Paths to Padre: A Seminarian's Journey

Advent - A Time of Waiting and Reflection December 19, 2021 As many of you know, Advent is a time of waiting for the birth of Christ and it is also a time for refelction about the previous year. As this year comes to a close, I am very aware of all God's blessings in the past 12 months.  I continue to enjoy my time in seminary. Finals are completed for my first semester of theology studies. The semester went well - classes were wonderful, my parish assignment has been rewarding, the fraternity in my class is beautiful, and I have experienced a lot of growth on my own faith journey.   One of the biggest movements in my life recently has been a clearer understanding of the beauty of celibacy. Priests are called to a life of celibacy, sonething which is often misunderstood in today's world. Celibacy is a real gift. In a deepening understanding of celibacy, a man continues to fall in love with the Lord and is always focused on the love which comes from that relationship. A ma...

Theology 1 October 10, 2021 May the Lord Give You Peace! It has been far too long since I have posted anything, so it is time for an update. But firstly, Happy Belated Feast Day of St. Francis to all of you! This past Monday, October 4, was the Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi, which means I have been an Associate with the Sisters of St. Francis in Dubuque, for four years now. In August, I began my third year of Seminary. I have now entered Major Seminary, so I am in Theology 1. It is quite a different world from the Pre-Theology Program, but I am still at Kenrick in St. Louis, and Theology is going well. Having studied Theology in my undergrad, it was quite nice to get back into that discipline.  Our class is slated with a full schedule this term. Classes are Trinity, Fundamental Theology, Graduate Research and Writing, Pastoral Counseling, Sacred Music Practicum, Synoptics, and Patristics. Trinty takes an in depth look at the three persons present in the Trinity - Father, Son, H...

Behold the Man June 28, 2021 I know it has been only two weeks since my last update, but I thought it would be good to share some overall thoughts from my expereince during June.  Ecce homo, Behold the Man This line comes from the Gospel of John, Chapter 19. It comes right after Pontius Pilate had Jesus scourged. He is then presented to the crowed covered in wounds, crowned with thorns, and draped in a purple cloak. He is at one of the lowest and weakest points of his earthly life. After a month of reflection, it only seemed fitting that our program was called Behold the Man . We were challenged to confront our own weaknesses in order that they be healed. Your wounds can be healed if you confront your weakness. Through the healing process, we are then able to help others through their pains. The past month has been one of deep prayer, personal reflection, and a chance for fraternity.  As was mentioned in my previous post, part of our program was an 8 day silent retreat, which ...

God is in Control; I am NOT God! June 14, 2021 As many of you know, for the month of June, I am participating in a program at Kenrick called "Behold the Man". This program is meant to orient everyone entering Theology 1 in the Fall to the life and rigor of formation here at KGS. It is also meant to help each one of us learn to listen for the voice of God more clearly in our lives. As part of this experience, we were blessed to have an eight day guided silent retreat. Having just completed the 8 days in solitude, I thought it would be a good time for an update.  At the thought of spending eight days in silence, with no phone, computer, iPad, iPod, TV, or any other technology, and also not having conversation with anyone but a spiritual director, many people are immeditately shocked. Common repsonses are: "You are going to spend 8 days not talking?"; "Jake, are you even able to keep your mouth shut for that long?"; "What do you do that whole time?"...

God is Good All the Time and All the Time God is Good! March 26, 2021 Popularized in the movie God's Not Dead  and in other aspects of pop culture the phrase "God is good all the time, and all the time God is good" has become more common place in the past few years. If I had to sum up the past few weeks, the past semester, and frankly the past year and a half since I entered seminary, I would have to sum it all up with "God is good all the time, and all the time God is good!" It has become very clear to me lately that my whole life has been guided by God and his plan for me. Though I have always had a sense of this, it has never been so concrete as it has been lately.  As I have noted before, seminary formation is not the easiest thing in the world. It has challenges that other career paths do not. We are called to be completely open and vulnerable with our formators, our counselors, and our brothers. A boy entering seminary is called to become a man. This happe...

 A Debt of Gratitude March 2, 2021 Things are going well here at the Seminary. We are in the midst of evalution season and coming up on midterms. Writing peer evalutions and a self evalution is always a reflective process that allows you to see the growth in yourself and in your brothers. This year has been a year of great growth and graces. I continue to grow in knowledge of who I am and what being a beloved son means. I have also come to a clearer realization of what appropriate self-care and leisure are like, as well as learning about relational boundaries with people around me. My extroverted self needs time to sit in the silence and recollect once in a while.  Onto to the Title: I recently recieved an e-mail from my alma mater  Briar Cliff University, asking for a donation this coming month in honor of the Sisters of St. Francis of Dubuque, Iowa. The Community who founded Briar Cliff and have worked tirelessly since the inception to support and fund various projects ...

Finding God Everyday   January 24, 2021 Happy New Year to everyone! As we begin the new year, as seminarians, we start the year with a silent retreat of varied lengths of days. For college and Pre-Theology, that meant silence from Sunday Night until Thursday Afternoon. Each person on the retreat is asked to make four holy hours a day. There is also a retreat presenter that gives one conference a day. This year we had the privilege of having Fr. Shane Deman, Vocation Director of the Diocese of Sioux City as our presenter. He gave one conference each day about each of the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary.         Through our conferences, I was given many things to pray with and to pray through. In my prayer, I was able to realize that I was still holding a grudge against so many people in the closing of my home parish of St. Benedict. Even though it closed three years ago, I was still not over its closing. But I can safely say that after the retreat I am much...