Welcome to the Blog Spot of Fr. Patrick Fairbanks, S.J.
The title AMDG means "to the greater glory of God."
On this site I try to offer a word of enjoyment, information, and spiritual edification. Hopefully for God's glory.
To keep me in tune, each entry bears the title of a song by the Beatles.
The content reports episodes of recent times,often creating a link with Scripture readings. Luke 24:45
Some of you may be familiar with the famous website: ThinkJesuit.org which is hosted by the Chicago/Detroit/Wisconsin Vocations Team of the Society of Jesus. My counterpart in Milwaukee and I have agreed to upgrade the site to include recent stories, more current podcasts and the same informational material to help men discern a vocation to the Jesuits. Think about it.
Of course it must be emphasized that a Jesuit vocation is not discerned merely by "thinking" about it. A man must first "pray" about his vocation and share that interior dynmaic with a spiritual director. The most authentic vocation is felt below the neck, as it were -- ergo the T-shirts. We also have hats, but those might suggest too much a rational or cerebral process.
Pay a visit to the site if you dare, and better yet, pass on the link to guys you "think" might make good Jesuits.
A couple months ago (when I had intended to write this new entry) the media were in a buzz about the new statue of Ronald Reagan placed in the Capitol building.One commentator said something like, “Reagan is the only statue whose face bears a smile.”Then I thought about a message I received long ago while walking through the streets of Oxford, England.I was a tourist back in 1984, before my Jesuit days, on a three-week tour through the UK, and I loved visiting the two great seats of learning: Oxford and Cambridge.One afternoon as I strolled down a busy Oxford street full of small bookstores, coffee and souvenir shoppes, I noticed my face in the reflection of a store window.Woah! What a grouch. The expression on my face looked something like this one taken by my brother last month.
“What am I so mad about,” I asked.My brother replied, “Nothing, that’s just the way you normally look.”Sweet Mother of Pearl!
Hello, Patrick, are you happy?(yes)Well, why not tell your face!
So, I continued to walk down the Oxford street, forming a new commitment in my head, “Hmmm, I’ve just got to start smiling more.”How hard is that?I usually smile at myself in the mirror after I’ve shaved.And I smile at bank tellers, people in the McDonald’s drive-through, and flight attendants.I even smile at the dentist! So, why not more places and more often?
These thoughts all ran through my head as I walked along the sidewalk, until the store windows ended.Soon I found myself walking along a stone wall with a graffiti message scratched into it.I stopped and looked more closely.No way!A message for me, from … GOD!It had no be so.It was too weird.I pulled out my camera in disbelief and recorded the graffiti for posterity:“Smiling is good for you.”
Since I think this is what I imagine would be “posterity,” I present the photo in digital form today and hope that it brings a smile to your face as well.Tomorrow, my birthday, I will try to make another entry.But for now, keep smiling.
Some of you may be familiar with the famous website: ThinkJesuit.org which is hosted by the Chicago/Detroit/Wisconsin Vocations Team of the Society of Jesus. My counterpart in Milwaukee and I have agreed to upgrade the site to include recent stories, more current podcasts and the same informational material to help men discern a vocation to the Jesuits. Think about it.
