So, to begin, I would like to simply apologize for finishing this “Year in Review” a bit later than even I anticipated. Over the last several days, I have been resting, relaxing and even doing yard work outside. It seems that when I left home for the seminary in Miami my parents had no one to work on the yard. So, they let it go by the wayside. That is going to change over the next couple of weeks. Okay, so…where were we? Oh yes, Spring VAW.

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!!

Over the last couple of days, I have continued reflecting on this year in seminary formation and have been given the opportunity to recall many graces that I have received. The Lord has been extremely generous to me! In reflection of the first part of the formational year, I got up to the celebration of the 50th Anniversary weekend that the seminary community experienced back in November. I would like to continue from there.

The weekend after the alumni reunion, the seminary again opened its doors to a large group of people for our fall Vocations Awareness Weekend. The VAW that took place from November 13-15th was rather difficult. There were a lot of young men attending that were seriously considering what God was calling them to do with their lives. However, there were others who were here simply because their parents wanted them to come and who had no intention of looking at the priesthood as something God was calling them to do with their lives. However, the Lord worked through all of it. He used each and every one of the seminarians and priests who were here to show the attendees that God loves them and that He is seeking them to serve the Church and the people of God in some capacity. It was rather humbling to see, in the midst of the sometimes chaotic weekend, that the Lord was using me to reach someone I had never met. It goes to show you that the Lord works with what you have to offer, however limited that offering may be. All we can do is surrender it all to Him because we cannot necessarily see how the Lord is working in others.

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.