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

The Pirate I haven't met yet

It has been such a blessed and wonderful year at Seton Hall. It’s hard to believe that so much time has gone by since I arrived in August. As I’ve shared on this blog and in the Garcia Gazette a large number of men on the baseball team at Seton Hall have committed themselves to a weekly Bible study and deepening their own personal faith in Jesus Christ. These men have also helped me to take my own faith and trust in Jesus much deeper than it was 9 months ago. As the year ends, it’s bittersweet. 2 of the men I have gotten to know this last year are seniors and will not be back in the fall. That will certainly be a change for our Bible study as one of the men was always more than willing to share his thoughts during Bible study, appropriately he is the catcher. The other guy and I spent some time together outside of Bible study and it was often at daily mass or during a meal. Both men are great leaders and will be missed greatly by their teammates, coaches, and Bible study leader. (If they win today they’ll advance to the Big East Tournament for the first time in 3 years!)

Throughout the year I was impressed with all of the young men in Bible study. They asked great questions that challenged me and often made points that I did not realize myself. Often we would talk about prayer and intercession. Most often the person(s) I would call on the intercession of or ask the guys to ask for the intercession of was Mary, our Mother, Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati (the Bible study’s adopted patron), and Blessed Pope John Paul II. As we talked about intercession, which basically means asking another for their prayers for you to God, the guys questioned it, looking to understand better. Some thought it seemed strange to ask someone who is no longer living to pray for you. I explained it’s really no different than asking someone on earth to pray for you and wouldn’t you want someone in Heaven, with our Savior and His Father to pray for you?

Often when we talked about this the guys told me about David Bachner, a young man who was supposed to be a teammate of theirs but unexpectedly passed away a few weeks before his first day of college. I thought about him time to time throughout the year and especially when the guys would bring him up, which happened at least half a dozen times.

Admittedly, I had forgotten about him until I took the pictures included in the blog. I took a picture that I wanted to include in my newsletters. Then the guys asked if they could take one to send to Mrs. Bachner. So all the sophomores; David’s classmates, took a picture with David’s shirt. I posted them on Facebook on May 7th, thinking nothing of it. Later that day one of the guys on the team “tagged” his teammates and Mrs. Bachner in the picture. Later that evening, Mrs. Bachner sent me a friend request and sent me a message. The message said; “AJ, the pictures could not have come at a more perfect time…….missing David so much on mother’s day.” My heart sank and I had a lump in my throat.



As I became friends with Mrs. Bachner I learned about a cause that was created to help remember David. It’s called “Unhittable Across the Globe”. There is a photo album of people wearing an “Unhittable” shirt literally around the world. I wanted to help bring “Unhittable” to new locations and help David’s memory last. I learned that David was truly “unhittable” when he was on the mound. His mother told me, “David was a one of a kind kid ... He was smart, so very witty ... and one of the best lefty pitchers the CVC had seen. David broke all school records ... State of New Jersey records ... he was being scouted by pros ... such class on the mound ... he had a strut like no other. When David pitched ... no one could hit him ... he would either strike you out or walk you. So all David's newspaper articles would read No-No Bachner ... Unhittable” She also told me that Seton Hall was David’s dream.

There are so many things that really impress me about this. One being the guys on the team that knew him, most of them only met him for a few hours and in that short amount of time the guys grew so close to him. They met and spent time together only at their freshmen orientation during the summer. A few of the guys knew him a bit more personally, one played against him in high school and another really hit it off with him and hung out more after orientation. Another guy who could not attend orientation but was assigned to live with David got in touch with David to go golfing to meet each other before they moved in together. They were supposed to go golfing on August 8, 2009, which turned out to be David’s last day here on earth. It wasn’t until the next morning that David’s roommate found out David had passed the day before.

I have been in touch with Mrs. Bachner since mother’s day trying to figure out how I could I get a shirt. This last Thursday night I met with the baseball team for our last Bible study of the school year. We decided to call Mrs. Bachner and invite her to the game today. She happily accepted the invitation and was looking forward to seeing the boys. Unfortunately this morning she contacted me and told me she could not make it, but for a very good reason. Today at David’s alma mater they’re playing against their rival school and they’re honoring David. Go North. She apologized and said, “Good luck today!! Lucky “16” will be with you!”

I’m pretty sure the guys believe David is with them too, they still keep a #16 shirt in the dugout. David, you’re remembered by your teammates at Seton Hall and I’m looking forward to the day that we do meet. Go Pirates!



Rest in peace David Bachner #16 Unihittable

1st Semester

I’ve been home in Waukesha now since 12/18 and since I’ve been here I’ve had a good chance to reflect on my first semester as a FOCUS missionary…………

Its hard to believe that I have been in South Orange for over 4 months already, but I guess it’s good that time has gone so fast. I love my job. Thank you Jesus.

I remember being anxious about moving out east, maybe even intimidated by the idea of being so close to New York City (since I had never been there before.) One thing is for sure…… the east coast is a different world! But I think I’ve adjusted well. Thankfully I’ve been blessed with a great team to work with and 3 of which who were at Seton Hall last year and really helped to make the transition almost painless. I also have 2 teammates that went through the ups and downs of being a 1st year missionary with me.

Along with learning to adjust my lifestyle to the east coast I learned that there are hungry souls on this college campus. Souls that are hungry for truth and willing to seek the truth. There have been a few times that I have sat around campus in random places, but very much public places where I have been appalled at things I have overheard. Students talking about things they did the night before or were hoping to do the coming night. Now I am by no means naïve to what happens on campus having spent the last 6 years on a college campus, but some things I have heard out here have surprised me. And that has made me even more zealous for souls and a given me a greater desire to share the glory and joy of the Kingdom.

I have been blessed with leading young men on the Seton Hall Baseball team in a weekly Bible study. We’ve had a good time this first semester getting to know each other in and out of Bible study and I’m looking forward to seeing them compete this spring.

I’m also excited to be on campus and feel like an experienced staff member. Even with one semester on campus I feel like I know much more than I did when I showed up on campus in August and I’m excited to do some things differently and try some new things.

Go Pirates!