On January 15th, the seminary community went on a Day of Recollection to assist us in switching gears from the Christmas Break and to prepare us for the upcoming academic semester. Our retreat master was Monsignor Thomas Caserta from the Diocese of Brooklyn (Pastor of the Shrine  Church of St. Bernadette). Msgr. Caserta spoke to us about the evangelical councils of obedience, chastity, and poverty. (Interesting side note: Diocesan priests do not take a vow of poverty; instead, diocesan priests take a promise to live in simplicity.) The Day of Recollection, which only lasted about 20 hours or so, was eye opening for me. It allowed me to really reflect on priestly service and the baptismal call of all. The mini-retreat gave me the opportunity to reflect on how the Lord is working in my life and how he continues to call me to serve His church, His people.

On January 23rd, St. John Vianney College Seminary hosted the Liga Orante, a group of little old Cuban women who get together to sponsor fundraising events  and pray for vocations to the priesthood. It is always great to hang out with the ladies from the Liga Orante because it allows us to see and thank some of the people who pray for seminarians and support us. We also get to work on our Spanish conversational skills. (I still need a little more practice on this front.)

Throughout the last three months or so, the entire junior class (with only a few exceptions) have been working on our Humanities Projects. The purpose of the projects is to show a correlation between humanities (art, music, etc.) and religion or philosophy. For the project, the juniors were broken up into five groups of three. The groups were asked to choose two humanities categories and prepare a 15 minute presentation. My group chose painting and literature and its correlation to theology; we focused on the Passion story–the Way to the Cross, the Crucifixion, and the Descent from the Cross. The presentations were given on January 28th. All of the groups did an excellent job!!

So, that’s a recap of the last few weeks. Some interesting highlights for the weeks to come include:

• Our annual Fides et Ratio conference takes place on February 5th. This year’s guest speaker is a Pre-Theology alumni of St. John Vianney, the United States Ambassador to the Holy See, Miguel Diaz. Mr. Diaz will be speaking on the relationship between the United States and the Vatican, which is a little different from our usual Fides et Ratio topic of discussion–as the sitting ambassador, Diaz must speak from his office. More to come on this later!!
• Mid-semester exams will take place from February 15th through February 18th. Please pray for us this week.
• The beautiful and reflective Season of Lent begins on Ash Wednesday, February 17th.
• Mid-semester break begins on February 18th…I will be home by 1:00p.m. I am quite excited about spending some time with the family, especially Micah D. who is now walking!!!
• We come back from mid-semester break on February 25th and almost immediately go on a three-day silent retreat. Please pray a little extra throughout those three days (Feb. 25th-28th).
• Finally, Vocations Awareness Weekend is already right around the corner. The seminary community will welcome young men from most of the Dioceses of the province March 12th-14th. Anyone interested in attending should contact their vocations directors. Contact information can be found by going to Whispers of the Spirit.

Pax.

PHOTO 1 SOURCE: St. John Vianney College Seminary

PHOTO 2 SOURCE: St. John Vianney College Seminary

PHOTO 3 SOURCE: CNS

The first day I was home, I traveled up to St. Augustine to join in on the festivities for Sr. Kathleen Power’s 50th Anniversary as a Sister of St. Joseph. (For the last couple of years, Sr. Kathleen has been serving as Assistant Vocations Director for the Diocese of Orlando.) During the Jubilee Mass, I was given the opportunity to serve with two seminarians from the Diocese of St. Augustine as well as two other seminarians from the Diocese of Orlando. What a beautiful Mass it was!! Fr. Miguel, our Vocations Director, concelebrated at the Mass and gave the homily, recalling how the Sisters of St. Joseph have a played a pivotal role in the formation of countless young Catholics throughout the State of Florida–myself included.

On Monday of the break, I spent the majority of the day at St. Charles, helping around the office. Every chance I get, I try to do as much as I can for the parish that raised me; it is my way of saying thank you. While I was there, I got to spend some time with the parish staff and share with them a little bit of my journey this year at St. John Vianney.

On Wednesday, I was given the opportunity to say thank you to the students and faculty of St. Charles Borromeo Catholic School for their prayers and support by playing my trombone with the school choir. I had an excellent time!! There is a lot of talent in that school! Being at the School Mass reminded me of all the times I had gone to Mass during my years at St. Charles School and how those masses helped develop my vocation. I only hope that there are a few kids in that group of students who are considering serving God in some way by becoming some kind of minister in the church. Who knows, maybe there is even someone who has a calling to become a priest.

Wednesday evening, I traveled to Merritt Island to have dinner with Fr. Karl, Fr. Mike, Sr. Mary, and Sr. Maura from Divine Mercy. What a great time we shared! I am truly thankful for being given the opportunity to walk with them for a little part of my journey. If they only knew what they have done for me–they have shown me that Christ dwells in the ordinary, little things, surrounding us at every moment of our lives. I look forward to seeing them during my Thanksgiving break. (I promised Sr. Mary that I would come and see all of them.)

Thursday was quite an interesting day. Three other Orlando Seminarians and I went to Bishop Moore High School to share with the male sophomore students a little bit of vocations. We shared our vocation stories after showing them Fishers of Men. Like last year, the talks reminded me of why I was in the seminary. Sometime I forget exactly who and what I am doing this for. It is always a great experience getting a reminder.

As you can see, the break was jam packed. When I was not doing things Diocesan related, I was spending time resting and chillin’ with the family. All-in-all, it was a good break…I just wish it wasn’t so short. Back to studies and classwork! Bye for now…

PHOTO 1 SOURCE: Diocese of Orlando

PHOTO 2 SOURCE: Bishop Moore Catholic High School

Bye for now….