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The Netherlands (no, I didn't spell the name in the title wrong; that's how they actually spell it...) lost to Portugal today by a score of 1-0 in the World Cup soccer tournament. Celebrating my Dutch heritage, I was cheering them on and hoping for the best (I at least wanted them to make it to the quarterfinals). However, Portugal has squashed my hopes for this year, and having the US and Holland out of the Cup finals, I have no teams left to cheer for but Italy (the country surrounding our beloved Vatican City) and Brazil (the country with the world's largest Catholic population). My prediction for the 2006 champions: Brazil.

I received in my mailbox this morning:

Please be aware that you've exceeded 75% of your .Mac data transfer quota for the current period. At the current rate you may exceed your quota, especially if you have received this email towards the start of a two-week monitoring period (the 1st or the 16th of the month).

So, I've moved the Duel of the Seminarians video file to another server, and I have made the 'Watch the Movie' page a little less bandwidth-intense, by simply putting three links: one for a Google Video version, one for a YouTube version, and one for a direct video download.

I am currently at the 'Christpower' retreat at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, and this is my first time. One thing that amazes me is the energy and enthusiasm with which almost two hundred teenagers can go out in the community and help others—and they pay to do it!

There are, of course, fun activities planned during the evenings, but the majority of the teens' time is spent at different locations in the Archdiocese rehabbing houses, helping the mentally disabled, playing with sick children, ministering at different places, and doing maintenance jobs. It is truly inspiring to see so many youth involved in this. We have almost 200 teens this week, 100 next week, and there are similar numbers signed up for a similar event held by the Youth Office!

If you haven't yet seen the 'Duel of the Seminarians,' check it out in the blog posting below, or on the video's website.

As promised, I have posted the video I've been working on for the past three weeks. If you can't tell by the title, it is a video involving lightsabers and seminarians (inside the Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, nonetheless!).

You can go to the website for the video by clicking here.

[UPDATE: You can now watch the video directly in the blog posting... Click on the video's 'play' button below:]

Being without Internet access for three days has made me think about how much I go online... Perhaps a 3-day retreat from any online activity every month (or, heck, every week!) should be madated; it makes you realize that you have a few more hours of free time on your hands during the day, which is a great blessing (at least, for me).

Since Saturday night, the Internet's been down at the Seminary, after there was a massive line of storms training on the St. Louis area (our power was knocked out around 8 p.m. that night, until Sunday morning, right in time for Mass). The Kenrick-Glennon Days summer camps hosted by the St. Louis Office of Vocations have been a great success so far, as has the video I've worked on for the past two weeks feverishly (I'll be posting it online very soon).

The Office of Vocations is also hosting 'Christpower' in a week's time. Christpower is a service retreat for highschoolers who are interested in not only helping the community, but also getting to know themselves and their own vocation more intimately.

There is a new podcast from the Secular Order of Discalced Carmelites and the Nuns at the Carmel of St. Joseph in St. Louis, Missouri, which teaches (through weekly episodes) Carmelite spirituality through short (2-5 minute) meditations from Carmelite saints. The podcasts are great for quick meditations, and I was especially glad to see the website and podcast were made and maintained using iWeb and GarageBand (the site is hosted on .Mac, as this blog is)!

Here is their press release:

Celebrating the greatness of the Holy Spirit on this holy feast day of Pentecost, the Order of Carmel Discalced Secular in St. Louis, Missouri invite you to the launch of their new website and downloadable Podcast!