Merry Christmas Friends and Family!
Christmas is right around the corner and up here in Wisconsin we
are expecting record highs . . . in temperatures. So far in this winter
season we've had about 6.5 inches . . . of rain! It has been strange and mysterious in many ways, especially rising every morning to green grass on the ground. Apart from
strangeness, I write to all of you in thanksgiving for your prayers as we
anticipate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in 2015. Also, I write
to update you with a couple of events that will materialize soon. The Holy
Spirit has been very good to me in 2015 and continues to consecrate this
journey to the priesthood in ways that words cannot even begin to touch the
depth of my gratitude to all who support, sacrifice, and pray for seminarians.
As many of you know, I'm discerning the
call the priesthood, but before that ordination occurs I need to be ordained a
Transitional Deacon. This will occur on May 22nd at 3PM of this upcoming
spring. With that being stated, the weight of the whole situation is becoming
more and more "incarnational." God became incarnate - became man to
become like us in ever way, but sin. This idea still reigns supreme in the mystery
of Christianity as major distinguishing difference from all other religions.
God became man in all things apart from sin (see Hebrews 4:15).
As the date of May 22nd approaches, I find
myself feeling the mysterious weight, the weight of what I'll be saying “no” to in order
to more fully and radically say “yes” to Jesus and his bride the Church. I've
had to tie the knot in my tie a few times already this break and every time I
tie the knot it becomes more and more mysteriously heavy. The heaviness of the reality of ordination
is setting in this last Christmas break before making promises of Celibacy,
Obedience, and Prayer to the Bishop. This means that next Christmas I'll be
wearing a collar for Christmas as a transitional deacon of Jesus Christ.
Ordination is one way of saying no to tying the knot in marriage and the
possibility being blessed with children. Ordination is a big deal, but the Lord
strangely gave me a mission to love as a celibate man for the sake of his
kingdom. Every time I tie the knot in my tie this Christmas season it will be a
“last of many last’s” in one fashion or another.
While the weight of tying knots before
ordination is becoming more "incarnational" there is a large amount
of anticipation and excitement. In a week I'll be attending my Canonical
Retreat for Diaconate Ordination where a priest and I will go over the “Rite of
Ordination to the Order of Deacon” for 5 days. Please pray for Fr. John Luke of
the Community of St. John from December 29th until January 4th. Pray that,
through the intercession “Our Lady Undoer of Knots” I receive the graces
necessary to die to self so the Lord may more fully live through me, in me, and
with me as he desires.
After the retreat I'll be in the area for
a few more days. Then on January 15th the 3rd Theology Class of Mundelein
Seminary will fly to the Holy Land for 10 weeks. We will be on pilgrimage to all the major
holy sites in Bethlehem, Galilee, Jerusalem, and more! This will be a time of
intense and intimate discernment. I will offer up many prayers in thanksgiving
for all of you as my feet, knees, heart, and lips touch the very soil that
Jesus and his disciples walked on.
My heart is very grateful for the
sacrifices that make this pilgrimage possible. This will be a life changing
pilgrimage and I hope to come back with many stories about the Holy Land
Pilgrimage of 2016. You will be able to follow all of the Mundelein Seminarians on a blog if you wish. That blog site is being constructed as we speak and I
will be one of the bloggers. Google searching for "2016 Mundelein
Pilgrimage" should lead you to us.
The Third Theology Class is planned to arrive
back at Mundelein on March 15th. We will all celebrate Holy Week the
following week in our prospective dioceses with a deeper and more intimate awareness
of the Paschal Mystery (Paschal Mystery = Jesus' Life, Death, Resurrection, and
Ascension). Then we will all tie the heavy knots of Holy Week and Easter in our
ties for the last time before being ordained to the Order of Deacon(s) for
Jesus, for the Church, for Mary, for the saints, and for each and every one of
you.
May God Bless All of Your Endeavors This
Christmas and New Year!
Living in the Mystery,
Zach Weber
You, and all seminarians we've been Blessed to work with at St. Paul's have been, and will remain in my daily payers now and beyond into your lives after ordination.
ReplyDeleteShalom Aleichem & Merry Christmas, Tim
Excellent!
ReplyDelete