NAC Magazine: Spring-Summer 2000

Spring/Summer 2000

On The Cover: The picture of St. Peter's Basilica was taken from the roof of the North American College.

Rector's Corner

"I was there for the Jubilee" By: Msgr. Timothy M. Dolan, Rector Archdiocese of St. Louis, Class of 1976

Well, it has finally arrived: the Great Jubilee Year 2000. As I told our seminarians, fifty years from now, when someone asks what you remember most about your days in Rome, you will reply, "I was there for the Great Jubilee."

As I write, we are already a few months into this blessed event. We have been privileged to be with the Holy Father as he opened the Holy Door at Christmas; we have watched him welcome the pilgrimages of children, artists, the sick, and permanent deacons who have already come; we ourselves, through our pilgrims' office led by Monsignor Roensch, and our student jubilee apostolate, have helped thousands of visitors enter the true spirit of prayer and spiritual renewal prompted by this epochal event. Our men find themselves even more grateful for the message of Rome: the unity of our faith, the universality of the Church, the tradition of the apostles and martyrs, and the presence of the successor of St. Peter.

Of course, the real arena of the Jubilee is the soul. All are called to interior conversion and renewal. Coming to Rome is one way to help that occur. But an even more basic way is by a revived appreciation of the Eucharist. In fact, the Holy Father has asked that this year "be intensely Eucharistic."

The North American College exists to prepare men to celebrate the Eucharist for the People of God, men who have the Eucharist as the center of their lives. Thus, I would hope we are always "intensely Eucharistic." However, as you will see from the abridged version of my conference delivered to our seminarians which appears in these pages, we are accepting Pope John Paul's invitation to deepen that love for and faith in Our Lord's Real Presence in the Eucharist.

A blessed Jubilee Year!

Timothy M. Dolan

Jubilee

Open unto me the Gates of Justice By: Patrick Moses Diocese of Orange in California, Class of 2002 Throughout our lives we celebrate different rites that mark significant life events. As we entered the year 2000, we were blessed with an opportunity to mark the passage from one millennium to the next, to celebrate the anniversary of Christ coming into the world, and to prepare ourselves to be more faithful disciples. Pope John Paul 11, in Tertio Millennio Adveniente, invited us to use the time leading up to the year 2000 to deepen our faith and strengthen our witness. We were challenged in that document to open wide the doors of our hearts to Jesus Christ, and then on Christmas Eve 1999 we were given the Holy Year Door as a powerful symbol of this openness, so necessary on our pilgrimage toward God. Photo: The Holy Father kneels at the threshold of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve. Traditionally, the Holy Year Doors are opened on Christmas Eve and closed the following Christmas at the end of the Jubilee Year. Pope Martin V introduced the ceremony of opening Holy Doors in 1423 by creating the first Holy Door at the Basilica of St. John Lateran. The tradition of having four doors, one at each of the major Basilicas, began with Pope Alexander VI in the Jubilee Year 1500. Pope Alexander VI opened the Holy Door for the first time at St. Peter's Basilica on Christmas Eve while three Cardinals, representing the pope, opened the Holy Doors in ceremonies at the other three Basilicas.

For the beginning of our Great Jubilee Year, the Holy Father tapped three times on the Holy Year Door in St. Peter's Basilica and proclaimed, "Open unto me the gates of justice". At the same moment (taking into consideration time zones, of course) other Holy Year Doors were opened across the world in cathedrals and parishes - opening wide the doors of the hearts of the faithful to Jesus Christ. However, unlike past Holy Years, the Holy Year Doors of the other three Major Basilicas were not opened at the same time as that of St. Peter's. The Holy Father himself opened the Holy Doors at Rome's Basilica of St. John Lateran on December 25, 1999, the Basilica of St. Mary Major January 1, 2000, and the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls on January 18, 2000.

We must remember that these doors are called "Holy Doors" not simply because they allow the faithful to enter a Church, but also because they allow them to enter into a Year, a special time of grace. In Tertio Millennio Adveniente, Pope John Paul II wrote: "The Holy Door of the Jubilee of the Year 2000 should be symbolically wider than those of previous Jubilees, because humanity, upon reaching this goal, will leave behind not just a century but a millennium." Guided by the Church's example, humanity will be asked to focus once again on Jesus Christ in this new millennium, that will begin with the "intensely Eucharistic" Great Jubilee of the Year 2000.

Photo: John Riley, in the foreground, follows Pope John Paul through the Holy Door.

Priesthood

Toward a Spirituality of the Diocesan Priesthood By: Msgr. Cornelius M. McRae Archdiocese of Boston Note: This talk was given at the "Residential course for Rectors of Major Seminaries for Diocesan Clergy" sponsored by the Congregation for Catholic Education and the Association of Roman Rectors during the summers of 1998 and 1999.

Is there a distinctive spirituality of diocesan priesthood? "No, we beg, borrow and steal from others, but we are basically spiritual orphans." Is this not the idea that most of the seminarians at your seminary believe, whether they arc: diocesan or

religious? If there is such a thing His the spirituality of diocesan priests, how would pmt describe it, and what difference would this understanding make at your seminaries?

That is the questionI have been asked to consider with this group of Englishspeaking rectors from various parts of the world. Fortunately, I do not have to promise the final word. Your own views will be welcome and needed. My own background of almost thirty years in seminary work, both as a spiritual director and as a rector, gives me abundant motivation to look at this question with you. You might think that after all these years in seminary work it would be easy to come up with an answer. When we are done, you can tell me if there is an easy answer to this question.

It is helpful for me to realize that most of you are diocesan priests and that almost all of your seminarians are also diocesan. You may be sure that I have great esteem and affection for your work. One bishop always teases me with his conviction that all seminary rectors go straight to heaven, via the express lane!!! At this moment I am back as a spiritual director, on the other side of the "smoking inconostasis." There was a wonderful priest with whom I worked on a spiritual direction team. He had a sign on his desk that read: "My job is so secret that not even I know what I am doing." Well, let us see if we can unlock some of the secrets of the priest hood.

Two of the keys for unlocking this issue have come before us rather recently from a combination of viewpoints presented in Vatican II's Lumen Gentium. Let me state them and see if they can help us to answer this question. I will develop them separately; then I will draw a few conclusions and ask you to compare your conclusions with mine. First key: There is a universal call to holiness within the tradition of Catholic Spirituality. This universal call is as ancient as the Church. It would have been as familiar to the priests and parishioners of that marvelous Church of San Clemente here in Rome as it would be to the priests and parishioners of St. Joseph's in Hong Kong or any other current parish you can name. This universal call provides the foundation for everyone's spirituality. Second key: Within this universal call to holiness and spirituality there are specific vocations and charisms related to our "state in life". This spirituality is further characterized by some specific elements proper to priestly life and ministry. Three of these elements would be true for religious as well as diocesan priests. There is one final element that I would propose as belonging particularly to diocesan priests.

THE UNIVERSAL CALL TO HOLINESS Let us now return to the first key; the universal call to holiness, and identify some popular assumptions and frequent questions that arise in this connection with laity and with seminarians: Are priests called to be holier than the laity? Do lay people think that priests are holier than they are, or do they think priests are supposed to be holier? Are religious called to a holier way of life than diocesan priests? Do seminarians think that they are supposed to be holier than the laity or do they see themselves as no different, no better, no worse than the laity?

The language of the 1917 Code of Canon law may have led a few people to some improper conclusions. This Code indicated that priests have, or are called to, a state of perfection, and the priestly state of perfection is intended to help others reach their own state of perfection. That language regarding state of perfection is not popular in our generation. Moreover, most seminaries in the U.S.A. are deliberately working against a rather common inclination or problem of "perfectionism" in students. One reason we labor to overcome this is because these seminarians so often begin by applying their perfectionist tendencies to the way the rector is doing his job.

It is important to compare this language of the 1917 Code with that of Vatican II, especially Lumen Gentium #39. In the opening paragraph of Chapter V on the "Call of the Whole Church to Holiness," the document teaches: "...therefore, in the Church everyone belonging to the hierarchy, or being cared for by it, is called to holiness..." This specific reference can help us clarify the foundation for the spirituality of diocesan priesthood. As I indicated earlier, seminarians often feel that diocesan priests have been left out.

Seminarians seem convinced that the Benedictines have a distinct spirituality, as do the Franciscans, and certainly the Jesuits, but not diocesan priests! Is that really true? Or is it not true that there is a core of Catholic spirituality; an ecclesial spirituality? This core is more ancient and foundational than any particular religious order or the charism of their founder. When we assemble the elements of this core ecclesial spirituality; we begin to recognize the realities with which diocesan priesthood deals day in and day out, a reality that the Church has been promoting from the beginning. It is these familiar foundational realities that provide the basis for Vatican II's teaching on the universal call to holiness!

FOUNDATIONAL ELEMENTS With all this is mind, let me return to the first key: There is a perennial, universal call to spirituality that must always contain foundational elements. I would propose that this could be expressed in the following points: Belief in Jesus Christ, the One sent from the Father to lead us continually from sin to salvation so that in Christ, the Son, we also become children of God by Baptism, which imparts to us a share in God's Spirit. Faith in Jesus Christ enables each person in each generation to encounter the living and saving presence of Christ. How? In the community of faith (parish) the members are united in prayer, sharing of gifts and breaking of the Bread as described in the first century Church (Acts 4). This makes possible a graced encounter with God and with one another.

The spiritual life of the members is expressed in moral life, both personal and social. The first movement is personal and involves a life of personal prayer, leading to conversion of heart and a life of virtue.

Personal moral life must be complemented by a social moral life in family, neighborhood and workplace. Every Catholic has a mission to reach outward to those who have not yet received the Good News of salvation, and also to assist those who are in need in any way.

Is this not the core of Catholic spirituality? What a challenge there is in grasping the dimensions of the spirituality, let alone practicing it! In recent years we have become so alarmed at the way some of our seminarians have failed to understand these basics that we have rolled out whole new programs: Pre-Theology I, Pre-Theology II, Spiritual Year I, Pastoral Year, etc. etc., and I wonder if we think we can relax once the seminarians have jumped through some of these hoops. When they finally reach Theology, do we say to ourselves, "At least we have given them the basics?" Yet, these new programs are not dealing with new realities. This core reality is as old as the Church itself. It is for everyone. I am still working on these issues in my own spiritual life. This is one way of describing the universal call to holiness, as found in Lumen Gentium, is it not?

SPECIFIC VOCATIONS OR CHARISMS RELATED TO OUR "STATE OF LIFE" Now let us consider the second key to diocesan priestly spirituality. I had a conversation a couple of weeks ago in our dining room with one of the seminarians who mentioned casually to us at table that he was leaving the seminary. He is a good man. This decision was his own, not the faculty's. He also mentioned that he was interested in the Focolare Movement and that whatever the future holds, his life may revolve around this movement. I asked him to describe the Focolare to us. He was happy to do so. As you know, it is basically a movement of the laity; but some priests are involved. The movement follows the inspiration of Chiara Lubich and pursues an emphasis on unity. The seminarian mentioned a few other ingredients. Then he added: "My parents were divorced when I was younger. I have never stopped wondering why these two good people found it necessary to split up. Why was it so much easier for them to agree on separation and division than being able to live together in the unity of marriage?" I thought to myself: No wonder he is drawn to a spiritual movement whose cornerstone is unity. His experience may help us to address the second key and discover its meaning.

SPECIFIC ELEMENTS I think it means that, as we look at the varied ways of trying to live out this core ecclesial spirituality, certain features or elements need to be highlighted for various individuals, such as the aforementioned seminarian focusing on a spirituality of unity. It seems to be the work of the Holy Spirit that various individuals and their followers throughout history have put the spotlight on specific elements of this core spirituality. Thus, everyone is called to: a. Chaste living (though people might wonder if this has disappeared from the core of Catholic spirituality). Chaste living is going to be expressed in one way for a married couple, in another way for the unmarried, and in yet a different way for celibate clergy. The differences are rooted in the way the core spirituality is lived out according to each individual's state in life. b. Simplicity of Life. This will be expressed differently for a Wall Street banker than it is for one of the Missionaries of Charity or a Franciscan. c. Obedience of Christ to the Father. This will take a different expression for a Benedictine monk than it will for a newly married couple. d Personal prayer and meditation. This is expressed differently for a Jesuit schooled in the classics and spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola than it would be for your people preparing to receive Confirmation with their eighth grade class. e. Honor Mary as the Mother of God. The Marist Father the Oblates, and Notre Dame Sisters will focus this in a way that may be different from that of our seminarians. All these ingredients are related to the core of ecclesial spirituality.

We need to notice how the Holy Spirit has been at work in every age to help the members in the Church to express the core elements with specific emphasis that enrich ecclesial pirituality. What a rich heritage we have in the unfolding of the history of the Church.

Witness Benedict. Dominic, Francis of Assisi, Teresa of Avila, Ignatius. Therese of Lisieux, and Mother Teresa! These charismatic figures have gathered others around them to continue their vision and their charisms, but these leaders and founders of communities were not starting from scratch. Each of them had inherited this core of Catholic spirituality, which is to be found, more ,or less, in every diocese and local church in the world. Their charisms enrich the whole life of the Church but this emphasis in spirituality is especially appropriate for those who share a similar vocation in life. Spiritual doctors of the Church, like the diocesan bishop, Francis de Sales, and a Carmelite nun, Therese of Lisieux, remind us that there is both a core ecclesial spirituality and a particular response, based on one's state in life.

Can we now apply this to our seminaries and our seminarians? Do you worry about seminarians who are more concerned about getting ordained than they are about having faith in Jesus Christ, or having a life of prayer, discipline, and virtue? I do! As a result, I say to myself how fortunate is that seminarian so absorbed in growing in faith, holiness and prayer that he can almost assume his vocation to the priesthood as a more specific gift.

RESPONSIBILITIES IN THE VOCATION TO PRIESTHOOD There are, obviously, certain responsibilities in the vocation to priesthood, in general, and diocesan priesthood in particular, which imply the need for spiritual development. I would propose four such responsibilities. You can add others. I do not need to dwell much on the first three because so much has been written already of the role of Christ as priest, prophet and king. I'm more interested in seeing whether you accept the general framework. Thus, these four responsibilities are: The spirituality of the priest as shepherd The spirituality of the priest as prophet and teacher The spirituality of the priest as minister of the sacraments, especially the Eucharist, and The spirituality of the priest in the charism of administration.

The first three are based on the identity of Jesus, our great High priest, and they are also true of all priests, religious or diocesan. Just as Jesus is Shepherd, Prophet and King, so every priest needs to have a spirituality based on this state in life. These characteristics are spelled out in Pastres Dabo Vobis, Chapter III. The fourth belongs to the charism of the diocesan priest.

Photo: Public speaking opportunities at the North American College THE PRIEST AS SHEPHERD AND LEADER This is not a role that acts as camouflage for male power or clerical dominance. In an interview with Peter Seewald in 1996 reported in the Ignatius Press, Cardinal Ratzinger had an interesting comment about this: There is a growing ideology in modern society that fundamentally traces all existing; institutions back to power politics... If I see the Church under the aspect of power, then it follows that

everyone who does not hold office is ipso facto oppressed. And then the question of women's ordination, as an issue of power, becomes imperative, for every one has to be able to have power ... To present Christ as King, and the priest as leader is not to advocate a power position but an office of profound service. Herein lies a whole way of life and discipline that is particular to a priest's state in life. Thus, seminarians have to be evaluated regarding their prospects for a lifetime of pastoral charity. Seminarians who can't stand people either have a lot of work to do, or then don't belong in a seminary.

THE PRIEST AS PROPHET AND TEACHER The role of prophet and teacher certainly makes unique demands on us regarding study, prayer, and meditation, i.e., the ability to appreciate and appropriate our whole rich tradition. It also includes preaching and public speaking ability. It is said that many people would rather die than stand up to speak or preach in front of a group. We need to see if our men are moving toward the point where they would rather die than preach, or it is certain that our people will if the Good News is not preached to them. This is their vocation in life.

Photo: The pastoral council of the College offers valuable administrative experience.

THE PRIEST AS MINISTER Pastores Dabo Vobis states clearly and simply: "It is above all in the celebration of the sacraments and the celebration of the Liturgy of the Hours that the priest is called to live and to witness to the deep unity between the exercise of his ministry and his spiritual life."

Another way of expressing this was related to me recently by one of the bishops during his ad limina visit. He recalled that he was a student here in Rome during Vatican II and that all sorts of theologians spoke to them about the work of the Council. Only one of these talks, however, stayed with him. Interestingly enough, this homily was given by my own bishop, Cardinal Cushing. He told the priests: "Mass is not part of your day. It is the heart of your day!"

THE PRIEST AS ADMINISTRATOR These first three responsibilities apply to all priests. Let me propose one additional responsibility and consequent spiritual factor that may be considered as something of a defining ingredient in the spirituality of the diocesan priest. The charism of diocesan priesthood and its spirituality reflects a characteristic mentioned by St. Paul for the newly established parish in Corinth. It is the charism of Administration. Paul instructs the parishioners in Corinth that there is a unity in the Body of Christ, yet there are different gifts and charisms. Paul offers a list of these charisms and in it he includes the gift of administration. He locates this just ahead of the gift of speaking in tongues.

Photo: Sacramental preparations : Rev. Mr. Kris Teater practicing the Anointing of the Sick with Rev. Mr. Paco Flores.

I can just hear sorne of my priest friends exclaiming: administration! Holiness! We know so many good diocesan priests who seek release from what they find to be the burden of administration so that they can return to "real priestly work." Do you know why? We all belong to this visibly structured and institutionalized Church. If this Church is going to remain an effective instrument of grace, it requires ongoing, capable administration, whether we are talking about the parish, the diocese, or even the work of the Holy Father here in Rome, or any other religious community or organization that may be involved. The Holy Father is priest, teacher and leader, yet we also see how he wears himself out in the administration of this worldwide Church of ours. That is why I believe that administration is pastoral, priestly; and particularly diocesan.

Let me summarize: The spirituality of the diocesan priest is rooted in the core of Catholic, ecclesial spirituality. It is then further defined and expressed as priest, prophet, and shepherd. It is also identified by the grace of the vocation in life as an administrator. This does not mean wrapping a chain around a priest and locking him up behind a desk. Rather, it night conjure up the image of the leader of a great symphony or an orchestra. The diocesan priest is one who is able to draw together all the varied sounds and instruments that the local church can provide. The priest is the instrument of the Holy Spirit in blending them together so that all of us can sing a new song to the Lord.

Windows to the Sacred Photo: Paul Czerwonka, class of 2003, brings a gift of iconography to the North American College.

Where is your heart? The aesthetic experience demands time, provokes thought, stimulates questions, and changes the vision of ordinary reality shining new light upon it. Modern culture has somehow resisted good art by becoming impatient and critical with that which cannot be understood by a quick superficial glance of the image. The modern superficial and depthless image does not demand the individual to contemplate content nor to examine how one unwraps the meaning.

However, there arc individuals in this fast-paced secular realm who, in contrast to this mediocre contemporary notion of art, remain steadfast and perseveringly conscious of the importance and validity of sacred iconographic image and iconographers who continue to write and share with others the golden light found in intangible and invisible spiritual realities. The role of good sacred art is to stir and fill with a perpetual sense of transcendent wonder and awe, and to persuade

the will and intellect to live at a faith level. Good sacred art presents the believer with an experience which words are inadequate to describe when viewed with the eyes of faith. The more sacred images are contemplated, the greater degree one is brought to recall, desire, and understand the reality of the person it represents.

The seven sorrows by Paul Czerwonka The spiritual pilgrimage of writing an icon results from the fruit and blessing of prayer. It is the sense of wonder and awe evoked in the iconographer, which shines though the image making it meaningful and alive. The iconographer / artist needs to be living the sacramental life of the Church so as to capture and portray spiritual truths. When iconography is seen as "writing" a prayer, it becomes more than merely "painting" a pretty picture. Spiritual wonder is stirred in the heart and mind to the depth of the soul, as paint is put to the wood in the studio's atmosphere of mediation and recollection. These "windows" grasp the spiritual seen through the eyes of faith. Therefore, icons are not mere records of a person or event but a religious expression of infinite beauty of God and the means to raise the mind to Him and to the eternal. Prayers and fasting precedes each session to seek the assistance of the Holy Spirit to conceive and illuminate the image and use the hands of the iconographer to give form or "write" the painted prayer.

Sacred images are just as important and valid today as in years past. Icons, a visual theology, have been a golden thread running through the history of the Church. There have been certain tendencies in recent times to remove sacred images from homes and places of worship, where they had been previously displayed conveying faith and Christian vision.

Sacred images speak and teach, just like a skillful homily, through a rich language of symbolic image and Scripture, of image and word illumined together. "Where your treasure is, there will be your heart also" (Luke 12:34).

Click on an item below to see a larger image:

Jubilee Rector's Conference to the Seminarians By: Msgr. Timothy M. Dolan, Rector Archdiocese of St. Louis, Class of 1976 A year ago, Pope John Paul II created quite a stir when he appointed to his curia, as President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, the archbishop of Saigon, Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan. When the North Vietnamese communists overran the South in 1979, the archbishop was sentenced to a re-education camp, where he spent thirteen years. Nine of those years were in solitary confinement, with only two guards for company - and they were forbidden to speak to the prisoner. Nine years in a foul, fetid cell, so humid that mushrooms grew on the prisoner's bed.. Nine years, as he put it in a memoir, of "mental torture, in absolute emptiness, without work, walking in the cell from morning until nine-thirty at night so as not to be destroyed by arthritis, at the edge of insanity."

It was a regimen designed to crush a man, spiritually and physically. Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan declined to be crushed.

Instead, he made his solitary confinement into a seemingly endless retreat, and an evangelical opportunity. He celebrated Mass with three drops of wine (a bottle was given him as stomach medicine) and pieces of bread smuggled in by sympathetic outsiders.

Photo: Rev. Msgr. Tim Dolan, Rector, with Rev. Mr. Jeff Loseke (left) and Rev. Mr. Bill Rice (right), in the sacristy before Mass.

Prior to his solitary confinement, in re-education camp, the archbishop had said Mass for his fellow prisoners in bed. "We were divided into groups of fifty people. We slept on common beds, having the right to fifty centimeters. We arranged it so that there were five Catholics with me. At nine-thirty the lights are turned off and everyone has to sleep. I curl up on the bed to celebrate Mass, by memory, and I distribute communion moving my hand under the mosquito netting. We made little containers from the paper of cigarette boxes to reserve the Blessed Sacrament. Jesus in the Eucharist is always with me in my shirt pocket. They were the most beautiful Masses of my life."

"The year 2000," writes the Holy Father in Tertio Millennio Adveniente, "will be intensely Eucharistic: in the Sacrament of the Eucharist the Savior, who took flesh in Mary's womb twenty centuries ago, continues to offer Himself to humanity, as the source of divine life."

Remember the well-known passage from John's gospel where the risen savior appears to His disciples along the shore of the Sea of Galilee, and eats with them, a clear Eucharistic reference. He then asks our friend St. Peter three times, "Do you love me?" each time replying to Peter's assurances that he indeed does, with a reference to feeding. Note that this is the final meeting between Our Lord and St. Peter recorded in the fourth gospel, and it is moving that the last words of Jesus to the leader of His apostles is Eucharistic, a sure mandate to feed His lambs and sheep. For those of us who dare to claim a call to share in the ministry of the apostles as ordained priests, it is clear that one of our main duties is to offer the people committed to us the Bread of Life, the heavenly food of the Eucharist. It should be equally obvious that we cannot do this effectively unless the Eucharist is at the center of our own lives, unless we daily feast on this manna from heaven, and unless we often find ourselves before His Real Presence. As Pope John Paul II wrote in Gift and Mystery, his reflection on the fiftieth anniversary of his priestly ordination: "If we take a close look at what contemporary men and women expect from priests, we will see that, in the end, they have but one great expectation: they are thirsting for Christ. Everything else - their economic, social, and political needs - can be met by any number of other people. From the priest they ask for Christ! And from him they have the right to receive Christ, above all through the proclamation of the word . . . But this proclamation seeks to have man encounter Jesus, especially in the mystery of the Eucharist, the living heart of the Church and of priestly life. The priest has a mysterious, awesome power over the Eucharistic Body of Christ. By reason of this power he becomes the steward of the greatest treasure of the Redemption, for he gives people the Redeemer in person.

Celebrating the Eucharist is the most sublime and most sacred function of every priest. As for me, from the very first years of my priesthood, the celebration of the Eucharist has been not only my most sacred duty, but above all my soul's deepest need.

"When the great Jesuit poet, Gerard Manley Hopkins, wrote his perplexed and upset father trying to explain why he was becoming a Catholic, he concentrated on the Eucharist: " `I shall hold as a Catholic . . . that literal truth of Our Lord's words by which I learn that the least fragment of the consecrated elements in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar is the whole Body of Christ born of the Virgin Mary, before which the whole host of saints and angels as it lies on the altar trembles with adoration. This belief once got is the life of the soul.' "

Photo: Msgr. Kevin McCoy washes the feet of 12 seminarians on Holy Thursday.

Monsignor Adolph Schilly is a priest very close to me back home, the pastor of my home parish in my early years in the seminary. He is now struggling with terminal cancer, and about six months ago, had to make a decision whether or not to begin chemotherapy. His first inclination was not to, but he called Jack Lally, a layman he knew who had also been diagnosed with advanced cancer, and who

himself was undergoing chemo, to seek his counsel. Jack was the head of Catholic Charities in the archdiocese, a married man with a large family, totally dedicated to the social teachings of the Church - an exemplary Catholic layman in every way. When Monsignor Schilly confided in him that he was inclined not to take the treatments, asking what difference it would make if he lived three months or one year, Jack replied, "Father, if you live long enough to offer just one more Mass for us, it would all be worthwhile." Monsignor Schilly took the treatments. He's closer to death now, but he tells me that his morning Mass has never meant as much to him.

"Feed my lambs! Feed my sheep!" That's what our people want, my brothers! That's what they are looking to their priests to provide!In his message for vocations for the jubilee Year, Pope John Paul II writes: The Eucharist constitutes the culminating moment in which Jesus, in His Body given for us and in His Blood poured out for our salvation, reveals the mystery of His identity, and indicates the sense of vocation of every believer. In fact, the meaning of human life is totally contained in that Body and in that Blood, since from them life and salvation have come to us.

Photo: Mr. John Lynam at Benediction in the Assumption Chapel at the College.

It is no less than the meaning of life that our people are asking us as priests to provide than in the Eucharist. But, my brothers, as St. Anselm says, "I only nourish you with what I myself live on." Thus, for the priest, his whole existence must be grounded in the Eucharist. I propose to you that the jubilee, the year that is to be "intensely Eucharistic," offers us a most providential invitation to intensify our faith in and love for the Eucharist.

I suggest this can be done in two very evident and simple ways.

In the first case, by emphasizing the centrality of our daily Mass.

It happened again this week when the the retired archbishop of San Francisco, John Quinn, arrived here at the College. When he was all settled in the Bernardin Suite, I asked if there was anything he needed. "Yes," he replied, "Where can I say Mass?"

No where are we more a priest than at Mass. Nothing is more cherished by a priest than celebrating the Eucharist. To do it daily with faith and reverence is the highlight of our day ? as Cardinal Cushing used to remark, "The Mass is not part of our day; it is the heart of our day" I just finished reading an excellent book, Jesuits in Jail: From Ignatius to the Present, by Father George Anderson, SJ. As the author observes, far greater than any physical torture, "the inability to celebrate Mass remained the most grievous source of suffering" for these imprisoned priests. As Father John Clifford, SJ, wrote about his solitary confinement in a Shanghai cell, "I had not said Mass or had not received Holy Communion for 888 days . . . No one but a priest can fully realize the significance of that deprivation." Listen to the words of Father Walter Ciszek, SJ, the famous priest imprisoned for years in Soviet labor camps.

"Sometimes I think that those who have never been deprived of an opportunity to say or hear Mass do not really appreciate what a treasure the Mass is. I know, in any event, what it came to mean to me and the other priests I met in the Soviet Union; I know the sacrifices we made and the risks we ran in order just to have a chance to say or hear Mass. When we were constantly hungry in the camps, when the food we got each day was just barely enough to keep us going, I have seen priests pass up breakfast and work at hard labor on an empty stomach until noon in order to keep the Eucharistic fast, because the noon break at the work site was the time we could best get together for a hidden Mass. I did that often myself. And sometimes, when the guards were observing us too closely and we couldn't risk saying Mass at the work site, the crusts of bread I had put in my pocket at breakfast remained there uneaten until I could get back to camp and say Mass at night. Or again, I have seen priests and prisoners deprive their bodies of needed sleep in order to get up before the rising bell for a secret Mass in a quiet barracks, while everyone else clung to those precious extra moments of sleep. In some ways, we led a catacomb existence with our Masses. We would be severely punished if we were discovered saying Mass, and there were always informers. But the Mass to us was always worth the danger and the sacrifice; we treasured it, we looked forward to it, we would do almost anything in order to say or attend a Mass."

Photo: Fr. Christopher Nalty, from the Archdiocese of New Orleans, vesting for Mass in the sacristy.

"In my years of priesthood," writes Pope. John Paul II, "what is still the most important and most sacred moment for me is the celebration of the Eucharist. My awareness of celebrating in persona Christi at the altar prevails. . . Holy Mass is the absolute center of my life and of every day of my life."

And so, my brother priests and future priests, I ask you to ponder during this upcoming "intensely Eucharistic" Jubilee Year whether, as a matter of fact, daily Mass is the heart of your day, whether you approach the Mass with faith, reverence, attention, vibrant participation, and enthusiasm; do you genuinely pray the Mass, or just passively show up?

Two years ago I devoted my rector's conference in advent to the liturgical life of this house, and I then proposed that your attitude toward Mass was a proper theme to ponder in your discernment for priesthood. I renew now, on the eve of this "intensely Eucharistic" Jubilee Year, what I stated then: namely, that if you often miss daily Mass, if you do not look forward to it, or if you approach it as a chore, if its celebration is not indeed the heart of your day, if you find yourself constantly distracted or bored at Mass, or if your attendance is purely passive and grudging - this is a good sign you should not be a priest! As a thirst for the Mass is the sign of a vocation, a passive, dull attitude toward it is a sign you do not have a vocation .to priesthood. As a priest, particularly a parish priest, the most important thing you will do each day is celebrate Mass for your people, usually early in the morning. If you are not excited about that prospect, and now unfaithful or blasĂˆ in your approach to daily Mass . . . well, you are not called to be a priest.

Now, we all have spells of dryness or periods when all prayer, including the greatest of all, the Mass, seems heavy and tedious. I'm not talking about periodic struggles; I'm referring to a consistent attitude.

For the Jubilee Year, I have a few very simple ways to emphasize the centrality of our daily Mass.

One is to arrive early. Imagine if you were scheduled for surgery at 6:30 am, and as you drift off in anesthesia see the surgeon running in at the last moment frantically trying to get ready for what is for you a life-or-death situation, you'd be legitimately worried. How much more inappropriate for us to arrive at the last moment for Mass. As Msgr. Elmer comments, "Never go from the sheets to the linens." In other words, never go right from bed to Mass. Allow yourself at least ten minutes to recollect, to prepare, to make an intention, and have all your wits about you.

A second simple resolution to help emphasize the centrality of our daily Mass is to stay awhile afterwards to make a proper thanksgiving. Those moments of wonder, praise, and connection with the Jesus-within which follow Mass can be some of the most spiritually fruitful of the day.

Photo: Rev. Mr. Ray LaVoie preparing the altar for the Liturgy of the Eucharist A third resolution is to be conscious of the profound union we enjoy with Jesus through our worthy reception of Holy Communion. I recall the words of Pope St. Pius X: "This side of heaven, there is no more intimate union with Christ than reception of Holy Communion." To realize that the second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Jesus Christ, dwells in our soul, at the core of our being, to rejoice in that, affirm it, praise it, tap into it that ongoing consciousness of the real presence of Jesus in our soul throughout the day is a tremendous spiritual boost. As St. Hilary commented:

"We believe that the Word became flesh and that we receive His flesh in the Lord's Supper. In the Sacrament of His Body and Blood, He actually gives us His own flesh, which He has united to His divinity. That is why we are one with Him, because the Father is in Christ, and Christ is in us."

A fourth resolution: let us not attend Mass as critics. This is always a temptation in seminaries, to become reviewers at every Mass, distracted by externals.

"Not that song again."

"Why don't they get rid of that vestment."

"Not this celebrant again . . . there goes breakfast."

"He doesn't fold his hands right."

"He's not wearing an amice."

Satan has a field day! Anything to distract us, make us petty and judgmental, at the time God's grace is most available. Do not allow yourselves to become nagging, scoffing critics at Mass, distracted by inconsequential externals instead of attracted by the most appealing, profound mystery of all.

Photo: Rev. Erik Arnold, from the Archdiocese of Baltimore, prepares to celebrate Mass.

So there's resolution number one for the "intensely Eucharistic" Jubilee Year, to emphasize the centrality of our daily Mass, by proper preparation before and thanksgiving after, by acknowledging the awesome union we have with Jesus in Holy Communion, and by resisting the temptation to attend every Mass as Siskel and Ebert. Let me close this section with words of Thomas Merton: "The Mass is the most wonderful thing that has ever entered into my life. When I am at the altar I feel that I am at last the person God has truly intended me to be. About the lucidity and peace of this perfect sacrifice I have nothing coherent to say. But I am aware of the most special atmosphere of grace in which the priest moves and breathes at that moment - and all day afterwards."

And our second jubilee resolve: to savor ever more deeply the Real Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist. To spend time each day before Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament is a desire of every priest and seminarian. As the Holy Father writes in his message for the World Day of Vocations for the Jubilee Year: "It is in the Eucharistic presence that Jesus reaches us, places within us the dynamism of ecclesial communion, and makes us prophetic signs for the world. Go to meet Jesus the Savior! Love Him and adore Him in the Eucharist. He is present in the Holy Mass . . . He comes to us in Holy Communion, and remains in the tabernacles of our churches . . . You are able to draw from Him the courage to be His apostles."

This seminary is indeed a Eucharistic community. We begin each day with Mass, and students regularly spend time before Our Lord in the Eucharist in our chapels or even in the city. I rejoice in this trait of the College, and would hope even to deepen it. Thus I am taking the occasion of this rector's conference on the "intensely Eucharistic" character of the jubilee to announce a new initiative: during the Year 2000, a community holy hour during which the Blessed Sacrament is exposed will be offered each day.

This idea of a daily holy hour is not new. More and more seminaries at home are doing it. Each year, as I read the autobiographies of our incoming men, I marvel at how many of you can point to prayer before the exposed Eucharist as precisely the epiphany of your own priestly vocation. More and more parishes at home are inviting people to prayer before our Eucharistic Savior on special days, or even in perpetual adoration. It would be calloused not to see the working of the Holy Spirit in this quiet, grassroots revolution leading the Church to a deeper appreciation for our Lord's sacramental presence. "By their fruits you will know them," says Jesus, and reports tell us that this rediscovered devotion to Our Lord in the Eucharist is leading to the sweet fruit of conversion of heart, return to the faith, inner peace, family reconciliation, evangelization, charitable outreach, increase in vocations, and parish revitalization. I was fascinated to see that the final book of Basil Cardinal Hume, written before his death, is devoted to the Eucharistic presence, wherein he calls the rediscovery of the power and mystery of the Eucharist the greatest need in the Church today.

This idea of a daily holy hour is not new at the College. It is a proposal that has been thoughtfully presented every year that I have been here, including this year, by many students who miss it, and who believe that it would be a source of many graces to a community already richly blessed. It has often been calmly considered by the pastoral council and the faculty, and, until now, for one reason or another, the time has not been right. The Jubilee Year of 2000, called to be intensely Eucharistic, makes the time just right.

But I believe with all my heart and soul that the advantages of a daily holy hour here at the College will far outweigh any difficulty or objection one might raise. I predict a tremendous outpouring of grace and blessing, because of this jubilee resolution. I'm willing to take the risk. Let's recall St. Peter, who thought the Lord's directive to "cast out to the deep" was ill-advised, impractical, useless, as they had been at it all night and caught nothing. Duc in altum! "Cast out to the deep!" Jesus exhorts Peter . . . Jesus exhorts us!

Just last week Pope John Paul II met with seminarians from Umbria, and he told them, "The world awaits and calls out for saintly pastors, ones gifted with intense priestly spirituality. The effectiveness of pastoral work depends above all on prayer and the profundity of the interior life." I propose to you, brothers, that this daily holy hour during the jubilee can indeed be a most productive way to stay focused on Jesus, make the year 2000 "intensely Eucharistic," and strengthen our prayer and interior life.

Listen to this moving description of prayer offered by Mother Teresa, and interpret it as I have as an invitation to time spent in silence before our Eucharistic Savior: ":Do you really know the living Jesus - not from books but from being with Him in your heart? Have you heard the loving words He speaks to you? Ask for the grace; He is longing to give it. Until you can hear Jesus in the silence of our own heart, you will not be able to hear Him saying, "I thirst" in the hearts of the poor. Never give up this daily intimate contact with Jesus as the real living person.

How can we last even one day without hearing Jesus say, "I love you"? Impossible! Our soul needs that as much as the body needs to breathe the air. Jesus wants you each to hear Him speaking in the silence of your heart. Not only that He loves you, but even more - He

longs for you. He thirsts for you. Bring all you are suffering to His feet - only open your heart to be loved by Him as you are. He will do the rest."

Now I want to conclude by returning to the Master's threefold question to Peter, "Simon, do you love me?" "Lord, you know all things!

You know that I love you."

All the jubilee events, all our resolutions, all our Masses, all our holy hours, are useless if they don't deepen our love of God and one another.

Earlier I spoke of Archbishop Nguyen Van Thuan. He tells us that, after the Eucharist, what kept him going in jail was Christ's command of love. He set his goal to love his guards, who were forbidden even to speak with him. When he finally enticed his guards into conversation, he began to evangelize them. The one thing they couldn't understand was love. "There is no goodness here, nor love," one said. "There is only survival." But he was wrong. Slowly, the transparent goodness and love that animated Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan began to break through the barriers of hatred. He taught the guards foreign languages. He began to catechize them.

He made converts: converts to humanity, and converts to Christianity. That love flowed from the Eucharist.

Dorothy Day, the great Christian activist - who, by the way, rarely missed daily Mass and who reported Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament as her favorite devotion wrote: "As the early disciples did, we know and recognize Him in the breaking of bread. We also know and recognize each other in the breaking of the bread. For, in the breaking of bread, we celebrate with others His presence in our lives, in each other. The kingdom of heaven is said to be a banquet. That banquet can begin now, even with only a crust, wherever people yearn to love and know God, and each other."

Photo: The Papal Altar and Confessio in the Basilica of St. Peter's I always enjoy the reflections of Father Richard Antal, a priest of the diocese of Cleveland, now in service in El Salvador. He describes how he was once going to anoint a sick woman a couple of miles outside the village, and a local street urchin, a young boy about fifteen whom he knew was a bit of a troublemaker, asked to ride along in the jeep. The boy told the priest how he had been licked out of his home by abusive parents, left to survive on the streets by himself. The priest's subtle invitations to get him closer to the faith did not seem to be working; when they returned to the Church, Father Antal even invited him in for the holy hour which was beginning, but the young fellow chuckled and went away. Then, as Father Antal was kneeling in front of the Eucharist leading his people in prayer, he could see the reflection of the front of the Church, the town square, in the glass of the monstrance.

He could see in the glass containing the sacred host the reflection of the young woman paralyzed from the waist down trying to negotiate her crutches and useless legs up the mud steps to her little house. And who comes along to help her up, but the troubled boy who had just kept him company on the sick call. "I'll be," concluded the priest, "he changed his mind. He is making a holy hour. He is worshipping the broken body of Christ."

Sia lodato GesË™ Cristo . . .

Sempre sia lodato . . .

Photo: J.P. Morgan prepares the monstrance for the daily Holy Hour at the North American College.

A "Fine Initiative" By : Archbisop Edwin O'Brien, Archdiocese of the Military Services The week of January 16 found fourteen recently (four years or less) ordained American bishops responding to the North American College's invitation to participate in a "New Bishops Seminar" which took place on the Gianicolo. While this was the first seminar of this sort to be held at the College, Msgr. Kevin McCoy (Sioux City '82) provided an excellent, balanced program, Msgr. Dolan and his student body supplied an almost tangible welcoming atmosphere from start to finish, and Msgr. Roger Roensch of the Visitors Office at the Casa Santa Maria was readily available for guidance and counsel. Where does one begin to describe such a blessed week?

Surprisingly, though the schedule was full, the week was spent in a relaxed pace. We had sufficient opportunities to visit a favorite restaurant or two, though our eating out did not reflect on the meals at the College. These were exemplified by an exquisite pranzo hosted honor of the seminar participants by Msgr. Dolan and attended by Francis Cardinal Stafford, Archbishop Agostino Cacciavillan, and Archbishop John Foley. We also had the opportunity for a private tour of the Sistine Chapel given by Msgr. William Millea (Bridgeport '80) of the Secretariat of State, an extraordinarily knowledgeable tour guide.

The College's "New Bishops Seminar," of course, included an academic component, that consisted of well?chosen and relevant presentations by a variety of people. These presentations included, among others, Fr. Gerald O'Collins, SJ, on preaching, Fr. Jared Wicks, SJ, on Ecumenism in today's world, and Msgr. Daniel Thomas, on the role of the bishops conference according to Apostolos Suos. We also had the opportunity for a warm visit with Jan Cardinal Schotte, General Secretary of the Synod of Bishops, which included a review of the various synods that have proved so critical to the pastoral and theological life of the Church since the Second Vatican Council.

Vatican Council.

In the spirit of the Great Jubilee Year, pilgrimages to each of the four Major Basilicas were arranged. We were blessed to have our pilgrimage to St. Paul Outside the Walls coincide with the Ecumenical Prayer Service, during which the Holy Father opened the Holy Door. We joined representatives of some two dozen Christian churches at the Prayer Service in listening to the Holy Father's pleas for Christian unity, summed up by the moving concluding words of his homily: "Unity, Unity! That cry which I heard in Bucharest during my visit, comer back strong to me now like an echo - Unity, Unity! - in the cries of the people gathered for the ceremony: Catholics, Orthodox, Protestants, Evangelists, all together crying, Unity!"

The Holy Father's cry resounded throughout the seminar and took especially concrete forms in a privileged opportunity to greet the Holy Father individually at the usual Wednesday Audience and to concelebrate Mass at the Tomb of St. Peter.

However, our seminar at the North American College would not have been complete without a visit to the Casa Santa Maria - the original location for the College and the former home of many past bishops from the United States. Msgr. Steven Raica, the Superior at the Casa invited us to concelebrate a community Mass and celebrate with a full house of students priests over a grand pranzone. The welcoming spirit so clearly noticeable on the Gianicolo clearly manifested itself at the other "campus" of the North American College as well!

Not all of us who participated in this first "New Bishops Seminar" can claim the North American College as our Alma Mater.

However, because of these five very pleasant days and the many opportunities to mix and trade experiences with other young shepherds, all of us were left with a very favorable, lasting impression of the North American College. Because of this fine initiative and the warmth of our reception, I think that all of us who attended the seminar can refer to the extraordinary Home on the Hill (and on the Via dell'Umilta) as "Our College." I hope that future groups of bishops will have the opportunity to say the same.

Below: Most Rev. Msgr. George Lucas, the new Bishop of the Diocese of Springfield, IL, meets with Pope John Paul II.

It is not uncommon these days to hear seminarians admit that they are looking for guarantees concerning the future. With an

appreciation of the gravity and permanence of the decision to be ordained, they wonder if there are any guarantees for a faithful and life-long commitment to the priesthood.

Some priests and seminarians tell us that the commitment to the priesthood must be renewed on a daily basis, and beyond that, there is nothing we can do to ensure fidelity to the ordination promises. Others offer the advice of a regular and disciplined commitment to daily Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, frequent confession and Marian devotion, as offering the best hopes for a faithful priesthood.

Yet, there is growing agreement among seminarians here at the North American College that, in addition to all the other essential components of a priest's spiritual life, the closest we can get to a guarantee for the future is a well-developed habit of spending time each day in silent conversation with Our Lord, present in the Blessed Sacrament. Perhaps this is why the Rector's announcement that we would begin a daily holy hour of Eucharistic adoration here at the College was met with a spontaneous burst of applause from the seminarians. In his December 1999 Rector's Conference, Msgr. Dolan explained that the decision to initiate a daily holy hour was made in response to Pope John Paul II's call for the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000 to be "intensely Eucharistic." Msgr. Dolan continued to explain that, in light of the current rediscovered devotion to Our Lord in the Eucharist and the growing practice of exposition and adoration throughout the Church, "it would be calloused not to see the working of the Holy Spirit in this quiet, grassroots revolution leading the church to a deeper appreciation of Our Lord's sacramental presence."

Rather than competing with the centrality of the Holy Mass, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament serves to increase our love and appreciation for both the Holy Mass and the sacred priesthood without either of which we would not have the Eucharist. Each day, we have the opportunity to gather as a community to adore on the altar the same Lamb Who was sacrificed earlier in the day when we gathered for the Holy Mass. And just as one's love of fine cuisine increases one's respect for the chef, so does a love of the Eucharist increase one's love of the priesthood.

There have been many other blessings for the College community since the beginning of the daily holy hour. For many of us, spending time before the Eucharist is the way in which we refuel for our work, whether at the university or in an apostolate. In this way, adoration of the Eucharist has served to strengthen our awareness of the link between private prayer and active ministry. Adoration has also helped us to come to know Christ more intimately and has given us the opportunity to grow in our personal relationship with Him. Just as anyone treasures intimate time spent with his beloved, so to does the seminarian or priest long for the time to tell Christ how much he loves Him. One also notes that the daily holy hour has deepened a sense of unity among the seminarians, who see ever more clearly that each other's vocation and identity are ultimately rooted in Christ. It is often a source of much needed encouragement and inspiration to join fellow seminarians, in collective yet personal, silent prayer in the Real Presence of God. For Michael DeAscanis, a new man at the College, it is a blessing to be part of a community of seminarians who gather around the Master to listen to Him, as the Apostles once did. Third-year man Adam Hertzfeld observes that, "...as each man deepens his personal relationship with Christ through private prayer before the Eucharist in the chapel, there is inevitably an improvement of relationships between one another outside of the chapel."

As we celebrate the momentous occasion of the Great Jubilee of the Year 2000, there are many events that we in Rome are privileged to attend. But outside of the Mass, the greatest event which will change and form us to be holy priests, will be the quiet, private time we spend in prayer with Our Lord, present in the Blessed Sacrament.

By Dave Pignato Diocese of Fall River Class of 2001

Vocation Story

Called By Name By: Joseph Lopez Diocese of Corpus Christi, Class of 2002 "Priests are to make it their most cherished object to make clear to people the excellence and necessity of the priesthood... Then they must spare no trouble or inconvenience in helping both youths and older men whom they prudently consider suitable for so great a mystery to prepare themselves properly so that they can be called at sometime by the bishops" Prebyterum Ordinis, 11.

I can remember as if were yesterday: The day that the curate at my home parish asked if I ever thought about being a priest. Being a freshman in high school, standing among my friends, and trying to be cool, I laughed and asked him if he was crazy. However, in my mind I didn't laugh, but was somewhat frightened. I believe that it was the question, "Have you ever thought about being a priest?" that sparked the fire in my heart to submit myself to Our Lord.

In the summer of 1990 my Corpus Christi parish began to offer perpetual adoration.

Being 15 years old and stubborn, I had no interest in spending time with Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. However, after suppressing the idea of being a priest a number of times I began to feel myself pulled into the chapel. I was being torn between my attraction to a possible vocation, and my high school world of girls, parties, and sports. I finally spoke to my parish priest, and was surprised when he said that he did not know what to tell me. He recommended that I should ask Our Lord and His Blessed Mother, trusting that they would tell me what to do. I knew

what he was trying to do. He was trying to help me to develop a relationship with Our Lord in the Eucharist. It worked.

Because it was the summer, I had nothing much to do, but everything to think about. After many days of procrastination, I eventually found my way to the Blessed Sacrament Chapel of my parish. To my amazement I was overwhelmed by the sense of peace I felt as I walked in and saw My Lord waiting for me. Never in my life had I wanted an answer so badly. Without my friends and family knowing, I visited Jesus quite often that summer, secretly prayed the Rosary and attending daily Mass. 1 guess one could say that I had a summer love, which still remains.

As the summer was coining to a close, I needed an answer to my questions. When my mother asked me if I had registered for school yet, I almost gave her a heart attack when I told her that I was thinking about joining the high school seminary. Soon thereafter, I did.

Over the years of my seminary formation, I have often thanked Father for asking me his question and directing me to the most important people in my life: Our Lord and Our Lady. I never thought words could be so powerful.

Pope John Paul II's 80th Birthday By: Raymond de Souza Diocese of Kingston, Class of 2002 Living in the shadow of St. Peter's means seeing the Pope frequently. But from time to time - it happens to every seminarian at least once - a certain papal encounter breaks through whatever routine tray have set in, and the experience both a man's faith and his love for the Church. The Jubilee Year has already provided several such moments for the world at large; the Holy Father kneeling on the threshold of the Holy Door in St. Peter's for example, or his visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem.

In honor of Pope John Paul II's 80th birthday this May 18th, I offer in gratitude one such moment from my own experience. On rare occasions, a simple action becomes a perfect symbol, capturing the essence of a man or a moment. Good Friday 1999 in St. Peter's Basilica was one such occasion.

During the Liturgy of the Lord's Passion, a large wooden crucifix was placed before the papal altar of St. Peter's for veneration. After intoning three times the Ecce lignum Crucis, (Behold, the wood of the Cross) , behind the crucifix, Pope John Paul 11 slowly made his way around to the front of the crucifix, to lead the faithful in veneration. And then. . . he genuflected.

Growing frailty has made genuflecting very difficult for the Holy Father. Usually it is only required at the altar, e.g., after the consecration , and he is able to hold on to the altar for support. But to genuflect without any support is an altogether different thing.

After raising his stooped head to gaze on the crucified Christ, he began to go down on one knee, ever so slowly. Carefully keeping his balance, he lowered himself closer to the ground, until unable to support himself any longer, he dropped down on one knee.

Photo: Carol Wojtyla, the future Pope John Paul II, born 18th of May, 1920, is pictured here with his mother.

After pausing a moment in veneration, the Holy Father attempted to raise himself. In need of support, he reached out to the only thing within his grasp: the Cross. Clasping the vertical beam of the Cross, first with one hand, and then the other, he pulled himself back up. It was tremendously moving; the Vicar of Christ grasping the wood of the Cross for help. The lesson that John Paul II is teaching with his frailty was never more clear.

When the Holy Father broke his hip six years ago, he said simply, "The Pope must suffer." In a world terribly afraid of suffering and the frailty of a beckoning mortality, the Holy Father's suffering and physical decline arc a powerful witness. It is not possible for the world's most photographed man to hide his weakness without hiding himself altogether. He does not do that,

for he is not too proud to show himself as he is, for he trusts in God's will. Five years ago, on his seventy-fifth birthday, he recommitted himself to his Petrine ministry; and said that he would leave it to the Lord to determine the ,timing and circumstances of how he would complete that ministry.

Weakness manifests virtues that can be hidden - by strength. The Holy Father's veneration of the Cross illustrated his piety, courage and humility in a way that was not possible when he could lift the cross aloft as a standard, rather than lean upon it for support.

John Paul II is in the evening of his life. After over twenty-one years of unprecedented activity, no one would judge him harshly if he retreated to the papal residence to conserve his energy. To the contrary, he has undertaken a punishing schedule of events for the jubilee of the Year 2000. Daily he empties himself in making himself available to his flock. Many seminarians and their families have been touched by his practice of allowing people to attend Mass in his private chapel. After two decades of having to greet a few dozen people each day before breakfast, this gesture must surely be the first cross of his day. He continues his audiences, both on Wednesdays for the thousands who come each week, and daily for various groups.

When Karol Wojtyla was a young seminarian, he thought about joining the Carmelites. He writes of that decision in Gift and Mystery: "My uncertainties were resolved by the Archbishop, Cardinal Sapieha, who in his typical manner said tersely: `First you have to finish what you have begun.' And that is what happened."

Karol Wojtyla could not have known that finishing what he had begun would take him to the Cross in St. Peter's Basilica all these years later. But that is what happened It happened because he obedient all those years ago to his archbishop, and now, out of continuing obedience to the mission that Christ gave to St. Peter first, and subsequently to him on October 16, 1978.

What Karol Wojtyla knew then, but certainly knows better now, is that perseverance in the Christian life must embrace the Cross, even as he did so graphically that Good Friday.

"To accept the Gospel's demands means to affirm all of our humanity, to see in it the beauty desired by God, while at the same time recognizing, in the light of the power of God Himself, our weaknesses," he wrote in Crossing the Threshold of Hope. "It is very important to cross the threshold of hope, not to stop before it, but to let oneself he led. I believe that the great Polish poet Cyprian Norwid had this in mind when he expressed the ultimate meaning of the Christian life in these words: `Not with the Cross of the Savior behind you, but with your own cross behind the Savior."'

And when that personal cross becomes too heavy, then it is time to reach out to the Cross of Christ ahead of you, to grasp it, and to hoist yourself up. That was the lesson the Holy Father taught - a priest in adoration of the sacrifice of the one High Priest - on Good Friday at St. Peter's.

Photo: The Holy Father kneels before an image of the Madonna and Child in the Paul VI Audience Hall.

Studying Out Loud By:

Michael Tyne Diocese of Maine, Class of 2003 Conversation is good. Rome thrives on it. Like food, conversation is so vital to the Romans that they have turned it into an art form.

While walking from the Gregorian University to the North American College with one of our professors, a group of us New Men learned first-hand that some Italians must stop walling in order to talk - though the hands never cease moving. If you're going to talk, the choreography suggests, you should do it with gusto.

I suppose the art of conversation is important for a future priest to learn. If so, then this is a good place to learn it. Appropriately enough, our first semester in the Eternal City - a semester of listening to professors from around the world - could not come to an end until each student had been given the opportunity to talk back in our oral exams. For many of us Americans, so accustomed to the editable privacy of a blue book and pen, the oral exam was the source of some anxiety.

This anxiety was as often heightened as it was assuaged by the well-intentioned advice of the Old Men. At times it sounded to us as if actual studying mattered less than such variables as the personality of the examiner, the time of the exam, even the quality of breakfast or sleep the examiner had just enjoyed. At one pranzo, a seasoned second-year student eloquently spoke to me of exam strategies, approaches, distraction techniques, and conversation skills. When he finished, a peer suggested, "Or, you could just learn the material and answer the questions."

Photo: First year students learning the ways of Roman Universities: (left to right) Adam Iadipaolo, Michael Tyne, Qui Thac Nguyen and Philip Kaim.

This is what the majority of us set out to do, while trying to imagine ourselves sitting face-to-face for ten minutes with a bored, attentive, hostile, or sympathetic examiner. Our hallways were often eerily quiet during this stretch, but behind many doors one could faintly hear the muttering of seminarians as they translated information into conversation. Studying out loud, we were told, is the best way to prepare for oral exams. We were also particularly attentive not only to ourselves as we studied but also to classmates who had just finished an exam that we were about to take.

Through it all, one spiritual director was calming anxiety with the time-proven advice, "This, too, shall pass. And so will you." It seems he was right. As far as I know, actual exam experiences failed to live up the many horrors for which our imaginations had prepared us. It was remarkable, though, that the three-week exam period could seem so inordinately long while each ten-minute "conversation" flashed by in a few intense moments. Constant conversation can take its toll, even on seasoned veterans. As I began answering the last question of my last exam, the priest unabashedly broke into a huge yawn and let his eyelids droop. I interpreted this as body language for, "Time's up." He apparently could tell that my oratory skills need some work and that I'm just a beginning student of this intricate Roman art.

Thank you for serving our community

Clockwise from lower left: Umberto, Fernando, Oneilia, Piero and Stefano.

On behalf of the North American College, I would like to extend to the refectory employees a most gracious thank you. We,

here at the College, are very appreciative of your generosity and dedication. Thank you and may God Bless you all!

Rodney Thibault, Class of 2001 Refectory Prefect

Grazie Grazie per essere al servizio della nostra comunitĂ ICTE: Meeting Old Friends in the Eternal City In 1982 I left the North American College after 5 years of seminary study to begin ministry in the Diocese of Cleveland. Now 18 years later, I returned to NAC as part of the Institute for Continuing Theological Education for a three month sabbatical. The Institute offers a unique opportunity to live in Rome again, to study as a priest in the shadow of St. Peter's and to renew my spirituality as a diocesan priest.

Photo: Institute priest, Rev. R. Stephen Vellenga '81, ICTE '00 Rome has outdone itself this Jubilee Year. The city has never been more beautiful. Buildings that have been under scaffolding or hidden by dirt and grime are renewed and seem like new. St. Peter's Basilica is spectacular with its brilliant white and beige facade and colonnade. At night, it is illuminated with a new dignity that did not seem possible.

The sabbatical classes have a special significance after years of ministry.

They are geared for a pastor who seeks to feed himself intellectually in order to feed his flock. These studies have made me appreciate my seminary studies and brought new insight to my ministry as a pastor. One is never too old to study theology (especially when there are no papers or exams).

A spirit of priestly fraternity develops among the priests who live together for these three months. Sharing the experiences of the years of priesthood, praying the liturgy, living in Rome and traveling together all are part of the experience that happens so spontaneously for the priests of the Institute.For me, personally, it has been an opportunity to spend time with classmates who now live and work in Rome. These bonds of friendship from our days as seminary students have been renewed in a unique way by my time on the Institute.

Finally, the spiritual renewal of myself as a priest of Jesus Christ, the Roman Catholic Church and of the Diocese of Cleveland has been the greatest benefit from the Institute. This time of sabbatical which has been given to me has truly been a gift. Other priests from my diocese have told me that the Institute was the most important thing that they had done for themselves as a priest. I am in agreement and I truly appreciate the gift of this time in Rome.

Personal Reflections on the Priest as Victim By: Fr. Stephen Hamilton, Diocese of Oklahoma City Class of 1999 In the homily of the Rite of Ordination of a Priest, the bishop speaks the following words to the ordinand: "Your ministry will perfect the spiritual sacrifice of the faithful by uniting it to Christ's sacrifice, the sacrifice which is offered sacramentally through your hands." For eight months now, I have had the privilege of daily holding the Sacred Host in my hands. So great a mystery brings forth rather humble reflections about the priestly life and its intimate connection with the Eucharist.

The Second Vatican Council stated that the Sacred Liturgy is an exercise of the priestly office of Jesus Christ (SC 7), a priestly office exemplified by His suffering on the Cross. For me, the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is the moment of each day when I feel most united to Christ the High Priest, who is the model of my priestly life. At Mass I try to be conscious of the sacrificial nature of the Eucharist and the implications of such a sacrifice for the priestly life. If I am to truly follow Christ as a priest, my life, too, must mirror that supreme exercise of his priesthood on the Cross, where he is both Priest and Victim.

I see in the Sacred Host my Lord and my God and the focal point of my vocation. It is, perhaps, rather difficult to explain what has changed in me since priestly ordination. Certainly, my belief about the Eucharist has not changed, but somehow my relationship to it has. Whereas I remain, as before, one who adores the Eucharist, I now even more need to see myself in it. One experience in particular reminded me of my need for unity with the Holy Eucharist. At Mass one day, the Sacred Host, which I had consecrated, bore the image of our crucified Lord. At the fraction rite (when the Host is broken, prior to Holy Communion) I was very moved to see that the image of Our Lord broke directly down the middle. At that moment I could only wonder whether I, like Christ who is Priest and Victim, could also be the victim. Could I be like God's Lamb who is raised up in the Eucharist? That question, I realized, faces both myself and every priest.

As I grow in my understanding of my gift of priesthood, I remain in awe before the gift of the Eucharist in which I see what I am called to be - a man whose pastoral charity drives him to be both priest and victim. Worshipping the Holy Eucharist at Mass and outside of Mass and receiving the Precious Body and Blood of the Lord each day is truly food for the journey - the journey of holiness begun at Baptism, and renewed only recently as a priest.

We have been Blessed By: Edward Horkan Diocese of Arlington, Class of 2002 THE STATE OF COLLEGE FINANCES. The following is an interview with Monsignor Bernard Yarrish, who has been the Vice Rector of .Administration, or the Uconomo, of the North American College for eight years. Msgr. Yarrish is a 째priest of the Diocese of Scranton, Pennsylvania and an alumnus of the North American College. He was ordained a priest on June 6, 1 976 and received a Licentiate in Biblical Studies in. 1977. Msgr. Yarrish. joined the staff of the North American College as Dean of Admissions in the fall of 1991 after serving as the Secretary t, the Apostolic Nunciture for seven and a half years. He will be returning to the Diocese of Scranton this year after a very successful tenure at the College. In the following interview, Msgr.Yarrish describes the generally good financial and administrative position of the North American College and the challenges that lie ahead.

Photo: Msgr. Bernard E. Yarrish has served the North American College for nine years.

Q: How ould you describe the overall financial condition of the College?

Msgr. Yarrish: We can see by reason of the audit: report that there is a gradual growth in the assets and overall worth of the College, meaning that its value is greater now than it has been in the past, signaling growth in this particular college, which is always good..

Also, there was a growth in tile revenue attributed to the Director of Development. But also we maintained some of the expenses of this operation, which again would give the bottom line a better picture.

Q: Revenues have increased by about 90 percent over the last five years. What accounts mostly for this increase?

Msgr. Yarrish: One definite point would be the increase in enrollment because that means higher tuition revenue, which isalways an important thing for any institution, and for this one in particular, given its place miles away from the United States. Our revenues increased steadily because enrollment has grown steadily. That would be one of the elements. The second element, as I mentioned earlier, would be the success of the Development Office. Deacon Patrick Kennedy has had a number of mass mailings, not specifically for a project because we have had a number of projects, like the Lumpy Bed project and the Casa Santa Maria refectory, which for the moment has been very, very successful. We collected money for the auditorium and, as you know, that was extremely successful. Now we have a wonderful auditorium to use and its due to the donations of many people who supported that particular program.

Photo: Gaetano Callonno is the comptroller for the College.

Q: On another front, the College has begun investing a much ,.greater portion of its endowment in equities, us opposed to fixed income investments. Does this change reflect an increased confidence in the stock market or an increased confidence in the College's willingness to take risks?

Msgr. Yarrish: As I have been doing this work for 9 years, in my second or third year, the bishops had voted on creating a split in the investments of the College, meaning; they wanted 40 percent invested in equities and 60 percent in fixed income. I made a tour of a number of institutions that might be open to investing our patrimony in a way that we would get that break as well as get enough money to maintain ourselves in our operation needs. The bishops voted on maintaining, our investments with the Archdiocese of New York. We took concrete action about two and a half year ago in making that split.

We initially invested 40 percent in equities, which would be stocks, and maintained 60 percent in fixed income for our operation needs. We have been blessed though. We would normally try to generate $400,000 to $500,000 for our open operations. given the increased revenue to the College, we have no need to use that money for operation needs. So, as a result, the bishops asked me to reinvest this income that we have generated every year back into equities.

And so we have done exactly that. I also asked them, once in a while, for $200,000 to complete some extraordinary projects such as the work on the roof of the College and just recently asked for $200,000 to complete the project at the Casa Santa Maria in transferring the library to the old study hall. The Bishops have agreed.

Photo: Laura Torrisi works for the Economo's office as the secretary to Msgr. Yarrish.

At the moment we have over $6,000,000 in the equity fund. We started when we first went into the split between 60 and 40, with. exactly $5 million. And so in the meantime, we have generated another $1 million for those investments and hopefully we can maintain that level.

Q: How does this College's endowment compare to that of other United States seminaries?

Msgr. Yarrish: In terms of seminaries and colleges, I would say that it is small, very small. We have not placed that much emphasis on capital campaigns in order to raise patrimony income. This College did it once and it was under Msgr. Purcell [the Rector from 1984 to 1990] and Mr. Russell Kendell. These were the two individuals that sponsored that capital campaign. It was made with the bishops and with thousands of alumni. And that netted close to $11,000,000.

And it has worked its way up to about $14,000,000. So we're not doing too badly.

Photo: Roberto Corsetti is the Director of Personell for the College.

Q: What does a larger endowment allow a seminary to do?

Msgr. Yarrish: Most often it would allow one to subsidize the operations of that particular institution, the normal everyday expenses incurred in running a seminary, in running an educational institution. There is no place that runs entirely on its own income. And if one would look at any college or any other educational institution, they have a great number of scholarships; and those scholarships are paid by income from that patrimony. So we have the same. Our burses would be income generated by the monies that the bishops entrusted to us in order to provide funds for their student enrollment here at the College. 'We use some of the funds not only from that particular fund, but also from other funds that the College has in its patrimony; to offer scholarships to students.

Q: What major projects does the College have planned for the near future?

Msgr. Yarrish: We are thinking about a major project of redoing the artwork in the Casa Santa Maria, restoring the art that is in the refectory, the dining room. Another part of the dining room project would be the air conditioning, producing a new floor, and some more comfortable dining space. That's at the Casa. Here at the Hill, we are certainly going to redo the chapel. This project is already worked out. Hopefully we will succeed in initiating that project, probably during the summer of this year.

Photo: Robert Baldwin is the assistant to the Vice Rector.

And, beyond that, we have to redo the hydraulic system. Now that the electrical system has been done, they have to redo the whole hydraulic system, which is a massive project. However, that has to be confronted sometime because this building was constructed in 1950 with a hydraulic system that dates back to that era. It is not sufficient to deal with the needs that we have in this era. And I think we are confronting also the need to install new lighting outside. Now the lighting on the inside is ifne. But its like walking through a tunnel when you go outside of here after dusk. And so there's got to be some artistic yet ample lighting of the grounds. That also will be addressed in the not too distant future.

Photo: Claudio Sperduti oversees deliveries to the College.

Without Donorimposed Restrictions

Temporarily restricted by donors

Permanently restricted by donors

Total

Revenues and gains: Tuition, fees, room and board Contributions Interest and dividends

$

3,308,167

-

-

3,308,167

2,393,349

242,191

233,371

2,868,911

561,269

196,114

-

757,383

Unrealized gains on investments Realized gains on investments Rental income Special events, net Miscellaneous revenue Total revenues and gains

$

1,067,410

(80,266)

-

987,144

343,872

12,835

-

356,707

29,452

-

-

29,452

187,502

-

-

187,502

49,160

809

-

49,969

7,940,181

371,683

233,371

8,545,235

Q: What are your major duties and responsiblities as the Vice Rector of Administration?

Msgr. Yarrish: There are three major challenges that one confronts. One is daily operations which means ensuring that the house operates with no difficulties. The second would be overseeing personnel, which is a problem that no one really invites but by necessity has to do.

But now also, as designed by the College's board, the Economo would also take care of consolidating all the three operations of the North American College with reference to the .finances. The first one is this operation in Rome, mostly its expenses, not so much in the revenues. The second operation is the development office in New Jersey, which principally would be a revenue generating operation. And the third operation is in New York where our investments are maintained. So what you have to do is coordinate these three and each of them contribute to a fourth office of accounting which is located now in Philadelphia, J.R. Roskos & Co., making sure that they get all the information in a timely fashion so that they can generate reports.

Photo: Msgr. Yarrish with the Las Hermanas Josefinas.

Photo: Edward Horkan, Esquire, of the Diocese of Arlington, interviews Msgr. Yarrish.

Photo: Religious Sisters (really angels) of Mercy, Elizabeth Mary Przedwojeska, left, and Mother Anne Mary McLaughlin are among those who brighten the day with their smiles and their caring ministry in the Infirmary.

By: Sr. Mary Raphael R.S.M. Our Lady of Lourdes Infirmary has been formally in operations since February 1997. But not many students at the North American College know the history of how the present Infirmary came to be!

In December 1996, shortly after Christmas, Cardinal Hickey, while on a visit to his family in Saginaw, Michigan, stopped in Alma, Michigan, to visit the Motherhouse of the Religious Sisters of Mercy. In a conversation with Mother Mary Quentin Sheridan, R.S.M, Superior General of the Religious Sisters of Mercy, the Cardinal spoke eloquently of the need for health care at the North American College. He gently invited the Sisters of Mercy to reopen the NAC Infirmary for "just a few hours a week", and Mother promised she would take this request into consideration.

Just weeks later, shortly after the New Year of 1997, Mother Mary Quentin was in Rome - and so, providentially; was Cardinal Hickey! His Eminence did not hesitate to remind Mother of their conversation, His Eminence suggested that Monsignor Dolan take them on a tour of the Infirmary. The plot thickened as the Sisters saw the abandoned Infirmary, formerly staffed by religious Sisters twentyfour hours a day - and all present were awakened to the potential for a new Infirmary, as well as the opportunity to render a service to the North American College.

Within two weeks (record time in Rome for any building project!) the Infirmary was totally remodeled! By February 17th, the Infirmary, under the special patronage of Our Lade of Lourdes, was in operation!

We as Religious Sisters of Mercy, view the Infirmary as an extension of our charism, to manifest the mercy of the Father among His children. Our health care apostolate is also a practical application of our fourth vow of service, a vow that originated with Venerable Mother Catherine McAuley, who founded the Sisters of Mercy in Dublin, Ireland, in 1831. The Religious Sisters of Mercy of Alma have health care practices (Sacred Heart Mercy Care Clinics) in Alma, Michigan; in Jackson, Minnesota; and in Mainz, Germany.

Photo: Sister Mary Lucy, R.S.M., at work in the infirmary.

Our services to the priests, seminarians, and. staff of the North American College have evolved over the past three years.

Perhaps most familiar is direct triage assessment, and treatment of illnesses, provided by the Sisters who are registered nurses. The Sisters also 'assist anyone Who desires it, In individual health maintenance, depending on that person's needs. Health education (individually and in the form of classes) is also part: of our service. Lastly, medical referrals are done as needed.

Sister Elizabeth Mary Przedwojeska, R.S.M., is capo of the Sister Infirmarians.

Mother Anne Mary McLaughlin, R.S.M., is Superior of the local Rome community as well as a nurse at: the Infirmary. Sister Mary Lucy Cyr, R.S.M., has a special interest in health education and maintenance, as participants in the "Weight Loss Program" will testify. Sister Mary Raphael Paradis, R.S.M., is the newest member of the Infirmary team, having arrived in December 1999, after completing her Master's degree in nursing at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland, Oregon. Sister is awaiting certification as a nurse practitioner.

Photo: Rev. Mr. Luke Ballman is receiving medical attention from Sister Mary Lucy Cyr, R.S.M. We are privileged, as religious women and nurses, to be able to serve the Church in the persons of the priests, future priests, and staff of the North American College and Casa Santa Maria, and look forward to our continuing service at Our Lady of Lourdes Infirmary.

The managing of the North American College Infirmary has been and will continue to be a practical application of extending both the spiritual and corporal works of Mercy, so much cherished by Venerable Mother Catherine McAuley. We extend our gratitude and appreciation to Monsignor Dolan. Monsignor Yarrish, Monsignor McCoy, Father Smith and Father Waltersheid, and to all the priests, staff and seminarians who have shown us much kindness and generosity.

Photos: (left) Shane Baxter is working out as part of a health care program established by Sister Mary Lucy Cyr, R.S.M.(below) Corey Belden is awaiting his appointment with the Sisters of Mercy.

Miracle on the Janiculum By: Joseph Pawlanta Diocese of Kalamazoo, Class of 2003 Photo: Quarterback, Dan Walz, leads the New Men to a stunning 27-25 victory.

Lightning split the sky, thunder shook the wasted field, and battle cries echoed throughout the land. A valiant band of weary and outnumbered New Men prepared to clash with the ominous hordes of darkly clad Old Men in a gruesome territorial battle, the likes of which have not been seen for years. In keeping with longstanding tradition, the opposing forces engaged in battle on the weathered gridiron located on the notorious Campo Sportivo. Each camp invoked the Lord of Hosts for a victorious campaign and, then, deployed their men to battle.

While a bit dramatic, this introduction captures the seriousness with which Spaghetti Bowl 1999 was taken. Each team labored long and hard on the practice field in anticipation of the November 21st event. The New Men, lead by quarterback Dan Walz, began preparations for the one game season in late September. Plays were crafted, scrimmages were run, and performance evaluations were made.

Reconnaissance was even obtained and seriously analyzed. During the week previous to the game, the intensity grew as night practices were held on the outdoor tennis courts.

The more confident Old Men, led by Coach Derrick Lappe, began similar preparations.

Their talent was obvious to all who observed their practices. They were strong, fast, and fierce. No holds were barred from their strategy, which even incorporated the psychological warfare of their practice?ending chant, "New Men, New Men, New Men!!!"

Game-day, which always seemed to belong to the distant future, descended upon the College rapidly. Of course, the hilarious pre-game show and the traditional visit by the "Holy Father" delighted the crowds before kickoff.

However, once the teams took the field the atmosphere quickly shifted from light-hearted humor to one of serious competition. While Christian brotherhood among all the players was a given, the lines between New and Old were definitely drawn.

Photo: Tich Toohey hauls in a touchdown pass for the Old Men. The first score and, for the most part, the first half of the game belonged to the New Men. The charmed passing combination of Dan Walz to Michael DeAscanis yielded three New Men touchdowns prior to half time. The Old Men, having considerably more offensive difficulty, only managed to penetrate the endzone once, on a rushing play by Bill Hambleton. The score at half was 20 to 7.

The dominance the New Men had enjoyed during the first half did not follow them into the second. The Old Men gained significant momentum as Rich Toohey scrambled for two unanswered third quarter touchdowns. The New Men, however, were able to thwart both extra point attempts. The New Men's once comfortable 13-point lead was quickly shaved down to a single point as the fourth quarter began.

Midway through the fourth quarter, the New Men's scoring dry-spell finally came to an end. Adam Iadipaolo made a 25 yard reception good for six and, on the following play, rushed for the extra point. The New Men now led by eight.

The Old Men immediately responded with a six play series, which ended with Bill Hambleton's incursion into the New Men's endzone. Once again, the Old Men were unable to make their extra point conversion. This touchdown would ultimately be the last of the game.

Photo: War in the trenches: the new men line buys time for quarterback, Dan Walz.

Following a fruitless series by the New Men, the Old Men returned a punt deep into New Men territory. This would be the Old Men's final opportunity to gain the victory. The New Men defense, however, rose to the challenge and stopped the Old Men cold. The final score was New Men 27, Old Men 25.

While securing a Spaghetti Bowl Championship is exciting for the New Men, the true victory was already won before they ever took the field. The whole point of the game is to foster a sense of unity and friendship among the New Men class. Whenever men must pool their strength for noble purposes, great things are certain to come about win, lose, or draw. Of course, it is always that much sweeter to win.

Photo: Adam Iadipaolo dodges would be tacklers in Spaghetti Bowl 1999.

L'Osservatore Romano By: Msgr. Robert Dempsey Archdiocese of Chicago, Class of 1980

Photo: The proof-reading staff from Msgr. Dempsey's office from left to right: Stefania Brandt, Msgr. Dempsey, Anna Morghen De Santis, Philippa Wooldridge and Kate Macelin-Rice.

The Holy Father's English Newspaper Editor When the young NAC deacon stood before Pope John Paul II on Sunday morning, 15 June 1980, and was asked: "Do you promise me and your Ordinary obedience and respect?", little did he realize all the ramifications of his answer: "I do," as he prepared to kneel over the tomb of St. Peter and receive priestly ordination from the Apostle's Successor. Yet scarcely 11 years later he would be called back to Rome to edit the weekly English edition of the Holy Father's newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.

Although it was the first time a NAC alumnus was chosen to edit the Vatican's only English-language weekly, it is not too hard to discern why, after the untimely death of Msgr. John Muthig in January 1991, the Secretariat of State turned to a priest who had spent the last four critical years of his formation at the College, if we consider the nature of L'Osservatore Romano and the kind of priestly training NAC has always provided for its seminarians.

The original idea for weekly editions of L'Osservatore Romano in languages other than Italian goes back to Pope Pius X11, who reasoned that, if the Successor of Peter was going; to have a newspaper to publicize his teaching, it should reach as many people as possible. So in 1947 he directed Msgr. Montini (later Pope Paul VI) to make the necessary arrangements for a weekly edition in French.

Debuting in December 1949, the French and Belgian colonies, particularly in Africa.

Photo: Msgr. Dempsey working at the computer with layout designer Simone Fabbi.

The real internationalization of the paper, however, began after the close of the Second Vatican Council. During the Council many Bishops expressed the desire to have the Pope's addresses in their own languages, along with the various statements and documents that were being issued by the Roman Curia, particularly those concerned with the implementation of the Council's decrees. Pope Paul VI agreed and entrusted then-Archbishop Giovanni Benelli, Sostituto of the Secretariat of State, with the task of making all the necessary arrangements. And so on 4 April 1968 the first English?language issue was published under the direction of Fr. Lambert Greenan, an Irish Dominican. Editions later appeared in Spanish (1969), Portuguese (1969), German (1970) and a monthly in Polish (1980).

Each edition has its own editor and staff, but is considered part of one newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, whose editor-in-chief is Prof. Mario Agnes, a layman who was formerly head of Italian Catholic Action. In November 1990 the weekly editions, followed later by the Italian daily, all switched to the latest computerized photocomposition technology; improving the appearance of the newspaper and allowing the material to be prepared more rapidly. In the spring of last year color photography and graphics appeared for the first time in the English edition, followed by the other language editions at the start of the Holy Year.

Photo: Reviewing a preliminary copy from left to right: Salvatore D'Aleo, Msgr. Dempsey and Ciro Marino.

The daily edition, the various weeklies and the one monthly all have the same purpose: the reliable, authoritative presentation of the Pope's teachings, the publication of the acts and documents of the Holy See, and theological comments and study on timely issues the Church is facing today. Although the Acta Apsotolicae Sedis is the Holy See's only official publication in the strict sense of the term, L'Osservatore Romano remains the most authoritative vehicle for communicating the Holy Father's message on a daily and weekly basis.

With this in mind, it is not too difficult to see why in January 1991, after the sudden death of Msgr. John Muthig, who had barely served for a year as Fr. Lambert's successor at the helm of the weekly English edition, the Secretariat of State turned to a NAC alumnus for his replacement.

The current editor was the associate pastor of a small parish in the city of Chicago when Joseph Cardinal Bernardin informed him of the Holy See's request that he serve as the newspaper's editor, despite the fact that his journalistic experience was limited to editing The Candle, the student newspaper of Quigley Preparatory Seminary. But the particular nature of L'Osservatore Romano requires an editor who is not so much a journalist as someone having a sound theological education, a broad ecclesiastical culture, a knowledge of various languages and a deep sense of the Church's universality, along with that loving fidelity to the Holy Father which has always characterized NAC alumni. The words of the College's historian, Fr. Robert E McNamara ('37, Rochester), bear repeating: "A man could indeed study the teachings of the Church as well in one of the great seminaries back home and believe what he studied with strong a faith.

But the Life in the City of Popes adds to the bond of faith a strong new bond: the bond of intense personal devotion to him who succeeded Roman Peter as Vicar of Christ" ("Good-bye Humility Street", America, 90:41, quoted in Roman Echoes, 1959, p. 23).

Photo: Msgr. Dempsey reviewing the finished copy.

In her over 140 years of history, the North American College has given the Church pastors, prelates, educators, missionaries, social workers, chaplains, scholars, writers - and for the last nine years the editor of the Holy Father's English-language newspaper.

School of Sanctification By:

Fr. Blaise Berg Diocese of Sacramento Photo: Fr. Blaise Berg "Father, thank you so much for coming!" Often a "Casa priest" receives this familiar greeting upon arrival at one of the many religious houses in Rome. In addition to completing a demanding program of studies, a number of the seventy priests at the Casa Santa Maria offer to celebrate Mass, hear confessions and give spiritual talks at the religious communities and parishes throughout the city. Many of the priests at the Casa have already had three or more years of parish experience. Thus, in adjusting to full-time academic life, a new Casa priest often finds himself greatly missing the sacramental ministry, the contact with parishioners, and all that makes up the rich life and faith experience of parish work.

However, by offering to help with outside sacramental ministry, the student priest is able to quench some of his thirst for working in the "Lord's vineyard" and to find a necessary complement to his studies.

Photo: Frs. Vincent Daily, Archdiocese of Boston, & Daniel Conlin, Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis are preparing to administer the sacraments to the Missionaries of Charity.

The student priest knows that ultimately his studies must help him grow in holiness and to be a better priest.

Likewise, his sacramental ministry is part of this "school of sanctification." For example, when he hears confessions for the Missionaries of Charity (Mother Teresa's order), the sisters teach him how he himself should confess. In the sisters' humility and'' openness before the Lord, the priest learns that he too should cultivate this same humility and openness in his life and confessions. In this way, 'j it is a great privilege to celebrate: ' Mass, preach, hear confessions and lead Holy Hours for sisters and parishioners who are so prayerful and who respond faithfully to the call to holiness.

So when a sister may say to one of us: "Father, thank you so much for coming!" Often we want to respond: "Sister, "thank you" for your example of holiness! Thank you for the privilege of praying with you!"

Photo: Casa Priests celebrating with the newly professed Missionary of Charity Sisters.

Marian devotions at the North American College: The community gathers to pray the Rosary together every Saturday.