Story of the Summer

As my summer at home comes to an end and I get ready to return to New Jersey for another year of ministry I've been reflecting on the summer. One thing that continues to come up in my reflections is this story.

All summer long I have met with friends and family and as I tell them about my year at Seton Hall with the student athletes I always tell them about the baseball team. I tell them about how open the baseball team was to growing in their faith, that 12 men out of 35 on a team were deeply committed to a weekly Bible study. We read scripture, learned about the life of Jesus, the Eucharist and, we talked about the lives of the saints. One saint in particular that has really chose me this last year is Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati. Here are a few of my favorite quotes from Pier Girogio who lived from 1901-1925:

“To live without faith, without a patrimony to defend, without a steady struggle for truth, that is not living, but existing.”

"You ask me whether I am in good spirits. How could I not be, so long as my trust in God gives me strength. We must always be cheerful. Sadness should be banished from all Christian souls. For suffering is a far different thing from sadness, which is the worst disease of all. It is almost always caused by lack of Faith. But the purpose for which we have been created shows us the path along which we should go, perhaps strewn with many thorns, but not a sad path. Even in the midst of intense suffering it is one of joy."

Pier Giorgio lived such a faithful and devout life, an incredible servant to the poor, and an athlete, all for God's kingdom. He has an incredible story and is so encouraging for young men to look up to as few people that have been on earth have immitated Jesus better. Especially interesting about Pier Giorgio is the fact that he lived this way mostly while he was a teenager and in his early twenties. Pier Giorgio climbed mountains as a hobby. On one of his last climbs before his premature death, he signed a picture of him climbing with the phrase "Verso l'alto" (To the top). He died after he contracted a disease from the poor he was serving.

The phrase verso l'alto is a great phrase for anyone in life, as a metaphor, to strive to the top as you pursue Jesus Christ. It was a phrase that we as a Bible study last year adopted as our theme. We talked about what type of person Pier Giorgio was and how we could immitate him as he immitated Christ so well. At Christmas we all got bracelets that were green, red, white, and black with the phrase "Verso l'alto" on it.

This last May when the Seton Hall baseball won the Big East Tournament after being predicted to finish 10th in the conference, they finished 5th and then beat the #1 seed UCONN twice in the tournament and then beat the defending tournament champs St. Johns to win the 2011 tournament I was so proud of the guys. A few days later as I checked the Seton Hall athletics website I saw this picture.

I got goosebumps when I saw the picture, if you look closely you can see one of the hands reaching up to the trophy with the Verso l'alto bracelet on (the red one). I was so proud of those guys in that moment, not only for what they accomplished on the field that day and season but for what they accomplished in their hearts the past year in allowing Jesus in.

I am so excited to be returning to Seton Hall to continue to help and to continue to grow with those men in Jesus Christ.

And please read my blog at the top right under the tab "popular posts" the blog is titled "The Pirate I haven't met yet" about a young man who would have been a Big East Champion this May, but he passed away 2 years ago this week.

VERSO L'ALTO

Blessed Aloysious Stepinac

2 months ago while I was volunteering with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal I met a couple that was also volunteering. I came to learn that the woman was a teacher at a Archbishop Stepinac High School in White Plains, NY and I shared with her that I was a FOCUS missionary. I told her that any time she needs help with something to please ask me and I would do my best to round up some fellow missionaries. I offered this thinking how great it would be for high school boys to see young men passionately living out and continuously pursuing their Catholic faith.

About a month ago that teacher took me up on that offer and asked if I could get a few men to come and talk to the high schoolers about being a true man of faith and using the example of Blessed Aloysious Stepinac. I will give a brief history of Archbishop Stepinac, but really he is a story worth researching. Basically, Archbishop Stepinac stood strong for what he believed when many around him did not. He was Croatian and a very young Archbishop (under 40 years old). A man of great virtue who courageously stood up to the Nazis and willingly sacrificed his life for our Lord and His Church. Today, February 9th is Archbishop Stepinac's Feast Day and it was celebrated at the high school of his namesake. I was blessed to have taken a small part in it.



Today I teamed up with a Franciscan Friar, Brother Pius, and we spoke to three groups of young men and in all about 100 ranging from sophomores to seniors about living virtuously as Blessed Stepinac did. We mostly spoke on the culture today and how it lies to young men. Lies to them by saying that masculinity is defined by how much money you have, how successful you are in athletics, and how many women you can have sex with. Which is hard to deny that our culture does glorify these things. We talked about how the athletic achievements and pre-marital sexual pleasures will lose their appeal and meaning with time, but the Love of the Father is everlasting and for over 2000 years has stood the test of time. We shared with them how virtue has always outlasted promiscuity and disobedience.

I never knew the severity of the decisions I made with girls when I was growing up, I saw friends doing it and I thought those things were OK to do, no one told me it was wrong, no one told me how much this was disrespecting the Lord. I pray that the young men today took our words to heart and will strive to love the girls and women in their lives and not use them for sexual pleasure. And to do so not because Brother and I said so, but because the Will of the Lord calls them and all men to do so. Not because it is some rule that some old man told us to do, but because doing so will protect and guard the hearts of men and women and that the act of sex will be shared, given as a gift from male to female and female to male to consummate a marriage.

The celebration ended beautifully in the gym. What I believe was the entire student body was gathered there for Eucharistic Adoration. The CFR's were leading worship and set the mood to welcome Jesus. Shortly after Jesus entered and was present in the Blessed Sacrament, boys slowly exited the gym (while others remained) to go to confession. Clearly the prayers of Archbishop Stepinac and grace of our Lord were at work.

Blessed Aloysious Stepinac.............Pray for us.