Life in a Catholic seminary

2. Even a brief stay at the seminary is helpful. If a man goes to the seminary and stays for a few months or even a few years and discerns his way out, this is a far better thing than for a man to never properly discern and then second guess himself his entire life. The Church is aided by men who are certain of their vocations. Also, men who leave the seminary often become zealous supporters of the priesthood.

3. Human and spiritual formation are the lion's share of seminary work. Each man is different, but by and large, developing a relationship with the Lord and learning how to be both man and priest are the two most difficult parts of seminary life. Pastoral work is easy because it is what we like to do. Not every type of pastoral work is easy, but we all find some things that we really enjoy. Academics, while they take up a good deal of time, are not altogether that stressful. Even if they are hard, they are measurable and quantitative which makes results easy to identify. So, if a man is in the seminary or headed off to the seminary, he should expect that these areas will be hard. Often men come to the seminary after practically having received a ticker tape parade thinking that they have done the hard work in packing their bags and purchasing their first cassock. The hard work is taking criticism over and over and over again and learning obedience and charity in the process.

4. No seminary is perfect. I feel very blessed to have attended the seminary I did when I did. I received a good education and good formation. That being said, there were a great many things that could have been better. Every seminary is like this. Unfortunately, even today, some seminaries are still far behind where they should be in quality. There are a thousand reasons for this, but men need to be aware of what they are getting into. Some seminaries are really quite good. Sometimes a man has no choice where he goes. If so, he needs to make the best of it. Sometimes that is not possible. In the past, many dioceses have lost seminarians to other dioceses because men refused to study in poor seminaries. This is still something we need to look at carefully.

5. Pride in one's place is important. In the seminary men come from all over the place. It is good to have healthy rivalry between dioceses. On the one hand, it makes men of the same diocese (diocesan brothers) stick together and get to know each other. On the other hand, it helps men learn about their own dioceses. When I attended the seminary, I attended in an archdiocese. I am from a different archdiocese. There were about fourteen dioceses represented and three archdioceses. The men in the archdiocese of the seminary often reminded everyone else of their supposed importance and perhaps preeminence. So, the rest of us would fire back. It was all in good fun, and it helped men know their history and part of their identity.

6. The seminary is the beginning of formation. The seminary gives just enough information for a man to be a parochial vicar. From time to time you hear parents say, "Hire a teenager while he still knows everything." The same can be said for a seminarian. While seminary formation is essential, it is only a rough beginning. Our rector used to say, "If you have not learned more in your first year of priesthood about being a priest than you did all through the seminary, you have done something wrong." There is a great deal of truth to that. Men leave the seminary prepared but not perfected. This is hard to believe sometimes. There are some priests who like to trade on where they went to the seminary. It has been my experience that there are poorly formed and well formed men from every seminary. It does not take long to learn this lesson. In the end, formation is up to the individual.

In my few travels around the United States, I have noticed over and over again that men trade on where they went to the seminary. While it is good to have pride in where you went and it is nice to know men who walked the same halls and prayed in the same pews, we always need to remember that our boasting ought to be in Jesus Christ alone. Of course, to some it matters greatly if you studied at Mundelein, Mt. Angel, Kenrick or the Josephinum. That is the height of silliness. I know priests who studied at the NAC and know the secret Roman handshake who never pray. I know priests from the crazier days out at St. John's in Camarillo who are the picture of holiness. I know priests who were with me at Kenrick who fit into both categories. Priests who are successful, however, are priests who see that formation continues. By successful I mean priests that know Our Lord and draw others to Him and the fullness of His Truth.

Finally--and in my mind this is the most important thing to say--training for the priesthood is learning over and over that He must increase and I must decrease. What does it matter if a priest is a canon lawyer? What does it matter if a priest is the episcopal secretary? What does it matter if a priest is a missionary? What does it matter if he is working in the suburbs? No priest is worth more or less because of his credentials. No priest is more important than another. Te second we begin to believe that, we will have real problems. But be certain that the treasures which we store up in Heaven are related to how well we are configured to Jesus Christ the High Priest, and not Jesus Christ the episcopal chauffeur or superintendent of schools. If you are in the seminary or contemplating the seminary, get yours knees ready. The books, grades, dress, liturgy--all of these will take care of themselves if you seek out Christ and His fullness as He asks.

We are indebted to Fr S for kind permission to reproduce this article which appeared originally in his blogspot:
http://clericalreform.blogspot.com


What's life like in a Catholic seminary?
I have noticed through correspondence that a number of men who read this blog (see details at end of article) are either in formation for the priesthood or are seriously considering a vocation. As such, based on not a few requests, here are some of my reflections on the seminary. 1. A vocation is to the priesthood and not to the seminary. This is basic but it something of which we lose sight while in seminary formation. Sometimes we worry a great deal about community living or how to impress others or other such things that are not directly important for rectory living. Most priests today will live only briefly with other priests. As such, community issues are not of the greatest importance. That does not dismiss or diminish human formation; it simply gives it some direction. Also, the seminary can be very difficult. Not everyone is good at studies. Some men have to work much harder than others. But, just because a man cannot read Greek, it does not mean that he cannot be a priest.

2. Even a brief stay at the seminary is helpful. If a man goes to the seminary and stays for a few months or even a few years and discerns his way out, this is a far better thing than for a man to never properly discern and then second guess himself his entire life. The Church is aided by men who are certain of their vocations. Also, men who leave the seminary often become zealous supporters of the priesthood. 3. Human and spiritual formation are the lion's share of seminary work. Each man is different, but by and large, developing a relationship with the Lord and learning how to be both man and priest are the two most difficult parts of seminary life. Pastoral work is easy because it is what we like to do. Not every type of pastoral work is easy, but we all find some things that we really enjoy. Academics, while they take up a good deal of time, are not altogether that stressful. Even if they are hard, they are measurable and quantitative which makes results easy to identify. So, if a man is in the seminary or headed off to the seminary, he should expect that these areas will be hard. Often men come to the seminary after practically having received a ticker tape parade thinking that they have done the hard work in packing their bags and purchasing their first cassock. The hard work is taking criticism over and over and over again and learning obedience and charity in the process. 4. No seminary is perfect. I feel very blessed to have attended the seminary I did when I did. I received a good education and good formation. That being said, there were a great many things that could have been better. Every seminary is like this. Unfortunately, even today, some seminaries are still far behind where they should be in quality. There are a thousand reasons for this, but men need to be aware of what they are getting into. Some seminaries are really quite good. Sometimes a man has no choice where he goes. If so, he needs to make the best of it. Sometimes that is not possible. In the past, many dioceses have lost seminarians to other dioceses because men refused to study in poor seminaries. This is still something we need to look at carefully. 5. Pride in one's place is important. In the seminary men come from all over the place. It is good to have healthy rivalry between dioceses. On the one hand, it makes men of the same diocese (diocesan brothers) stick together and get to know each other. On the other hand, it helps men learn about their own dioceses. When I attended the seminary, I attended in an archdiocese. I am from a different archdiocese. There were about fourteen dioceses represented and three archdioceses. The men in the archdiocese of the seminary often reminded everyone else of their supposed importance and perhaps preeminence. So, the rest of us would fire back. It was all in good fun, and it helped men know their history and part of their identity. 6. The seminary is the beginning of formation. The seminary gives just enough information for a man to be a parochial vicar. From time to time you hear parents say, "Hire a teenager while he still knows everything." The same can be said for a seminarian. While seminary formation is essential, it is only a rough beginning. Our rector used to say, "If you have not learned more in your first year of priesthood about being a priest than you did all through the seminary, you have done something wrong." There is a great deal of truth to that. Men leave the seminary prepared but not perfected. This is hard to believe sometimes. There are some priests who like to trade on where they went to the seminary. It has been my experience that there are poorly formed and well formed men from every seminary. It does not take long to learn this lesson. In the end, formation is up to the individual. In my few travels around the United States, I have noticed over and over again that men trade on where they went to the seminary. While it is good to have pride in where you went and it is nice to know men who walked the same halls and prayed in the same pews, we always need to remember that our boasting ought to be in Jesus Christ alone. Of course, to some it matters greatly if you studied at Mundelein, Mt. Angel, Kenrick or the Josephinum. That is the height of silliness. I know priests who studied at the NAC and know the secret Roman handshake who never pray. I know priests from the crazier days out at St. John's in Camarillo who are the picture of holiness. I know priests who were with me at Kenrick who fit into both categories. Priests who are successful, however, are priests who see that formation continues. By successful I mean priests that know Our Lord and draw others to Him and the fullness of His Truth. Finally--and in my mind this is the most important thing to say--training for the priesthood is learning over and over that He must increase and I must decrease. What does it matter if a priest is a canon lawyer? What does it matter if a priest is the episcopal secretary? What does it matter if a priest is a missionary? What does it matter if he is working in the suburbs? No priest is worth more or less because of his credentials. No priest is more important than another. Te second we begin to believe that, we will have real problems. But be certain that the treasures which we store up in Heaven are related to how well we are configured to Jesus Christ the High Priest, and not Jesus Christ the episcopal chauffeur or superintendent of schools. If you are in the seminary or contemplating the seminary, get yours knees ready. The books, grades, dress, liturgy--all of these will take care of themselves if you seek out Christ and His fullness as He asks. We are indebted to Fr S for kind permission to reproduce this article which appeared originally in his blogspot: http://clericalreform.blogspot.com