So Long

This final week of our lives in the seminary has been a very strange mixture of emotions. There is the sadness of knowing that I might not ever see some of my classmates again mixed with the joy of my pending ordination and first assignment. There is the strangeness of leaving this place I have called home for the last 5.5 years mixed with the relief of crossing the finish line intact and stronger for having run the race.

Many farewell events are piled into our final week in the seminary. Last night our class had a private dinner with the 10 or 15 core faculty and staff who have been in charge of us for most of these past 5 years. It was a very lovely way to begin moving away from the relationship of teacher - student towards one of collegiality with those who formed us.

In each of our classes this past week, the professors have ended our time together with a goodbye talk and/or exhortation, and they have all been very heartfelt and very moving. As a class, we've also had the chance to thank each other personally and privately for the time we have shared together. Many of us have also been cranking out thank you notes by the truckload to all the hundreds of support staff and underclassmen here who have been so pivotal in forming us.

Saturday marks the formal conclusion to our time here with graduation. We receive a masters degree for our time here. The title is "Masters of Divinity" which always has struck me as a fairly intimidating thing to claim for one's self! After graduation, Jeremy and I both will be moving back in with our parents one last time as we make final preparations for ordination.

It is a very strange feeling to fight and claw and pray my way to the top of this mountain, and now that I receive this degree and complete my formation here at St. Meinrad, it is amazing to look back and see how many hundreds of people pushed me, kicked me, and prayed for me to get up this mountain! I think about Pope John Paul II whose time in seminary essentially involved him taking some instructions from his Archbishop in the cathedral basement hiding from the Nazis, and I become even more humbled by how many opportunities I've been afforded here at St. Meinrad. Jeremy and I both feel very blessed to have been helped so much along our way. Thank you for your prayers!