A short update for the home-parish bulletin:

Dear Folks,


First of all I have to write this with my tail between my legs, since it has been so long since I have updated you all my great experience of being in Rome. It is one of my goals to be much more consistent with this during my second and following years. Next I am very grateful for all the generosity that a number of you have shown, especially in your prayers. You have no idea how much this helps me on a daily basis.


The year has flown buy and it has been filled with many great experiences, and also a number of opportunities to continue to grown in conformity to Christ as a priest. I have discovered again and again the beauty and joy of this vocation; and as this year end I look forward to the experiences that another year brings. One of the largest high lights of the year was the very unexpected opportunity to meet the Holy Father, and serve for one of his Masses. You perhaps tasted this to some extent when he visited the United States this past April. I have had the chance to see him on a routine basis, for large masses and for the weekly public blessing, and my affection for him as grown greatly. The Church is very fortunate to have him as her universal pastor.


There have also been sacrifices with being over here. I have two young nieces and one young nephew, and they are growing and I cannot be there to share in those experiences. It has also been difficult to learn the Italian language. I enjoy the language greatly, but it seems like ever bit of progress I make, there is much more to learn. I value this experience greatly though, since I think it helps me to understand the large number of immigrants we have in the area and their struggles to adjust to the local culture and language.


There have also been changes at the parish while I have been gone. A number of you have written me about missing the presence of a priest at the parish. This is understandable. The Eucharist is the "source and summit of the Catholic Faith" (from Saint Pope Pius X and repeated in the documents of the Second Vatican Council), and without a priest there is not daily Eucharist. All the other ministries of the Church flow from this "font of water and blood," so even if you are not a daily Mass goer, the change is very noticeable. I pray that this is time teaching all of us to have a greater appreciation for the Eucharist. Not that it was lacking before, but it is a mystery so profound that we can always dive deeper into it. I have heard many good things about the Deacon that the parish has been entrusted to. This is a new thing, and it sound like it is working very well.


This summer I will be at a seminar in Poland. The name of the seminar is: The Tertio Millennio Seminar on Faith and Free Society. The discussion topic is based on the social teachings of John Paul II, and focuses on one questions: In a free society should religious organizations have a voice, and how does it exercise this voice? This should be very interesting since half of the seminar participants will be from Easter Europe, which has only recently become a free society. As the Second Vatican Council re-affirms, in continuation with Church teaching, religious bodies always have a voice in society. It is a public entity, so it by its very nature it should influence the public life. This is what it means for the Church to be a prophetic sign in the World. This has recently been a debate in the United States with a variety of issues, including the definition of marriage, and also the presidential election. But it also has bearing on each of you, since it means that a Catholic cannot be a private Catholic, but public. The Church is only a sign in the midst of the world in so far as her members, all of you, carry her message into the world. Think about how much God trusts us, loves us, and has faith in us to trust His Message to us? It really should inspire awe.


After that I will be on parish internship in Lancaster experience. It should be an interesting experience to see how the One Holy Catholic and Apostolic Faith is lived out and expressed in a different culture. What can they teach us about our life as Catholics? What experiences can I bring back to the diocese of Green Bay? What gifts from my own experiences can I bring them? These will be my reflection questions during those weeks.


I will continue to keep the parish in prayer, and ask that you prayers continue for me. Together each of us are members of the one Body of Christ, and this made very real in the Mass, but also our prayers for one another. If any of you have any questions you would like to ask me, or will be in Rome, I welcome you emails at roman.seminarian.gbdioc@gmail.com.


I hope that your summer is filled with many blessings,
Bill Brunner, Jr.,
Seminarian for the Diocese of Green Bay