You can see here our class, and John and I making our Deacon Promises on Thursday, 18 September 2008 in St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Deacon Promises - One Step Closer
Last Thursday, 18 September, John, I, and our classmates made Deacon promises. These are the formal promises and declarations that must be made according to Canon Law prior to the deaconate ordination of a man.
There are three statements or promises that we made. The first was a declaration of freedom from force or fear. In order to enter into ordination, it is desirable that the man being ordained is not doing so as a result of coercion. We state that we have been informed of the various duties, responsiblities, and expectations of ordination and that we have deliberated upon these matters before God and are moving forward toward ordination of our own free will. In essence, we are providing our consent to procede towards ordination. The second document we proclaim is a Profession of Faith. We proclaim that we believe and hold that the Creed, the Sacred Scriptures and Tradition are true in addition to the teachings of the pope, the bishops, and the Church. We likewise promise in this statement of faith that we will submit our will and intellect to these teachings and will never teach or preach contrary to the Church. The final statement is an oath of fidelity. In this oath, we promise to obey our superiors (in John and my's case, Archbishop Daniel and his successors), and assume chaste celibacy for the rest of our lives.
These promises and statements are read aloud before the entire Church assembly in the context of a mass. We then signed each of the statements in the presence of a witness upon the altar of our chapel. In a way, this symbolizes our offering of our lives along with the gifts that will be offered upon that altar to become the most precious Body and Blood of Christ.
Fr. Denis Robinson, OSB - President-Rector of Saint Meinrad School of Theology preached the mass at our promises. His homily is below:
[This evening, our brothers in Fourth Theology, made promises in anticipation of their ordinations as deacons next month. We continue to pray for them. This is the homily]
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective.
Brothers and sisters tonight we hear the word of God in a deep and poignant way as we observe our brothers who will soon be transformed by their ordination to the diaconate. Tonight they make promises that they intend to keep for life.
Keeping a promise for life is a rare enough commodity in our world today. Every day we witness, many of us first-hand, the ephemeral nature of families, marriages, religious vocations. We see the struggles our brothers and sisters around us make in keeping commitments. We all know something of both the statistics and the real human toll those statistics take.
But these men are here to make promises, nevertheless. They stand here tonight; they place their hands on the Book of God’s World. They sign their names on the altar. It is an impressive moment, an everlasting moment in a transitory world.
Perhaps they need a warning, or encouragement, or some sort of fervereno. Perhaps they do, but I have no such warnings for them tonight.
What I need to say to them, I have already said to them, so tonight I would like to address some challenges to us, all of us, concerning the act they undertake tonight.
What are these men doing? Tonight they are taking the final definitive step in joining their lives to a greater purpose. For years, they have pursued the sometimes flighty specter of vocation. They have studied, prayed, been formed, talked to spiritual directors and counselors, ministered, they have cried and laughed and relaxed and labored and, well frankly, also complained, fought, grumbled, procrastinated, doubted and shirked responsibilities. They have, in other words, been fully human and yet, tonight, they are proposing to unite that humanity to God’s will in a bond that cannot be broken. They propose to become deacons and then priests and there is no more exalted calling to which they respond because there is no greater need in the world than the need for what they will give in their future ministry. Can they do it on their own? No …
But by the grace of God they are what they are, and his grace to them has not been ineffective.
Look to these men, because, tonight in a public act they are asking us to look to them.
Look to these men and see in them icons of God’s love, his love poured out in the sacrificial offering of Christ. Look at their frail and winsome personalities and see the torn body of our Lord. Look at their embattled spirits and see his life sweated in the blood of Gethsemane.
Look to these men and see in them the possibility of an eternal commitment, of a lasting promise, of a reversal of all the sad history of brokenness and the bitter pain wrought by infidelity.
Look to these men and find in them your inspiration and hope, If you are a seminarian, seek to be what they have become. In their promises, they are pledging to be your guides and mentors, to offer you an example of what is possible. For by the grace of God they are what they are, and his grace to them has not been ineffective.
Look to these men and seek in their faces God’s promise, God’s fidelity, God’s pledge of eternal presence. See in them your own dreams for they are bearers of the dream of all humanity. See in them the joy of Christ instead of the bitterness and rancor of the world. See in them the peace of God rather than the eternal strife of the spirit, see in them love. They want to be ambassadors of love in a hate strewn landscape. They are loving men, we all know that. But united if God’s love they become more than what they might have been.
Look to these men and see the Church, its ancient history and its ancient wounds professed in words that echo down the corridors of time in every human language. I believe in One God.
Look to these men and see all our brothers and sisters who hunger for dignity and bread, who labor under the yoke of tyranny, who are beset by violence, who are besieged by terrorism, who are controlled by addictions, who are torn by every kind of ism. See the worn eyes of the starving mother cradling her child, see the broken hands of the migrant worker unjustly paid, see the tired feet of the fleeing refugee.
See God in them because by their promise tonight, that is what they want to show. That there is something more important in life than the passing flotsam and jetsam of seminary politics. What an amazing vision and so it is good that by the grace of God they are what they are, and his grace to them has not been ineffective.
Tonight these men make promises for life, they are icons for us but I challenge all of us here to also make promises to them. Perhaps our deacon promises should be less about what they do and more about what we do.
Let us make an oath of fidelity to them, an oath to hold them accountable in every way for the promises they make. An oath to scrutinize their actions for any vestiges of half-heartedness or hypocrisy.
Let us make a Profession of Faith with them, faith that they can be what they have been called to be, that they can persevere, that they can be beacons of faith, hope and love in a darkened world. And faith that we will love them, stand by them and support them.
Let us bond their Declaration of Freedom to our own as each of us, in his or her own way, continue to pursue the King of Love, the Prince of Peace, the Spirit of Joy, the God of Wonder with open hearts, clear minds, and grateful spirits
And let us promise to stand with them and
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good
Eucharistia - Give thanks to the Lord for he is good
Brothers and sisters, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, in calling these men, these frail, sinful, amazing, heroic men who stand before us tonight to proclaim with us ...
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective.
Posted by Fr. Denis Robinson, OSB at 7:14 PM 18 Sept 2008
There are three statements or promises that we made. The first was a declaration of freedom from force or fear. In order to enter into ordination, it is desirable that the man being ordained is not doing so as a result of coercion. We state that we have been informed of the various duties, responsiblities, and expectations of ordination and that we have deliberated upon these matters before God and are moving forward toward ordination of our own free will. In essence, we are providing our consent to procede towards ordination. The second document we proclaim is a Profession of Faith. We proclaim that we believe and hold that the Creed, the Sacred Scriptures and Tradition are true in addition to the teachings of the pope, the bishops, and the Church. We likewise promise in this statement of faith that we will submit our will and intellect to these teachings and will never teach or preach contrary to the Church. The final statement is an oath of fidelity. In this oath, we promise to obey our superiors (in John and my's case, Archbishop Daniel and his successors), and assume chaste celibacy for the rest of our lives.
These promises and statements are read aloud before the entire Church assembly in the context of a mass. We then signed each of the statements in the presence of a witness upon the altar of our chapel. In a way, this symbolizes our offering of our lives along with the gifts that will be offered upon that altar to become the most precious Body and Blood of Christ.
Fr. Denis Robinson, OSB - President-Rector of Saint Meinrad School of Theology preached the mass at our promises. His homily is below:
[This evening, our brothers in Fourth Theology, made promises in anticipation of their ordinations as deacons next month. We continue to pray for them. This is the homily]
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective.
Brothers and sisters tonight we hear the word of God in a deep and poignant way as we observe our brothers who will soon be transformed by their ordination to the diaconate. Tonight they make promises that they intend to keep for life.
Keeping a promise for life is a rare enough commodity in our world today. Every day we witness, many of us first-hand, the ephemeral nature of families, marriages, religious vocations. We see the struggles our brothers and sisters around us make in keeping commitments. We all know something of both the statistics and the real human toll those statistics take.
But these men are here to make promises, nevertheless. They stand here tonight; they place their hands on the Book of God’s World. They sign their names on the altar. It is an impressive moment, an everlasting moment in a transitory world.
Perhaps they need a warning, or encouragement, or some sort of fervereno. Perhaps they do, but I have no such warnings for them tonight.
What I need to say to them, I have already said to them, so tonight I would like to address some challenges to us, all of us, concerning the act they undertake tonight.
What are these men doing? Tonight they are taking the final definitive step in joining their lives to a greater purpose. For years, they have pursued the sometimes flighty specter of vocation. They have studied, prayed, been formed, talked to spiritual directors and counselors, ministered, they have cried and laughed and relaxed and labored and, well frankly, also complained, fought, grumbled, procrastinated, doubted and shirked responsibilities. They have, in other words, been fully human and yet, tonight, they are proposing to unite that humanity to God’s will in a bond that cannot be broken. They propose to become deacons and then priests and there is no more exalted calling to which they respond because there is no greater need in the world than the need for what they will give in their future ministry. Can they do it on their own? No …
But by the grace of God they are what they are, and his grace to them has not been ineffective.
Look to these men, because, tonight in a public act they are asking us to look to them.
Look to these men and see in them icons of God’s love, his love poured out in the sacrificial offering of Christ. Look at their frail and winsome personalities and see the torn body of our Lord. Look at their embattled spirits and see his life sweated in the blood of Gethsemane.
Look to these men and see in them the possibility of an eternal commitment, of a lasting promise, of a reversal of all the sad history of brokenness and the bitter pain wrought by infidelity.
Look to these men and find in them your inspiration and hope, If you are a seminarian, seek to be what they have become. In their promises, they are pledging to be your guides and mentors, to offer you an example of what is possible. For by the grace of God they are what they are, and his grace to them has not been ineffective.
Look to these men and seek in their faces God’s promise, God’s fidelity, God’s pledge of eternal presence. See in them your own dreams for they are bearers of the dream of all humanity. See in them the joy of Christ instead of the bitterness and rancor of the world. See in them the peace of God rather than the eternal strife of the spirit, see in them love. They want to be ambassadors of love in a hate strewn landscape. They are loving men, we all know that. But united if God’s love they become more than what they might have been.
Look to these men and see the Church, its ancient history and its ancient wounds professed in words that echo down the corridors of time in every human language. I believe in One God.
Look to these men and see all our brothers and sisters who hunger for dignity and bread, who labor under the yoke of tyranny, who are beset by violence, who are besieged by terrorism, who are controlled by addictions, who are torn by every kind of ism. See the worn eyes of the starving mother cradling her child, see the broken hands of the migrant worker unjustly paid, see the tired feet of the fleeing refugee.
See God in them because by their promise tonight, that is what they want to show. That there is something more important in life than the passing flotsam and jetsam of seminary politics. What an amazing vision and so it is good that by the grace of God they are what they are, and his grace to them has not been ineffective.
Tonight these men make promises for life, they are icons for us but I challenge all of us here to also make promises to them. Perhaps our deacon promises should be less about what they do and more about what we do.
Let us make an oath of fidelity to them, an oath to hold them accountable in every way for the promises they make. An oath to scrutinize their actions for any vestiges of half-heartedness or hypocrisy.
Let us make a Profession of Faith with them, faith that they can be what they have been called to be, that they can persevere, that they can be beacons of faith, hope and love in a darkened world. And faith that we will love them, stand by them and support them.
Let us bond their Declaration of Freedom to our own as each of us, in his or her own way, continue to pursue the King of Love, the Prince of Peace, the Spirit of Joy, the God of Wonder with open hearts, clear minds, and grateful spirits
And let us promise to stand with them and
Give thanks to the Lord for he is good
Eucharistia - Give thanks to the Lord for he is good
Brothers and sisters, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, in calling these men, these frail, sinful, amazing, heroic men who stand before us tonight to proclaim with us ...
But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me has not been ineffective.
Posted by Fr. Denis Robinson, OSB at 7:14 PM 18 Sept 2008
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Celibacy Formation Day
Wednesdays at St. Meinrad are days where we do not have class. Instead, our time is used to cover issues that are not considered "academic." The Church has charged every seminary in the world to concentrate on preparing guys to be priests in four specific areas. Those four "pillars of formation" are academic (our classwork), spiritual (prayer, Mass, meeting regularly with a priest spiritual director), pastoral formation (our ministry work), and finally human.
A large part of the seminary's task with regards to human formation is to help us seminarians learn to live out a vow of celibacy in a healthy and life-giving way. St. Meinrad has taken a unique approach to this task. A lot of seminaries approach this issue from a more medical approach such that a lot of the things that are talked about or presented on deal with psychological topics. For example, a presentation might be given one day on how to help oneself or others deal with pornography.
However, St. Meinrad has rolled out a new plan for dealing with celibacy formation which approaches the issue from a positive aspect. St. Meinrad's new program is receiving a lot of attention from bishops and other seminaries, and word is quickly spreading about it. Basically, instead of telling seminarians in presentation after presentation about psychological or sexual pitfalls, St. Meinrad's celibacy formation program has chosen to address issues that can help a seminarian see celibacy not as a cross but as an opportunity to be who God intended him to be.
Example topics that Jeremy and I will hear about this year are "parish friendships" and "how to be a good spiritual director." Last year, we heard about topics such as "being a better communicator" to "how to hire and fire." This new approach is refreshing, because it sees celibacy as something that gets played out in all aspects of our lives as priests. We still get presentations on the more common celibacy topics dealing with psycho-sexual integration, but the Meinrad program has really helped us to see that there are a lot of ways that we live out our lives as celibate men, and those many ways of living out our lives are not just potential areas for us to fall into sin but are also areas for us to excel as human beings.
Today, our year long program of Wednesday meetings got kicked off with a special day of conferences given by a monk of St. Meinrad who teaches at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., Fr. Raymond Studzinski. They were some excellent conferences dealing with issues of celibacy. Fr. Raymond spoke about some of the things that he has found to be helpful in living out his life of celibacy. Some of his main points included being hospitable and also being someone who loves to read. He noted that hospitality, an openness to host people, helps us become more humble, and also invites friendships into our lives. Obviously, I am providing a very short summary here, but it was a good day to get our celibacy formation conferences off and running.
We have a big day tomorrow that I need to prepare for. Jeremy will write about it tomorrow, and hopefully have some pictures as well.
Until the next post, God bless.
John Hollowell
A large part of the seminary's task with regards to human formation is to help us seminarians learn to live out a vow of celibacy in a healthy and life-giving way. St. Meinrad has taken a unique approach to this task. A lot of seminaries approach this issue from a more medical approach such that a lot of the things that are talked about or presented on deal with psychological topics. For example, a presentation might be given one day on how to help oneself or others deal with pornography.
However, St. Meinrad has rolled out a new plan for dealing with celibacy formation which approaches the issue from a positive aspect. St. Meinrad's new program is receiving a lot of attention from bishops and other seminaries, and word is quickly spreading about it. Basically, instead of telling seminarians in presentation after presentation about psychological or sexual pitfalls, St. Meinrad's celibacy formation program has chosen to address issues that can help a seminarian see celibacy not as a cross but as an opportunity to be who God intended him to be.
Example topics that Jeremy and I will hear about this year are "parish friendships" and "how to be a good spiritual director." Last year, we heard about topics such as "being a better communicator" to "how to hire and fire." This new approach is refreshing, because it sees celibacy as something that gets played out in all aspects of our lives as priests. We still get presentations on the more common celibacy topics dealing with psycho-sexual integration, but the Meinrad program has really helped us to see that there are a lot of ways that we live out our lives as celibate men, and those many ways of living out our lives are not just potential areas for us to fall into sin but are also areas for us to excel as human beings.
Today, our year long program of Wednesday meetings got kicked off with a special day of conferences given by a monk of St. Meinrad who teaches at the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., Fr. Raymond Studzinski. They were some excellent conferences dealing with issues of celibacy. Fr. Raymond spoke about some of the things that he has found to be helpful in living out his life of celibacy. Some of his main points included being hospitable and also being someone who loves to read. He noted that hospitality, an openness to host people, helps us become more humble, and also invites friendships into our lives. Obviously, I am providing a very short summary here, but it was a good day to get our celibacy formation conferences off and running.
We have a big day tomorrow that I need to prepare for. Jeremy will write about it tomorrow, and hopefully have some pictures as well.
Until the next post, God bless.
John Hollowell
Daily Schedule
People often ask what seminary is like on a daily basis. When I first came to seminary, my good friends had serious questions like "Do you have phones?" and "Are you allowed to watch TV?" One friend told me all she could picture when she thought about me in the seminary was me living in Harry Potter's Hogwarts Castle, locked in a room studying old latin parchments.
Despite impressions that people have about the seminary, Saint Meinrad is actually a lot like other graduate school programs. Our classes are fairly intense, and must meet national academic standards that all graduate school classes are held to. The major difference between a seminary and other graduate programs is that seminaries have additional activities beyond academic work that make them unique. The major events in our daily schedule that are constant are daily Mass and also prayer with our fellow seminarians both before classes start each morning and also each night before dinner.
The following is a skeleton of our day:
8:00 a.m. - morning prayer as a community
8:30 a.m. - class starts
9:45 a.m. - first class ends
9:45 a.m. - 15 minute break before our second class begins
10:00 a.m. - second class begins
11:15 a.m. - second class ends
11:30 a.m. - Mass as a community
12:15 p.m. - lunch
12:45 p.m. - lunch ends
1:15 p.m. - language class starts (2 days a week - options include Latin, Greek, and Spanish)
2:05 p.m. - language class ends
2:15 p.m. - 2 hour elective begins (2 days a week for most guys)
4:05 p.m. - 2 hour elective ends
5:00 p.m. - evening prayer in common
5:20 p.m. - dinner
6:00 p.m. - dinner ends
There is much to do after dinner or in the afternoons where there are no classes. Activities include exercise, prayer (most guys try and make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament for an hour a day called a holy hour), reading for class (about 4-500 pages a week), meetings and so forth.
We also have special programs that require a lot of our time. The main two programs are our celibacy program and also our ministry program. Jeremy and I will talk more about our celibacy program later. Our ministry program is one that pairs us up with local parishes to minister in nursing homes, schools, CCD programs, hospitals, confirmation programs, adult education programs, etc. The ministry program also involves 3.5 hour seminars each Wednesday afternoon about issues that are involved with ministering to people in our dioceses.
With regards to our schedule, there is a TON going on every day; some of the events are mandatory and others optional, and so we as seminarians are taught to prioritize and manage our time well. The ability to prioritize and manage our time are both skills we will definitely need to have fine tuned by the time we begin ministering as priests.
Despite impressions that people have about the seminary, Saint Meinrad is actually a lot like other graduate school programs. Our classes are fairly intense, and must meet national academic standards that all graduate school classes are held to. The major difference between a seminary and other graduate programs is that seminaries have additional activities beyond academic work that make them unique. The major events in our daily schedule that are constant are daily Mass and also prayer with our fellow seminarians both before classes start each morning and also each night before dinner.
The following is a skeleton of our day:
8:00 a.m. - morning prayer as a community
8:30 a.m. - class starts
9:45 a.m. - first class ends
9:45 a.m. - 15 minute break before our second class begins
10:00 a.m. - second class begins
11:15 a.m. - second class ends
11:30 a.m. - Mass as a community
12:15 p.m. - lunch
12:45 p.m. - lunch ends
1:15 p.m. - language class starts (2 days a week - options include Latin, Greek, and Spanish)
2:05 p.m. - language class ends
2:15 p.m. - 2 hour elective begins (2 days a week for most guys)
4:05 p.m. - 2 hour elective ends
5:00 p.m. - evening prayer in common
5:20 p.m. - dinner
6:00 p.m. - dinner ends
There is much to do after dinner or in the afternoons where there are no classes. Activities include exercise, prayer (most guys try and make a visit to the Blessed Sacrament for an hour a day called a holy hour), reading for class (about 4-500 pages a week), meetings and so forth.
We also have special programs that require a lot of our time. The main two programs are our celibacy program and also our ministry program. Jeremy and I will talk more about our celibacy program later. Our ministry program is one that pairs us up with local parishes to minister in nursing homes, schools, CCD programs, hospitals, confirmation programs, adult education programs, etc. The ministry program also involves 3.5 hour seminars each Wednesday afternoon about issues that are involved with ministering to people in our dioceses.
With regards to our schedule, there is a TON going on every day; some of the events are mandatory and others optional, and so we as seminarians are taught to prioritize and manage our time well. The ability to prioritize and manage our time are both skills we will definitely need to have fine tuned by the time we begin ministering as priests.
Tuesday, September 2, 2008
Day of Prayer
Hello All:
This past Monday (01-Sept), while everyone was enjoying rest from their Labors, the seminarians were enjoying a dedicated Day of Prayer. As the semester is barely off the ground, we had only had two days of class, we spent an entire day grounding our labor and work here in seminary in prayer.
The day consisted of two conferences by Archbishop Joseph Kurtz of the Archdiocese of Louisville. He spoke on the importance of prayer and formation in our preparation for priesthood. We also had a number of devotional prayer opportunities.
During the first conference the Archbishop focused on three points. The first was our need to empty our self so that God can fill us up with His goodness and blessings. He utilized the biblical example of Zechariah (the father of John the Baptist) being struck dumb so as to be able to more perfectly hear God's will for him. Sometimes we need to be quiet and get out of God's way. When we stop focusing on our own desires, it is easier for God's desires for us can to be realized. The example of St. Paul being blinded during his conversion served as another example of having to let go so that God can help us see correctly. The second point was a challenge to remember and rekindle that initial desire that lead each of us seminarians to enter the seminary in the first place. Returning to those early places is sort of like a married couple reminiscing about the earliest part of their courtship when everything appeared to be roses. We were particullarly given II Timothy 1:6 "For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands." Finally, Archbishop Kurtz spoke on the importance of developing a "Radical Fidelity" to God. He encouraged us to look at those people in our lives, clergy or lay, who are witnessing to a radical fidelity to God as models for our own lives.
The second conference was an expansion on the third point of radical fidelity. He gave four areas for us to attend to in our pursuit. First, be true to who God made you to be. It is impossible to be radically faithful to God if we are not ourselves, not who God so lovingly made us to be. Second, we are to serve others, particularily those to whom we will one day be called to minister to and for. Third, serve with others and make the other look good doing it. Jealousy is a dangerous thing and can only be countered with authentic gratitude founded in God. Finally, allow yourself to be inspired. Accept the daily gifts of God for you for what they are. Accept and utilize the gifts and talents God has bestowed upon each one of us. Keep your eye on Jesus. Referring to St. Peter, Archbishop Kurtz made the comical comment that Peter sank like the rock he was when he took his eyes off Jesus in the midst of the stormy water (Mt 14:22-33).
It was truly a gift to have a day dedicated to prayer. Of course, John and I included a prayer or two for the good people of Nativity parish. We seminarians were particularly aware that so many people, especially along the gulf coast, did not have the ability or opportunity to dedicate time to prayer like we did. It was truly a wonderful gift.
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