Life at the Seminary

Yes… this caught me off guard. Two weeks ago the weather was pretty much like we’re used to it back home. A few warmer days, 15 degrees… and then, bam, suddenly we find ourselves in the midst of a snowy Edmonton! I have been told by the Edmontonians that this isn’t normal for them either. Winnipeg suffered from a real snow storm today. As for me, I have been enjoying the view out of my window today. There isn’t much to see except for some trees. But it just seemed like the Big Guy had turned around the snowglobe and all the snow flakes came down… such a pretty sight!

 In other news, several midterms are coming up, the first coming Thursday. Midterms are good. They cut the amount you have to study for in half pretty much. It also means that we are mid – term. In less than two months, the semester will be done and over with. A weird idea if you ask me.

As many of you know, I am now at a ‘new’ seminary. That is to say, I am in Edmonton in Canada and this is all quite new to me. What some of you might not know is that we are in transition. The seminary here was too small. In total, we’re 30 seminarians living here in Edmonton with another 10 on internship this year. Due to the construction of a ringway around Edmonton, the diocese was forced to sell the seminary and college (which now have been demolished) and build a new one. This year, we are only at a ‘temporary’ location. While everyone really got settled in their new digs, and we couldn’t ask for a better place, most guys that have been here longer to me are really looking forward to the new seminary that is being built as we speak.

I can’t help but say that I am getting more excited. For one, we had a lovely Gala Dinner, now over a week ago. With all respect for the Church in my native country (The Netherlands), I don’t think we would have been able to pull off what this diocese here pulled off pretty much on its own: a fundraiser for our new seminary. As seminarians, we were granted the opportunity to spend a wonderful evening with 900 supporters of the seminary, who raised over 7 million dollars in one evening for this new seminary. I would like to invite all of you to pray for this new project, as we will need over 8 million more dollars over the next five years.

The good news is, they are already building our new seminary. Yesterday, news reached us of how they are working on our new chapel already. This will be one of the greenest buildings in all of Edmonton, and with state of the art technology they have been continuously pouring the concrete walls of our new seminary. The amount of work, money and PRAYER that goes into this project is amazing. And as a seminarian (and future inhabitant of this new building) it is an exhilirating time!

For those that are interested in the end result, there is a picture on the St. Joseph Seminary page that changes into sketches of several parts of our new building. Check it out!

As promised, a little update on pastoral placements.

In seminary, there are four different kinds of formation. Spiritual, Human, Intellectual and Pastoral formation. This means that prayer, community life, study and pastoral work are part of our daily lives. While I’ve done some internships here and there, more or less on my own, it’s the first time – now that I have moved to my new seminary – that I received a pastoral placement in a seminary context. Praise the Lord

This year I will be working at *drum roll* St. James Catholic School. I went in last week with Sr. Anne Rajotte, of the Sisters of St. Joseph. She’s been working at the nearby parish for almost twenty years now, and for quite some time she has been visiting the school regularly to speak with the children about religion. We’re talking about an elementary school, so kids are anywhere between like 6 and 12 years old. It’s so awesome… I met with a few grades, and was introduced as a seminarian. We explained to them what it meant and they could ask me questions. It really does relativate stuff when the first question you are asked is “What is your favorite food?” 

Today I went in for the first time on my own. I will be helping out one afternoon a week in grade 5, and maybe I will continue to come in with the Sister or do some other work. I’m not going to get ahead of myself there. Today I helped a couple of kids with their math. A few kids just moved to Edmonton and this school, and they are really struggling with math. I just really want to help them get on the right track, as they deserve a good start in life, eh? What a sign of providence that I can use all the years I’ve taught math to high school students here…

At the same time I will be able to learn how to interact with children a lot younger than I am used to teach. The time in class was extremely cool, as all the kids seem to want to get to know you and share things with you. I could barey go back home in time for my next appointment they didn’t want me to leave. What a great gift! Hopefully in the future, I will be able to do some catechesis with them, but for now it is just my presence there that will be the first step in my apostolate. Please continue to pray for my work here, and especially for my time at St. James School!

I remember the first time I was in Winnipeg. I had just moved into the Oblates’ house and in the room next to mine lived the cousin of their provincial, Andrew. Andrew asked me the first or second day if I played hockey. So I said, “Sure thing! We used to play all the time at school.”

“Great,” he said, “You have any skates with you?” So I was thinking… skates? Does he mean rollerblades? Like in street hockey? So I told him, “no, they were sort of too large to bring over.” And he was like, “Too bad, cause there’s an rink right next to our house.” Only then it dawned on me that he was talking about ICE hockey.

Now, Holland claims a certain fame in the FIELD hockey world and it’s actually played by a lot of people (at least, I know a few dozen…) but I don’t know of anyone playing ice hockey. So, lesson to all my fellow foreigners, when a Canadian is talking about hockey, he’s definitely talking about ICE hockey.

That said, today I had my first taste. Of floor hockey. Which is basically indoor hockey without skates. It gives me some idea of how to handle a stick and I had an incredible time just playing, even though I have to learn pretty much everything from the start. After two hours of playing, I realize I might need a slightly longer stick, as my back’s pretty sore :> Other than that, it’s been an amazing night.

Every Monday and Wednesday there’s sports night for us seminarians and quite a few turn out, so it’s very enjoyable. And I might lose some of those extra pounds in the process!

More news on my pastoral placement for the year to follow soon, so check back

It’s been a while now and I have had some time to settle here at my new seminary. Today a bit more about life at the seminary here. What does a week look like?

Every day we show up at the chapel at 6:30 for morning prayer and H. Mass. We are 27 seminarians and have the pleasure to live with 5 priests on our formation team. Since our internship year comes after our second year of theology studies, it means that our diaconate year is spent back at the seminary. It’s a great joy to see your fellow deacon-seminarians here. They serve at the altar during Mass and at times preside over our morning prayer.

At 7:30 it’s time for breakfast. There are several excellent cooks working here who manage to sometimes even prepare something for breakfast, like a nice boiled egg or even pancakes.

Since the college we go to is a ways off, at 8:00 we drive down to the college to start classes at 8:30. Most guys are taking five three-hour classes (one every day) so we’re there until about 11:30 when we drive back home for lunch at 12:00.

Most of the afternoons and evenings are off, until 17:15 when we pray evening prayer together, after which supper follows. Then at 21:00 there is some time for adoration and night prayer.

Four times a semester there are human formation sessions on Monday afternoon.

Tuesday afternoon there is either a rector’s conference or music practice.

Thursday there is an hour of adoration (including evening prayer)

Friday there is a community meeting for practical things and a group meeting where we talk about a spiritual topic.

Monday and Wednesday there are optional sport nights. Yesterday about 12 guys came out to play Ultimate Frisbee. I’m already being inducted in the various sports here, by the way. Last week we went to an Eskimos game, and I have also decided to explore the joys of ice hockey while here and bought some equipment to that effect. God knows what is going to happen to me this year!!

In other good news: at the start of the year party, during the lottery, I won a $75 gift card for Joey Tomatoes. The first one from Holland to visit me is offered a free meal there

I also put some additional pictures online where you can see some of the neighborhood I live in. It’s really a nice place for walking, especially with the 25-or-so degree weather we’ve been having. Jealous yet? Good! Come to seminary!! :>

My first post from Canada. I seem to have arrived just well. Me and my two suitcases. The first week was spent in Winnipeg, meeting as many of my friends there as I could. Everyone seems to have survived well enough without me, but it felt good to meet up with these wonderful people, most of whom have seen many years in ministry already.

I spent my time in Winnipeg at my vocation’s director’s rectory. The people in the parish were very welcoming as I was introduced to them at several Masses during the week(end). I feel very much humbled by their warm reception and it was great to have many come up to me and talk to me in German. Most of them have come over here in the years after World War II, maybe with just two suitcases as well (although they probably took a lot longer to get here, instead of my measly 12 hours by plain).

After my first week in Winnipeg, trying to enjoy my last ‘vacation’ days as much as I could, another seminarian picked me up at 6am for the drive to Edmonton. Thirteen hours. And we were speeding, a little. But he drove us all the way there, across half of Manitoba, all of Saskatchewan and some of Alberta.

As I explained in the post below, the new seminary building is currently being constructed and we have taken up residence in a former nursing home. Everyone on the formation team, the staff and employees have really worked hard to make this place – a lot smaller than the old building, apparently – as nice and welcoming as possible. Those of you that are curious can look on my Photo Gallery where I have added some new pictures.

The last few days we have had some introduction days. It was so good to get to know the almost 30 guys that live here. Things about our daily schedule and the year programme are reviewed, and we’ve sorted out which community duties each of us will fulfill this year. I am going to help produce the seminary newsletter as well as help plan the community evenings. More about my schedule this year is to come…

We also drove out to the new location of the Newman Theological College, after which we all went out for ice cream. It’s been a fun couple of days in a very relaxed atmosphere as everyone is getting settled in. As for me, I have a few additional things to take care of, such as getting a Canadian driver’s license and car insurance for my new car! (Photos will follow one of these days as I keep you updated). I can’t ask you guys often enough to please keep me in your prayers. For you folks back in the Netherlands, be assured I think of you often and really feel united with you as I think of you in mine.

We’re at the end of the ride here for this year. Tomorrow I’ll have to take one more exam. Afterwards our Reverend Teachers will hole themselves up in the large meeting room and discuss the results of this semester’s exams. When white smoke comes out of the room, we know the meeting is over and hurry to the rector’s room to get our grades. Then, we celebrate together in our back yard… or else drink away our sorrows Either way, it’ll be a great evening!

I wonder whether it will be same in the future… you know, what will it be like 50 years from now? The seminarians from Missouri answered the same questions in the 1950s and made this (rather entertaining) videoclip. Enjoy!

The Pope has declared that the pastor of Ars year will begin on June 19 this year. This means the Saint Paul year we have been celebrating is coming to an end. In recognition thereof, all the seminarians here worked on an aspect of St. Paul’s life, writings, teachings and his impact on Christianity throughout the ages. As for me, I have delved deeper into what has become known as the new perspective on Paul.

What is this new perspective? It is in fact a shift in the way our protestant brothers and sisters see St. Paul in their theology. This ‘new perspective’, in short, means that Luther’s doctrine of justification in which the individual stands before God, was erroneously based on the writings of St. Paul, without taking into account the social structures of first century Judaism.

The conflict surrounding St. Paul’s justification has remained a relevant subject since the 16^th century. The new perspective holds that the rejection of ‘all good works’ is in no way a correct interpretation of the letters of Paul. As true as it may be that someone cannot earn his salvation before God, this was not what Paul was trying to say. By studying Paul’s letters in their historical context and social structures of the time, we can appreciate that the letter to the Romans was meant for the first century Christians in Rome: a church that found itself in the midst of an ethnical and social conflict, in which issues such as circumcision, Jewish holidays, meat that was sacrificed to heathen gods, etc. all played a very real role.

This means that when Paul speaks about the ‘works of the law’, he does not mean you should not perform them because of your faith and out of fear you would take pride of them and not Gods grace. He was in fact speaking about the heathen Christians who had begun to observe the Torah so they could become part of the chosen people of God. According to Paul, one was already part of this covenant if one had accepted the redemption through Christ, the Messiah, and not because of the works of the law, such as circumcision. Once one was part of the covenant, however, one was still obliged to remain in it by performing good works. Not in the way the Pharisees did, but from Paul’s anthropology, that the things you do come from the person you are.

I have written a little article about the new perspective for those of you that are interested. You can download it here. I would especially enjoy comments (through my contact page) regarding spelling and grammer issues with the text, as I am thinking about sending it in for publication somewhere. Enjoy!

This doesn’t mean the seminary restricts you (apart from filling up a lot of hours each day with classes and prayer) to be involved in ministry or read about it. I’ve been reading a great book “Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry” by Doug Fields, an Evangelical pastor. As most of you know, I have no reservation in endorsing many protestant programs and pastors and take great pleasure in praying and working together with them. Maybe it’s due to my protestant upbringing, but more than anything else, if you’re really praising the Lord together, you are ‘one of heart and one of spirit’.

Doug begins his book by listing the 10 commitments of a Youth Minister, or indeed, any minister. I am listing them here because I think he’s really spot on. I must hastily add that I haven’t mastered all of them, but I hope they will motivate you as much as they do me.

1. Take it slowly – we have to realize we won’t be able to do everything at once. If you see things you potentially want to change, write them down and prayerfully consider them, but realize you won’t change everything within two years. If you want to change things too soon, you will seem critical in regards to your leader, and if you are the leader, you will still seem arrogant…

2. Evaluate your heart and motives – this is something we really have to do all the time. Why are we doing something? For God’s glory or for our own? Do we want to show off what we know or is it because we will feel good about ourselves… or is it God’s will?

3. Don’t play the number game – it’s really tempting to think in numbers. When I talk about my youth group, which started really small and pathetic and grew out to be a serious group with a really decent turnout twice a month, I always mention numbers to illustrate how well the Holy Spirit worked… it’s kinda crazy, though, because why would a group of only three serious people not be a successful group? It’s the contemporary market mindset which wants to know the numbers, whereas the health of the group is much more of an issue!

4. Don’t criticise the past – when you criticise others to make yourself look good, you will probably only convince weak people of your views. Authentic people can see right through you. You really build character by bringing out the good in someone else.

5. Don’t compare yourself to others- by feeling inadequate, you can ruin your enthousiasm, or – the opposite – by feeling accomplished you can become prideful. Often we struggle for years in order to get recognition from others for the things we do, whereas God has already given them to us unconditionally from the start!

6. Set priorities – it’s really easy to say yes, but a minister setting goals and knowing what is important to her is much more effective. Learn to say no…

7. Check your pace – you’re running a marathon, not a sprint. Endurance and training is what is needed. Spend your time well and take time to relax.

8. Serve - the only (Christian) way to lead is by serving others. You can do it by doing those things that only God can see, e.g. helping someone, or something simple such as refraining from making jokes about another person.

9. Be a student – you can only teach what you have learned… so don’t stop learning.

10. Be content – sometimes the grass seems greener somewhere else, but in reality, it’s just the set of problems that differ. Ministry is NOT EASY, else we’d have a whole bunch of ministers. Sometimes, a short term commitment seems beneficial for us ministers, but it can be disastrous for the youth you work with, because they need a stable environment around the people they look up to.

Well, those are the 10 Commitmens. Which do you struggle with the most? I wouldn’t even know where to begin! In Exodus 23:29-30 the LORD says to his people, that He will not give them the Promised Land all at once. It’s the same way with our ministry. We have to realize we’re in for the long haul, and fruits might not really show for years, but I am confident that with these 10 commitments, I might have a good shot

Well friends,

Holy Week has finally arrived. If it is customary in your churches, the statues and crucifixes have been covered for a week now. As of yesterday, Palm Sunday, the hymns of the ‘liturgy of the hours’ (which priests and religious pray five times a day) have changed, as we focus more and more on Jesus’s last week on earth.

Here at the seminary, we enjoy a special week without classes in preparations of Easter and all the other special days of this week. Our days are filled with extra prayers (usually we only pray the lauds and vespers together), several singing rehearsels (as you can imagine, there are several songs which are only sung on one specific day, and we gotta practise for them!) as well as two spiritual lectures a day. Today we spent some time thinking about Christ’s suffering and Cross, for instance and this evening we went to the cathedral (600 feet from the seminary) to receive the sacrament of Reconciliation during a special ceremony and time of Adoration.

All in all, it is a beautiful week! I can’t wait for Easter… and if you’re a Christian, too, I would really suggest that you let this anticipation of the greatest of Christian feasts grown in your own heart. Place a crucifix on your desk or some place where you can look at it regularly and really put your daily life in the shadow of his Cross. All Catholics have to confess at least once a year as well, so if you haven’t gone yet, this week would be a great time to look up a priest and ask for this beautiful sacrament. Also, come back tomorrow as I am set on writing a small article about preparing for confession.

God bless, everyone, and a beautiful Holy Week!