Back by popular demand, we are happy to share with you all this month the start of seminary life from the viewpoint of one of new seminarian (who will remain anonymous - unless you can figure it yourself or he decides tells you!). Our blogging seminarian will be making regular updates all month giving you an inside perspective of seminary life and what it takes to answer the Lord’s call by going to seminary.
MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 2010
God is good!
I have two instances to share where I found strength in God. It was five minutes before it was my turn to lector at morning prayer when I started shaking. I was definitely excited to be asked to lector on that day, but I became nervous when it was my time to speak. I knew all the guys there, but I was still nervous when it came right down to it. Right away, the thought of praying to God and asking for His strength popped into my mind. Four minutes. I prayed to Him and asked for His strength while picturing Jesus in my mind. Three minutes. I slowly calmed down and shook a little less, but I faltered as I lost the focus of my mental image of Jesus. Two minutes. I focused harder on my prayer and kept the image strong. It was with a minute left that I stopped shaking before it was my turn to speak. God is good. School has finally come around and we were given homework. I had pages for my Intro to Old Testament to read, but I’m horrible at disciplining myself with reading what I need to read. I had the option to watch the Rays game while doing my homework, or I thought I could go into the chapel to do my homework. It was a tough decision, but I chose the chapel. I sat down in the chapel and said a small prayer, “Lord, help me to focus on what I’m reading so that I can become more in tune with my faith. Please give me the strength to read this and not become bored and quit. Amen.” My mind wandered a few times which made me have to go back and read over what I had read unconsciously. But for the most part, I finished my homework without a problem. I understood (mostly) what I had read, and it was pretty interesting as I kept my focus. God is good. Posted at 11:21 a.m.
SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 2010
You can’t judge a book by its cover!
During the second week of orientation, the new guys were given the night off to spend some time out of the seminary. Some people saw the Last Exorcism, but I had gone with a couple of guys to see the Expendables. I thought it was terrible, but that’s not the point I’m trying to get at. After the movie, the two guys and I went into a Barnes and Noble to look around while we waited for the other guys to get out of their movie. It was in Barnes and Noble where I learned that I’m too judgmental as a person. The two guys that I spent time with started talking to a young man about a book that they were looking for that is written in French. My first impression of the young guy was that he was very awkward. He was bony and he had ratty hair rolling over the left side of his eye. He spoke without really opening his mouth too wide and he was throwing out titles of books that sounded like they belonged to a group of people that enjoyed Dungeons & Dragons. I patiently waited until they finished talking while I stood off to the side. They eventually finished talking, and we departed from his presence. I leaned over and whispered to my fellow seminarian while making a face and said, “He was kinda awkward.” He didn’t laugh or nod like I thought he would do. He only smiled and said, “He’s a nice guy.” That comment shut me up and I didn’t speak about him again. My fellow seminarian did not respond that way to shut me up or because he thought I was being a jerk (which I was), but he responded that way because he didn’t judge him on his outside appearance like I did. My fellow seminarian saw the intelligence in the young man and the courtesy that he showed us. He saw past what I thought was awkward and was Christ-like in his approach with the man. The small ordeal was a great lesson for me, and I hope to always remember in the future to not judge people on his or her outside appearance, but to look at the person in a way that Christ would.
Posted at 12:20 p.m.
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 3, 2010
Three Meals a Day…
While I still lived at my home, I used to eat a lot of ice cream but I didn’t exercise or play many sports to keep in shape. I weighed 158 when I left home, so I’m not overweight. I’m in “shape”, but my family thought that I would gain weight because they thought that I would just eat, study and do nothing. But after a couple of weeks that I’ve been here, I’ve lost around 3-4 pounds. I have eaten more since I’ve arrived here because I now eat breakfast, while I didn’t when I was at home. It’s been a regular schedule with the meals and I don’t really overeat. We’ve played sports close to every other day that I’ve been here, which is way more than I did at home. So my family might be shocked to see that I could be in better shape than when they last saw me, because I’m definitely more active here than I was at home. When we had our Convocation back in early August, Fr. Waters lectured us on keeping in shape at the seminary and not letting ourselves go. He said that the older we get, the harder it will be to stay in shape. I already knew this, but it was a nice reminder to set a goal to be consistent with exercising and not over eating. It is easy to fall into the sin of gluttony, but I’m determined to be consistent in what I know that I should do. That’s my goal, but I am human, so we’ll see how it goes.
Posted at 7:15 a.m.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 2, 2010
Practice Makes Perfect
Last week we had a three day silent retreat, and the main focus was celibacy and prayer. Prayer is generally a struggle for me. I love praying, but I’m terrible at setting time aside to pray. I think I know how to better my prayer life; I have to put God first in everything that I do, and everything will fall into place. If I think about God in everything, I know that I’ll pray more and talk to Him. I prayed in the chapel a lot during the retreat, usually the rosary or spontaneous prayer. I felt like I always wanted to carry my rosary around with me the more I prayed. So I fiddled around with it and wrapped it around my hand to where it wouldn’t fall off, but it was very loose and it got in my way as I did things. The next day, I played around with it more and I got it to fit a little better around my hand, but it was still getting in my way when I tried to use my hands. I tried several different ways and I was eventually satisfied with a certain way that I did it. I realized at that point that it took a lot of practice for me to make the rosary fit correctly, and then I realized that’s how my prayer life has been. It will take a lot of practice, and I know there will be struggles before I find the perfect “fit”, but I have to keep trying so that I can be close to Him. I know that I’ll fall, fail, and falter. But I’ll keep trying so that I can have the perfect “fit” with God.
Posted at 2:45 pm
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 1, 2010
New Beginnings
I have been at seminary for a few weeks now, but as I start writing this blog for the month I was thinking about my first day of seminary. The first day at St. John Vianney College Seminary was very fun. I arrived before my roommate did, but I knew his name because it was posted on my door. My parents helped me unpack some of my things, but not all of it because my room was only temporary for the two weeks of orientation. It has been nice so far for several reasons. The guys here have been really welcoming, and the new seminarians are all down to earth and really cool guys. I thought that I might have depended on a guy that I knew prior to joining seminary, but I’ve clicked with a bunch of guys, so it’s been awesome. I attended a community college before applying to the seminary, and to be honest, I was really nervous going to my community college. I dreaded the people, the teachers, the school work, etc. But here, I just feel so comfortable. I still dread the school work, but who wouldn’t? People smarter than me, I guess. My point is, I feel like this is a second home to me. That could change when I find out how much school I have to do, haha, but I have really enjoyed my time here so far. God has worked a miracle in a simple way for me, and I’m definitely appreciative of it.
Posted at 12:30 a.m.
Do you have a topic you would like adressed this month by our guest seminarian blogger? Just click HEREto get it to him or to get more information of seminary life, priesthood, or religious life? To explore the possibility of a vocation to the priesthood or religious life, you can always contact Fr. Len at (727) 345-3452 or at spvocation@dosp.org.
