The spring semester’s Vocations Awareness Weekend was so much more profound than the fall semester’s VAW. This time around, the seminary capped the number of young men who could attend to at about 70. Each of the seven dioceses of the Province of Miami brought priests and young men discerning God’s will for the their lives. The quality of guys that attended the weekend was a lot better than I had previously experienced. The men who came down know that there is something tugging at their hearts; they know that the Lord is calling them to do something special with their lives. In an increasingly materialistic world, the courage these young men exhibited in simply coming on the weekend was incredible. The Lord was working in so many ways!!

After Vocations Awareness Weekend, activities at the seminary really quieted down. In fact, most of the time leading up to Easter Break was spent, for most of the seminarians, working on papers. The paper I was working on was for Contemporary Philosophy; it was a paper on Martin Heidegger and his critique of the Cartesian project [For all of you non-Philosophers out there, Descartes' philosophical argument culminated in the belief: "Cogito ergo sum."--"I think, therefore I am."] However, once I got into the paper, I realized that in order to talk about Descartes, I first had to do a brief overview of the entire history of philosophy. I did not have a clue as to what I was writing, but Fr. Vallee seemed to like it because he gave me an A–something I was totally not expecting.

When Easter Break finally arrived, I was looking forward to helping out at St. Charles. I absolutely love being around the people of my parish. It reminds me where I am from, who is important and what matters most in life. On Good Friday, I was given the opportunity (strongly encouraged) to cantor for the first time at my parish. Even though I had done it countless amounts of time at the seminary, I was extremely nervous because it was my first time doing it at home. But, everything turned out okay. Before I went up to the ambo to sing the Responsorial Psalm, I said a brief prayer:”Lord, I am doing this for you. Please do not make me look like a fool.”

The rest of Easter Break was spent in a prayerful mood as I contemplated the gift that the Lord had given us through the suffering, death and resurrection of His son. I was reminded that, throughout our lives, we do not necessarily understand where the Lord is leading us; however, we simply have to put our trust in Him and follow where He leads. Most of the time, when we truly try to follow the Lord, we are going down a certain path when the Lord steps in and takes your hand. At that point, sometimes, we are led down a very different path. All we can do is surrender ourselves to His will.

When we returned from Easter Break, it was time to begin preparations for final exams. I was so thankful to be given a take-home final [Themes of the Catechism of the Catholic Church], three open note exams [Thomas Aquinas in the 20th Century, Contemporary Philosophy, and Anthropology], and only one exam where I actually had to study [Spanish]. I guess we can say that the Lord was very merciful as always.

After finals, the seminary community gathered together to begin community days. In most colleges, after the students take their final exams, they are free to go home for the summer. However, in the seminary, we are a faith community first and foremost. That connection ties us together and makes our school community unique. Therefore, community days are designed to help us come together and experience the Lord firsthand through the relationships we have with one another as brothers in Christ.

Community days and the academic year came to a close on May 5th with the celebration of graduation. Sixteen seminarians graduated from St. John Vianney College Seminary this year, most of which are moving on to St. Vincent de Paul Regional Seminary in Boynton Beach. The Mass was celebrated by Archbishop John C. Favalora, which is usually not the case. Archbishop Favalora usually only presides over the graduation ceremony. However, because he is retiring as Archbishop of Miami in the next month, Favalora was asked to preside over the Mass. It was beautiful to share in that experience with him.

Well, there you have it, the final episode of the “Year in Review.” I would like to say a heartfelt thank you to all of you who have supported me in this journey over the last year. I have had some great experiences this year at the seminary, all of which will remain with me forever. Thanks for the prayers and the support. As always, stay tuned.

Pax.

PHOTO: (1) St. John Vianney College Seminary; (2) The Excerpt Mill; (3) St. John Vianney College Seminary–Dan Darmanin