Shenanigans!

New Years and Christmas have both passed, and 2013 is starting off well! I just thought I would share how each of those 'big days' went with a few pictures! : )

I talked about my Christmas day before, so I will just post a few pictures! They are all taken from a part of town that we call Loyola (it is where the Jesuit fathers stay and work). It is set up on a hill a few kilometers away from the downtown, market and where we live, so it was the perfect opportunity to take a panoramic picture of all Wau.

This first picture shows most of the downtown of Wau off in the distance, with the closer houses being the Loyola area. The white dot on the horizon, on the right side of the picture is a hotel, we live pretty close to that hotel!

 Same as the first picture, you can see Wau off in the distance, with the Loyola area up front!

You can see the big UN tents over on the left side and a bit in the center. The UN camp is huge!

Now that the pictures finished loading, I notice it is hard to see everything... I was just using my phone... sorry about the quality! : (

As for December 31st, we had a fun game day for the children! To celebrate the new year, Christmas and the feast of the Holy Innocent, we organized a day with some games and prizes to be won for all. Then the day finished with lunch!

Each game was worth a ticket, and tickets could be redeemed for prizes (suckers, biscuits, pens, notebooks etc.) We had a...

 three legged race!

 a fishing sort of game with bottles and sticks

 sack races... and many other games!

And, as mentioned, we finished with lunch for everyone!

All in all, I think the day went pretty great. Although, I think I miss-priced the prizes... sweets were 2 tickets, pens were 5 and notebooks were 7, i gave out about 200 sweets and just about 20 notebooks. haha As soon as they would get 2 tickets they would come straight for the sweets! (But eventually we ran out and they had to save up for the pens and notebooks and other prizes)

The beautiful thing was- One boy bought about 6 lollipops and I asked him if he was going to be sharing them to everyone else... and he said his sisters were at home that he was going to share with! So that was really nice to hear!

Anyways, overall, the holidays went pretty well and all had fun! : ) New Years day was pretty anti climactic. Just life as normal! I did stay up until midnight though, we had a nice prayer service in our community right at midnight... great way to ring in the new year! :)

Peace to all!

Welcome, 2013!!!

I was thinking about New Year’s resolutions today; I was also reading the Bible (great combo)! I read when Jesus said, “Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect.” (Mt. 5:48) At first, I said, “Uhhhhh…… okay….. care to elaborate?” Lucky for me the answer was, “I did! Read the rest of this Bible.” …Well played God, well played!

As I was thinking about those words, “Be perfect, therefore, as your Heavenly Father is perfect” I was thinking, it does not say, ‘be better than others’. It does not say, ‘strive to be the best.’ Nor does it not tell us to leave others behind. In fact, being perfect would require us to help others along as well! To be perfect would be to become as Christ-like as possible. To be Christ-like requires drawing others to be Christ-like as well.

I am a pretty competitive guy. Growing up and all through college, it was always about being better than the others. Tests, grades, sports, work. I had to be better. But we are not asked to be better than others. Being better than others requires the ‘relative failure’ of the other (yes, we might both pass a test, but relative to me, the other guy failed, or, I failed relative to him). BUT! If I am working to be perfect, I will desire it in my heart for the guy next to me to pass as well! And that is something beautiful: getting to the point where I no longer want to outdo the other guy.

Does this mean I have to lose every game of basketball I play from now on? NO! If we play, I will win!  But looking for the victory alone cannot be our attitude. I want to look for perfection, and let what happens, happen. I won’t be upset if I lose, I won’t be prideful if I win. (this attitude has yet to show up in my life… that’s why it is part of the resolution! Haha)

Sports are not exactly what I am getting at. I am getting at life. Let this new year bring a renewed enthusiasm for striving for perfection, not to be better than others. Let our perfection reflect what the Gospels talk about. Let our idea of perfection only be complete when our brothers and sisters are growing with us, not failing relative to us! We are not called to be better than anyone; we are called to perfection.

We are human, so we may never be fully perfect… but we HAVE TO strive for it. We have to make it our resolution to strive for perfection at every moment. Even though we may fail in this resolution… First, we have Jesus to fill our weakness. Second… who has ever, in the history of humankind, ever succeeded in fulfilling their New Year’s resolution?! Do not let our human weakness, or potential failure, stop you from striving for that perfection! We are very clearly called to strive for perfection, it must be our resolution!

Happy New Year to everyone!! Just 92 minutes to go for me! J

Merry Christmas (Boxing Day)

Merry Christmas to all! :)

Christmas here in Wau was pretty great! We had mass in the morning and later went around to each of the religious communities and to say merry Christmas! We also had the chance to visit the hospital here to say merry Christmas to some of the patients who could not make it out for Christmas! It was a very blessed day!

Here is a fun little movie quote:

Ricky: Dear Lord Baby Jesus, or as our brothers to the south call you, Jesús, we thank you so much for this bountiful harvest of Domino’s, KFC, and the always delicious Taco Bell. I just want to take time to say thank you for my family, my two beautiful, beautiful, handsome, striking sons, Walker and Texas Ranger, or T.R. as we call him…

Ricky: Dear Lord Baby Jesus, we also thank you for my wife’s father, Chip. We hope that you can use your Baby Jesus powers to heal him and his horrible leg. And it smells terrible and the dogs are always bothering with it. Dear tiny, infant Jesus, we….

Carley: Hey, you know, sweetie, Jesus did grow up. You don’t always have to call him “baby.” It’s a bit odd and off-putting to pray to a baby.

Ricky: Well, I like the Christmas Jesus best and I’m saying grace. When you say grace you can say it to grownup Jesus, or teenage Jesus, or bearded Jesus or whoever you want.

Carley: You know what I want? I want you to do this grace good so that God will let us win tomorrow.

Ricky: Dear tiny Jesus, in your golden-fleece diapers, with your tiny, little, fat, balled-up fists….
Chip: He was a man! He had a beard!

Ricky: Look, I like the baby version the best, do you hear me? I win the races and I get the money.

Cal: I like to picture Jesus in a tuxedo T shirt, cause it says, like, “I wanna be formal, but I’m here to party, too.” Cause I like to party, so I like my Jesus to party…
Ricky: Okay. Dear 8 pound, 6 ounce newborn infant Jesus, don’t even know a word yet, just a little infant and so cuddly, but still omnipotent, we just thank you for all the races I’ve won and the 21.2 million dollars – woo! (the rest of the family says “woo” too) – love that money, that I have accrued over this past season. Also, due to a binding endorsement contract that stipulates I mention Powerade at each grace, I just want to say that Powerade is delicious and it cools you off on a hot summer day. And we look forward to Powerade’s release of Mystic Mountain Blueberry. Thank you for all your power and your grace, dear baby God. Amen.

Although I do love the movie Talledega nights, that scene did not have anything to do with Christmas. I just got a good laugh when I thought of it the other day.

Unfortunately, I did not have KFC, Taco Bell and Dominos. One thing that made this Christmas unique was the food prepared by the community members! We had a few great dishes prepared by some of the Indian volunteers here! We were talking about what Christmas usually includes in the different countries people are from and the one common thread was food! So, to share the Christmas meal with the community was a blessed time!

One thing that has had more of an impact on my Christmas here in South Sudan is the quote from the Gospel of John:

"In the beginning was the Word
and the Word was with God,
and the Word was God

He was in the beginning with God

All things came to be through Him,
and without Him nothing came to be.

What came to be through Him was life
and this life was The Light of the human race.

The Light shines in the darkness and
the darkness has not overcome it."

                                                             John 1:1-5


I used this for a Christmas card I made for sister during our Secret Santa here in the community, and I was thinking about it a good amount during Advent.

Jesus is the light of our life. Let Him be born in your hearts and no darkness can ever overcome you. Let Him be born in your heart and no amount of suffering can overcome the graces he pours upon you.

Think and pray about it for a few days and think about what it means in your life! :)

Sorry this was delayed, it is actually boxing day now… but that’s okay!

Peace and Love during this Christmas season!! :)
~Dan

ps. Boxing Day is a holiday in England, the day after Christmas. 

End of Ze World

Sorry, I kind of rushed this post. I wanted to make sure it was posted before the world ends!

So, after a slight scare that the world was going to end a few days ago (on 12/12/12)… Turns out it will actually end in a week (12/21/12)!! I was misinformed. Thank goodness because I still have so much left to do!

It is a pretty cliché question to ask, ‘what would you do if you knew the world was going to end tomorrow?’ but I think it is an important question! It is important because it tells us what we should truly be doing everyday of our life; accomplishing all of those things that we truly want to accomplish. Like the Tim McGraw song says, “Live like you were dying.”

It is important, but tricky.

The typical answer includes everything that we have always wanted to do and then some! It gets tricky because the way we would live, if the world were going to end, would include: go skydiving, rocky mountain climbing or to go 2.7 seconds on a bull named Fu Man Choo. I think the vast majority of us (myself included) would have a list that includes so many things that would bring worldly happiness to ourselves. But what does that say about us? What does that say about what is most important to us?

The media and the better portion of the corporate world encourage instant gratification and indulging in what you want right now (think about it, do you think McDonalds would have a marketing scheme based on self denial and sacrifice?). Yes, I would probably want to travel to Tahiti and eat a nice steak dinner. If that is what is at the top of my list when the world is ending, where will that land me after the world ends!? We always ask this question but seem to forget about AFTER the world ends bit. It is like reading the preface to a book, then ignoring the remainder.

What about loving deeper, speaking sweeter, and giving forgiveness that you are denying?! Where will that land us after?! I like the answer to this question a lot more than the answer to the above questions! J If you feel like you would have to go to confession one more time before the world ends, GO TODAY. If you feel like you would have to go to mass one more time before the world ends, GO TODAY!

Let us live everyday selflessly, let us live everyday with hope in eternal life, let us live everyday to be Christ’s light to others. Then we do not have to worry if the Mayans were right or not! Then the answer to the cliché question would be, “Well, I am going to do tomorrow, exactly what I did today.” Our number one goal in life should be to obtain eternal life for ourselves AND lead others to the same. If that is our goal in life, then the way we live if the world was going to end needs to reflect that. And if that is what we would do when the world is ending… that must be extremely important to us. Therefore we have to do that every day of our life. And then the answer to the question, again, can be nothing other than, “Well, I am going to do tomorrow, exactly what I did today!”

So yes! Live like you were dying, live like the Mayan’s were correct! But first pray about it. Let us break away from the idea of instant gratification and self indulgence and focus on what will lead us and others closer to life everlasting! And do that ever day, even on 12/20/12 (the day before the world ends)!  

Is Robin Hood a Saint?

Wow, it has been a very long time since I wrote… Sorry! We are just heading into exam week for school tomorrow! Then students will have break and we will be starting a few “summer” programs for the children around town!

Most people know that I have a lot of time to think. So, in that time I was reflecting on the president’s statement, “We need to teach republican’s that compromise is not a dirty word!” I do not get a lot of news on TV here, but that is one quote and speech that Al Jazeera covered a few weeks ago. And it got me thinking about compromise and if what he said is true, that compromise is not a dirty word.

Typically I do not enjoy talking about politics, but when I was thinking about “…compromise is not a dirty word,” A fun question that directly relates to this quote came to mind: Is Robin Hood a saint? After all, Robin Hood did dedicate his life to helping others. (A saint being someone who now finds rest in the presence of God in Heaven, not necessarily being recognized as a saint by the church)

This question came to mind because from what I have seen in the past months from the president and what I see in Robin Hood is this, they are both compromising morals! Robin Hood STOLE from people to help the poor. He threw morals out the window to help people out. The HHS mandate is immoral, but is part of something that could possibly help some people. He too threw morals out the window to help some people out. So yes. Compromise IS a dirty word if what you are compromising is morality!!

Merely helping people out while throwing morals out the window is NOT ENOUGH! Yes, helping your brothers and sisters in their physical and spiritual needs is one of the most important aspects of life… But to do so with a complete disregard to morality is not service at all.

On the contrary to Robin Hood is Saint Francis of Assisi! He asked for donations to serve others, never stealing to help others. His life was completely and totally devoted to the service of others, yet he never sacrificed his morality to do so! It was probably more work and sacrifice for Saint Francis than it was for Robin Hood. But that just makes it all the more beautiful!!

Here on mission, I have to compromise. I give up watching the evening news so I can get an extra hour of sleep each night so I can wake up a bit earlier to get to mass. At GT and Elon I did the opposite in regards to sleep, I would give up sleep in order to get another few hours of studying in. I both situations I compromise my sleep schedule so I can perform better. The above are not dirty situations, and ‘compromise’ is not a dirty word here.

‘I will skip church tomorrow morning so I can stay out later tonight!’ Compromising mass to ‘have a good time.’ …Compromise IS a dirty word here.

If you lie… you can get away with doing something wrong. You are compromising morals to save your butt; compromise IS a dirty word. Or, rather, you can compromise your butt’s well being to save your morals! All because we know that Jesus will be waiting with His arms WIDE OPEN, saying, ‘you chose Me when it would have been easier to choose to compromise your morals.’

Beautiful end to a story huh? But that’s the truth. Never compromise your morals and Jesus will welcome you home in the end! J It may be a bit more suffering and sacrifice now if we always choose to save our morals, I won’t deny that. But I can promise you it will always be worth it. Do not conform to what people tell you “the norm” is. Pray about morality and how to always choose it.

 “He is the Truth, and the Truth will set you free” Doing whatever you want is NOT freedom.

Peace and Love,

~Dan

Ps. An answer to, ‘Is Robin Hood a saint’: Only God knows that with certainty. What I do know though is that he does not have a feast in the liturgical year and he spent his life stealing and directly violating the 10 commandments based on a prejudice against whole group of people… 

Life Update

The last post was about what is on my mind... now about what is going on in my life! I will talk about it all here, but I will post pictures on Facebook... it takes way too long for pictures to load here! (...and I used to think that it was quicker to do it here! haha)

First, the trip to Gogrial and Akon (pictures already posted):

Great drive! I always love going for drives through new places! I think that is because I love nature and just think the world and landscape is so beautiful The road was not paved, it was like that scene in Ace Ventura when he is cruising through the forest! haha A lot of fun though! :) We visited some brothers from another religious order in Gogrial, then carried on to Akon (about 45 minutes away) where they were finishing up construction on a new church in the presidents home town. It was pretty massive! 

Second, October 31st rosary procession for the end of the month of the rosary:

I love the processions we have here! First because they are always full of children! But also because it is very rare to find such public acts of faith in the US! It was very beautiful walking around the town near the church for about 30 minutes as the sun was setting! It was also amazing to see a procession that was long enough that the end of the line was on a different part of the rosary because they could not hear the front! Very cool witness to the faith by an abundance of children!

Third, All Souls Day mass:

We had off of school for all souls day (but not all saints day... dont ask, im still confused too.) There was mass in the graveyard in the evening which was very cool. Not just the idea to pray for the dead in the graveyard... but because there were at least 4,000 people present!! This is not an exaggeration. I guessed 3000-5000, some other people guessed even more than that. So i think 4,000 is a good conservative guess-timate!  Mass was celebrated by the bishop and lasted about two and a half hours, it was beautiful! 

In other news, life at the VTC continues to go well! Exams are the first week of December, then we have a 3 month vacation from school. I am sure I will be kept busy with work at the parish and with the street children though!

Now that I am giving the exam, and am on the other side of the test, I know a little more how it feels to give tests... I always thought it didn't matter to the teacher how one student does, but it does! I always get sad when even one student does not do well. So, i have a new understanding! -Thank you to all of my teachers who graded my tests! :) 

I'll be sure to keep you all updated on new works that I start when I do not have school!

Those are the main events!! It is almost time for prayer though, so pictures will come tomorrow on Facebook! :) 

Peace!

~Dan

(sorry if there are some bad spelling mistakes, or worse than usual grammar. I did not type this before hand in Word like I usually do!)

Seek Ye First

I have a new hobby… Reading! This should come as a surprise to most people who know me! But in my spare time I have started to read a lot. One theme that has been coming up a lot in the books I have been reading is the message, ‘Never stop searching!’ This idea of never ceasing to search is what makes me want to read more! It is a fabulous cycle: read, learn, and become inspired to read/search for more! (It just took me about 24 years to get in the cycle!)

The only way we can come to know God is by searching! In prayer, in life, in reading, [and most importantly] in the sacraments! If we search, God will answer. I read recently, ‘one of the Devil’s greatest tricks is to get us to stop searching’ (which is what got me thinking, and eventually writing).

One of the most notorious, or cliché, sayings from someone who refuses to believe in God is, ‘I cannot believe in a God who allows so much suffering and pain!’ But I would bet most people who say that never asked ‘why is there suffering and pain?’ and if they did ask that, I can almost guarantee that they did not search for an answer. Asking is good only if you are willing to search for an answer!

Side note:

If you are reading this and want an answer: Free will! One thing that makes us humans, human, is our free will. We are free to choose good or evil. If God were to step in every time someone was going to choose evil, we cease to have free will. If we have no free will, we cease to be human and our ‘yes’ to God is meaningless if the choice is not ours. BUT our ‘yes’ to God is never forced, thus it is NEVER meaningless… our ‘yes’ is the greatest gift we can give! This is just a quick response to get you thinking, to start your search! If you want to continue your search… read the book, ‘Crossing the Threshold of Hope’ by Blessed John Paul II. AMAZING BOOK! Basically it is an interview with a reporter who asks some very tough questions and JP2 who gives phenomenal answers!

The point of the example is this: the person who has that attitude, or asks that question, never searches. They could eventually end up denying the existence of God. It is about the lack of searching! Something or someone (the devil?) created in that person a hardened heart, a heart that had no desire to search. Maybe it was via comfort, ‘I don’t care about searching for more. I am happy where I am; why bother upsetting the apple cart?’ Maybe the person puts his faith in worldly gratification, ‘Well, instead of searching for the faith and love, I can be happy if I go shopping, have a few more drinks or hook up!’ There are plenty of other examples. With any of these excuses the point is that we are deterred from the desire to search for more.

I used an extreme example of someone denying God because s/he refused to search, but the something similar can be said for those who have a strong faith! I promise if you search for more, you will find it. You can always grow, you can always increase faith, but you have to have the desire: you have to search! I know for me, sometimes pride can get in the way and I catch myself saying, ‘I already read and prayed today.’ Maybe we can catch ourselves only doing the minimum of what we think will get us to Heaven. Yes, the end goal should always be heaven, but your attitude should NEVER be to do the bare minimum to get to heaven. (We know this because Jesus giving us the beatitudes. In addition to following  the commandment, He gave us ‘open ended commandments’ that we can always work on perfecting in our lives; we can always SEARCH for a greater understanding of the beatitudes!

You have to want to search! Like in scrubs when JD is lifting a couch he yells, “YOU GOTTA WANT IT JOHNNY D!!! YOU GOTTA WANT IT!” God has already put that desire in your heart to want more. All you have to do is make the first step (ask a tough question and search for the answer) and He will do the rest! J

                                                                                                                                                                           

I just finished reading, ‘Crossing the Threshold of Hope’ and just today started a book called, ‘To the Field of Stars’ about the camino de Santiago! I am extremely excited for the new book. It might make my day dreaming and staring into space worse than it typically is! But none the less, I am excited!

Looks like this post was a bit longer… Hope you made it through and will click the link to my blog next time I update it!

One final thing: This song sums up what I was trying to say!! J Seek and God will answer!

Seek Ye first the kingdom of God,
And His righteousness,
And all these things, shall be added onto you, 
Alleu, alleuia

Man shall not live by bread alone,
But by every word
That proceeds from the mouth of God
Alleu, Alleuia
Ask and it shall be given unto you,