All of the seminarians here at St. John Vianney College Seminary began the new academic year this morning with Daily Mass. In his homily, Fr. Joseph told a story about a man who came across a butterfly struggling to emerge from its cocoon. In order to help the tiny creature, the man cut the cocoon, allowing the butterfly to emerge with ease. However, what the man did not realize was that the butterfly needed to struggle to fit its lethargic body through the tiny hole at the bottom of the cocoon. This would have allowed the excess fluid in the body to spread to the wings, causing them to open wide, permitting the butterfly to fly away. Instead, the butterfly’s lethargic body retained the moisture and its wings did not open. The tiny creature spent the rest of its days crawling upon the earth, never having the ability to lift its heavy body off the ground and fly.

What does this have to do with seminary? Fr. Joseph tied this story in with the upcoming year. He told the seminarians there will be tremendous struggles and challenges that will occur this year. In formation, the struggles are necessary to achieve growth. If we have someone come along and ease the burden of the challenge, we will never experience the growth we need. The Lord never gives us a challenge that we are too weak to overcome. If we persevere and have faith, we can overcome any obstacle that is put in our path. Fr. Joseph told us not to be afraid to accept the responsibilities that we are given this year because they are only meant to help us grow. If we look for the easy way out and have someone take the challenge away from us, there is no possibility for growth and we will never learn how to fly.

Hello everyone! Later on today, I will be leaving Orlando for Miami to return to the seminary for the beginning of the new academic year. Classes begin on Monday, August 24th. But, before then, the returning seminarians will go on a mini retreat to have some time to transition from our summer assignments back to seminary. It will gives us some time to reflect on our experiences of the summer. Please keep us in your prayers for Friday and Saturday. Peace and blessings to all!!

Many of you may think that my recent wrist surgery has made me a little loopy with a title of “Three Days” in the middle of August. No, “Three Days” is not an article about the most profound Christian celebration, the Triduum. Rather, it is simply about the remaining three days of the seminarians’ summer recess from the seminary.

Even though the majority of the seminarians have been enjoying the last few weeks at home, the new seminarians from all of the dioceses of Florida have already begun their year of formation. Altogether, there are 35 new seminarians from across the state, including eight from the Diocese of Orlando. (A breakdown of the numbers will be coming shortly.) Along with these 35 men, the additional 44 returning seminarians reenter St. John Vianney College Seminary on Thursday of this week. This makes a total of 79 seminarians for this academic year.

As we return to the seminary this week, please remember to keep us and those responsible for our formation in your prayers, especially during this Year for Priests. Please know that all of our benefactors are prayed for on a daily basis at the seminary. We voice our gratitude in our intercessions during our communal Evening Prayer. Thank you for your prayers and support.

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My how the time flies when you are having fun! It seems like just yesterday that I was driving myself crazy studying for hours on end for my final exams. In less than three weeks I will be returning to St. John Vianney College Seminary to begin a new academic year and my second year in formation. My junior year is going to be so busy, not only because of the workload associated with my class schedule, but also because it is the 50th Anniversary of the seminary. There is a whole list of events taking place towards the end of the first semester to celebrate this wonderful Golden Anniversary.

At convocation on Wednesday, the newest Diocesan Representatives were announced. For St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary, the Orlando representative is Ben Lenhertz. For St. John Vianney College Seminary, the representative is yours truly. I hope and pray that I am able to perform the tasks and duties that come along with this responsibility.