Turn, Turn, Turn...

We are now settling into life in Rome and, after almost two months in Italy, it is finally starting to feel like we are in seminary again. Seminary is, of course, more than just beautiful campus that we have, or just a group of seminarians together. The time we had studying in Assisi was wonderful, especially to share it with thirty of our brother seminarians, but there is something more about being back at the seminary and entering into seminary life, entering into formation.

Formation is one of those catch words in seminary that is used to describe the whole process of becoming a priest. But it is much more than simply things we have to learn before being ordained, nor is it a set number of hours of pray we have to clock. Formation is all the ways that we convert to, turn anew to, the life of Christ and conform ourselves evermore to the Gospel.

This past week, the men of the second theology class returned and I, because I already had a wonderful year of theology at Saint Meinrad Seminary in Indiana, have joined them as we start daily formation conferences. Though this means that I no longer can attend the Italian classes with Fernando, it is refreshing to find myself again focused on the pursuit of the priesthood and less worried about orientation to a new place. And it is this theme of conversion, turning anew to Christ – formation – that has run through this week of talks. It’s a timely reminder at a time when I am worried about orienting myself exteriorly to a new room, new school, and new country, it’s important for me to reorient my heart to Christ and His burning love.

When people ask what we do at seminary it is usually easier to just talk about what classes we are taking and our academic progress, yet there is so much more to this idea of formation. The Church, in her wisdom, has outlined four areas of formation on which seminary focus: Human, Intellectual, Spiritual, and Pastoral.

Human Formation is the foundation of the other four; it deals with having a healthy life style.This includes, of course physical health, exercise and good eating habits, mental heath, a healthy social life and healthy relationships. But it also deals with good manners and social skills, common courtesy and much more. A lot of it happens naturally while just living in community; but areas where everyone can always be growing often get special conferences and we deal with explicitly. The idea is that our personalities and the way we live should always be a bridge leading to Christ and never an obstacle. By way for human formation, all the seminarians here celebrated Labor Day this past Monday (though obviously it doesn’t exist in Italy) with a softball game! It was a lot of fun and all the seminarians either played or came out to watch and enjoy some hamburgers off the grill. It was a wonderful way to celebrate American culture and grow in fraternity. (The picture isn’t the actual game; I was playing at the time, but here is a pick up game later in the week.)

Intellectual Formation is just what it sounds like, it’s the academic course we take and the growth in personal interest in continuing to learn and study. Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and so we should always strive to grow ever more familiar with the Truth. The seminarians here in Rome don’t actually take our course at the NAC (it focuses on the other areas of formation) but go out to a variety of different universities in Rome. The primary universities used by American seminarians are the Gregorian, the

Angelicum, and Sante Croce. Fernando and I will go to the Gregorian and we will hopefully be able to tell you more about it once classes start there.

Spiritual Formation is the piece that binds all other areas together. It is our growing in relationship with the Lord and allowing that relationship to permeate everything we do. So we pray daily as a community, Morning and Evening prayer, Mass, holy hour, and often a rosary. Also we have at least an annual retreat (I start mine this coming week!) and a number of spiritual conferences on different topic about the spiritual life.

Pastoral Formation, then, is the culmination of all the formation. Practically it includes learning the functions of how to say Mass and hear confession, preaching and council, reaching out to the poor and the estranged, but it is also concerned with fostering an identity of a priest and a life dedicated to the people of God. For Fernando and I, and all the Phoenix seminarians, our goal is to grow in all areas of formation, to be formed by the Father’s guiding hands, to become priests worthy to serve the people of Phoenix. We are constantly looking towards returning to be an image of Christ, the Son, and bring Phoenix the joy that we have found in Him.

Please continue to pray for us Phoenix seminarians and all seminarians as we try to faithfully follow God’s will in formation.