“Today, Ash Wednesday, we begin the Lenten path that lasts forty days and which leads us to the joy of the Lord’s Easter.”  (Benedict XVI, Wednesday Audience 17 Feb. 2010)

In his weekly audience today in St. Peter’s Square, B16 stated that the Church asks us to embark on a journey of conversion during Lent:

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.