{"id":84879,"date":"2015-03-26T07:00:18","date_gmt":"2015-03-26T14:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=84879"},"modified":"2019-11-22T10:40:25","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T18:40:25","slug":"ten-years-catholic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/ten-years-catholic\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Years Catholic"},"content":{"rendered":"

T<\/span>en years ago today, on the night of the 26th of March 2005, I was baptized into the Church at the great Vigil of Easter. I used to think that it was a rare thing that one could point to a specific day, a specific moment, and say with certainty, “that’s it; that’s when everything changed”.<\/p>\n

As it turns out, that’s not really true. Our whole life is filled with those moments.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>

The only photo I have of my Baptism.<\/p><\/div>\n

Ten years ago this morning, my thoughts were of silence and community<\/a>. Interestingly, I used the metaphor of a road, of the Way.<\/p>\n

T<\/span>hey are, each of them, on their own road, their own interior road. In a sense, it\u2019s the same road. There is only one road, after all, but each traveller is veiled from the other by their own silence.<\/p>\n

How can one describe the road? I\u2019ve tried. You can\u2019t. The road that can be described is not the eternal road.<\/p>\n

That God, He\u2019s a tricky one.<\/p>\n

Like Pilate, we are each of us looking for Truth. God is veiled from us, but the veil, I think, is the one we put over our own eyes.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It turns out that God is even trickier than I thought. Who could have guessed, reading those words, that eight years later I would walk the Camino de Santiago<\/a> – the Way of Saint James – and that it would be one of the most profound events of my life?<\/p>\n

One of the pilgrim sayings current on the Camino is that “everybody is walking their own Camino”. The sense of it is similar to what I wrote back before my Baptism. Everybody’s heading for the same place, but their motivations and experiences are theirs alone.<\/p>\n

The genius of the Camino is that it’s a very intense physical, mental, and spiritual journey that becomes an obvious metaphor for one’s pilgrimage on earth. You might come as a pilgrim, but you might just as easily come as a hiker, a tourist, a vagabond. By whatever interior Way we walk, we all become pilgrims in the end.<\/p>\n

\"At<\/a>

At the start of my pilgrimage<\/p><\/div>\n

Here is what I wrote in my journal<\/a> the day I arrived in Santiago:<\/p>\n

E<\/span>verybody walks the Way for different reasons. I walked with Christians, with Atheists, with those seeking wisdom or answers or direction, and with those just out for a nice long hike.<\/p>\n

At different points of the Way, I suppose everybody finds some answers, but these inevitably lead to more questions. At least for me.<\/p>\n

I had prayer intentions for the pilgrimage, but mostly I was there seeking a certain spiritual clarity that typically eludes me in the bustle and busyness of the modern working world.<\/p>\n

By the time we got to the end, I had learned quite a bit, and I\u2019m still unpacking the experience. I remember sitting in the crypt, kneeling in front of the tomb of Saint James the Apostle and asking, \u201cnow what?\u201d<\/p>\n

The pilgrimage was over, the Way was walked. What now? I had finished the Way, and I was already missing it.<\/p>\n

Apparently, God decided that He wasn\u2019t going to be subtle this time.<\/p>\n

We went to the Pilgrims\u2019 Mass at the Cathedral. This is the feast of two more Apostles, Saints Philip and James the Less. The Gospel reading<\/a> for this Mass is from the fourteenth chapter of Saint John\u2019s Gospel. It begins:<\/p>\n

\n

Jesus said to Thomas, I am the way and the truth and the life.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Sure, you say, \u201cthat\u2019s just a coincidence, the reading mentioning \u2018Thomas\u2019 and \u2018Way\u2019 on the day you just happen to end your pilgrimage, Thom\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"Cross<\/a>Right.<\/p>\n

I may be a little thick, but I know the Voice of God when I hear it. Usually.<\/p>\n

The Way isn\u2019t done \u2013 the Way continues forever. The Way isn\u2019t just a walk, the Way is Christ<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Now that I\u2019ve finished the Way to Santiago, my call is to continue walking with Christ, the Way and the Truth and the Life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"Roaring!\"<\/a>Of course, I did not make this journey alone. At each step, my lovely bride Francine was beside me.<\/p>\n

We married on 25 January 2008, the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul. Another moment when everything changed, celebrated on a day when everything changed.<\/p>\n

I certainly could not have done this without her. Together we discovered the depth and wonders of the Catholic faith and the Catholic life. We came to it with fresh eyes.<\/p>\n

My experience was a long wandering road<\/a> from disbelief through various religious traditions.<\/p>\n

Her experience was of growing up in the faith and leaving it for Orthodox Judaism, of meandering from there until at last she and I were drawn by the Blessed Virgin – on the Feast of her Assumption – into our neighbourhood parish church of Saint Patrick.<\/p>\n

\"Hikers\"<\/a>Together, we became Benedictine Oblates<\/a>. More moments that changed everything.<\/p>\n

Together we built a life and a home we call Pistachio House<\/a>. At one time or another, each of our four children – Tristan and Victoria, Sam and Michaela – have come to live there for a while. Currently, it’s also home to our nephew Jason.<\/p>\n

Together Francine and I walked the Camino – and God willing we will walk it again – but even in the quiet of the ordinary, everyday parts of our lives, we have done our best to share our Benedictine charisms of hospitality, of prayer and work, with each other and with all those we meet.<\/p>\n

Through these ten years, our family has experienced sorrow<\/a> to be sure, but also joy in an abundance that continues to amaze me.<\/p>\n

\"Early<\/a><\/p>\n

I know it shouldn’t, but it continually surprises me.<\/p>\n

\"Holy<\/a>

Holy Rosary<\/a> Altar Servers for the Noon Mass of the Epiphany, 2015<\/p><\/div>\n

In this past decade, Francine and I have served our parish and the people of God as best we could.<\/p>\n

In the Church my love of God has led me to a great love of the liturgy<\/a> – to the point where I am serving as an Altar Server trainer and MC for my parish – and of a devotion to the Divine Mercy<\/a> and to the Divine Office<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These forms of prayer, together with my lectio<\/em>, are the things that spiritually nourish me on a daily basis.<\/p>\n

And who would have thought that in less than seven years I would go from attending RCIA <\/a>to teaching it?<\/p>\n

For that matter, who could possibly guess that less than two weeks after my baptism I would be kneeling in the rain at the funeral of a saint<\/a>?<\/p>\n

I am so grateful. I am so absurdly grateful to God for the life He has seen fit to give me, for my faith, for my wife, for my family, for my friends, for our parish and our pastor, in prosperity and in poverty both.<\/p>\n

I don’t know what surprises He has in store for me for the next ten years, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: when He asks, the answer is yes<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n

W<\/span>hat, dearest brethren, can be sweeter to us than this voice of the Lord inviting us? See, in His loving kindness, the Lord showeth us the way of life. Therefore, having our loins girt with faith and the performance of good works, let us walk His ways under the guidance of the Gospel, that we may be found worthy of seeing Him who hath called us to His kingdom.<\/p>\n

(Rule <\/em>of Saint Benedict<\/a>, Prologue)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ten years ago today, on the night of the 26th of March 2005, I was baptized into the Church at the great Vigil of Easter. I used to think that it was a rare thing that one could point to a specific day, a specific moment, and say with certainty, “that’s it; that’s when everything changed”. As it turns out, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":70780,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[40,24,9,8,90,15,3,49,53,102,20,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-camino","category-community","category-family","category-francine-my-love","category-holy-rosary-parish-tacoma","category-meditations","category-moments-in-time","category-ocia","category-pope-saint-john-paul-ii","category-saint-patrick-parish-in-tacoma","category-silence","category-vocation"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/At-the-Start.jpg?fit=478%2C640&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-m51","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":108292,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/ten-years-of-altar-server-formation\/","url_meta":{"origin":84879,"position":0},"title":"Ten Years of Altar Server Formation","author":"Thom","date":"30 January 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"years ago today, after about a year of ramp-up, we definitively rebooted the altar server program at my old parish of Holy Rosary. This was the genesis of our training manual, and it was when I developed my own particular method of training, developing, and forming servers. I don't know\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Bishop Peter J. Elliott"","block_context":{"text":"Bishop Peter J. Elliott","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/bishop-peter-j-elliott\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2018-06-22-08.01.20-1-scaled.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2018-06-22-08.01.20-1-scaled.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2018-06-22-08.01.20-1-scaled.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/2018-06-22-08.01.20-1-scaled.jpg?fit=900%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":106373,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/a-corpus-christi-invitation-to-holy-rosary-parishioners\/","url_meta":{"origin":84879,"position":1},"title":"A Corpus Christi Invitation to Holy Rosary Parishioners","author":"Thom","date":"21 May 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"brothers and sisters in Christ, It is now more than ten months since our last parish Mass was celebrated in our parking lot by Archbishop Etienne. Several months ago, the Archbishop announced that the four parishes of Holy Rosary, Saint Ann, Saint Rita, and Visitation would be merging into a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2021 Transitions in Tacoma"","block_context":{"text":"2021 Transitions in Tacoma","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/2021-transitions-in-tacoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/cc01-by-Emily-Gossard.png?fit=825%2C551&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/cc01-by-Emily-Gossard.png?fit=825%2C551&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/cc01-by-Emily-Gossard.png?fit=825%2C551&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/cc01-by-Emily-Gossard.png?fit=825%2C551&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":87187,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/eucharistic-procession-through-the-streets-of-tacoma\/","url_meta":{"origin":84879,"position":2},"title":"Eucharistic Procession through the Streets of Tacoma","author":"Thom","date":"23 May 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This coming Sunday my parish will participate in an outdoor Procession of the Blessed Sacrament following the Noon Mass. The Masses that weekend will be celebrated Ad Orientem. This will be the fourth year we've taken Jesus through the streets of Tacoma and amongst His people. If you are anywhere\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2015 transitions - Holy Rosary \/ St. Joseph"","block_context":{"text":"2015 transitions - Holy Rosary \/ St. Joseph","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/holy-rosary-st-joseph-transition\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"A Medieval Eurcharistic Procession","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/corpus-christi-procession.jpg?fit=1154%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/corpus-christi-procession.jpg?fit=1154%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/corpus-christi-procession.jpg?fit=1154%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/corpus-christi-procession.jpg?fit=1154%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/corpus-christi-procession.jpg?fit=1154%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":85235,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/corpus-christi-mass-and-procession\/","url_meta":{"origin":84879,"position":3},"title":"Corpus Christi Mass and Procession","author":"Thom","date":"01 June 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This coming Sunday my parish will participate in an outdoor Procession of the Blessed Sacrament following the Noon Mass. The Masses that day will be celebrated Ad Orientem. This will be the third year we've taken Jesus through the streets of Tacoma and amongst His people. If you are anywhere\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "community"","block_context":{"text":"community","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Corpus Christi 2013","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/100_0079.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":87766,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/quasquicentennial-news-roundup\/","url_meta":{"origin":84879,"position":4},"title":"Quasquicentennial News Roundup","author":"Thom","date":"19 October 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, our local newspaper the Tacoma News Tribune, ran this photo in their \"Looking Back\" section. I have reproduced the caption exactly as it appeared in today's paper. Note the snarky tone when referring to the Altar Boys. Not to mention the use of \"processional\" as a noun. Oh,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "community"","block_context":{"text":"community","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/community\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/HR_1941OCT19GoldenAnnv.jpg?fit=1033%2C820&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/HR_1941OCT19GoldenAnnv.jpg?fit=1033%2C820&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/HR_1941OCT19GoldenAnnv.jpg?fit=1033%2C820&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/10\/HR_1941OCT19GoldenAnnv.jpg?fit=1033%2C820&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":85847,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/notes-on-the-transitions-number-10-in-a-series\/","url_meta":{"origin":84879,"position":5},"title":"Notes on the Transitions, Number 10 in a Series","author":"Thom","date":"12 September 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Some fairly hefty information for the Tacoma parish changes at Holy Rosary, Visitation, and Saint Joseph, so let's dive right in, shall we? Saint Joseph The incoming pastor, Rev. Michael Stinson, FSSP, preached at this evening's Mass at Saint Joseph. He will likewise preach at the 10:00 Sunday Mass tomorrow.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2015 transitions - Holy Rosary \/ St. Joseph"","block_context":{"text":"2015 transitions - Holy Rosary \/ St. Joseph","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/holy-rosary-st-joseph-transition\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/Rev-Michael-Stinson-FSSP.png?fit=415%2C534&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84879"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100408,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84879\/revisions\/100408"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/70780"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}