With the Christmas Season finished and the first week of Ordinary Time underway, we've reached the halfway point of our Canonical Year. To see the difference of summer from when we first arrived is a start reality of how much time I've been here. With all the land that we have here at the Novitiate to plow and shovel, the frigid cold and the burden of snow is a stark reminder that our time here is not all fun and games.

For some, there is the desire to start marking off the days until Novitiate is done...similar to how someone might count the days until they're released from prison. Perhaps there exists some level of anxiety that parallels these two experiences. For me, there are times I just want to get home.

What is unique and telling about my life in discernment and formation is that "home" means something very different. For me, "going home" is about getting back to my province in the Mid-West, getting settled into the post-novitiate house in Chicago, and starting work on studies and specific ministries. The experience of working in the car business - spending long hours at work, putting in extra time to complete a task, etc. - is an example of who I am. I'm excited about working again (be it school work or ministry); I think I've started to find the balance from my old "Work Hard, Play Hard" mentality.

I certainly don't want to diminish the growth and prayerful experience I've had in these first six months (8, if you count the two months spent in Victoria, KS). I've read more about prayer, theology, spirituality, papal documents, Canon Law, etc. than I ever thought I would. The benefit of having the time to process all these different things as well as having the support and feedback of numerous friars is an experience that I can't truly convey in a single post. Six months into this life, and I realize that I will never have another year like this in my life.

So while I had a "Countdown Till Postulancy" years ago on my blog, I won't be counting the days until First Profession. I realize that this time is precious (even if I miss being away from my family, friends, and my province) and the best thing I can do as an aspiring friar is to soak in everything, learn all I possibly can, and keep praying for my and my brothers' vocations.

And in the meantime, we'll find new ways to deal with all the snow.

My presence has been light on the internet these days as we prepare for Christmas this Advent. For all of us, spending time away from home can be a tough challenge, and so we've learned to adapt to this holiday this year.

The Australian novices have had a wonderful time here in the states with the recent snow here in Pittsburgh. The first big snow was a wonderful time - a change from someone like me who's so used to snow, that I only see it as a nuisance. Having the Australians here allows us to reconnect with our own sense of wonder, whether its the snow or a large display of The Chipmunks when we went to see Avatar.

(left to right) Nate, Quan, John, and myself

Christmas can be a tough time, especially for some of the guys here who've never spent the holidays away from family before. An ex-car salesman like me has spent plenty of holidays doing things instead of being with family. Some of the guys haven't been away from home for extended periods of time, and sometimes you can see it on their face. Please keep these guys in your prayers.

For the most part it has been a joyous Advent as we prepare for Christmas. While there were won't be a liturgy of Eucharist here, I am doing the music for Mass at the local retirement community I minister to on Fridays. I'm not the best singer, nor do I claim to be the best Music Director, but the Pastoral Director there is excited about having music for the Feast of the Nativity.

Christmas Day I will have the Homily from my provincial, John Celichowski, posted online.

From our Novitiate house to yours, may you all have a wonderful holiday season.

Peace,
-Vito

Novice Br. Rich Rienhardt viewing a light display in Hardwood Acres.

An incident here at Noviciate has been the need for three Australian Novice to return home as they awaited the U.S. Immigration Department to process their religious worker visa. While the issue of getting their visas has gone on for well over 6 months, I (and others) thought it was best not to discuss the incident in any public forum...for reasons I can now talk about.

Jude, Kieran, and Jude are the three novices from the Australian Province of the Capuchin Franciscans (pictured here with Fr. Carmel Flora). They are great guys and add color to our community here. The only problem was their immigration status here in the U.S., a source for concern not just for them, but for the rest of us as we grew closer to them.

For reasons we can only guess at, this year has been especially difficult for people to attain a visa to be in the United States. Even their status as "R" (temporary religious worker) was being held up in their attempt to get their visa's for the combined formation year of Pre-Noviciate and Novitiate here in the States. It was an issue in the spring that we thought would be taken care of by the time we all got together in June.

For whatever reason, the Australians were not able to attend the 2 months in Kansas because of this. As time got closer to moving from Kansas to Pittsburgh, there was the wonder if they'd even make it at all.

Due to some quick thinking by the collaboration of different provinces, there was a quick solution that got them here in time at the end of July: the start of Novitiate. By going into Canada, and then coming into the U.S. on a 3 month visa waiver, they were able to participate in the Novitiate process with us - all the while the provinces continued to work on the visa situation. Without a resolution, we knew they would have to go back after the 90 days.

Days turned into weeks, and each day and night we prayed for some resolution. The uncertainty of the entire situation was worse than a definite "no." The whole mess became even more personal as they became more integrated into the community...an opportunity they missed out on when we were in Kansas for 2 months.

On the 6th of October the Aussies left home with the hopes of getting their final interview completed and receiving their visas. Each day we continued to pray, eagerly awaiting any news and noticing their absence and how it affected the entire community. Again...days passed without any news. It seemed like they were destined to stay in Australia.

Just recently we were informed that the Aussies would be returning this week. Apparently after someone in the Australian province decided to send emails to all of the U.S. consulates, (angry emails calling them incompetent, unorganized, and a few other choice adjectives), the paperwork that had been missing "had been found and was being processed with great urgency."

With a sense of relief and happiness, we eagerly await their return. They are due to arrive on the 23rd, but with the International Date Line, I don't know if they're arriving tomorrow, next week, or if by some freak of time they're arrived 6 hours ago and the world has to catch up! Either way it is glad to have them back.

And like most guys, when the worrying and the concern is gone, the teasing and joking immediately resumes: