Action packed weekend!
September 30th, 2008 |
Yes, it’s been over a week since my last update. This is partially because I am pretty busy here with all sorts of things, and at the same time with such uninteresting things that I do not want to bother everyone with it! Classes are well under way and this means I am trying to keep up with studying and balancing my other activities. Sport, Hebrew, playing the harp and painting the new starter set for Warhammer 40,000 all seem to need some attention. To quote the Big Lebowski movie: “the Dude abides” – the same goes for this dude right here!
To give you some insight into seminary life and some of the other things we are doing here, allow me to tell you a little about last weekend. In the hassle of every day life, it seems just two more days that we have activities and can’t go out to do what we want… but if you look back at it, you realize it was a beautiful weekend for sure!
This Saturday was the ordination for the diaconate. In case you don’t know, every priest out there has first been ordained deacon, at least about a year before they are ordained priest. The ordination as deacon is part of the true Sacrament of Ordination, but just at a different level. When the Apostles back in the day couldn’t cope with all the things involved in Church ministry, they delegated the care for the widows and orphans to the deacons. Today, the deacons in the Church still care for the less fortunate, assist at the Altar and proclaim the Word of God.
It is entirely possible to become a deacon, even if you do not intent to become a priest. Since Vatican II, we’ve seen quite a few mature men, often married, aspire to become a deacon. So, last Saturday two of them were ordained by our bishop. Every ordination has something beautiful to it, because it is a Sacrament, you see Gods love and power working through it. However, these deacon students occasionally come down here in the weekends to study here, but we do not talk with them much (mostly since most students are away in the weekends). When it is actually one of your own brothers that gets ordained, you are, of course, much more involved.

That all notwithstanding, it was a beautiful day. And on such a day, the seminarians are quite involved with all sorts of things: we start with our morning prayer for the two candidates for the ordination, move on to organize everything in the house to receive a few hundred people. Everything from tables and chairs, to coffee and snacks – it has to be taken care of. Some help serve Mass, others take care of the relatives of the two deacon-candidates, and in between you might find a few spare minutes to feed yourself around lunch time. The cleaning up… guys, trust me, it’s a busy enough day! (If anyone wants to see what our cathedral looks like, click here for a 360 degrees panorama)
On Sunday we had about 150 members of our prayer group here (which is only a very very small part, but still, be thankful not all of them show up!!). One day a year we kinda want to say “thank you” to them for praying for us and new vocations, as well as pray together. About as hectic as an ordination, and energy-consuming, because you are talking with all these lovely interesting people, each of whom want to share something with you. Lectures and presentations, rosary prayers and Adoration, and a good few hours later, we all had some pizza. I didn’t do much that evening, except drink a few beers and watch the Big Lebowski, only like, the greatest comedy movie of all time. It always cracks me up
This apparent emphasize on study, I find, is a shame. We are after all here to grow in our relationship with God. And no matter what you think, studying a fine assortment of philosophical and theological disciplines, doesn’t really get you there. To help you in your endeavours, there are the prayer hours. A priest will pray five times a day, as well as say Mass. In our seminary, two of these prayer times are scheduled, as well as Mass and Adoration, the latter being optional.
Now Sunday we all went to Birmingham for 
One thing that strikes me is how you can’t wait till your class of 45 minutes is over, but you can listen to certain people for an hour and still want them to go on and tell you more. Cardinal Danneels is one of these people. He spoke about evangelization today and about the challenges we are facing, for instance: our faith is built on philosophy and logical thinking, whereas today this mode of thinking is not very popular in our culture. While our philosophy is still very true, we have to find another way to get the message across.
Now, as for this seminarian, he is soon going to bed, but not before finishing packing a small suitcase. This weekend, I will be going to Nottingham, UK where Games-Workshop’s HQ is. GW is one of my hobbies, as most of you know. They produce various games in the Warhammer series, where one collects, models, paints and plays with miniatures. Their largest event is the so called Games Day. This year, over 50 North-European Outriders (including me), will be attending Games Day and giving demos in painting and playing the Warhammer games. It’s going to be a lot of fun. Pics and a detailed report when I come back on Monday!
First of all, being back at the seminary means being back among brothers. I must say that one of the things I have missed most was my fellow seminarians. Despite some minor effects of a jet lag, I stayed up way too late two days in a row just to catch up with some of them. As more and more start coming back, a sense of community life comes back also: the chapel fills up slowly, chatter (and God forbid, laughter) in the refectory, the amount of visitors to your room, just checking in what’s up, and so on…
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Hey everyone. I received this reply to my post from Marc Cou...
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Hoi Sebas, Goed om te horen dat je goed bent aangekomen...
Hoi Sebastiaan, mooi hoor, de eerste foto's van het seminar...
Hey Bas! Goed te lezen dat je alweer aan het sjouwen bent...