There have been so many blessings that have come my way in the last few weeks. I am ever grateful for each one. I will begin this journal session talking about last weekend’s trip to San Francisco for the Walk For Life. The fellowship amongst the 45 of us on the bus ride to and from was great. We watched some great movies, prayed together and also got to know each other a lot more. I mean 22 hours on a bus will bring anyone together! Once we got Saint Patrick’s Seminary, where they were gracious enough to open their doors for us, we hung out as a big family of about 80 seminarians strong. The walk itself was on Saturday and there were over 50,000 people. There was such an amazing presence of faith amongst the thousands! I would say that the primary religion was Catholic but there were other denominations of Christianity, and maybe even non religious. There were many moments where I felt like crying because of the immense display of faith and also when I saw things that hurt. How can pro choice be so hurtful? The ones protesting against us were very hurt and I can only hope to understand their pain and feelings. Most were wronged by someone and I know its hard to move on and let go of the past. It made my faith stronger and I realized that God was truly present in that moment with all of us, whether we liked it or not.
The other blessing was the visit from my Vocation Director. He is such an amazing priest and his presence among us made us feel like we were in California again. He was here for official business but in my eyes, he was just visiting. He was here to conduct formal evaluations on the guys from the Diocese of Orange who are third-year College and above and since I’m not there yet, I didn’t have any of that additional pressure! Even though I did not have a formal meeting with him, we did sit down and discuss how things were going for me and also my future here at this Seminary and where I might end up for Theology. I can only say that I am very happy with whatever the outcome may be and I will continue to strive for academic success. Academics are very important but it’s not all that we do. so that being said, I know have to try my best in all 4 pillars of formation. If you do not know them they are Academic, Human, Spiritual and Pastoral formation. My Vocation Director gave me some additional responsibilities within our Diocesan community here at Mount Angel. He appointed me as the social chair. Meaning I’m responsible for the get-togethers amongst us and to ensure that we meet up at least 2 times every 3 months for dinner and a movie or any type of outing. It’s not must but it’s enough to keep me busy
No comments:
Post a Comment