Meet a Monk
TET Celebration
As the sign indicates below, “TET” is the Vietnamese New Year. We had a fun celebration on Wednesday afternoon. The celebration kicked off with a bunch of loud fireworks that were strung up in front of St. Maur Hall. Afterwards, everyone enjoyed some delicious Vietnamese food. There was plenty to go around! This event was…
Seminary Basketball
Conception Seminary College’s basketball team played in the annual seminary basketball tournament at Mundelein (near Chicago). Last year they finished 3rd overall, but they lost some key players who had graduated. This year the team won one game and lost two. The more important part was the quality time they enjoyed together and growing in friendship. Dangerous winter…
February Welcomed with Lots of Snow
The snow continues to fall. It started Saturday afternoon, and the heavy and damp snow now coats the trees and covers campus. The snow plows are out working in full force to clear our parking lots. I’m hoping to make it safely to my pastoral assignments!
Support Our Seminarians Dinner
It was a successful evening in Kansas City, at the 22nd Annual Support Our Seminarians (SOS) event. The proceeds from the dinner and auction benefit Conception Seminary College and the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas and Kansas City-St. Joseph. Conception Abbey’s baked good (“Abbey Oven”) were on sale during the event- bread, cookies, and…
Moving Right Along
After the extensive demolition of the monastery, the renovation seems to be going smoothly. The contractor says that we should still be ready for a July 1, 2015 move in date. Within the next month, the monks will pick out their rooms based on seniority. I am still in favor of having some kind of…
March for Life
Fr. Samuel and I, along with 10 seminarians from Conception Seminary flew to Washington D.C. for March for Life. It was a day of many blessings as we prayed and witnessed for the dignity of life. I was grateful to cross paths with seminary classmates and good friends from Sts. John and Paul parish in…
Monk’s Hobby
I am starting a new video series to focus on different monks and their hobbies. The written version in Tower Topics is called “By the Work of their Hands.” In this first video, Br. Etienne talks about his enjoyment of digital photography.
Sunset Time Lapse
This weekend we welcomed 30 guests for a “Discernment” retreat. Men and women of all ages and different backgrounds were here to discern God’s will in their lives. I was co-leader of the retreat along with Karen Ceckowski, who works in our Abbey Guest Center. I have to admit that I was a little nervous…
Onward, Renovation!
Here are a few updates from the monastery renovation project over the past couple of weeks. The monastery renovation is on time and should be completed May/June 2015. Above: Workers brought in a large crane to left some of the heating and cooling equipment (don’t ask me exactly what it is). Above: West side of the…