Monday, November 05, 2007

Catholic Teens 11-6-07

Hey All—

Phil Kosloski, seminarian for the Diocese of LaCrosse, was privileged to serve Mass for Pope Benedict XVI yesterday. How cool is that?!

He sent out a description of the experience…and I think it’s worth reading. It’s reproduced below:

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Greetings in Christ!Well, I served for the Pope today!! The Mass was for the deceased Cardinalsof the past year, so not only was the Pope there, but all of the Cardinalsin the area were also there. On the other hand it was a much smaller Massthan usual in St. Peter's as it was not open to the general public and itwas at the Altar of the Chair(however, our classmates were able to attendand were pretty close). About 2,000 were in attendence.The 10 of us seminarians here in Rome from SJV were the only servers today,so we all got some job of importance. My job was with the incense and I hadthe boat with the incense (while John Norman had the thurbile with thecharcoals).A couple of Monsignors were the MCs and directed us before Mass on what todo. One of them was American and helped one half of us, while MonsignorStefano, who knows very little English, told us what to do. It actuallywent quite smoothly after a few practice runs before Mass. During Massthere were no major mistakes that anyone could notice, so it went well.Before Mass, we all were waiting in this one room off to the side, and thenwe realised, with the vestments laid out, that this was the Pope's vestryand he was going to come in. So he walked in (he is quite short) and hisfirst thing was to put incense in the thurible, so I needed to open the boatand he then spooned out the incense and then we left. During Mass, I had tokneel down immediately before the Holy Father at one point before theGospel, where he put more incense in the thurible. And then again I had tocome right up next to him at the altar where he did the same. During theconsecration, we all were in front of the altar and myself and John weredirectly in front of the Pope's view, watching him the whole time of theEucharistic Prayer. Then finally we all recieved Holy Communion from the
Holy Father.I have posted some pictures below on my flickr account which our fellowstudents took of us during Mass. There were also professional photographerstaking pictures which we can order, and also a DVD which we can buy. Thatwill be later on, however.http://www.flickr.com/photos/pakosloski/<http://www.flickr.com/photos/pakosloski/>Also, you can check out the official photos on: http://www.fotografiafelici.it/<http://www.fotografiafelici.it/>After Mass, a few of the guys who were serving got the chance to be in thevestry where the Pope took of his vestments. He then turned to them andasked them why they were in Rome (in English). The four guys were dumbstruck that the Pope talked to them, but eventually stammered out that weare studying for a semester here in Rome. Then they got the chance to kisshis ring.Wow, what a day!!!!!Pax Christi,Phil



November is the month where the Church remembers and prays for our deceased in a special way. Our college-age DTS group will be reading off the names of those who have died amongst our family, friends, and parish this Thursday evening during our meeting---offering our prayers for them. If you have anyone you would like to have remembered/prayed for, feel free to email them to me and they will be included Thursday night.


==================================================Intentions:
-For all our diocesan seminarians.
-For Fr. Al Jakubowski and St. Stanislaus parish as he recovers his health.
-For the students who have recently been confirmed.
-For young people to be open to God’s Call in their lives.
-For peace in the world and an end to terrorism.
-For all the other intentions you hold in your hearts, we pray to the Lord.
Lord, hear our prayer.



Announcements:

Wednesday, Nov. 14th—6:30PM @ St. Peter’s Middle School. Jeff Leslie, youth minister at St. Bronislava will be here talking about some of the awesome opportunities for Catholic teens this summer. Come check it out!

March for Life Pilgrimage to DC: Januauary 19th-23rd. Sr. Stephania is again helping lead pilgrims from the Diocese of LaCrosse to stand up for life! Check out the Diocese of La Crosse Website for more info:
http://www.dioceseoflacrosse.com/March%204%20Life%20info.htm

Having gone two times in the past, I can say it’s an unforgettable experience!


Vocations: Come & See Days for girls in Grades 7-10 at Mater Redemptoris Convent in LaCrosse (awesome group of sisters!) Nov. 30th-Dec. 2nd. For info contact Sr. Stephania at snewell@dioceseoflacrosse.com


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God bless you!
Phil Lawson

For more information on St. Peters check out the parish website: http://www.saintpetercatholic.com/

Catholic Teens is a weekly email from Phil Lawson to Catholic Teenagers. To receive these weekly reflections, send an email to lawsphil@gmail.com. On the other hand, if you’d like to be removed from this list, please send an email indicating that.

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