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It’s Cindy, the seminarian mom. John Paul is on silent retreat this week, and asked if I’d step in to write about the seminary experience from a mom’s perspective. I’m pleased to summarize that my prayer and reflection in anticipation of this writing have been very joyful, given the uncertainties that were weighing on us only a few months ago. Thank you Jesus!
John Paul’s call to discerning a religious vocation has not been a surprise, because he showed great interest from early childhood and he brought up a serious discussion about it before he’d even reached his teen years. That clarity has been a great blessing for him and brought us comfort over the years that this is the path God wants for him. The surprise came last December when he discerned that he was to leave Franciscan University and go directly to seminary instead of getting his undergraduate degree first. We as parents struggled to understand what God was suddenly telling him and what had changed, but after intense conversation and prayer, we were able to let go and let God take the reins. The comfortable, known path suddenly became filled with paperwork, meetings, medical appointments, and phone calls – first for acceptance by the Diocese of Steubenville as their seminarian and then by the Pontifical College Josephinum as their student. It was so complex that it brought him all the way up to the beginning of classes and there were still details that hadn’t been finalized, but it was enough. He became an official seminarian and PCJ student. Dropping John Paul off in August became the first time we’d ever seen the Pontifical College Josephinum’s campus. In the hubbub of Columbus, the expansive campus and grounds and rich architecture were breathtaking. Upperclassmen gave us tours and showed deep pride and affection for the school and its history. Friendships were clearly more than just friendly, as the deep brotherhood in this relatively small number of students made it a home immediately. These are young men who reflect their love of Christ and quest for holiness outwardly, and when John Paul was down with COVID, I took great comfort in knowing that the compassion and care of these guys brought John Paul strength. They are guys who you want your children to be surrounded by: uplifting and caring, intelligent and funny, wanting the best for you, ready to be at Jesus’ feet, the future of the Church. We also enjoyed wonderful conversations with the school’s administration and teachers. They are committed to shaping these men intellectually, while also leading them in spiritual and personal fulfillment, and teaching them how to care for the needs of others with compassion and wisdom. They are not just shaping future priests, they are also shaping holy, amazing men! John Paul meets very regularly with his formation director to balance personal goals and his spiritual director to grow in spiritual goals. John Paul has expressed feeling at home as a seminarian. I encourage others who may be considering a religious vocation to be open to this path. The Pontifical College Josephinum has scheduled live-in weekends to experience daily activities multiple times per year (including the first weekend in November) and by request. Other dioceses may prefer to send their seminarians to other seminaries, but they also likely have live-in experiences. Please keep praying for John Paul and all of the seminarians that this silent retreat will bring great fruits. Feel free to send him your prayer requests through his blog “Get in Touch” link in the menu above. A.M.D.G.
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It was midterms this week! Sorry this post is a little short, it's been crazy. I mentioned in the last post that my favorite part about seminary life is the fraternity. We try and keep our evenings sacred for "bro time." Often, we'll head down to Kitson's pub (a room in the building with sodas and snacks). We've made fires in the fire pit, as the weather has gotten older. We play sports together. We have a volleyball group and a soccer group that schedule meets. A bunch of us play in the pool whenever we can. It's about as big as a hotel pool, but 3 feet deep on one end and 12 feet deep on the other. A traditional Josephinum game is Water Rugby... yes we made it up. We set up two small soccer nets on either side of the shallow end. There's only one rule: get the ball into the other side's net. It's full contact, pushing, splashing, shoving, blocking, wrestling. We play chivalrously, but nobody holds back. This Saturday is our monthly Seminarian Work Day, where all the seminarians band together and landscape the campus. This time, I think the focus is going to be on cutting some fallen trees to make wood for our fires. As guys have gotten COVID or had other injuries, it continues to impress me how charitable and supportive everyone here is. When I was in quarantine, guys would stop to talk, (from the required distance,) would make sure I was well fed and would bring drinks and snacks. I know this phrase is a little clichéd, but we really are one big family. I am very much aware that we already have a Pope.
"His Holiness, Pope Gabriel I," was elected last Friday by the College of Cardinals. Still confused? Let me tell you about the Mudbowl! Every year, during Family Weekend, the Theology and College houses go head-to-head in the biggest flag football game of the year: the Mudbowl. The stakes are enormous - whichever team wins gets to keep the trophy in their pub until the next bowl. (When you get a bunch of guys in competition, anything is a big deal.) The Theology team calls themselves "the Papal Bulls." The College team calls themselves "the College of Cardinals." Starting to make sense yet? The Friday before the Mudbowl, the seniors... I mean, Cardinals, meet to elect the "Holy Father," the mascot of the College of Cardinals. People gather in front of the college building in the evening and await the announcement. The congregation is tense, waiting. This is a "completely serious" affair. The Swiss Guards block the doors to the building. From the top floor, the Vatican flag is unfurled and a Cardinal reads the announcement. "Habemus Papam - Pope Gabriel I!" This papal name choice is unusually normal - our last pope was Pope Chuy II. It's a reference to the fact that everyone seems to mistake two of our guys for each other, so the Pope took the other guy's name. We hold a "solemn" procession to the pub where his "Holiness" reads a papal declaration and breaks the seal on the doors to the pub, where a grand social begins - pizza and chicken wings. The next day, the game is held. The field is set. The announcer has his microphone, our halftime show has his accordion and trombone, the teams have their places on the field, and we have the ball. The College of Cardinals starts out with an early lead, and we make a touchdown. It seems like the Papal Bulls are unprepared for the vivacity of the College of Cardinals. They recover fast, intercept the ball, and start bringing it back, landing a touchdown of their own. The College inches one point ahead, then accelerates with play after play, finally scoring a touchdown for a smashing victory, 20-6. Go Cards! To all you footballs fans... I'd like to sincerely apologize for my shoddy proper play-by-play here. Announcing is harder than it looks! I didn't play in the game because I'm still recovering, but I watched from the side as much as I could while keeping my team well hydrated. I was an excellent water boy and I still made the victory photo! I have the team victory photo and Papal election photos attached. The most striking thing about the Mudbowl isn't the papal election, the commentary, the music, the plays, or even watching "the Pope" play football, it's the chivalry and fraternity even between the two teams. It's a football game, so injuries abound. We have one guy with a torn ACL, a couple guys with busted fingers, and plenty of rough tackles and bruises. I've never seen a game where the players are as apologetic and supportive. One instance of many comes to mind. Two of the fastest guys, one from each team were running for the ball. Both of them leap for it, and take a solid collision and tumble, landing flat on their faces side-by-side. They pat each other on the shoulder and help each other up. Complements and encouragements abound. Even in a highly competitive football game (of all things), the fraternal love of Christ is clearly shown. It's one of the things I love most about being here. P.S. My family and my bishop visited over this same weekend. It was nice to spend time with them, to talk about my home diocese and family, and to welcome them into an experience of my seminary life. It's not all fun and games at PCJ. We're still students.
For those of us fresh out of high school, we're looking at 8 years of formation ahead of us. For the first four years, we're called "collegians." This means that we're receiving an undergraduate degree while in formation and studying philosophy while we're at it. Everyone finishes with four years as a "theologian." During the first year, the seminarian is installed as a lector. During the second - an acolyte. During the third, he is ordained a Deacon. At the end of the fourth year, he is finally ordained a Priest. Most guys come into seminary with an undergraduate degree in hand. We call these fine gents "pre-theologians." Essentially, they have to take an additional two years of college to get a grounding in philosophy and four years as a theologian, or six years atop their original undergraduate degree for a total of 10 years in college-level study. Different diocese add different things to the formation experience. Some add a spirituality year: a year of retreats and spiritual formation with no accredited academic formation. Some also add a pastoral year: a year of ministry to ground the seminarian in the real world. The academic part of seminary is a whole can of worms that I'll do my best to unravel. Keep in mind there will be some loose ends, so feel free to ask questions if you have them! The church has a number of requirements that need to be met to make sure that the Priest is well formed. He studies philosophy because philosophy is the groundwork of theology, and everything he studies in theology builds on what he studied in philosophy. This year, I'm taking the most foundational philosophy course - Logic. Secondly, he needs to have studied Eccliastical Latin. It's the language of the church, after all... and yes I am taking Latin (PRAY FOR ME PLEASE). Some guys are also taking a foundational theology course: Salvation History, but I had an applicable credit from Franciscan University that exempted me from this course. The other courses I'm taking are meant to "context" philosophy with a Liberal Arts degree. I'm taking Writing 1 and Western Civilization 1. Western Civilization is a summary of history with lessons on the philosophies of history. I'll give you an example. Some cultures treat history like it's purely degenerative. There was a golden state, something happened, and now everything's not so great. Obviously, you can think about Eden and the fall. Some take a progressive view: everything is getting better and points toward a perfect state. You can think about Marxism, or even about the New Heaven and New Earth in Revelation. Some take cyclical views: history repeats in patterns. Think about eastern religions, the covenants in the bible, or the cycle of prophets, repentance, and falling away. It's my favorite course by far. Finally, every first year student takes a voice class with our organist/music teacher. The focus is on general vocal improvement. For me and others with a little musical experience, it means practice with breathing, posture, diction, volume, and range (a hard task for a bass like yours truly). For those who struggle a little more, the focus is on matching pitch. Let's just say we don't need more tone deaf priests... Totus Tuus! P.S. The attached picture is of a statue in my building. The statue is titled "School of the Gospel," referring to the Blessed Mother and quoting St. John Paul II. P.P.S. I am out of quarantine. Thank you for your prayers, they mean a lot. I'll write a post about quarantine soon! |
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