I'm sure you don't need a reminder... but I thought I'd offer some encouragement.
Lent is a time of renewal, and a time during which many graces are poured out upon those souls who are open to them. The sacrifices and 'giving up' of something are not to be understood in a negative light—rather, you are giving praise to God and showing him that you are His. Lent is a time for humility and prayer.
Try to spend a few minutes in prayer in your day that you would normally waste doing something insignificant. Say a decade of the rosary for the unborn or for another worthy cause. In all that you do, remember that Christ has died for us, and that we should strive to deepen our faith in Him through acts of charity, penance and prayer.
Abstinence from meats is to be observed by all Catholics 14 years old and older on Ash Wednesday and on all the Fridays of Lent.
Fasting is to be observed on Ash Wednesday by all Catholics who are 18 years of age but not yet 59. Those who are bound by this may take only one full meal. Two smaller meals are permitted if necessary to maintain strength according to one’s needs, but eating solid foods between meals is not permitted.
The special paschal fast and abstinence are prescribed for Good Friday and encouraged for Holy Saturday.
In the spirit of Lent, the faithful will not lightly excuse themselves from these obligations.
Last week, there was a partly cloudy day that offered a beautiful sky against which I shot a few pictures of the Seminary's tower with my digital camera. Using some techniques I've picked up on from Shutterbug magazine and other sources, I converted the image to sepia using Adobe Photoshop. I thought I'd share the image with you (it's one of my favorite pictures that I've ever taken!):
I think it is awesome to live in a beautiful building that is now more than seventy years old. Our Seminary's main chapel is also very picturesque, offering a simplicity that draws the eye immediately towards the sanctuary and Tabernacle. See pictures of it on my Seminary Website Pictures page.
As I promised earlier, I will tell you more about Couch Potatoes. I have posted pictures from Saturday Night's show (pictures taken by my father—thanks, Dad!), in addition to the ones from Friday night.
Every showing (one on Friday night, two on Saturday) had something new in store for the audience, and I liked it that way. Each night, the acts would have minor variations—not necessarily making them better or worse, but making them different. This made watching the show three times (or, in my case, listening—I was the sound mixer) enjoyable.
There was a great sampling of dance, music and dialogue. We had an act with a tap dancer, an act with glow-in-the-dark juggling, two musical acts (a bluegrass band and the Priestie Boyz), and many very humorous acts with a blend of dialogue, music and fun. One of my favorites (I'm still laughing when I simply hear the recording) was the 'I've Come to Marry the Princess' routine that was performed very well by two of our theologians. Another skit that was quite humorous was 'Chorus Stultorum,' in which a group of seminarians sang lyrics from popular oldies to chant tones (a feature song was 'Jailhouse Rock'!).
Technically, I had a slip up here and there each night with the sound (a microphone unplugged, power accidentally switched off for a few moments, a moment of feedback), but nothing too noticable... (although I do think I gave the crowd a scare during that moment of feedback!). This year, Kenrick Light and Magic (our 'tech crew' of sorts) has a new logo, modeled slightly after Industrial Light and Magic's logo:
In my opinion, the Variety Show is a wonderful way for the whole Seminary community to come together and to invite people from outside the Seminary to come in and visit (in addition to our annual Open House, our monthly Solemn Evening Prayer, and a few other events).
A link to this video was sent to me today, and, at the last part of the video, I had to ask myself, "Is that really a fake? It looks so much like a Microsoft product!" Microsoft has some of the most cluttered product packaging designs in the industry; look at the Windows XP SP2 retail packaging, if you need an example. The video is quite humorous, if you have about three minutes to spare.
