I Am A Loved Child Of God
9/22/2019
Warning - for one of the first times in my life, there is vulnerable stuff about me down below. I know some of you are already shocked.
It has been nearly two weeks since I last wrote. It seems like only yesterday that I posted my second update from the seminary. The weeks truly seem to fly by. They are so filled with classes, meetings, and other activities that you blink and it is Friday already.
The main reason a young man (or older man for that matter) comes to seminary is to discern a vocation to the priesthood. When a person enters the seminary, they are not committed for the long haul. The person is free to leave at any time they wish, as long as the decision is made through careful prayer and discernment. We are all living a life of prayer, studying, and building fraternity, to discover what God is calling us to do. A huge part of discovering what God is calling us to do includes realizing we have to be vulnerable and realizing there are people (experts in their fields) here to help us grow.
Part of this process, is looking deeply into ourselves. This allows us to discover areas of our life where we need to grow. This is accomplished by meetings with our formation adviser, our spiritual director, and a qualified team of counselors, who offer advice and suggestion on how we can grow. Cue the vulnerability. I repeat CUE THE VULNERABILITY. Nothing makes vulnerability more real than a group of people giving you suggestions on how to improve (yourself) and pointing out your weaknesses knowing they all have your best interest at heart. Tomorrow I will start my 5th week of classes and my 6th week of being at Kenrick. So I have had the chance to meet with all of the above mentioned people. It is safe to say, that I now know some areas for growth in my life.
In any seminary, there are four pillars of formation: human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral. We have classes, conferences, and practical experiences to grow in these areas. We are required to have formation goals in each of those areas. For me, I have recently solidified the goals I want to work on for the year. Human - daily exercise to promote good physical health; monthly meetings with the counselor to promote positive mental health. Spiritual - staying faithful to Morning, Evening, and Night prayer; getting in touch with my love of the Confessional (something I have never been a fan of). Intellectual - meeting with my classmates to discuss the content we are learning. Pastoral - participating in our monthly young adult outreach nights. While the goals will challenge me, I know I will only grow from them!! Throughout the year, I will be attempting to open up and welcome moments of vulnerability.
While these first weeks have presented some challenges - mainly adjusting to living dorm life again and being a student once again - there have been some very positive and uplifting moments. This past week, I met with my formation adviser. During our meeting, I came to some very hard and true realizations with his help and guidance. The first being, I am no longer a teacher. It is time to stop defining myself as such. After this realization, my adviser challenged me to answer the question "Who are you?". My natural response was, "I'm a seminarian!". That was not quite the answer he was looking for. I sat silent, baffled, and at a loss for words! (those of you who know me, know that rarely happens). The priest who is my formation adviser finally looked at me and told me "You are a child of God" and "You are a Son of the Father". Such simple statements. As I continued to look dumbfounded, he explained to me that we must first look at ourselves in this way - we are all children of a God who loves us.
We cannot identify ourselves by artificial outer shells. Things like: teacher, seminarian, son, brother, cousin, friend, etc. Are all secondary identities. Our first identity is that we are a child of God. Something I think we have all heard in life, and something that we have all realized at some point. But do we actually believe it? Deep down can you say you truly believe that statement? I know there are times when I can sorta believe it, but many times I cannot. When we realize that the core of our identity needs to be that we are children of God, all other aspects of our life will fall into place. Every care, worry, anxious thought, or doubt, will be calmed when we realize this fact.
As I grow through this school year, my biggest area for growth will be fully coming to the realization that I am a loved child of God. I encourage each of you reading this to contemplate that very thought. I am a loved child of God. I am a loved child of God.
Please know of my prayers for you.
Peace and Blessings,
Jake
P.S. Getting mail in the seminary makes you look cool.
Warning - for one of the first times in my life, there is vulnerable stuff about me down below. I know some of you are already shocked.
It has been nearly two weeks since I last wrote. It seems like only yesterday that I posted my second update from the seminary. The weeks truly seem to fly by. They are so filled with classes, meetings, and other activities that you blink and it is Friday already.
The main reason a young man (or older man for that matter) comes to seminary is to discern a vocation to the priesthood. When a person enters the seminary, they are not committed for the long haul. The person is free to leave at any time they wish, as long as the decision is made through careful prayer and discernment. We are all living a life of prayer, studying, and building fraternity, to discover what God is calling us to do. A huge part of discovering what God is calling us to do includes realizing we have to be vulnerable and realizing there are people (experts in their fields) here to help us grow.
Part of this process, is looking deeply into ourselves. This allows us to discover areas of our life where we need to grow. This is accomplished by meetings with our formation adviser, our spiritual director, and a qualified team of counselors, who offer advice and suggestion on how we can grow. Cue the vulnerability. I repeat CUE THE VULNERABILITY. Nothing makes vulnerability more real than a group of people giving you suggestions on how to improve (yourself) and pointing out your weaknesses knowing they all have your best interest at heart. Tomorrow I will start my 5th week of classes and my 6th week of being at Kenrick. So I have had the chance to meet with all of the above mentioned people. It is safe to say, that I now know some areas for growth in my life.
In any seminary, there are four pillars of formation: human, spiritual, intellectual, and pastoral. We have classes, conferences, and practical experiences to grow in these areas. We are required to have formation goals in each of those areas. For me, I have recently solidified the goals I want to work on for the year. Human - daily exercise to promote good physical health; monthly meetings with the counselor to promote positive mental health. Spiritual - staying faithful to Morning, Evening, and Night prayer; getting in touch with my love of the Confessional (something I have never been a fan of). Intellectual - meeting with my classmates to discuss the content we are learning. Pastoral - participating in our monthly young adult outreach nights. While the goals will challenge me, I know I will only grow from them!! Throughout the year, I will be attempting to open up and welcome moments of vulnerability.
While these first weeks have presented some challenges - mainly adjusting to living dorm life again and being a student once again - there have been some very positive and uplifting moments. This past week, I met with my formation adviser. During our meeting, I came to some very hard and true realizations with his help and guidance. The first being, I am no longer a teacher. It is time to stop defining myself as such. After this realization, my adviser challenged me to answer the question "Who are you?". My natural response was, "I'm a seminarian!". That was not quite the answer he was looking for. I sat silent, baffled, and at a loss for words! (those of you who know me, know that rarely happens). The priest who is my formation adviser finally looked at me and told me "You are a child of God" and "You are a Son of the Father". Such simple statements. As I continued to look dumbfounded, he explained to me that we must first look at ourselves in this way - we are all children of a God who loves us.
We cannot identify ourselves by artificial outer shells. Things like: teacher, seminarian, son, brother, cousin, friend, etc. Are all secondary identities. Our first identity is that we are a child of God. Something I think we have all heard in life, and something that we have all realized at some point. But do we actually believe it? Deep down can you say you truly believe that statement? I know there are times when I can sorta believe it, but many times I cannot. When we realize that the core of our identity needs to be that we are children of God, all other aspects of our life will fall into place. Every care, worry, anxious thought, or doubt, will be calmed when we realize this fact.
As I grow through this school year, my biggest area for growth will be fully coming to the realization that I am a loved child of God. I encourage each of you reading this to contemplate that very thought. I am a loved child of God. I am a loved child of God.
Please know of my prayers for you.
Peace and Blessings,
Jake
P.S. Getting mail in the seminary makes you look cool.
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