I don't get invited out to social events too often. But the other day I received an offer that I couldn't refuse. How can you say "no" to a guy who says he reads my blog, Stella Borealis, as soon as he gets up in the morning to find the important news? Father Bill Baer, Rector of the St. John Vianney College Seminary at the University of St. Thomas, invited me to attend the festivities for "Moving In Day" at the seminary. This is before classes really start when new seminary students, whether Freshmen or Seniors, move into the seminary and begin processing and registering for classes and have a three day retreat as a group. Tomorrow starts with a three mile rosary procession to the Cathedral/Shrine of St. Paul.
SJV, as it is called (although there are other SJV seminaries, named after St. John Vianney, the Cure' of Ars, patron saint of priests), is the largest Catholic college seminary in the U.S. and attracts seminarians from 28 dioceses throughout the country. They come from far places like Savannah, Georgia, Biloxi, Miss., Denver, Lexington, Ken. and Tulsa, Okla., to closer places like Wichita, Omaha, Bismarck, Green Bay, Joliet, Ill., and Duluth, LaCrosse, New Ulm, St. Cloud and of course, the Twin Cities.
New dioceses sending seminarians this year include Lafayette, Ind., with seven, and Savannah with one. Other large contingents include Bismarck with nine, Denver with six, Duluth with seven, Green Bay with six, Joliet with seven, Lansing, Mich. with 20, New Ulm with six, Omaha with nine, Owensboro, KY, with six, St. Cloud with six , St. Paul-Minneapolis with 31, and Wichita with 15.
Fr. Baer, estimated that there would be 166 seminarians, 70 of whom would be new seminarians. He told me "I really can't get a final count until the last mom has left on Moving In Day."
The day starts with the 70 new men trickling in, as often as not accompanied by parents, brothers and sisters, godmothers and the usual baggage that young men need to survive. At five, a Mass was celebrated in the St. Paul Seminary chapel (the SJV chapel being way too small) with 350 in attendance. This was followed by a barbecued chicken picnic on the back lawn of SJV catered by Famous Dave's. Then came the main event of the evening when these seventy men introduced themselves to each other and to their families.
You know, some days when you read the newspaper or watch the news, some things on the worldly side of the Church are troublesome. The funeral in Boston this morning was one of them. But if you want to find inspiration, to find hope for the future, for confidence that the Holy Spirit is indeed guiding the Church, sit down at a picnic table and listen to seventy men embarking on their discernment voyage introduce themselves. The maturity and presence they possessed was stunning. Look forward to some great preachers and priests in eight years. And also some pretty good SJV football teams. Watch out, SPS! Father Baer and his staff will find a fertile field with these men.
Many were right out of high school, as would be expected. Some had a year or two of college and were transferring to SJV. Three of them came from the Vatican's own seminary, the Josephinum, in Columbus, Ohio. Some were majoring in engineering, one in "soccer" amd another in "cheerleading." One confessed to a dissolute life in recent years. Several had spent a year or more as national evangelization missionaries with Net Ministries in West St. Paul, part of the St. Paul's Outreach extended family. One had studied architecture for a couple years. Father Baer, a Georgia Tech Architecture grad before he entered the seminary, approvingly noted that "it was the proper way for someone to get ordained."
It was wonderful to have them introduce their families and express their gratitude and love for them. Listen up! It is true that the larger the family, the more likely there will be vocations. A dozen or more of them came from families with from five to 12 children.
Sometimes I have hidden being Catholic, perhaps out of shame, or maybe ambition. But I don't think that I was ever prouder than I was today when I witnessed this next class of God's holy priests embark upon their vocations.
When they graduate from SJV, these men will have completed all their philosophy requirements for entry into a major seminary, most with a major in philosophy. In the major seminary here, the St. Paul Seminary, also at St. Thomas, the concentration is on theology. Learning the rubrics and the words of the Mass, probably doesn't come until the last semester in their last year.
In this, the Year of Our Priests, declared by Pope Benedict, please pray for our priests, our seminarians, our deacons and our sisters. They are praying for us.
Showing posts with label Vocations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vocations. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
"Moving In Day" at SJV
This article comes from one of my favorite blogs Stella Borealis, "The Star Of The North" Ray from MN tells us about hi visit with new seminarians at SJV. Spend some time reading his blog. I do.
Daily News: Archbishop Dolan: On Fostering Vocations: NCRegister
Daily News: Archbishop Dolan: On Fostering Vocations: NCRegister
Archbishop Dolan: On Fostering Vocations
Posted by Tim Drake
Tuesday, September 01, 2009 12:30 PM
New York Archbishop Timothy DolanOver the weekend, 530 Serra Club members from 12 different countries gathered at their annual international conference in Omaha, Neb. “No one offers more support and encouragement for vocations than Serra,” said the host, Omaha Archbishop George Lucas.
Among the attendees was New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan. Archbishop Dolan told Serrans that vocations can be promoted by the laity in four distinct ways.
The first, said Archbishop Dolan, is by emphasizing the vocation of marriage and family. Citing data from a Pew Research Center study, Archbishop Dolan stated that only about 50% of Catholic young people are approaching the sacrament of marriage.
“Taking care of the first crisis will take care of the second,” said Archbishop Dolan. “Vocations to the priesthood and religious life come from lifelong, life-giving faithful marriages.”
Secondly, Archbishop Dolan spoke of re-creating a culture of vocations.
“There were no good old days in the Church,” said Archbishop Dolan. “Every era in Church history has its horrors and difficulties.”
“We need to recapture the climate/tenor/tone/ambiance in the Church where a boy or man isn’t afraid to publicly say, ‘I want to be a priest,’ and where his family, relatives, neighbors, parish, priest, sisters, teachers and even non-Catholics are robustly supportive.”
Thirdly, Archbishop Dolan said that the laity need to not be afraid to ask their priests to help them be holy.
“For a faithful Catholic, a priest is essential for growth in holiness because he gives us the sacraments, and without the sacraments we can’t be holy,” said Archbishop Dolan. “When you ask us to help you be holy, we realize that we must be holy, and you remind us that there is something unique in the Church that only a priest can do.”
Finally, Archbishop Dolan said that priests must be reminded that they are here to help the laity get to heaven.
“A priest is an icon of the beyond, the eternal, the transcendent,” said Archbishop Dolan. “Heaven gives us hope and meaning in life.”
Posted using ShareThis
Archbishop Dolan: On Fostering Vocations
Posted by Tim Drake
Tuesday, September 01, 2009 12:30 PM
New York Archbishop Timothy DolanOver the weekend, 530 Serra Club members from 12 different countries gathered at their annual international conference in Omaha, Neb. “No one offers more support and encouragement for vocations than Serra,” said the host, Omaha Archbishop George Lucas.
Among the attendees was New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan. Archbishop Dolan told Serrans that vocations can be promoted by the laity in four distinct ways.
The first, said Archbishop Dolan, is by emphasizing the vocation of marriage and family. Citing data from a Pew Research Center study, Archbishop Dolan stated that only about 50% of Catholic young people are approaching the sacrament of marriage.
“Taking care of the first crisis will take care of the second,” said Archbishop Dolan. “Vocations to the priesthood and religious life come from lifelong, life-giving faithful marriages.”
Secondly, Archbishop Dolan spoke of re-creating a culture of vocations.
“There were no good old days in the Church,” said Archbishop Dolan. “Every era in Church history has its horrors and difficulties.”
“We need to recapture the climate/tenor/tone/ambiance in the Church where a boy or man isn’t afraid to publicly say, ‘I want to be a priest,’ and where his family, relatives, neighbors, parish, priest, sisters, teachers and even non-Catholics are robustly supportive.”
Thirdly, Archbishop Dolan said that the laity need to not be afraid to ask their priests to help them be holy.
“For a faithful Catholic, a priest is essential for growth in holiness because he gives us the sacraments, and without the sacraments we can’t be holy,” said Archbishop Dolan. “When you ask us to help you be holy, we realize that we must be holy, and you remind us that there is something unique in the Church that only a priest can do.”
Finally, Archbishop Dolan said that priests must be reminded that they are here to help the laity get to heaven.
“A priest is an icon of the beyond, the eternal, the transcendent,” said Archbishop Dolan. “Heaven gives us hope and meaning in life.”
Posted using ShareThis
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Daily News: Seminary Document Planned: NCRegister
Daily News: Seminary Document Planned: NCRegister
Posted by Edward Pentin
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 9:31 AM
The Vatican is planning on issuing a new document on the formation of seminarians that could be published to coincide with the end of the Year for Priests.
Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, intends to hold a meeting of various permanent Vatican inter-dicastery commissions concerned with the formation of candidates to the priesthood.
“The purpose is to study the possibility, at the end of the Year for Priests, of publishing a short text, incisive and very clear, on the formation of candidates to the priesthood,” Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues, secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, said in an interview with L’Osservatore Romano today.
Posted using ShareThis
Posted by Edward Pentin
Wednesday, August 19, 2009 9:31 AM
The Vatican is planning on issuing a new document on the formation of seminarians that could be published to coincide with the end of the Year for Priests.
Cardinal Zenon Grocholewski, prefect of the Congregation for Catholic Education, intends to hold a meeting of various permanent Vatican inter-dicastery commissions concerned with the formation of candidates to the priesthood.
“The purpose is to study the possibility, at the end of the Year for Priests, of publishing a short text, incisive and very clear, on the formation of candidates to the priesthood,” Archbishop Jean-Louis Brugues, secretary of the Congregation for Catholic Education, said in an interview with L’Osservatore Romano today.
Posted using ShareThis
Thursday, May 22, 2008
I Found a Blog
Today I found the blog of Zachary Peterson. He is one of the seminarians for New Ulm and he is form my parish. He is not very active on his blog at the moment, however, maybe if everyone goes over there and drops him a note he will post more.
Yes, I do realize how funny it is for *me* to be asking people to go to his blog, because he probably has more readers that I do :)
Dave
Yes, I do realize how funny it is for *me* to be asking people to go to his blog, because he probably has more readers that I do :)
Dave
Monday, May 12, 2008
Prayer for Vocations
O God,
Thank you for the priests of the Diocese of New Ulm.
Today I wish to pray for Fr. Paul TImmerman.
May you grant him all the grace he needs to do his job
in this hectic world.
I also wish to pray for Seminarian Matt Wiering.
May you grant him the wisdom and courage to move
forward toward achieving his vocation as a priest.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen!
Thank you for the priests of the Diocese of New Ulm.
Today I wish to pray for Fr. Paul TImmerman.
May you grant him all the grace he needs to do his job
in this hectic world.
I also wish to pray for Seminarian Matt Wiering.
May you grant him the wisdom and courage to move
forward toward achieving his vocation as a priest.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen!
Thursday, November 15, 2007
USCCB Discuss the Priest Shortage
This week the US Bishops have been meeting and earlier in the week the tackled the subject of the shortage of priests that we have right now. John Allen Jr of the National Catholic Reporter has been covering their meeting. http://ncrcafe.org/node/1425
It would see that they are discussing a new rite that would allow for deacons, or lay people to have communion services using hosts previously consecrated by a priest for daily Mass. While this would be helpful, I am afraid that it is really a band-aid solution to a much deeper problem.
I think they need to take a serious look at why there are no young men answering God's call to become priests. I am fairly sure that God is still making the call. I believe that the call is not being heard, or at least not being recognized. Let's face it. We are now living in a much noisier world than in days of old. We have more channels of communication that ever before and unfortunately, the song that is playing on most of them is the "Song of Society". "What's in it for me?", "More is better!" , or "Do what make me feel good first." The song of our society is being played at full volume. How can a young man year God's call through all the noise?
In the few short years that I have been Catholic, I have come to realize that the way we pray forms the way we live our lives. We need to find a way to get our young people to have time for quiet prayer. A good start would be to encourage (or require) our young people to attend Eucharistic Exposition, and especially Benediction. We need to encourage more praying of the Rosary and the whole host of Catholic prayers that seem to have been lost over the years. Prayer will help to silence the song of society long enough for men to hear God's call.
I think that we also need to harness the power of Catholic unity and look further back into Tradition. Perhaps it is time to find ways to pray for vocations together. Perhaps each month we could have a day (or two, or three) of fasting and prayer set aside so that we can all come together and pray for Vocations. The only time we are required to fast in the US is on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday; maybe it time for that to change.
We also need to look at our liturgy. All too often, people come get Jesus and leave. It's as if we have lost some of our solemnness. It's more often than not a rush job. There is no space ofr quiet reflection after the homily, or after communion. We need to do more to remind people that the actions of the priest during the Eucharist is a re-presentation of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. It is a BIG DEAL and our liturgy should show that. If our young men come to Mass and do not get that message....why would they want to be a priest anyway?
Maybe I am way out there in my thinking. I'm just trying to toss out ideas. I'd rather talk about the problem than put a band-aid on it and hope that it will get better.
It would see that they are discussing a new rite that would allow for deacons, or lay people to have communion services using hosts previously consecrated by a priest for daily Mass. While this would be helpful, I am afraid that it is really a band-aid solution to a much deeper problem.
I think they need to take a serious look at why there are no young men answering God's call to become priests. I am fairly sure that God is still making the call. I believe that the call is not being heard, or at least not being recognized. Let's face it. We are now living in a much noisier world than in days of old. We have more channels of communication that ever before and unfortunately, the song that is playing on most of them is the "Song of Society". "What's in it for me?", "More is better!" , or "Do what make me feel good first." The song of our society is being played at full volume. How can a young man year God's call through all the noise?
In the few short years that I have been Catholic, I have come to realize that the way we pray forms the way we live our lives. We need to find a way to get our young people to have time for quiet prayer. A good start would be to encourage (or require) our young people to attend Eucharistic Exposition, and especially Benediction. We need to encourage more praying of the Rosary and the whole host of Catholic prayers that seem to have been lost over the years. Prayer will help to silence the song of society long enough for men to hear God's call.
I think that we also need to harness the power of Catholic unity and look further back into Tradition. Perhaps it is time to find ways to pray for vocations together. Perhaps each month we could have a day (or two, or three) of fasting and prayer set aside so that we can all come together and pray for Vocations. The only time we are required to fast in the US is on Ash Wednesday and Good Friday; maybe it time for that to change.
We also need to look at our liturgy. All too often, people come get Jesus and leave. It's as if we have lost some of our solemnness. It's more often than not a rush job. There is no space ofr quiet reflection after the homily, or after communion. We need to do more to remind people that the actions of the priest during the Eucharist is a re-presentation of Christ's sacrifice on the cross. It is a BIG DEAL and our liturgy should show that. If our young men come to Mass and do not get that message....why would they want to be a priest anyway?
Maybe I am way out there in my thinking. I'm just trying to toss out ideas. I'd rather talk about the problem than put a band-aid on it and hope that it will get better.
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