The Final Post

Well first off, begin I get to my final remarks, I thought that I should update you on Ryan.  Ryan is doing very well, and he is safely back in America.  He even went to Chili's, his favorite place in the whole world (aside from a chapel of course).  And look who he found inside Chili's?!  I just can't believe it.  It has been a lot of fun bringing Ryan around Europe, and I am only slightly concerned for what is coming next semester when Ryan is in Rome.  But alas, here is to Ryan Adorjan!

One of the most difficult things about being back home is trying to describe to people my experience in Rome. And I think there are a couple of reasons for that.  The first is that there was just so much that happened that I could easily talk to them for hours about it and not even come close to summarizing everything.  Secondly, I know for a fact that I am not even close to understanding all that happened in Rome and the way that it affected me.  Many of the things I learned and received won't really be put into use until I'm back at seminary, I'm in theology, or I'm a priest.  So I won't see all of those fruits for a while.  And lastly, it has been hard because a lot of people ask about experiences, like what it was like when Pope Francis was elected, what my different travels were like, and some of my favorite places in Rome.  And while those are all great questions, and I enjoy talking about them, they are not what I am really thinking about as I reflect on the semester.  And let me explain what I mean by that.  

When I think of my time in Rome, I would say the word that comes to mind most is "Encounter."  And there are three different encounters I want to focus on.  The first encounter is with the people I met in Rome.  I met quite a few people while in Rome, from an awesome seminarian from Germany to families from New York, from a Bolivian sister to multiple Cardinals.  Most notably, however, I encountered 33 other people, namely my fellow Bernardians (the people from my house).  And to put it simply, living in that community was probably one of the best parts of my time in Rome.  Living with so many incredible men and women was such a gift, and I could not imagine the semester without any single person not being there.  Living in community brought so many graces and new friendships, and through the witness of every other person in the Bernardi house, I was able to grow in holiness and knowledge of my own vocation.  While the semester was great, if I was by myself, it would not have been nearly as good as it was.  Whether it was walking an hour to station churches in the morning, going out for a meal, waiting in ridiculous Italian lines for Papal Masses, or just hanging out at Bernardi, it was so great to be able to spend quality time with the holy men and women that I lived with.  They are all incredible people and I cannot wait to see where the Lord leads each of them in their lives.  But encountering them, each of them individually, was such a gift.  It was so cool to see how the Lord worked in their lives during the semester and to learn how to pour myself out for them.  Living in the community has been one of the best examples for me of true Christian love, and I can truly say that I am a better man because of the people that I lived with during the semester. 

Bernardi Spring 2013

Secondly, I encountered the Church.  Living in Rome, the heart of the Catholic Church, it is hard not to come away with a deeper appreciation for the Church.  But I did not leave with just a deeper appreciation.  It is not like I just think "Man, while I thought the Catholic Church was cool, now I think it is super cool."  It is not like that at all.  What I mean when I say I encountered the Church is that I encountered the most beautiful thing on this Earth.  I encountered what I will give my life to as a priest.  I encountered the Catholic Church, with all of Her wisdom, tradition, history, and goodness.  And I just love Her.  She is the home of the saints.  She is the refuge of sinners here on this Earth, fighting for their salvation.  She is the hope of all persecuted.  She is the font of grace for the world.  She is my home, and most importantly, She is my Bride.  Words cannot describe the excitement and joy within my heart as I think about giving my life to the Catholic Church as a priest.  So encountering the Church, both the Church Militant, those on this Earth, like you and me, fighting for their salvation every day, and the Church Triumphant, the saints who have won the race and rejoice in Heaven eternally, was just amazing.  The Catholic Church is so beautiful, and it is truly a grace to have encountered Her in such a profound way in Rome.

Lastly, but most importantly, I encountered the person of Jesus Christ.  Before the semester, one of the seminarians said that the only reason that we should be excited about going to Rome was because Jesus was there.  We weren't going for the beautiful art, the tasty wine and pasta, or just to travel Europe.  We were going to encounter the person of Christ, and that is what I did in Rome.  Through prayer, the sacraments, the people around me, and through the Church, I encountered Christ.  And He continued to work so as to conform my heart to His.  Because that is what a priest is called to be.  A priest is a man who is conformed to Christ Crucified, so that he can pour himself out completely and be a vessel of Christ's love for the world.  And to act in the person of Christ, you have to know Him first.  So by encountering the Lord, He will further mold me into His image, so that I can be an effective minister of the mysteries of salvation for the people of God.  

So my Rome experience was all about Encounters.  Encountering people, encountering the Church, and encountering the Lord.  God truly blessed me with an amazing semester abroad and I am excited to be able to share these graces, these encounters with all of the people here back home.  God has been so good, and I cannot even begin to express to Him the gratitude for the many graces He has bestowed upon me.  So it is here that I will begin conclude my blog.  While some people have requested that I continue posting, I do not think that it would be appropriate, or very prudent, for me to maintain something like this during this stage in my formation.  So that means that I only have a captive audience for a few more sentences, so I better make this good.  First off, thank you for reading and following this.  A blog wouldn't really be much if it wasn't for the readers.  Whether you followed from the beginning, or you hopped on somewhere during the ride, it has been a joy sharing my experiences from Rome with all of you.  Thank you for putting up with some of my riduclousness, and hopefully nothing I said offended anybody too much.  I hope that I was able to provide some sort of entertainment, joy, and brightness to your life through my writings.  But more importantly, I hope that the Lord was able use some of my simple reflections and thoughts on life to move some hearts closer to His.  So again, thank you so much for all of your support, especially in the form of prayer.  Please continue to pray for me as I pursue the priesthood (I need all the help I can get!) and know of my continued prayers for all of you.  May God Bless all of you, and it has been a joy sharing this experience with all of you.  Thanks. 

In Christ, 

Jim Olofson 

Sts. Peter and Paul - Pray for Us! 

Our Lady of Guadalupe - Pray for Us!                

Sweet Home Chicago

Well after about 10 hours on a plane, I finally got home today.  We were delayed for 3.5 hours, sitting on the tarmac in Milwaukee after being diverted due to the storms.  So while it wasn't ideal, I am still home, and that is all that I really care about.  It is great to be back and I will post more later, but after a very long day of traveling, it is great to be back home in Sweet Home Chicago.  Thanks for all of the prayers!  

Soon and Very Soon

I think I may have titled one of my very first posts about leaving for Europe the same way, but alas, this is what I am going with.  Tomorrow, June 12, I will be flying back to the United States of America with Max Behna and Mike McMahon.  Ireland has been wonderful and it is kind of mind-blowing that my Rome semester is coming to an end.  The time has just flown by, but as I think back about everything that I've done, it feels like I have been here forever.  There is definitely a bit of inner tension, with the excitement of going home paired with the realization that all of this is coming to an end.  It will be so good to eat some Portillo's, be back in the Diocese of Joliet, and see my family and friends.  But at the same time, this semester has been one of the greatest experiences of my life, so seeing it end is a bit saddening.  But as usual, life must go on.  I have a lot to pray about regarding the graces of the semester and I am looking forward to unpacking my experiences throughout the course of the summer.    

So as I write this, with about 14 hours left in Europe, I just want to ask you to pray for safe travels for the 3 of us.  Also, because it is June 11, I have to send a special Birthday Shout-Out to my little sister Maggie. She's 17 today.  Kind of ridiculous, but it's true.  She's getting so old.  I hope she sees this before the end of the day, but we shall see.  So happy birthday to Maggie!  

St. Christopher - Pray for Us!        

Ireland

Well here I am in Ireland.  What a great place to be.  As I was flying here from France, my heart was filled with joy to hear English spoken.  After being in Italy where I could get by, and in France, where they don't have a real language, the awesome Irish accent just warms my heart.  Anyways, on to my adventures.  My first full day, I hopped on a bus to go up to Knock.  Knock is a shrine near Galway where Mary appeared to about 20 individuals in 1879.  Compared to Lourdes, it was so much more peaceful.  There were just a lot less people there and it was easy to get around the shrine.  I met Emma, from Bernardi, and one of her friends who came to Rome during the semester, Angie, there, and we had a great time.  Seeing the site where Mary appeared was beautiful and going to Mass in English was a joy.  Though I will say that there was one major disappointment at the Shrine.  Going there, I was very much hoping to sing one of my favorite Marian hymns, Lady of Knock.  Obviously, being at her shrine, I kind of expected it.  But alas, not once did I sing it there.  Very unfortunate.  I will admit singing it to myself many times walking around the shrine.  But here is a YouTube version of it, if you are interested.        

The next day, which happened to be my birthday, was marvelous.  And if you are reading this now and realizing that you had no idea that it was my birthday and feel even a little bit bad, please don't.  I'm quite alright with you forgetting.  And even though I was on a bus for the majority of the time, I had a great time.  I stopped in Galway for a couple of hours between buses and was able to celebrate with Emma and Angie.  They were just great, buying me lunch, a Psych pineapple, a Guinness and some candy for the rest of the ride.  Here is a compilation of pictures Emma sent me.  I really appreciated all of it.  And it was exactly what I would choose to do on my birthday: go out with some good friends and just hang out.  So that was just a great time.     

After a couple more buses, I arrived in Clonmel, the home of Eddie Cummins. Eddie is one of my cousins and it has been a joy staying with him the past 2 days.  He just turned 80 recently, but we have been having a great time together.  He is just a great man and it is good to be with him.  He has been so generous showing me around and hosting me this weekend.  Last night, we went over to Carmel's house, and Carmel is one of the coolest Irishwomen I've ever met.  Last time I was here (4th grade), she played tons of games with my sisters and I and we had a blast.  And since the day she found out that I entered the seminary, she has been praying fervently for me, which of course, I highly appreciate.  She is one of the fastest talkers I know, but will take care of anyone who comes to the door of her tiny home.  So it was just a wonderful time going over to see her.  So seeing her was probably one of the highlights of my time here in Clonmel.  Tomorrow, I will be heading off to County Kerry to hang out with Mike McMahon, Colin Jones, and Emma.  It really should be a great time.  So ya, things are great, but needless to say, I am very excited to go home Wednesday.  It will be great to see everyone again.  Thanks for your continued prayers and I will see all of you soon. 

Eddie, Carmel, and myself

St. Patrick - Pray for us!      

 

Ars and Lourdes

Well I am now writing from Ireland, and I could not be more excited to be here.  It is just so nice to be in a place where I know how to talk to people.  But because I just got here last night, I will fill you in about my other 2 stops in France before coming here.  After Paris, Max and I hopped on a train down to Ars, the home of St. John Vianney.  St. John Vianney, the patron saint of diocesan priests, is one of my favorite saints and it was such a joy to be able to spend some time in the town where he was the pastor for 41 years.  We stayed in the seminary there, which was very nice.  The town itself is very small and rural, but I really enjoyed my time there.  Max and I made our day like a retreat there, so we didn't necessarily have to hang out or do things together.  We could just go explore, relax, and pray as we wanted.  It was marvelous.  And being able to stay in the town that Vianney personally transformed was just incredible.  Going through seminary, John Vianney struggled quite a bit with academics.  Was he intelligent?  Absolutely.  Did he understand Latin?  Not so much.  But anyways, with the help of his parish priest, he finally made it to ordination.  After being ordained for a few years, he was sent to Ars, which was basically "that parish" in the diocese.  When priests were sent there, it usually wasn't a good sign.  But the bishop said to Vianney "There is not much love for God in the parish; you will bring some into it."  And as he was moving to Ars, he got lost along the way and asked a boy from the village to lead him to the city.  And then he said one of my favorite quotes of his.  "You have shown me the way to Ars.  Now I will show you the way to Heaven."  How awesome is that?  Upon arrival, he slowly started to transform the town.  The town was full of bars and nobody really cared about God at all, but slowly, the bars would close and more and more people would be coming to Mass.  Through his intense love of God, which overflowed into a great love for his people, the people came back to the Church and the sacraments.  He is renowned for his amazing gifts in the confessional, where he would often be for up to 18 hours a day.  A Day.  My parish has confession for 45 minutes a week.  Vianney heard confessions for over 100 hours a week.  That's incredible.  He was a man of intense fasting and prayer, often only eating a potato a day and only getting 2 hours of sleep.  And really, the stories only go on.  But spending time with this incredibly holy priest was such a gift.  It really inspired me to continue to pursue the priesthood and work so that when I am ordained, I can bring many souls to Jesus Christ.  John Vianney transformed his town by giving himself to Christ as a priest, and I hope to be used to by Christ to transform many parishes as well.

You have shown me the way to Ars, now I will show you the way to Heaven,

The tomb of Vianney

He is incorrupt (He hasn't really decayed since dying)

His confessional

The step going to his confessional.  Look at how worn out that is.

After a day in Ars, we hopped on a train to go down to Lourdes.  And to put it simply, Lourdes was incredible.  It is truly a grace-filled place.  Looking back on when we planned it, I have no idea how we really happened to end up in Lourdes, but I am so happy that we were there.  While we were only there for a night, it was such an incredible experience.  The basic story is that Mary appeared in a cave to a young girl named Bernadette, and said "I am the Immaculate Conception."  She also asked her to dig a bit and there was a natural source of water which Mary had Bernadette to wash herself in and and drink.  So since then, it has become a major pilgrimage site.  And easily the coolest part of my time there was the Rosary Procession Tuesday night.  Because of the power of the natural waters, thousands of people come to wash themselves in the water in hopes of healing.  So seeing literally thousands of people in wheelchairs, with someone pushing them around the procession following a beautiful statue of Mary, was just so cool to see.  To see the great faith of people there was so humbling and beautiful.  People come from all over the world just to pray in Lourdes for healing and grace.  It was so neat to see.  I wish I could put into words the feeling of that place, but I absolutely loved it.  The next day, I was able to go through the baths myself, which was a great experience.  It was cold, like really cold, but it was a neat experience, being able to pray for people in such a unique way.  Even though I was only in Lourdes for a day, it was amazing, and I know that I want to go back, and even possibly spend some time volunteering there.  I just loved Lourdes and felt a great sense of peace there.

The Grotto, where Mary appeared to Bernadette

The Basilica 

River running through the sanctuary

Well here I am in Ireland, looking forward to another great week of travels.  I head home on the 12th, but I have a lot of great things in store for me.  I am heading to Knock this afternoon, another Marian apparition site.  So please continue to pray for safe travels and I will see you back at home soon.

Sts. John Vianney and Bernadette - Pray for Us!
Our Lady of Lourdes - Pray for Us!              

Bonjour from Paris!

Well after spending a couple of days in Rome with the Joliet guys at the NAC and Bishop R. Daniel Conlon of the great Diocese of Joliet, Max and I boarded a plane Friday morning headed to France.  Our first stop was Paris and almost immediately, we realized we weren't in Rome any more.  First off, Paris is just so much more diverse than Rome.  So seeing people of different ethnic groups that you usually didn't run into in Rome kind of threw me for a loop.  Also, I am pretty sure that French isn't even a real language.  It's just a bunch of mumbles and stuff and people somehow manage to communicate with it.  While my Italian was remedial at best, being able to know what a menu says or how to ask for directions would have come in handy many times here.  Anyways, on to what we did.

Our first stop was Notre Dame.  The great Gothic Cathedral of Paris and home to the famous hunchback.  It was an incredible church and its architecture is stunning.  I think that Gothic is probably my favorite church style, so being able to be in the "proto-Gothic" church was pretty awesome.  One thing that hit me there that surprisingly didn't hit me yet this semester was how disappointing it was that so many people were there for the building itself, and did not care at all that it was a Church.  This is super prevalent in Rome, but it never really occurred to me there.  But here, that is all I could think about in that church.  Because if we believe that a Church is God's dwelling place, His house, which we do believe, then I feel like it would be good to say Hi to the homeowner sometime during the tour.  It is like being let into one of the greatest houses of all time, and even seeing the owner, but only taking a picture of him, not even thinking about going over or even just waving hello.  So while it was a cool church, I just wish that it was more of a church than a big tourist trap.  Anyways, after Notre Dame, we headed over to Sainte Chappelle.  now if you have seen the Catholicism Series by Fr. Robert Barron, you have seen Sainte Chappelle.  Sainte Chappelle is the church with the magnificent stained glass windows featured in the opening sequence.  Again, absolutely gorgeous, but now the chapel is owned by the government.  That means that it won't ever function as a church ever again and it is there purely for artistic worth.  So this art, which was originally meant to draw people's minds and hearts to God during prayer, is now used to make some cash for the French government.  Lame.  Alas, that is the way it is.

Notre Dame

Inside Notre Dame

Sainte Chappelle (Don't mind the window restoration stuff)

Our only full day in Paris was packed.  We started off with some fresh fruit and croissants for breakfast.  Super tasty.  Then we headed to the Shrine of the Miraculous Medal, the church that St. Catherine Laboure received the visions the Miraculous Medal from Mary.  I have a big devotion to the Miraculous Medal and have been wearing one everyday for about 3 years now, so it was cool to be able to visit the church where it all started.  Within the church, there was a large statue of Mary as she appeared on the medal and also the tombs of St. Catherine Laboure and St. Louise de Merillac.  I was baptized at St. Louise de Merillac Parish in Brookfield, so it was cool to see her as well.  After that church, we went around the corner to see St. Vincent De Paul, who is one of my favorite saints.  We prayed there for a while and then went over to the Eiffel Tower.  Seeing that was nice I guess, but again, it is kind of like "Well. there it is.  Let's take a picture and move along."  And then we walked over to the Arc di Triumph and down the Champs Ulysses.  We waved to the Louvre, after seeing way too much art this past semester in art class, continued on our way.  That night, we went to a Mozart and Bach concert in Sainte Chappelle, which was incredible.  Awesome music in an awesome setting.  Gotta love it.

St. Louise de Marillac

Miraculous Medal Sanctuary

St. Catherine Laboure (Yes, she is wearing the flying nun habit, it is a real thing)

Church of St. Vincent De Paul.  Tomb is above the altar

Eiffel Tower!  Yeahhhhhh 

Ryan came with too!  

Arc di Triumph

Tomorrow, we head to Sacre Coeur, the church in Paris dedicated to the Sacred Heart.  They have had perpetual adoration there in that church continuously for over 131 years, including when Paris was getting bombed during the World Wars.  Pretty awesome.  And then tomorrow afternoon, we are heading down to Ars, the home of one of my patrons, St. John Vianney.  He is an incredible priest so I will have to fill you in after my time there.  Please continue pray for us as we travel Europe!

St. Vincent De Paul and St. John Vianney - Pray for Us!