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You are here: Home / Archives for William Rooney

About William Rooney

Will Rooney is a seminarian for the the Diocese of Austin in his fourth year of formation. He is the oldest of three brothers. He grew up in College Station and then attended Texas A&M, graduating in 2013 with a B.S. in Biological and Agricultural Engineering. While in college he was a middle school youth minister at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish and was also active in the Knights of Columbus at St. Mary's Catholic Center. During college he discerned (i.e. learned to pay attention to) the Lord's call for him towards priesthood, and he entered seminary after graduation from A&M in order to discern this call, and to be formed for it. . He recently completed the pre-theology program at Holy Trinity Seminary in Irving, TX and is now in 2nd Theology at St. Mary's Seminary in Houston, TX. God-willing he will be ordained a deacon in 2019 and a priest in 2020.

Easter Joy, Family, and Heaven

Published May 10, 2017 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Column, Faith

On Easter Sunday 2017 my family and I gathered at the family home to celebrate Easter by partaking in our regular Easter feast (our family does food well). My grandparents and many of my dad’s graduate students joined us for the feast.  I enjoyed getting to know some of the graduate students better during dinner… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published May 10, 2017

Providence’s Hidden Grace

Published February 10, 2017 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Blog

God’s providence has granted me grace upon grace.  And sometimes graces come in very small packages. Above you’ll see a picture of each of my two god-children Elle (top) and Benedict (bottom). I promised to help their parents raise them in the faith. I traced a cross on their foreheads marking them for Christ. I… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published February 10, 2017

A season of emptiness: Book Review: Houselander – The Reed of God

Published November 9, 2016 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Blog

When I was in high school the administration used to play music during the passing periods between classes as a way of helping students measure the time they had left to get to class. The song choices were moderated by the administration but they accepted the suggestions of students, naturally, most of the songs were… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published November 9, 2016

The Song and the Priesthood

Published October 13, 2016 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: ACNM, Blog

Recently, thanks to my Old Testament Writings class, I have spent a lot of time reading, meditating on, and writing about the Song of Songs. It is a marvelous book which I highly encourage you to read. In some ways, the Song is a remarkable book to find in the Bible. The Making very little… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published October 13, 2016

Freedom – Part 2 – Why is it so hard to be free

Published September 13, 2016 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Blog

As discussed in the last article in this series, in order to know what we ought to do to be happy, we must understand who we are, which means understanding what we are. If we desire to be truly happy, we must learn the truth about ourselves. That deepest truth is found in our identity in… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published September 13, 2016

Friendship in the Fathers: Basil and Gregory

Published July 13, 2016 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: ACNM, Blog

Sin and a lack of friendship Sin is nothing new to the world; since our first parents fell from the state of paradise sin and its effects have plagued us in our persons, our families, and nations.  It is clear that we are mired in sin. It seems like each day we hear of another… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published July 13, 2016

Corpus Christi, Faith, and Culture

Published June 22, 2016 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Blog

Here in Guatemala, the feast of Corpus Christi is awesome. The whole diocese celebrates it together on the appointed day but in the following weeks, each particular parish church has its own celebration of Corpus Christi. These celebrations are a big deal… A really big deal. In the larger churches, they are celebrated as an… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published June 22, 2016

Learning to Speak Spanish

Published June 8, 2016 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Blog

As I write this blog, I am sitting in the beautiful city of Antigua, Guatemala. I’ve been here in Guatemala for a  little over a week. The primary purpose of me coming to this ancient ciudad is to learn Spanish so that in the future I will be able to speak the language of many… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published June 8, 2016

Freedom – Part 1 – Of garden tillers

Published May 11, 2016 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Blog

Freedom is the God-given state of man’s natural existence, which makes it possible for man to achieve his natural end of flourishing in relationships with other people and his supernatural end of a communion of love with the Blessed Trinity. To be loved by the Father and to love Him in return by receiving this great… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published May 11, 2016

El propósito de su vida

Published April 13, 2016 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: En Español, La Fe

¿Cuál es el propósito de su vida? Esta es una pregunta que todos debemos hacernos si queremos ser felices. Como humanos buscamos una razón para nuestra vida, algo que dará significado a nuestros días aquí. No estamos satisfechos con la realidad que encontramos cada día, manchada con sufrimiento, violencia, dolor, y lágrimas. Sí, hay gozos… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published April 13, 2016

Weeping For Our Sins

Published March 9, 2016 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Blog

An older friend, whom I consider a mentor, once told me, “there is no shame in weeping. Crying only means that we have loved and continue to love something or someone.” We weep on occasions when, from our human perspective, the beloved is irretrievably lost. We weep at evil; evil and it effects, committed by… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published March 9, 2016

Lent, Baptism, Gift and our Will

Published February 10, 2016 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Blog

Today, Ash Wednesday, marks the beginning of Lent 2015. Lent is a time of liturgical preparation for the celebration of the Paschal Mystery during the days of the Holy Triduum. However, it’s purpose is not limited to actions to get us ready for yet another remembrance of these holy and saving truths of the faith…. [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published February 10, 2016

Paul, Mercy, and Providence

Published February 8, 2016 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Blog

Recently God has inspired me, through a variety of means to reflect on the action His merciful providence in my life. I have made many mistakes in my life. I have done and said things that have hurt my communion with others and with God. I have at times, with varying degrees of my will,… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published February 8, 2016

Silence and Communion

Published January 20, 2016 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Blog

The Christmas break was a joyous time to be with family and friends back home. Extroverted as I am, I tend to gravitate towards filling my “break” times with many activities and reunions with friends, in addition to helping out back at my home parish of St. Thomas Aquinas. I do so because I wish… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published January 20, 2016

The Prayers – 4th Sunday of Advent

Published December 20, 2015 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Blog

Since we can learn much from what we pray day in and day out in our Liturgy it would be profitable for us to reflect more profoundly upon the prayers of each day. We should especially do this over the season of Advent which marks the end of one liturgical year, and the beginning of… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published December 20, 2015

The Prayers – 3rd Sunday of Advent

Published December 12, 2015 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Column

Since we can learn much from what we pray day in and day out in our Liturgy it would be profitable for us to reflect more profoundly upon the prayers of each day. We should especially do this over the season of Advent which marks the end of one liturgical year, and the beginning of… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published December 12, 2015

The Prayers – 2nd Sunday of Advent

Published December 5, 2015 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Column

Since we can learn much from what we pray day in and day out in our Liturgy it would be profitable for us to reflect more profoundly upon the prayers of each day. We should especially do this over the season of Advent which marks the end of one liturgical year, and the beginning of… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published December 5, 2015

The Prayers – 1st Sunday of Advent

Published November 28, 2015 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: ACNM, Column

One of the guiding principles of the early church in formulating her doctrine was the phrase, lex orandi lex credenti, which translated means “the law of prayer [is] the law of believing.” In that time, the Church Fathers, plagued as they were with heresies no less than we are and faced with formidable intellectual rhetoricians… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published November 28, 2015

Liturgy and Culture: A Review of Ratzinger’s “Spirit of the Liturgy”

Published November 11, 2015 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Column

Pope Benedict XVI, as Cardinal Ratzinger, wrote a magnificent book called  The Spirit of the Liturgy which I had the opportunity to read, think, and write about  for one of my classes here at the seminary. He has a great insight into the Liturgy’s meaning and its centrality to the world in which we live…. [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published November 11, 2015

A Fruit of Discipleship – Authentic Praise and Worship

Published October 14, 2015 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Column

This summer I had the amazing experience of visiting my friend, Katie Smith, who is a supervisor with the National Evangelization Team (NET) in St. Paul, MN. In case you have not heard of NET, here’s a quick background: NET is devoted to challenging “young Catholics to love Christ and embrace the life of the… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published October 14, 2015

I’m Restless and Learning to Rest in the Heart of Jesus

Published September 9, 2015 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Column

In the past few weeks of my seminary life, I have experienced again what has become a relatively common experience – I’ve moved 5 times in the past 2 years – of packing all my stuff into a car and driving to a new place and moving into a new domicile. The process of relocating… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published September 9, 2015

Agnostic Modernists vs The Church

Published August 12, 2015 • Written by William Rooney Filed Under: Column

Modernists and modernism have left a significant impact upon our post-modern world. One major impact has been the increasing prevalence of agnosticism or practical atheism within the world’s population. Agnosticism is the belief that man is unable to know whether God exists. Practical atheism is the resulting ethic or morality which is derived from such… [Read More]

Written by William Rooney • Published August 12, 2015

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