MY
It's good to be back.
I know that's a first day of school cliche, typically said while Mom is trying to get a first day of school picture, but I really do mean it. It's good to be back. I've received such joy through catching up with all my seminarian brothers after a long and fruitful summer. One of the beautiful things about authentic seminary culture is the gift of rejoicing over one another's successes and the ways God is working in one another's life. Some of us were at parishes. Others were working at Catholic camps, or doing ministry work around their dioceses or with their religious communities. All of us encountered the Lord. With a new year come new seminarians, and I've been enjoying the evolving dynamic in the seminary. Every new person brings a new sense of humor, a unique set of gifts and talents, and a history of reflection based on a personal relationship with the Lord. I've already been blessed to have powerful conversations with a few of them and I look forward to getting to know everyone better. The advantage of Year 2 is I know what Year 1 is like. I hope this helps me to grow in compassion and fraternal support. I have a new spiritual director and a new external formator this year as well. A spiritual director is meant to guide me through my prayer life and can offer me the sacrament of penance. An external formator is meant to guide my external behaviors and life in the seminary community. All in all, I'm excited to see what new ways the Lord is going to inspire growth in my life.
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Not much to write about this week. I spent time with my family and at my home parish over the last week, and today I'm driving back to the Josephinum to start 3rd College Philosophy. It's stressful and I think I'm more nervous going back than I was the first time I showed up, mostly because I know it'll be difficult. Still, I know I'm where God wants me and I trust him through every trial and every blessing. Pray for me, and pray for all the new and returning seminarians. It's going to be another great year!
More to come next week. When my Vocations Director first proposed the idea that we could do some sort of service project while on the Seminarian Retreat, I thought it was a great idea. Maybe we'd help some needy person move some boxes, mow someone's lawn... it'd be nice to help someone and maybe the seminarians could bond over it. What I didn't realize is Vocations Directors are sneaky and had a dangerous assignment for us.
I'm kidding of course. He wasn't sneaky. The task was pretty safe... we were moving a safe. One of the new pastors needed help reorganizing the parish office, moving desks, filing cabinets, couches, statues, and a solid metal safe that had to weigh at least 600 pounds. It took five seminarians and a couple parochial vicars to move it out of the church, down a driveway, and into a garage. We returned to our retreat sweaty but gloriously triumphant. Turns out the service project was a pretty good idea, even though we had no idea what we were getting into. I'll be spending this week on retreat with the other seminarians in my diocese. It's meant to unify us as brothers who, God willing, will minister as priests together when we're ordained. We'll be on Austin lake, praying, eating, and hanging out. We'll hold a campfire one evening, and we're also scheduled to help one of the new pastors settle in, moving items. Last year's retreat was my first real introduction to praying the Liturgy of the Hours and the diocesan experience, so going back on retreat no longer the new guy will be a full circle experience. Pray for all of us, especially the new guys, as we work and relax together.
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July 2023
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