Chapel renovation

Our chapel has been under renovation this summer.  Here is the new look.

Seminary - Year 2

Well, I am back at the seminary.  I arrived last night and attended the planning meeting for orientation.

The new men arrive today.  I am on the team to help them get acclimated to seminary life.  Classes don't start until next week, so in the meantime it is time for prayer, discussion and Mass while we greet the new and returning seminarians.

Summer is ticking away

I've been enjoying  my summer with family.  I've had several friends come visit from my old neighborhood and have showed them around town.  In less than a week, I will be packing up and heading back to the seminary.  I am on the orientation team this year.  A week from today, I will be welcoming the new class to the seminary.

Time flies.  Year two is just around the corner.

Oh, and I could not help notice that you have kicked this blog over 10,000 page views.  Thanks for reading and commenting.

Vocation Reflection

All the seminarians from Boston were asked to speak at the Masses at their summer assignment.  Here is my reflection...

The voice woke me up from a sound sleep. “Now will you follow me?” I did what any man would do. I got up, looked out the windows, checked the radio (it was off), checked the house and went back to bed. 

 

The next week, in our bulletin, was a notice for a Vocation weekend. I belatedly put 2 and 2 together. The call that I had been hearing since I was a young altar server was suddenly getting much louder. I could consider this call again, because earlier that year my wife of 30 years had died. My vocation of marriage could possibly be replaced with a vocation of Holy Orders. I remembered my wife’s words from many years ago, “If anything were to happen to me, you’d never get another girlfriend, you’d just become a priest”. Perhaps she knew something about me that I did not know.

As I continued to discern this vocation, I put up many barriers as to why it was not possible. Every time I raised a barrier, God crushed it, usually within days. I needed money to live on for 4 years at the Seminary; my IBM pension matured with a corresponding letter. My family may not be behind this; my agnostic brother called me and told me how excited he was that I was thinking of entering the seminary.

God continued to speak and I continued to listen. I must admit that when I visited the seminary and many of the men told me that they quit their jobs and sold their houses and came, I had serious reservations. I could never do that. I developed spreadsheets to work out the finances. I could keep the house. I could rent out my house. I could buy a condo. God continued to speak and very slowly, I heard and understood. I resigned from IBM and sold my house. I did buy the condo in Maine and my dad and sister are living in it. I need some place to sleep on my days off and holidays.

The most amazing part of being in the Seminary is my brother seminarians. They are always there for you; in sickness, study slumps, low moments, Patriots games, shopping trips, pub crawls, meals, and chapel time. They raise you up when you are down and keep you from getting too high on yourself when you need that as well. They frequently speak with the voice of God perhaps without even realizing it. 

 

One wise brother told me early on that “chapel time” was more important than study time. It took me two months to understand what he was saying, but my personal, quiet “chapel time” is an important part of my day at the seminary. I sit in God’s presence and listen for His voice. I don’t expect to hear it like I did 2 years ago, but I still listen for His voice every day.

God is speaking, are we listening?

My Summer Assignment - part 3

Some of you have noted that I have not posted in a while.  Thanks for reminding me.

For my friend Bill who suggests that my emails are very terse, perhaps a longer post is in order.  I have two things that I feed the need to blog about today.

First, I firmly believe that my current role is pastoral service.  What does that mean?  Well, I'm here to assist where I can, listen a lot and not step on too many toes.  For instance, at our two daily Masses, we have a reader and a server. These folks have been sharing their gifts with the faithful for years.  Should I take over because I am a seminarian and an acolyte?  I say "no".  If somebody is on vacation or is sick, I'll take the open spot, but I do not want to interfere with their ministry and their gifts. I check in at every Mass to see if I am needed, but if I am not, I can participate in the Mass from the pews just as well.  Now some of my seminarian brother do not agree with this stand, and that is OK, we can disagree and still be brothers.  My summer supervisor fully supports this stand and in his years of pastoral experience is glad that I came in the door with that expectation.

Listening is a skill.  Not arguing is also a skill.  On Saturday and Sunday when I stand outside to greet the parishioners, I can get an earful.  Sometimes, people just need to vent.  If I can say something positive, I will.  I don't argue, I just listen.  You cannot please everyone, but it is also important to listen to the minority voices to balance the viewpoints and acknowledge their concerns.

Second, I am envious (but not to the point of confession) of some other bloggers who can write so well of their emotional and spiritual struggles on their pages.  So much of my blog is day to day stuff and not deep thoughts.  Those who know me know that I am a deep thinker and feeler, but rarely share those thoughts and feelings.  A good friend told me once that when I do speak up, people listen because it happens infrequently.  So, my first point here today was an attempt to voice one of those deeper thoughts.  The life of a priest (or laity) is one of pastoral service.  We are called to care for each other and consider our thoughts and actions. My spiritual director told me we are responsible for our second thought and our first action.  Let's think it through and then act on our thoughts with pastoral service in mind

Deacon Ordination

I attended the ordination of our own Tom Macdonald to the order of deacons this morning. Tom and I share the same home parish and I saw some familiar faces from there. Tom is two years ahead of me in his studies in Rome.  Congratulations Tom!

This would be a good time to mention a bit about our parish vocations.  We have 2 deacons already, Art and Dick. We have 2 men in permanent deacon formation, Bill and Fran.  We have nun, soon to make her final vows, Kelly.  Tom and I round out the vocation list for clergy and sisters. We also have many parishioners who take their vocations of mother, father, husband, wife or single very seriously.  It is a great parish.

Many of our men entering 4th year at Blessed John have been ordained as deacons as well this summer.  I'm looking forward to seeing them this fall and serving with them at Mass.

Boston Seminarian's Retreat 2012

I attended the Boston Seminarian's Retreat last week.  It was 3 days and two nights to reflect on our possible vocation and meet others from other seminaries.  It was a pleasant time with walks in the woods, views of Buzzard's Bay and time to talk with other like minded men.

Cardinal Sean's Blog has a picture of two of us from Blessed John Seminary listening to the Cardinal.  Scroll down about 3/4 of the way to see us.