a spoon, a fork, and a spatula walk into a bar...

Sorry about all the short, random posts lately...but not really. You wouldn't read if you didn't want to.

BUT! I'm a bit short on time, and I just found something really cool. If you've never seen the Sistine Chapel in person, go to this link! It takes a while to load, but it's totally worth it, and there's even pretty music!

and just like that...it was done.

Imagine, if you will, a beautiful day. All the elements are there--it's warm but not too warm, there's a bit of a breeze but it's not too windy, the birds are singing, there's not a cloud in the sky.

Now imagine, with all those elements in place, that you are walking up a mountain in Italy.

I honestly couldn't have asked for a more perfect day when I went to Subiaco on Sunday. My parents stayed in Rome that day, which meant that I was by myself for the first time in about a week...so here's what I did:

I woke up at 6:00 and caught the Metro to St. Peter's Basilica for 7:00 Mass. Basically, starting at 7:00am, there's Mass going on all day at St. Peter's. When it's not the big Sunday Mass that a bunch of bishops and cardinals attend, there are smaller Masses going on in all the side chapels throughout the place. The one I went to was in Italian, but luckily (okay, not luckily--very deliberately and strategically) I brought my iPod with me, which has an app on it called iMissal. iMissal has all the readings and prayers of the Mass and everything right on it, so I could still follow along, even without knowing the language. I love going to Mass in different countries and languages and stuff. It speaks so well to the truly catholic (think "universal") nature of our Church...but I talk about that in the video a bit, so you can just watch that.

So after Mass, I caught a bus out of Rome to a town called Subiaco. For those who might not be familiar, Subiaco is home to the cave where St. Benedict went as a teenager to retreat from the city life, and where he lived as a hermit for three years before starting up a bunch of monasteries and moving to Montecassino (probably his most famous monastery, where he eventually died). While he was in the cave (known as the "Sacro Speco"), a monk named Romanus would actually lower food down to him in a basket several times a week. Basically, it's really cool...like, the place where Benedict's monastic movement began. So of course, with my Benedictine roots (holla back CSB/SJU!), this was a very meaningful trip for me.

I mention this briefly toward the end of the first video, but it bears repeating: St. Benedict definitely knew what he was doing when he decided to go out to the middle of nowhere to be in solitude. It was an intense walk up the side of the mountain, let me tell you! For the first time on the whole trip, I actually felt like I was on a pilgrimage! And as much as I loved spending time with my parents (haven't seen them since Christmas, after all, and probably won't see them again until July), it was nice to give myself the space to reflect without all the distractions of the city and being a tourist and always having my guard up.

So when I got to the top, I found my friend Andy in the gift shop and he gave me a tour and all that. Andy and I had a class together last year at CSB/SJU, and after graduation, he applied to spend a year with the Benedictine Volunteer Corps. He ended up getting placed at the monastery up at the Sacro Speco and prays and eats with the monks there, gives tours, works at the gift shop, and does other random stuff (...and his Italian is really good!). So it was fun to spend a litte bit of time with him and the lovely monks up there. I even got to eat lunch with them--and have some delicious cake afterward!--before catching a ride back to Rome with one of the monks (who is actually from St. John's Abbey in Minnesota).

Upon my return to the city, I was dropped off at a metro station which I took to the Basilica of St. Mary Major. It's a huge, beautiful church with some sweet frescoes and terrible bathrooms. There is a set of stairs on either side of the high altar which lead down to the "Bethlehem Crypt," a small area with benches, facing a relic of the Holy Crib of Baby Jesus. I spent some quality time down there--even taking a walk around the rest of the basilica before feeling pulled back there to pray a Rosary for everyone back home.

That night, we had a fancy schmancy closing dinner with the folks from my dad's company. It was actually really fun, mostly because they had a little band (accordion and all) and some girls who were dancing around in pretty dresses while playing the tambourine. The food wasn't bad either, haha...

All in all, it was a wonderful way to spend my last day in Italy. I already miss it there...in fact, I even went online today to try and find some airline tickets for a trip next year. But maybe I'll wait a bit--I spent plenty of money this last week, and I need to do things like pay off loans and buy groceries and pay my rent and other fun stuff...so perhaps I'll wait a couple of years before I jet off to the Eternal City again. All I know is...I'll be back someday!

Here are the videos from my last day in Italy:




Please know that I was thinking of you and praying for you throughout my entire pilgrimage to Italy...it was truly my privilege to bring you and your prayer intentions along with me! I will continue to keep you in my thoughts and prayers throughout the rest of this Lenten season--may it be blessed and fruitful for you!

Love you, miss you, blah blah blahhhhhhhh...

little town...it's a quiet village

I'm writing this from my apartment back in the Burgh...the second half of the trip was really crazy, and I wasn't able to keep up with my blog, so I apologize.

Friday started out really rough. Mom had been pickpocketed, and we were all a bit bummed about that. On the train, the person who was checking everyone's tickets tried to fine us 50 Euro for not having validated tickets (simply because we didn't know they needed to be validated, but obviously we would have if we had known we needed to!). And since we were pickpocketed (GO FIGURE), I was the only one with cash, and only 25 Euro at that. And THEN the lady said that if we didn't pay 50 Euro on the spot, we would have to mail in 100. WHAT?! After a conversation which consisted of me telling my dad to stop swearing, Mom trying to show the lady our receipt, and me translating on the spot as much as I could, she left and didn't end up coming back (thankfully!) but the whole thing still put us all in a terrible mood.

So weren't we relieved when we arrived in Assisi! For one thing, the pace in Assisi is much slower, which was a wonderful break from the chaos of Rome. The taxi driver was so lovely and kind, and he even talked to us and gave us a map and told us of some good places to visit while we were in town. It's hard to explain, but the whole time we were in Assisi, I just felt such a sense of peace--and I think it had everything to do with the intercession of the saints who had lived there so many hundreds of years ago. We were able to visit the tomb of St. Francis, as well as the place where he established the Franciscan order. We wanted to go into the Basilica of St. Clare (she's buried there), but it was closed at the time so we couldn't. I guess that means I'll have to go back!

This place reminded me of the importance of taking time for quiet throughout one's day. St. Augustine said "God, our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You." So many times I think I just expect to feel at peace in the midst of chaos. As if out of the blue, a sense of calm will just overtake me and everything will be fine. But more often than not, things just don't work that way. I have to search out that peace, dig a hole in my day to find it. And in this case, my parents and I had to get on a train and travel for two hours to find it.

And that's also one of the main reasons I chose to wake up early and pray as my Lenten resolution this year. I literally roll out of bed and into my prayer corner, where I just sit for half an hour. And while I was able to have a little quiet time to myself while I was in Rome, I'm almost relieved to be back in the States, where I can roll out of bed each morning and greet the day by offering it to God. I love being spontaneous, but after a while, I yearn for routine and stability.

Saturday was a wonderful day. In the morning, we went to the Vatican Museum and saw the Sistine Chapel, which was at once both overwhelmingly beautiful and slightly overrated. It would have been easier to reflect and enjoy the space had it not been for the dude working there who kept shouting over everyone, "SILENCE! NO PHOTO! NO VIDEO!" But all in all, it was some pretty intense art.

Then we went on the Scavi tour, which led under St. Peter's Basilica to the tomb/bones of St. Peter, which are located directly below the high altar of the church. That was a really important moment in my life, I think, and I explain about it a bit in the video, but I want to say a little more about it here. Our guide (a student at the North American College--where we visited Deacon Craig) was telling us about how Peter was buried in a "poor man's grave"--but the whole reason for the existence of St. Peter's Basilica, in all its grandeur and magnificence, is to recognize the simple place where Peter was laid to rest. Here's the thing: Peter was a bumbling idiot. So were most of the Apostles. And if God can work with that, if God can lift up someone so humble, and miraculously give him the ability to do monumental things for the glory of God, give him the ultimate responsibility of leading the entire Church...what can God do with me, and with you, and with all of us together? Let me tell you something, there's hope in that.

I'll include my Day Four and Five videos here for those who haven't visited them on YouTube. I noticed that the edge is kind of cut off, so I think if you double-click the video itself, it'll open a new window and take you to the YouTube page where you can see the whole thing.

Day Four:


Day Five:


My next post will be about my last day in Italy, when I visited Subiaco and spent a little time there with my friend Andy. But for now, I'm going to get ready for work...wait, what's that again? Should be an interesting day...especially considering that the time change has messed with me a little bit and I was up at 4:00 this morning (which is 10:00am in Rome).

Thanks for reading, and I'm sorry that this post is so belated...love you, miss you, blah blah blah!

bee tree glee me THREE

As you may (or may not) have guessed from the title of this post, I have made the video for Day Three in Rome! It includes the Colosseum and a couple of really sweet churches.


One correction of note: In the part about San Clemente, I mentioned that it's built on another older church, and there's an ancient Roman road underneath. WELL! Turns out that along with that road, there's also a house and a spring--but most significantly, the church was built directly over a pagan temple. Quite the symbolism, eh?

I actually have things to say about my trip to Assisi today...but that'll have to wait until the next post when I can get the video created and uploaded. :)

you know, i'm just straight chillin' with the xvi...

So this one time, I saw the Pope. And now you can, too! Here's the first half of the day, including the part of the Holy Father's address that he gave in English--it's about St. Bonaventure.


And here's the second half of the day!


I wish I could spend more time actually reflecting on things in the blog...but things are nutso around here, as you can imagine. I'm heading off to dinner right now, and tomorrow we're going to Assisi for the day--so I'll try to get today's post/video up either tonight or tomorrow morning! Lots of good stuff to look forward to in that one!

Okay, that's all for now! PEACE OUT!

rome sweet home

Here's my first video from Rome!



I want to talk briefly about something in that video, namely the sculpture of the Annunciation in the wall of the church. It was so beautiful...and because of the time of day when we were there, this bright light was shining on the angel. The thing that really stuck out to me, though, was the look on the faces of all the angels. There's a whole bunch of them gathered around the scene...and almost every single one is staring at Mary with this look of anticipation. Even God the Father is staring down as if he's got his fingers crossed and he's saying, "Is she going to say yes or no? Please please please..." The entire heavenly kingdom is holding its breath, waiting to see if she's the one they've been waiting for. And you can tell she's really thinking it over, too. That's the thing I love about Mary--not once did she ever take this decision lightly. But then again, I guess bearing the Son of God isn't really something to take lightly...

Okay, it's 7:15am local time in Rome, and I am going to eat breakfast and go hang out with the POPE!

I love you and I'm praying for you all!

pick a card, any card

More snow? Really? Ugh.

If you know me at all, you know that I'm a big proponent of snow. But right now, I would really like for it to go away. I'm sure things will be fine by Monday...but I'm still really nervous, particularly for the part of the trip which involves Philadelphia. They've gotten positively slammed with snow these last few days (the good folks on the Weather Channel are calling it "February Fury," dun dun dunnnnnnn!), and the Philly airport has had to cancel hundreds of flights. So hopefully things will be back to normal soon...at least soon enough for me to leave the country, suckaz!!

I have uploaded my very first video to YouTube:


I know, I am officially a dork--not that I wasn't before...well, I DON'T CARE! So go ahead! Subscribe to my YouTube channel! See if I care! (Hint: I won't!)

The video above is sort of a test run so I could get an idea of how long it takes to process videos and all that...so keep on checking back for EXCLUSIVE NEW VIDZ from J. Johnz! And maybe I'll keep doing them when I get back...depends on how motivated I am, I guess. I just want to be a real live MULTIMEDIA EXTRAVAGANZAAAAAAAA!

I went to a local high school's production of Beauty and the Beast tonight. It was lovely--a handful of my youth group kids were in it, so I thought it would probably be a good idea to go. That and I really love Beauty and the Beast. In fact, I was planning on going last night with Erin and her BF, but the weather was TRECHEROUS and I didn't feel like dying in the snow...and they already had other plans for tonight, so I went by myself and sat in front of some annoying girls who snuck food in via the LOUD PLASTIC BAG OPENED FREQUENTLY DURING THE FIRST ACT method.

Anyhow, tonight was a great performance...except for one unfortunate part. As the second act was beginning--and this is after the little music thing (overture but not?) had already started--there was a little bit of an oopsie. What happened? Well...the curtain wouldn't open. They even tried to be cool and do the first scene in front of the curtain to stall so they could fix it, like it was on purpose or something...but finally they had to stop everything and this dude in a suit came out and was like, "Give us ten minutes." So we did. And a bunch of dudes from backstage got this huge ladder and fixed it and everyone cheered and the show went on! It was all around a great show...it made me want to do theater again.

Okay, that's all. Watch the video (or don't)...and send me your prayer requests before Monday!

Love you, miss you, blah blah blah!

it's gobbledegook, i say! utter rubbish!

Ohhhhhhh goody goody gumdrops, it's bloggin' time!

First things first: the Family Potluck on Sunday was a TOTAL SUCCESS! We had about sixty people there (a handful more than I expected), and it was just wonderful to meet people's parents and siblings and whatnot. I invited Fr. Gary (our parochial vicar) to give a reflection on how to observe Lent as a family, then each family made a "Lenten Family Plan" of things to do together and ways to support each other throughout the rest of the season. After that, we had a short prayer service up in the chapel, and then everyone left. It was so awesome. I used a convection oven for the first time (lasagna, HOLLA!) and even though the edges were a bit overdone, it was pretty darn good. At least it wasn't a total disaster! And I really think people had a generally good time all around so...add this one to the list of events to look back on when I feel like quitting ministry and torching the church. (Hmm, that's the second time within a week that I have written about setting fire to a building...anyone have some matches I could borrow? I mean, uh...OH LOOK, something shiny!)

Ever watch a life-changing movie? Well...Food, Inc. is one of those life-changing movies for me, I think. As in, I'm seriously considering vegetarianism after seeing it. It's all about discovering where our food comes from and how it's affecting our culture, our health, our planet...basically every aspect of our lives. At the end, it talks about how every bite we take is a vote for what kind of world we want to live in (or something like that)...and after seeing that movie, I think I'm going to change my vote. Of course, I need to do some research so I can make sure that I get all the vitamins and everything that I need to be healthy, but I'm almost 99% sure that I'm going to stop eating meat...or at least eat significantly less of it, and commit to being more aware of where it comes from (so, being more intentional about finding local, healthy alternatives to the processed, preservative- and growth hormone-filled "food" at the grocery store). This is so funny...if my dad ever reads this, he'll probably make some comment about what a "damn hippie" I'm turning into or something like that. Good thing he's severely technologically impaired, haha...

In other news, here's another opportunity for you to send me your prayer intentions so I can pray for them when I go to Rome this upcoming week...really! I want to take you with me! Leave a comment or get a hold of me some other way, and I'll add you to my list. :)

Okay, I need to get to bed ASAP--this whole 7:15 thing is making me sleepy a lot earlier. I actually really like this little routine I've created for myself. My sleeping patterns were so random before (it just...happened that way), so it's kind of nice to have a set schedule in that respect. I have more energy, I'm more motivated, and I've found that I'm just generally happier throughout the day. But for what it's worth, I'm pretty sure it's a combo platter of a) consistent sleeping habits and b) regular conversation with the Notorious G.O.D.

Alright, hope you all are having a fabulous week...I know I am! Love you, miss you, blah blah blah!

i made it myself!

Last night, there was freezing rain in the Burgh. Just thought I'd mention that because, well, it's some nasty stuff and doesn't happen too often here in my estimation. Then again, snow doesn't usually happen on fourteen of the first eighteen days of February in Pittsburgh either, but would you look at that--the snowiest month on record!

So I don't know if I've mentioned this yet, but I'm going on vacation to Rome with my parents...in eleven days. I am beyond stoked at this point, and I just can't believe that it's already here! We've got some exciting stuff planned, including a day trip to Assisi, a Scavi tour, and a Wednesday general audience with none other than B16 himself!

That's right...THE POPE.

Back in my bedroom at my mom and dad's house, I have a list pinned to my wall: Ten Things To Do Before I Die. I made it several years ago, and I still think about it often. But what is first on the list, you might ask yourself? Why, See the Pope, of course! And as of two Wednesdays from now, I will officially be able to check that one off my list. And THAT is exciting!

But this trip is more than just a check-off for me. I've been thinking about Lent a lot lately (say that five times fast: Lent a lot lately, Lent a lot lately...), and how I can really enter into this beautiful season of preparation for the death and resurrection of Jesus. So the more I think about this trip and the closer it gets, the more I see it as a sort of Lenten pilgrimage. It's hard to explain. I just feel like...I don't know...I guess if I'm going to be in a place that holds so much history and heritage and significance for my faith, I can't pass up the opportunity to give the trip some deeper meaning other than simply "vacation." I'll definitely keep a journal, and maybe I'll even post some of it here when I get back (or each night if I can find me some WiFi action).

In other Lenten news, I finally discerned last night what I'm "giving up" this year. I didn't want to pick something like chocolate or sweets. That works for some people, but it seems that every time I've done it in the past, I've started it with good intentions but always ended up doing it for me, not for God (and throwing daily pity parties as well). So this year, I'm doing something different. I've decided that I am going to wake up each morning no later than 7:15 (that's where the sacrifice comes in--I'm giving up my sleep...and I am not a morning person!), and start my day with a solid half hour of prayer. You might think, "Well gosh, Jessie, I just assumed that you already did that." And I'm embarrassed to say that when it comes to keeping a regular prayer schedule, I am the worst. It's not that I never pray, it's that I don't devote a chunk of time to structured prayer throughout my day--so I think this will be helpful in giving me structure for my personal prayer practice. And on top of that, it will be beneficial to my ministry, because it's impossible to have a good ministry if one's personal spirituality is lacking. As the saying goes, you can't give what you don't have!

For no good reason at all, I would like to tell you a funny story. Apparently, back in the day, the pope (JPII at the time, not that it matters, even in all his coolness) visited a Latin American country. Can't remember which, but for the purposes of this story, it isn't really relevant. Just know that wherever he went, the people there spoke Spanish. Well, there was this guy from the U.S. who thought to himself, "I'm going to make a profit out of the pope's visit! I shall make a thousand T-shirts to commemorate the occasion, and a thousand people will buy them, and I shall be rich! Brilliant!" So the guy printed off a thousand shirts that said "I saw the Pope" in Spanish. However, when the day came, he was standing on the side of the street selling the shirts...and no one was buying them. He was like, "Well this sucks...I thought people would be buying these things like crazy! I just lost a ton of money! What's the deal?!" Well, he later found out the importance of using correct articles when speaking (or in this case, printing shirts) in Spanish. For he discovered that there is a distinct difference between saying "Vi el Papa" (I saw the Pope) and "Vi la papa" (...I saw the potato).

Last thing: if you have any intentions/petitions/prayers that you would like me to offer up while I'm on my pilgrimage to the Vatican, I would be more than happy to do so. Leave a comment below, e-mail me, send me a message on Facebook, or send me a letter, and I will be sure to offer up your intentions!

Love you, miss you, blah blah blah!