Hello everyone! I realize that I have not been able to get on the internet as often as I thought, at least for the first couple of weeks, to keep y’all updated on my new life in the seminary. So, I thought up this clever idea of doing a week in review.
Sunday, August 17th:
On Sunday, the new seminarians began, somewhat reluctantly, their four day silent retreat to reflect upon their journey to the seminary thus far. It gave all of us an opportunity to recall the days of the New Student Experience and how we have all come together as brothers in the faith. We were not able to use any kind of technology, including computers, cell phones, radios, televisions, etc. However, this was a gift from God, because we were able to recognize God’s presence in our daily lives.
Monday, August 18th – Wednesday, August 20th:
The retreat continued until Wednesday, when we were finally able to get our cell phones back from Reverend Doctor Rios (we just found out that he had been taking classes to become a doctor without anyone knowing – including Archbishop Favalora). When I finally got my phone back, I turned it on and was greeted by 41 messages!! YIKES!!
The retreat was an awesome experience! It gave us all the time we needed to have for prayerful reflection not only on these days here in the seminary, but for most of us, our entire lives. I was able to see that God has been present in my life the entire time. I just never really noticed! After the retreat ended and I discovered that my vocal chords did not disappear, I was able to voice what I felt touched me the most. When I was sitting in front of the Blessed Sacrament, a sense of peace and comfort came over me and I knew that God was with me.
Thursday, August 21st:
On Thursday, all of the Returning Men arrived at the college. They are great guys also!! We have all been getting along really well so far. In my book, we are no longer New Men and Returning Men; we are Men of the Church who are traveling the same road of discernment to the priesthood.
Friday, August 22nd: (Happy Birthday, David!!!)
Friday….what a day! It was jam packed with a lot of fun and some not so fun things. We all had to be up at 7:30 for Morning Prayer, which was a little difficult for the guys returning after a long summer break, but I was used to it. Then we had breakfast, got our books for the semester, and the New Men went out on a “Social.”
We carpooled to the Dadeland Mall, which is about 5 minutes to the south of the seminary, and walked to the MetroRail station (above ground rail system). From there, we went to Downtown Miami and attended Mass at Gesu Catholic Church (the oldest Church in the Archdiocese). Then we went shopping for awhile and got back on the train and departed for home. That night, however, the New Men had to vacate the property because the Returning Men had to go on their Day of Recollection (silent retreat).
Well, a group of us decided to go to see a ceremony where some ladies were installed as nuns. On the way home from the ceremony, we were coming down the Palmetto Expressway when we ran over an iron gate that was sitting in the middle of the road. Unfortunately, the SUV I was riding in got a flat tire. At the time, it was about 11:40 p.m. and curfew was at 12:00 a.m. We were only about 5 minutes from the seminary when we ran over this stupid gate and had to sit there waiting for the tire to get changed. But, because so many cars ran this gate over, the Florida Highway Patrol had to come out and take a report, which took some time. By the time we got back to the seminary, it was about 1:15 a.m. way passed curfew!! But the Dean of Men did get a call from us, so he knew we would be late. But, I got very little sleep last night!!
Saturday, August 23rd:
Today, the Archbishop of Miami came and celebrated a Mass of the Holy Spirit with us as we begin the school year on Monday. Following the celebration of the Eucharist, we had a HUGE dinner. Fr. Miguel even came down to see us for this special occasion. After dinner, we had a little bit of free time so a group of us went bowling and had quite a bit of fun!
Hopefully, I was able to catch everyone up on my week. It was a week filled with great triumphs! Even the flat tire was a blessing because we were able to do some apostolic work on the side of the road (make sure everyone was okay, make sure no one needed any help, etc.). All of the seminarians are looking forward to this upcoming year of formation as we are a community of joy!
I leave you with a couple of questions from our retreat to use to reflect upon your own relationship with our Heavenly Father. Where has God been present in your lives? When have you been aware of His presence? When have you neglected to notice His presence? Have you given thanks to God for all the gifts he has placed in your lives?
Bye for now………..
This year has been quite a year for me in seminary formation. The 2009-2010 year started way back during the second week of August as the new seminarians arrived at St. John Vianney College Seminary for New Student Experience. When the returning seminarians arrived back for the year on August 20th, we met a LARGE group of new men who had already bonded and congealed. The first few months were a bit difficult adjusting to the large number of seminarians, the largest sized house in some 35 years. However, once the returning men and the new men came together, walking on the same journey of discovering the Lord’s love for each one of us, we were able to bond as a house of brothers. It was going to be an interesting, grace-filled 50th Anniversary Year for the seminary community!!
