Another Vocations Awareness Weekend has come and gone and this time around the bar was definitely raised by the guests. Out of the 70 young men who attended the weekend, all of them gave their hearts to really consider the discernment of the priesthood of Jesus Christ.

On Friday evening, the guests arrived to the seminary. At about 11:00 p.m. we all gathered in the main chapel for a welcoming/blessing ceremony with a modified version of Night Prayer. Saturday was packed with all kinds of different activities. On Saturday morning, the guests watched a very…interesting movie created by the Dean of Students/Vice Rector of the seminary. Following the movie presentation, the guests listened to several seminarians describe the four pillars of formation as prescribed by the Program of Priestly Formation (PPF). The seminarians added a personal touch to the pillars to make them more real for the guests.

On Saturday evening, several seminarians were asked to lead small group sessions where the guests could ask any questions about seminary life, the process of discernment in our own lives, etc. During the small group sessions, I experienced the willingness of these young men to open their hearts. Compared to the last VAW in November, the conversation that took place in these small groups was much deeper and more geared towards discernment.

A very good morning to all of you!! As I write this, the seminary community of St. John Vianney College Seminary is hosting about 70 young men who are seeking to know God’s will for their lives during our Spring Vocations Awareness Weekend.

This morning, I would like to begin by thanking all of you who are loyal readers of this small effort on my part to promote vocations in the Catholic Church by sharing my own journey of discernment. I would also like to welcome those who may be visiting for the first time.

As many of you read on the Whispers of the Spirit blog on Thursday, over the last several months it has become increasingly difficult to keep up two blogs when you are pretty much working on them yourself. The only reasonable thing to do would be to stop posting blogs on one site and focus on the site where I post more articles. Therefore, Whispers of the Spirit will no longer be updated with new information, effective immediately. The work of promoting vocations will continue on this site.

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.

It’s almost that time of year when the seminary community welcomes another group visitors for our Spring Vocations Awareness Weekend. For all those in the State of Florida who are interested in attending the weekend, please contact the Office of Vocations in your Diocese. The numbers are located below.

Diocese of Orlando:

Archdiocese of Miami: 305-762-1137

Diocese of St. Petersburg: 727-345-3452

Diocese of Palm Beach: 561-775-9552

Diocese of Venice: 941-484-9543

Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee: 850-435-3552

Diocese of St. Augustine: 904-262-3200, ext. 101

***Note: If you are the bulletin editor at a parish in the Diocese of Orlando, please email me ([email protected]) for additional bulletin inserts promoting Vocations Awareness Weekend.***

Hello everyone!! It has been a few weeks since I last posted anything, so I wanted to keep you all up to speed on how life is going at the seminary. For the most part, things have been relatively quiet around here; not too many things happening out of the ordinary. Nonetheless,  here is a brief recap of the last few weeks:

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.