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Pace e Bene!

Blessings!  


This site was made to track important things in my life, show pictures of events, and provide other info and thoughts that might be helpful to you.   


Most of this site is accessed by the links above.


Also below is a blog which is updated...

...every once in a while.

New: see THIS LINK for photos of things I find in Rome from day to day... ....and the blog below.http://gallery.mac.com/bredemeyer/100042http://gallery.mac.com/bredemeyer#100027shapeimage_17_link_0
12 N0vember 2007 “At last I have found my vocation--it is love! To be love in the heart of the Church.” St. Therese of Lisieux: a small and humble soul who lived with extraordinary love. This simple Carmelite nun who died at 24 had incredible aspirations to be an Apostle, evangelist, missionary, teacher....yet found herself a cloistered Carmelite in a no-name town in France. Yet John Paul the Great named our little Sister one of the 33 DOCTORS of the Church, a title which honors a Saint’s exceptional theological and spiritual contribution to the patrimony of the Church. Since then she has been among the most popular Saints in Catholic Devotion. Because of her overwhelming acclaim, her holy relics have been taken in pilgrimage--truly in mission--throughout the world she knew not during her earthly life. Currently St. Therese’s relics are gracing the streets and churches of Rome, and two nights ago I went to honor her and pray for her powerful intercession. As Providence would have it, my friend and I arrived just as the St.-Therese-mobile was opening and her relics were brought out. The crowd was just beginning to form, and they needed some hands to help carry her to the Church atop the Spanish Steps where we gathered. The next thing I knew I was carrying a Doctor of the Church on my shoulders, sensing the powerful and stable presence of a Saint of the Church, and my dear sister, whose simple yet profound life has taught us the exceeding power of accomplishing ordinary things with extraordinary love... 29 October 2007  Another amazing day to be Catholic! Yesterday there was a HUGE beatification Mass in St. Peter’s Square, for 498 Spanish Martyrs of the 20th Century. This was the most people beatified at once ever. My friends and I went to concelebrate this gigantic Mass, where religious nuns and priests, diocesan priests, and lay people were all beatified together, for their witness to the Truth of Christ Jesus--in season and out. One section of these martyrs, a group of Dominican Nuns, had the opportunity to evade those who sought to extinguish their Light, but taking counsel together, decided to stay in peaceful defense of their faith. Their lives were already devoted to unwavering witness to Christ, and so considered their own martyrdom not a waste of life nor defeat, but a silent and most eloquent testimony of Faith in a God who was also led as a docile Lamb to the slaughter. They processed together to the guillotine singing Marian hymns together. When the executioners thought they were finished, a single voice remained singing in the crowd, a final fearless Sister who emerged at the front of the crowd saying “There is still one more.” In the end all these 498 Martyrs have been proven right--living to this day as an inspiration to our faith, and having won the crown of life everlasting. 23 October 2007  Peace be with you! So many graces recently...one beautiful tradition of the North American College is that when the newly ordained priests return here to study one last year, they offer their priestly blessing to the whole house gathered for prayer. This year there are 25 of us brand new, right-out-of-the-ecclesial-oven priests who got to extend our blessings upon the friends and formators we’ve lived with for the last 4 years here.  Another great grace was traveling to the East coast of Italy, along the Adriatic, where I visited the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano...incredible. Here’s a link I found that describes a bit about the miracle. What a powerful place to pray and offer my priesthood to the Heart of Our Lord. I also visited San Giovanni Rotondo with by good buddy Fr. Kim, to visit the place where Padre Pio lived and is now buried. Our time together was part uber-spiritual and part hysterical. We visited a cool castle-turned museum on the way there, and stayed with the most hospitable house of Franciscans. They are called “Cappuccini” there because a lot of them have brown robes and are white on top, just like the drink. We also got to celebrate Holy Mass in the Old Church where Padre Pio used to do the same. Many prayers said for all those I love back home in these places. (<place where St. Pio sat in the refectory.) 9 October 2007  Rome Sweet Home. So many graces! Right when I got back we had diaconate ordinations at St. Pete’s. What a powerful time...brought back so many memories of my own diaconate ordination last year. The photo (left) is of the newly ordained Deacon Rob Lampitt of the good ‘ole Diocese of Peoria. Truly “a humble worker in the vineyard of the Lord.”  Just yesterday we were graced to celebrate Holy Mass at the tomb of the Apostle Peter, beneath St. Peter’s basilica. It was another profound moment of spiritual union upon the rock which has endured now 20 centuries... Also topping recent charts of improbable Roman experiences, I got to help carry a huge statue of John Paul II past the comical Vatican Police and into St. Peter’s where we blessed the statue which will now be shipped to a favorite community of mine in Miami. Dio vi benedica!! 10 September 2007  What’s fer dinner? Tonite I went to my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Mark’s to make pasta! 6 eggs, 6 cups of flour, a little salt, and a bunch of noodle-machine cranks made for a delicious evening... See the fun here! 29 August 2007 2 weeks after Bishop Daniel Jenky ordained me a priest of Jesus Christ, he assigned me to St. Vincent de Paul parish in Peoria. St. Vincent is one of the largest parishes in the diocese of Peoria, with about 1,600 families. We have 6 Masses each weekend, two on Saturday evening and 4 Sunday morning. (SVdP website). I am assigned with two great priests, Fr. Gray and Fr. Don. They are both ordained 10 years now and so have been great resources for me....I’ve felt a bit like a kid trying to ride a bike for the first time, and they’ve had to show me everything about it. Like remembering to blow out the huge Easter Candle after finishing a baptism so the whole thing doesn’t burn away over night.....yeah..... But it has been truly amazing being a priest, a father, for so many souls....listening to them and praying for and with them, and offering Mass for them, hearing their confessions and then extending to them the forgiveness of Christ. Just like being a parent for the first time, it has really been a stretching and growing experience, but the rewards are unparalleled. Yesterday I gave an old, unconscious man on life-support the Last Rites and the Apostolic Pardon. As I slowly reached my hand over him and prayed the prayer of Pardon after the Anointing, I looked at his closed eyes and saw a tear stream from them. He was with us more than we had thought, and he--and we--knew then his soul was ready to be with the Lord. The richness of the priesthood is more and more revealed to me each day, and I can’t ever thank Jesus enough for allowing me to participate in it. What a gift to open your heart and see life come about because of it. What a gift to be a father. http://www.therealpresence.org/eucharst/mir/lanciano.htmlDiaconate.htmlDiaconate.htmlhttp://www.piercedhearts.orghttp://www.piercedhearts.orghttp://gallery.mac.com/bredemeyer#100027http://www.svdppeoria.com/Home_files/DSCF6390.JPGshapeimage_18_link_0shapeimage_18_link_1shapeimage_18_link_2shapeimage_18_link_3shapeimage_18_link_4shapeimage_18_link_5shapeimage_18_link_6