Long time no blog...

Wow! Time flies when you're doing 17 millions things a day. It's been nearly two weeks since I blogged and simply put: I've been so busy at the parish that it has slipped my mind to make a blog entry. With the largest parish in the archdiocese, sometimes it can be a little overwhelming. With school starting this last week, that adds to the chaos. Just to give you an idea of the workload, I have done 30 registrations in the past 2 weeks. At PoP, new parishioners have to make an appointment to register with the parish. This is primarily because they have few opportunities to meet with the priest in a one-on-one environment. Secondly, however, is the fact that this is the best way to get persons caught up on their missed sacraments, such as needing to validate a marriage. These registrations last about 30 minutes each, so in the past two weeks, I have spent about 15 hours just doing registrations!

Well, school has started and so things have settled down. We have so many registrations in the first weeks of August because parents want to enroll their kids in the school or in the SOR program (our name for CCD). In order to do so, you must be a registered parishioner. We'll probably slow down in the area of registrations in the coming weeks. In fact, I only have 3 on my schedule for this coming week. With school starting, however, that will become the focus of the busyness and chaos.

I will endeavor to be more consistent in my blog entries in the future. Although, I think I do get brownie points for blogging on a Sunday :-) Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 08:52 | link | comments (1) |
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The sacrament of Baptism...

I thought that since I promised to talk about each of the sacraments that I have celebrated, I would simply begin with the first sacrament and go on up the line from there. So, we begin with baptism.

I find baptisms to be such an enjoyable sacrament to celebrate for a number of reasons. First, this is an immensely joyous event for everyone present. I've never seen a baptism in which anyone present didn't want to be there (except maybe the guest of honor who just wants to sleep or eat). You have beaming parents with their tiny, little newborn. You have proud grandparents and godparents looking on. All your friends and relatives are there to share this moment with you. It is a happy time for all.

Secondly, it gives me great pleasure to bring another person into the Church and that is exactly what baptism does. When I explain the sacrament in baptism preparation class, I always point out that baptism is a rebirth. We are born into the life of Christ at baptism. The candle, the white garment, the prayers all point to Jesus and to our salvation through him.

Lastly, baptisms are a time to do more than simply bring a newborn into the Church. Often times some people present either are not Catholic or do not practice their Catholic faith. This is a good opportunity for the grace of God to enter into their life and to draw them into the Church. Gathering with those who are Catholic surrounds them with persons of the faith and hopefully instills in them a seed of that faith that will grow. This is not something I can usually witness, but I pray that it is a fruit of the baptisms I celebrate even if it is an unseen fruit.

Well, that is why I enjoy baptisms in a nutshell. Nothing mind boggling, but a joy to celebrate nonetheless. Next time I will blog on something that is miraculous, humbling and at the same time awesome: celebrating the Eucharist.

I will not be blogging tomorrow as my dad is having surgery, so keep him in your prayers. I will not be blogging on Wednesday either because of the Solemnity of the Assumption, so my next entry will be Thursday at the earliest. Until then...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 07:57 | link | comments |
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Celebrating the Sacraments

Someone asked me an interesting question the other day. They asked, "Which of the sacraments do you like celebrating the most?" After thinking about it for a minute I couldn't decide. At the time I told them that celebrating the Eucharist is a glorious and humbling experience. Later, however, I realized that I enjoy celebrating ALL the sacraments but for different reasons.

I thought that in the next few blog entries I'd explain what excites me about celebrating each of the sacraments and the uniqueness I find with each. To date, I have celebrated the sacraments of Baptism, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Marriage and Anointing of the Sick. So, in my next blog entry, I will tell you a little about the blessings of celebrating the sacrament of Baptism. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 17:05 | link | comments |
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A flash from the past...

Yesterday, the St. Louis seminarians from Kenrick-Glennon Seminary visited Prince of Peace. The group is on a pilgrimage to Kansas City prior to classes beginning in a couple of weeks. I've never considered Kansas City a pilgrimage site, but whatever floats their boat.

Anyway, the group of about 70 seminarians as well as a number of the administration came here for Vespers and a BBQ dinner we had prepared for them. We also had both Archbishops Burke and Naumann here. Archbishop Naumann presided at Vespers with me serving as MC. I had the opportunity to meet a number of seminarians that have been and still am friends with while I was at Kenrick. One of my close friends at Kenrick is John Mayo. He is entering the 3rd year of theology for the Archdiocese of St. Louis. He is a Mac computer man, but hey...we're all sinners in some way. I also got to talk with Fr. Tom Keller. He is the Director of Worship and I've mentioned him before in my blog (see. Jan. 20, 2007 & May 20, 2007). We been friends for a little over a year now and I think the seminary will have a much improved liturgical program with him at the helm.

Overall, it was a good evening. The group is here until tomorrow and visited the Immaculate Conception Cathedral in Kansas City, MO as well as the St. Rose Philippine Duschene shrine in Mound City today. Tomorrow they visit the St. Peter Cathedral of our archdiocese. I wish them well and hope that they have a good couple of weeks rest before the new school year begins. Keep them in prayers that they may have a enjoyable and fruitful year. From reading my blogs, you know how tough the seminary can be, so they will appreciate your prayers greatly. Until next time...God bless.

posted by: crossman at 18:55 | link | comments (2) |
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