2011 in Review

So here is my post about how the year 2011 went. Given that facebook is becoming this timeline thing, i can see its use. however, i am NOT supportive of the format to be a permanent feature. i agree with one of my friends that it should be optional. anyway, as i write this, i try to think back on the year... i can really only go back as far as the summer, contiguously, that is. so, i was thinking that i'll use facebook and the fotos i posted there to help jog my memory.

so, here we go, with a simple month by month review. we'll see where we go from there

january
the highlight of january was my first ever march for life. i love the Church. that trip showed me just how alive the Church is in fact and how unified we really are, even if it seems otherwise on a myopic scale. plus, it was a great time to connect with the students who also went on the trip. i am really excited for this year's trip, which is just a few weeks away.

february
obviously, my birth month. i remember everyone singing to me at spaghetti dinner and a few students made me an awesome cake. i hope this year, when i turn 25, i will be absolutely SURPRISED by what friends do for me. never had one of those... hm...

march
a lot happened in march. the first week in march was the mission trip to luisa, ky. i really enjoyed it, tho it reminded me a lot of the trips to harlan with high school youth group. good times, good works.
another highlight from march was our parish mission, featuring fr. nathan cromly. little did i know that getting to know that good old priest monk would change the rest of my life...well, at least that i would see him quite often over the year... and i hope it's a friendship that will continue in the future. anyway, fr nathan is a religious priest with the community of st. john. he's involved with many apostolates, a few of which he started...more on that later. anyway, he did an amazing job preaching the mission. i attended every session i could with him, and even had the privilege of sharing breakfast with him and 2 of my coworkers.
also in march, another university parish help their first ever retreat, which we helped them put on. i was asked to give the same witness i gave on our retreat. a few of their students attended that retreat in order to get it started at their parish. it was such and honor and a blessing to serve them, yet furthermore build relationships with others among the universal Church.

april
there wasn't much exciting about april, so i'll take a moment to discuss some of the activities and such that i was overall involved in at my job, my ministry. first, as i mentioned before, spaghetti dinners. i organize the volunteers and help make and serve the food. i also lead a bible study, tho attendance dropped second semester due to schedule conflicts. additionally, i was put in charge of the adoration schedule. most importantly, meeting with students and just forming bonds with them in daily life. that kind of thing is hard to measure. okay... i'm not sure where i'm going with this paragraph so onto may

may
on may 5, our staff and some students went to see the minor league baseball team game. another great time. we all were given sombreros! ole!
the semester ended and the students went home... mostly. there were a few students who stayed. it was during the may to june period that i took to videogames once again. one of the students let me borrow his wii. that was an enjoyable time, as some of the guys who were still around in the summer joined me in rounds of super smash bros and links crossbow training.

june
see may

july
so one of the main reasons i, admittedly, took it easy early summer was that i and one of the students were sent to a program called ecclesia. run by none other than fr. nathan cromly, ecclesia is a month of solid formation that centers around the new evangelization. it was yet another amazing time of growth for me as well as networking with other Catholics from round the country, making lasting friendships.

august
as soon as ecclesia ended, i was off to the courage conference. such a joyous time, especially compared to the year prior's conference. last year's wasn't bad, but it just seemed like there was an atmosphere of redemptive suffering and penance. this year's spirit was much lighter and everyone seemed so happy to see friends again...friends they only get to see once a year at these conferences. this year, ironically, was the first conference since fr. harvey passed away. it was much more like we celebrated his life and the amazing work he did for the Church as opposed to mourning the loss. fr harvey is still praying for those near to his heart and the fruits of those prayers were evident at the conference.
not only was courage great, but a few days after that, i went on world youth day. holy moley! talk about the universal Church! it was such a blessed time...despite the fact that i caught a parasite that gave me the runs for days on end...

september
coming back to reality was hard... not sure if i'm fully recovered, honestly... or at the very least, i didn't prepare myself well for what was to come in the past four months... at this point, i'll simply say that it's been a struggle almost every week... yet i will not give up, no matter how often i fall...

the semester started back up. with new staff members an a renewed apostolic zeal from the summer, i was really ready to meet new students and take on the campus... i think we did a decent job, but we can always do better.
one thing that was added to my responsibilities this year was out sunday night catechetical program where students are encouraged and challenged to explore the richness of the Catholic faith by 'Going Deeper'...hm, i wonder what it's called. anyway, it's been a great way see the students grow, and such a privilege to direct their walks in such a real way.
oh yeah the audrey assad concert happened in september. that was a wonderful and fun night.

october
a highlight from early october was the switchfoot and anberlin concert. i enjoyed audrey assad, and am trying to organize something for the spring... but if it's even fair to compare concerts, switchfoot/anberlin was much more entertaining. yet, i digress that it would not be fair to compare the shows, so i'll stop there.
we had some fun parties at the parish in october, including a homecoming formal and a halloween party. both were a blast and a half.

november
a VERY busy month. i attended part of the retreat put on by the other university parish (that's kind how the retreat goes, but i don't want to spoil anything for anyone), their second one. on the way back, my car broke down. it'd been having problems...since i got it actually. there'd been times i'd go several weeks without being able to drive because it needed a fix i couldn't afford. so finally, when the fix was just too expensive, i sold it... for way less than what i paid... live and learn, detached. the next weekend was our parish's turn to hold the retreat. it was really great to see the fruit of the work we'd been charged with all semester come to fruition on that retreat.
just before thanksgiving break, i treated myself to the new zelda game. it's so epic...yet it was challenging. i gotta admit that i was frustrated multiple times. turns out that the random wii shut offs helped me from playing too much on any given day.
thanksgiving was good to see family, but didn't need it to be as long as it was.

december
the last month. ballroom mass was great, despite the rainy weather. more people would have easily attended if not for the inclement conditions.
one of the last men's nights we did was dodgeball. it caught on better than the monster mash, so much so that we played it on a weekly basis as the semester came to a close. they were just fun nights of guys having manly time of brotherhood.
and speaking of brothers, i made yet another retreat with.... you guessed it, the brothers of st john. it was really awesome to see fr. nathan again. this retreat, tho, was to discern my vocation. i didn't get to talk to fr much because he's not directly responsible for promoting their community and inciting vocation with them, nor does he oversee the novices. other priests in his order locally do that.
and of course christmas. again, great time to see family. i didn't receive any huge presents, but what i did get was very intentional and meant a lot. what i gave was good too. my mom loved her 'main' gift: a picture of me and my younger brother, recreated. we then put both fotos in a 2 foto frame. everyone else who received a gift from me liked it and was thankful. given that i didn't need much time to see my family over thanksgiving, i decided not to take off any extra time and just go home for the friday before and come back the monday after.


so... all in all, i'd say that this year was full of joy, and some struggles to still overcome, new friendships, even some from across the country and around the world. as i look into 2012, i'm hopeful... there are many new relationships to foster, and some to renew, including my own with Christ, through His Mother's intercession. may the blessings keep flowing.