The Final Semester

The Final Semester
January 30, 2025

It has been a long time since I wrote a blog, and a lot has happened since the school year ended last May. Last Monday, I had my last first day of classes for the final semester here at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. 

As many of you know, I was ordained a Deacon last summer (June 1, 2024), and I spent the summer in Carroll, Iowa, and then came back to St. Louis for my final year in August. Ordination was the experience of a lifetime, and yet, there is another, greater ordination to come. Assuming things go according to plan, I will be ordained a priest on June 7, 2025. After six years of study and formation, it is hard to believe this day is quickly approaching. 

Recently, I was reading a few of these blogs from the past. I reread the first blog I wrote in the summer of 2019 - I was trying to sell my house, pack up my belongings, and sort my life out. In some ways, things are the same as I embark on my final semester. I am again tasked with packing up my life and my room, and again, I will say goodbye to a place that has become a second home to me these past six years. As you might be able to imagine, my room in quaint and homey, which makes it hard to leave and hard to pack up. 

Transition is part of life, but transitions never seem to get any easier. When I left home and entered the seminary, I never imagined how awesome of an experience it would be. I never thought I could fall in love with a place so far from Iowa, but St. Louis will keep a piece of my heart always, especially the seminary. Formation is intense and involves many hours of prayer, self-revelation, and introspection. All of this combines to help a man prepare to be a happy, healthy, joy-filled, parish priest. 

As I patiently await the announcement of my first assignment as a priest, classes and parish commitments keep me busy. I am assigned on the weekends to the largest parish in the state of Missouri and it keeps me busy. At first, I felt like a fish out of water, but as time has gone on, it has been easier to cope with things and I continue to meet new people each week. 

Know of my prayers for you always and please keep me in prayer in return. 

Pax et bonum,
Peace and All Good,

Jake

Comments

  1. Blessings to you always. You've done God's work well throughout your life, and I know you'll continue to do so as a priest.

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