First Principle

"Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul. All other things on earth are created for man that they may help him in accomplishing the end for which he is created. From this is follows that man is to use them as much as they help him to this end and ought to rid himself of them so far as they hinder him from it. For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things in all that is allowed to the choice of our free will and is not prohibited to it; so that on our part we do not prefer health to sickness, riches to poverty, honor to dishonor, long to short life, and so in all the rest; desiring and choosing only what is most conducive for us to the end for which we are created."

As I prepare for my silent retreat to inaugurate second year postulancy, I have returned to considering the First Principle and Foundation of St. Ignatius and reflecting on how my life has or has not been oriented to its ultimate end. Preparation for five days of silence may seem a bit superfluous, but I have come to appreciate how important it is to show up fully loaded for retreat.

I was sitting in for part of first pre-theology orientation at St. John Seminary, and the director of pre-theology emphasized the importance of conversion as part of formation: who you are and how you act outside of dedicated prayer depends entirely on what you are doing during that prayer. I have not only experienced this in my own formation, but have learned that practice and preparation have a large impact on prayer, which is itself how we pursue the end for which we are created. I am preparing for encounters with God in brothers, classmates, and ministry but will not be prepared for any of it without an inaugural colloquy to set the house in order. As one example, whenever I had attempted "finding God in everything" previously, I found it to be unfruitful because I was "without" when God was "within." Grace builds on nature; we must be disposed to God to hear him, and we must listen in silence before we can hear through noise.

St. Augustine agrees that grace builds on nature- conversion never coerces will

So as I go forward and prepare for whatever is in store on this retreat, I am more aware than before how this is a foundation for the remainder of the year and that I must encounter God in "great silence" before I will be ready to go anywhere else with him. Union with God has been a recurring theme in prayer over the last few weeks, specifically the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and while there has been much consolation, the Memorial of St. Augustine today is a good reminder that I am seeking God, not the consolations of God.

The Year in Review

It is hard to believe I am already starting my second year of formation with the Oblates! Time has flown by and it doesn't seem it will slow down any time soon. While having a memorable introduction to philosophy and my first apostolate assignment, I had a lot of time to adjust to the rhythm of life of Oblate formation, a rhythm that somehow remained fairly steady despite disaster, accident, and tragedy.

To complete the best year of my life I returned to Michigan for the Summer and spent a lot of time catching up with family and friends...

and of course plenty of good beers. I was blessed to have a three-day trip back to Boston with my parents and am now gearing up for another year of surprises!

There are some ways in which this year will have fewer surprises- the daily life of formation will be more or less similar to last year- but there will be new classes and different classmates.

Because the shock of a major change and new lifestyle will be less, there is also great potential for this to be a year of great spiritual growth. Along this vein, I plan to focus my posts more on my life of formation than on remarkable events (there will still be some trips, but, please God, less terrorism).

I will hopefully be able to offer some insight into formation as a religious in general and a little of my own in particular, possibly starting with some excerpts and comments on Pastores Dabo Vobis (Bl. John Paul II's apostolic exhortation on priestly formation) and the Our Lady of Grace Handbook for postulant formation.

There may also be some tidbits from courses: Among other classes I will be taking Metaphysics, Documents of Vatican II, and History of Christian Spirituality, so I am certain there will be many interesting new things to share.

(Today was the feast of St. Bartholomew/Nathaniel, in case you didn't know)

It promises to be a remarkable year in many ways: in the near future I am looking forward to meeting Oblates from all over the Americas who will be here for a formation conference in a few weeks, celebrating the titular feast of the congregation, and Pope Francis' consecration of the world to the Immaculate Heart of Mary on 13 October.