot like my life in college, and even the last few years at St. Theresa, but the only difference is now I get to study theology in all my classes and I'm being ministered to more than to others.  A typical day involves morning prayer at 8am (this morning I got out of bed at 7:35), a quick breakfast (well, I could eat before prayer but that would mean less sleep...), class on the Creed, another class on early Church history, Mass, and then lunch.  After lunch I have a class some days, but also I have more free time to either
study, play basetball, spend time enjoying the outdoors, or whatever else I want to do.  The nights are mostly free - we gather for Diocesan prayer (all the guys from Phoenix) on Mondays and class prayer (all the other 'Frosh' like me) on Tuesdays.  We have adoration once a week, group rosaries several times a week, and a Blessed Sacrament Chapel open 24-7.  For fun I've gone hog wrestling, I cut some wood with a chain saw, went to Milwaukee for a weekend, watched some movies, and played a bunch of games around here. Seminary life is very blessed, but I've noticed that the opportunities to pray here are no more plentiful than back home, available to anyone.  It is always a conscious choice to make God a priority and spend good time in prayer.  I miss all of you.  I pray for you every day.  I hope you guys are all representing St. Theresa and J.C. in LIFE TEEN and at your schools.  I look forward to seeing you all again soon.  Keep praying for me, the other Phoenix seminarians, and for our new bishop.  
Love ya!  God bless, Matt.

John Muir 12/28/03

Every now and then someone's tongue will accidentally say to me, "How's life in the cemetery?" and then they get all embarassed. I always laugh at this slip of the tongue, but only because there is a way in which the seminary is a cemetery: it is where dead people go! I mean, of course, that here, at the seminary, we experience Christ's death (just like all baptized Christians), but only so that we may know his Life, and hopefully to share this Life as priests one day. I love the seminary, and I can honestly say that every day I wake up excited and hopeful of the good things God has in store for me. Lately, God has been giving me the grace to study Hebrew and Greek to help me open my heart and mind to Scripture. This is a wonderful, and sometimes agonizing, grace!

I think of my own teenage years very often, because this is when I first started to fall in love God. My heart often recalls powerful experiences I had through Life Teen: retreats, prayer, friendship, adoration, laughter, and music. This is where I became conscious of the Holy Spirit for the first time, and learned something about how amazing Jesus is.

I urge you all to trust God more than ever before, to never say "I am too young," and to remember: when you hear Him call your name, don't be afraid; say "here I am..." Thanks for your prayers. You guys definately have mine.

-John Muir