Three areas of Seminary Life
The balance in seminary life is very important. Most obvious in my daily routine are the classes. You’re expected to attend them, then you’re expected to pay attention, study and finally pass an exam. This is the only thing that is actually measured in the seminary. At the end of each semester, you receive your report card. In this way, the seminary doesn’t differ very much from high school (except you don’t get money from your grandma anymore when showing her your report card) or university (where, I am sad to admit, one was able to skip classes and just do exams).
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.
Looking back over the past two years, I can safely say that your spiritual life is mainly up to you. There are in-house spiritual directors that can help you. There are the prayer hours. There is Mass. But how much time you spend on additional things such as scripture reading, meditation, Adoration, private prayer, no one will measure. No report card will be handed out to you at the end of the year. I find it so strange to see that there is so little emphasize on this part of seminary life, which I value above everything. Believe me, I think there are many seminarians here that would love spirituality to become a larger part of their lives, but we are weak human beings like everyone else, oft needing help in order to reserve this extra time for the Lord.
Then there are people skills. And believe me, you learn some here. Living in a community teaches you so many things about others and – above all – about yourself. You learn when and how you can irritate others, to name something obvious that springs to mind. You learn how to become more humble (sometimes with a little help from your brothers or the staff). You do chores for the community and see that you depend in many things on others doing their duties, and so on. These past two years have taught me so much and I feel like I’ve grown a lot thanks to the community life, that is way more intense than sharing an appartment with other students.
To summarize, seminary life -if you want to make the most out of it- is about giving till it hurts. Attending classes while you would rather do something else; go to Adoration and give God the time He needs to prepare you for the priesthood, although even though no one else will reward you for it; and becoming more humble in community life in order to become a better person. Through all of this, you feel that He is working in you, and that seminary does exactly what it is meant to do: provide the formation you need to be able to become a priest.
(If you are a seminarian reading this, I would love to hear their thoughts on seminary life!)
2 Responses to “Three areas of Seminary Life”
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“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.”
Respondeo
“The mind is an infinity, even if it is an infinity of nonsense. The mind of man is divine, even in the unfathomable nature of its darkness. Men can think of anything seriously, however absurd it is. Men can believe anything, even the truth.” G.K. Chesterton, Orthodoxy
Dear Sebastian, I can agree that also seminarians have
to chose for God in their personal life.
Nobody checks how much time you pray in general. And that differs from serving in the mass. When you are in the middle of a parish, we tend to do the many things. Mary choose the one thing. That poses for me the question: How can I be simple in front of the face of God? I can be simple if also my service is honouring God. Simple
serving in love… in a flow of giving myself and forgetting this will cost my life. That asks convertion. People tend to be attracted to outher succes. However the more clear ideas I receive in the inner silence, I receive them when I can be silent… listen to God.
We are spiritual beings. We long for the lifegiving wind of the spirit, in the open desert of my soul I long for paradisewater.
See you, Stefan