Why Seminarians Need Your Prayers

These are the new seminarians at St. Paul Seminary in Crafton, Pa. 

for 2014-2015, along with the rector and vice-rector. Try to see if 

you can find me in this group, lol. This photo, by Chip Kelson, appeared

in this week's edition of Pittsburgh Catholic newspaper.

It has been about a month and half since I entered the seminary. People have asked what the life of a seminarian is like. The seminary is a period of testing and formation; it is a period in which one is nudged beyond one's comfort zone to see how well one holds up under circumstances that are not always completely under one's control. But there are deeper reasons why seminarians need your prayers.

To devote one's life to doing the work of God is a challenge. Whether one's ministry is "secular" or within a religious community, it is important to learn how to live and work within a community; and how to be attentive to the needs an concerns of other people, rather than being self-indulgent and pampering oneself. Life in the seminary should prepare a person for this challenge.

There are four elements of seminary life: human formation, intellectual formation, spiritual formation and pastoral formation. Life in the seminary should cultivate humility, fortitude, perseverance and obedience. Each of these areas of formation require your prayers.

Human Formation: In order to be a good priest you must first be a good human being. Human formation pertains to development of empathetic skills -- the sensitivity of the heart -- and the capacity to live in community.

Intellectual Formation: The priest is always learning and always teaching. Intellectual formation is strengthened by studying philosophy so that one will be able to analyze and synthesize, contrast and compare ideas that are essential building blocks of theology.

Spiritual Formation: A priest must have a deep interior life of prayer. The seminarian has a rich opportunity to develop one's prayer life. The life of the priest must be informed by liturgical and contemplative prayer.

Pastoral Formation: A priest must be prepared to attend to people's needs -- including their spiritual, intellectual and human needs. A priest, and especially a pastor, must be a lover of souls and is defined by care for the souls of his parishioners.

The writings of and about Saint John Marie Vianney provide a solid overview of what is required of pastors, even in the 21st century -- a life that seminary should prepare tomorrow's priests to live. I have found Reflection on Priestly Life: In The Footsteps of St. John Vianney, The Cure of Ars, edited by Leonardo Sapienza, an extremely rich source to study.

One will not be able to live the life of a seminarian, not to mention living as a member of a religious order, a brother, deacon or a priest, without living in intimate and continuous communion with Christ. There is nothing that we can do, in terms of the nature of this calling, on our own power, and there is no room for lukewarm commitments or mediocrity. We need your prayers.