After the celebration of Pentecost this morning I went home, tossed my bags and paraphenalia into the back of the Tahoe and took off down the road for my godfather's house. This is the first deacon class that has had a godfather/godson combo in formation. We arrived at 5:15. There was a note on the door of the seminary telling us our room assignments. We unpacked our stuff and settled in.

Shortly thereafter, Fr. John announced that there would be a quick tour of the facility before dinner. We were shown the various rooms, our classrooms, the recreation and dining area, and the lounge (i.e., man cave).

Dinner was at 6:00. At 7:30 we went to classroom 2 and received our calendars and work assignments for the week. Classes start at 9:00 in the morning and go till 9 at night with breaks in between. I probably won't be much on the computer.

There are 20 men in the class. They come from all imaginable backgrounds. We each got three minutes to intoduce ourselves and give a bit of our personal story.

I will be having papers to do throughout the year. Lots to learn. First class is 9:00 tomorrow. Development of Spirituality. It is being taught by a priest I haven't seen in 4 years -- Fr. Damon. He used to fill in for us at St. Ann's when Fr. Mike was sick. He is a convert from Lutheranism and a Melkite priest. I know I am going to enjoy his class.

I'm excited but nervous. The men here strike me as being very bright and knowing a great deal about the faith that I need to learn. I still have fears that I'm not good enough for this, yet I believe I am called to it by everything amazing that happened to make this even possible.

I think this is going to deepen my prayer life -- as in "HELP!!!"

I'd like to write a book about my experiences over the next four years.

Have to get some sleep. We start early tomorrow.

Brother Ed

Our first class was on Introduction to Spirituality. I have met an old friend here, Fr. Damon Geiger, who is a Melkite priest and who used to come up to Harrisburg from Baltimore to celebrat Liturgy for us when +Fr. Mike was dying of cancer. I had become very fond of him and it was a joyous occassion to see him again.

During the class, which Fr. Damon taught this morning, I remembered what I really liked about him. He is a very quick wit and a great teacher. The class was understandable, which was a relief to me. The concepts are very interesting, but most of all interesting is the direction that they are going in -- they are teaching us that when we are ordained, we are to remember and act in the paradigm that we are Eastern Christians and not Western. There are some differences. As Fr. Damon said in class a couple of times "That does not mean that the West is wrong. They just have a different view on things." We have different approach to the Gospel in a couple of areas, and it is important that we as students understand this.

This afternoon's class is on introduction to theology. I'm getting know my classmates and we have had some great discussions. I'm sure the Church will be richer when these men are ordained down the road.

Brother Ed

Thank you, Brother Gherkin!

Just taking a second after lunch here the second day. 21 men in class. It's a great class. Lots of great insights. My favorite class right now is INTRODUCTION TO SPIRITUALITY. My worst is INTRODUCTION TO THEOLOGY. I've only had one class and I fell asleep twice last night. When I looked around, I saw a couple of other men having the same problem. It was a pretty dry and dusty class. Hopefully it will be better tomorrow.

Last night we had deacon practice, i.e., we learned in practicum how to DO the various things that are involved at the altar. The office of deacon in the Byzantine Liturgy is far more complicated than in the West. The deacon actually does about 30% of the Liturgy, including all the litanies.

We are due to get class pictures taken at 1:15.

I have 9 papers to write throughout the next year, the first being due on August 29th. I'm going to be a busy guy for the next four years. I realized this morning that this is really a college education at distance.

Brother Ed

Tommorow will be the last full day of studies. Truly life is "but a vapor that appears in the morning and quickly disappears" as the scriptures say.

I have really learned a lot in my studies. I have made some wonderful friendships here with the 20 other men who are studying with me. I know we will be praying for each other throughout these four years.

I'll have a pictorial available in a bit. We'll be leaving Saturday afternoon and there is a TON of stuff waiting at the house for me, no doubt!!! I have 9 papers to write, one every other month, until May of next year, then the classes again in June.

Some few interesting little tidbits about the last two weeks:

1. Wide range of men here from age 27 to age 63. Many different types of vocations also, including a couple of retired men.

2. I am the only one here without a college education, yet I feel that I have held my own, especially in the class on the human person, which uses Metropolitan Ziziulous book on the human person. This was the textbook that gave me the most concern, yet it is the class that I feel I have learned the most in. Go figure.

3. The food here has been great.

4. I haven't gotten a good night's sleep since getting here. I've been told that it is because my brain is so jazzed up with information. I find myself waking up 6 or 7 times a night. The only night I didn't was the night I was talked into playing basketball with the guys and wore myself out. I was out like a light in 5 minutes of hitting the bed.

5. A couple of the guys go for a walk every morning. 2.5 miles through a park that is near the seminary. Very beautiful. I've gone with them twice and it's a nice way to start the day.

This has been a real positive experience. I have to go through the evaluation of the psychological exams I took. I'll be doing that after I get home. That is probably my last hurdle outside of applying myself to studying.

You know, I never realized that deacon is a clergy position until I got here.

Thanks for all your prayers.

Brother Ed

Umm, I take it you've never assisted at a Solemn Mass in the traditional Rite?

Maybe you and some of your classmates could hop on down to Philly on August 15?

True, dat.

I've only seen the Novus Ordo.