Courtesy: University of Central Florida

Whew! It’s amazing how quickly the summer passed us by. And, let me tell you, what a summer it has been.

Many of you know that I decided to leave the seminary this summer and have been following my progress with starting anew on Twitter and/or Facebook. That decision ultimately led me to transfer to the University of Central Florida, which has been an interesting task. The last couple of months have been spent making sure all needed documents were signed, sealed and delivered to the university. After all of that, I am looking forward to finally getting started.

Tomorrow will officially mark the beginning of the Fall 2010 semester. I have only registered for four classes so I should have ample time to continue blogging, etc. My classes for this semester are: Civic Engagement, Public Administration in American Society, Administration of Public Policy and Interdisciplinary Leadership in Public Affairs.

Many people have told me that the reason I went to the seminary was to find my singing voice; I can actually see some truth into that. Even before entering the formal discernment process, I was an active member in my parish’s adult choir but that usually entailed providing inaudible backup singing. However, on Good Friday of this past year I was given the opportunity to cantor for the first time. From that point on, I came to the realization that maybe that was the next step in my ministry to the Church.

Sorry for the absence over the past couple of weeks. I took the opportunity over the Christmas Recess to really rest, relax and gear up for the new academic semester that began bright and early Monday morning. We woke up to a very chilly 41 degrees , which is down right freezing cold by Florida standards. Before I get into the experiences of the upcoming semester, I wanted to wish all of you a very happy and blessed New Year. But, this is not just a new year, it is also the start of a new decade. So Happy New Decade as well!!

This semester is going to be a little different from the Fall semester, mainly because we do not have any major events planned, except our bi-annual Vocations Awareness Weekend in March–I am already expecting to have another well attended weekend. I always look forward to hosting the countless young men who come to the seminary to discern God’s will for their lives for that brief period of two days. I never took the opportunity to come on one of the weekends even though I had been invited numerous times by people in my parish. So, if there is a young man out there from the Diocese of Orlando who is thinking about serving the church as a priest, please seriously consider contacting Fr. Miguel at the Vocations Office about coming down March 12-14, 2010.

Hello all! I apologize for the low number of posts for the last couple of weeks. Academics always have a priority, especially this week with mid-semester exams. Now, to make matters worse, I have some kind of virus that will keep me out of the classroom until tomorrow night. But, there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I will be home next week for mid-semester break. See most of y’all then!!

Bye for now….

Two weeks ago, the seminarians had a week packed with all kinds of exciting events, including a visit from Christopher West for a Theology of the Body conference, as well as visits from our bishops for Board of Trustees meetings. We also participated in a Day of Recollection,which was very well received by yours truly–I was able to rest with the Lord with no worries about papers, tests, etc. This past week, the seminary community celebrated the first major event in its 50th Anniversary year with the dedication of a new mosaic to Mary, Star of the Sea and the consecration of the seminary to Mary. What an exciting couple of weeks!! Thankfully, the next couple of weeks are going to be a little more ordinary.

Throughout this week, most of us here will be working on papers that are due in the very near future. We will also be studying for our mid-term exams, which are coming up next week (October 5th-9th). However, then we all have something to look forward to; mid-semester break is the week of October 12th. For me, break will be spent catching up on some much needed rest and spending time with family in Orlando. I am mostly looking forward to getting to see my nephew crawl around the house.

Off to the chapel for Morning Prayer and Mass. Bye for now….

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.