Deadlines, Headlines, and the Finish Line

Alright.  I confess.  I am not very good with deadlines, even self-imposed ones.  If you’ve been reading this blog for the past few weeks you know that I’ve been late in getting a new post up on more than one occasion already and sadly this week continues that trend.

I have always been a bit of a procrastinator.  I can remember being in elementary school and knowing that I had a book report due in 2 weeks and yet waiting until two days before it was due to begin reading the book.  Then, I still had to write the report!

I know that I need to grow in this area, and hopefully over the next four years I will make some progress (unless of course I put this off!).  I already have nightmares that, God willing, upon ordination my parishioners will find notes in the first few Sunday bulletins saying something to the effect of “Sorry, but my bulletin comments weren’t ready by the time that we needed to get this bulletin to the printer.  But, if you stop by the parish sometime later this week I’ll be more than happy to give you a copy…of my reflections from 3 weeks ago which I have just finished.”  Somehow, I don’t think that most people would be too forgiving with their priest doing this.

So, please pray that I might grow in this area, especially by 2013.

On a different note, this week marks the last week of “official” Italian language school.  Granted, my theology classes, which begin in 2 weeks, will be in Italian and so in one sense Italian school is just beginning for me, but nevertheless it will be nice to end the 4-hour long Italian grammar marathon classes.

Just to recap, for the past 3 weeks all of us new men have had Italian classes each morning from 8:30am to 1:00pm, with a 30-minute coffee break/nap dividing the two 2-hour long sessions.  Although my teacher has been wonderful to learn from it is still difficult to do anything for 4 hours, yet alone foreign grammar drills.  So, as you can probably imagine, I am quite grateful that the finish line is in sight.

The other challenge that I have found with learning Italian over these past 7 weeks is the fact that many of the things that we must discuss (at the request of the textbooks or the programs) in order to learn it are often things that I am not the most interested in.  I am ready to start learning theology and some more philosophy—subjects that touch upon the deepest questions about our humanity, existence, God, the world, etc.  These things interest me.  Headlines about George Clooney or stories about 40-year-old Italian men who live at home with their mothers and don’t do their laundry aren’t exactly topics that I want to exert much mental energy discussing.

And so, although I realize that perhaps this is a necessary evil in learning a new language (it seems that you do have to learn the basics before you can start talking about the essence of the human person or some other technical philosophical/theological topic) I still don’t like it.  Perhaps someday I can re-write an Italian language program for English speakers with bypasses some of these mundane topics.  But, I suppose that means that I must first learn Italian well.  But, seeing how I am thinking about putting that off for awhile…

A few more unrelated notes:

1.  Once again I don’t have any pictures.  I thought about taking a few just to put on here, but I didn’t want to turn my blog into an Italian tourism blog.  So, I thought that I’d just wait until I have some actual ones.  I hope that you don’t mind.  If you do, I’m sorry!

2.  Diaconate ordinations are quickly approaching.  Please keep Dave Carrano and Greg Ihm in your prayers as they prepare for this joyous occasion.

3.  With these ordinations many people from Madison and the state will be coming to Roma.  I really look forward to seeing a lot of good friends, especially because they have promised to bring over some ever-elusive American exports—i.e., peanut butter, Gatorade, etc.

4.  The other night I went for a walk with a classmate in front of St. Peter’s Basilica at night.  It’s absolutely beautiful.  I still can’t get over the fact that the Vatican is in my backyard.  The Lord’s generosity cannot be outdone!

5.  Lastly, we had an American feast this past Saturday night: fried chicken, loaded baked potatoes, baked beans, Coke, banana splits, etc..  It’s amazing how something so simple as a meal without pasta can warm the an American seminarian’s heart.  I have never been so thankful to the Lord for fried chicken in my entire life. 

With my prayers,

Scott