This upcoming weekend, the seminary community will welcome 72 guests from all seven dioceses of Florida to the spring version of Vocation Awareness Weekend. The seminarians have all been busy the last few days getting everything prepared to make the weekend as prayerful and inspiring for the guests.

As one of the seminarians responsible for music throughout each week, I, along with the other “music guys,” have been tasked with getting the music ready for all of the liturgies. We have quite a few liturgies to plan for; here is a bit of a breakdown of the schedule for VAW.

Friday Night the seminarians will welcome the guests with a social in the Bishop Noonan Community Room. Following the arrival of the guests, we will all gather in the main chapel for an adjusted form of Night Prayer, with a formal welcoming and blessing ceremony.

Saturday is action packed with the guests being introduced to the “Pillars of Priestly Formation” with a video made by Fr. Alvarez. (That should be interesting to say the least.) To begin the day, we will all gather in the chapel for Morning Prayer. Later in the morning, after the video and seminarian panel, we will all gather in the chapel for Mass. The afternoon on Saturday is meant to be enjoyable; we usually set aside time for all of us to get some recreation, whether that be playing basketball, soccer, football…you get the point. Following the time for sports, we will gather in the chapel for Evening Prayer. After dinner, the guests will participate in group sessions with the seminarians, where they will be able to ask our point of view on formation. (They usually ask about the interview process, the academics, communal prayer, living in the dorms, and our vocations stories. It really is a great time that allows them to gain a human perspective on the experience of seminary.) Following the group sessions, we gather in the chapel for Stations of the Cross.

On Sunday, the guests and seminarians will gather in the Chapel of St. Raphael for Morning Prayer. Following the celebration of Lauds, the guests will have the opportunity to meet with the Vocations Director and seminarians from their Diocese. The weekend comes to a close with the celebration of the Eucharist.

It is going to be an excellent weekend with a lot of graces! For me, the young men who come to share the experiences of Vocations Awareness Weekend minister to me in more ways than I could ever minister to them. They allow me to see that the Lord is still calling people to serve His church despite all of the cultural influences that tell all of us to live life, do whatever we want. The church in Florida has a bright future ahead!!

Please pray for us and for all the guests.

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Photo 1 Source: St. John Vianney College Seminary

Photo 2 Source: Thomas Pringle