How Do Seminarian Pillars of Formation Apply to Anyone Seeking a Deeper Spiritual Life?

The Seminary House on morning in early autumn

When I entered the seminary, a little more than a month ago, I expected to experience challenges that would draw me out of myself, and that would demand that I see the big picture and live for others. I knew that the challenges of seminary life would not allow me to take a single moment for granted, as each moment is pregnant with eternity. I did not expect, however, that the process of formation in the seminary would provide me with lessons that apply to everyone, and that could deepen the lives of every Christian, yet this is what is happening. The same things that are important to the formation of seminarians are important, in a general way, to the formation of anyone seeking a deeper spiritual life.

The four pillars of formation in the seminary are human formation, which involves deepening the ability see and feel the world from somebody else’s perspective; intellectual formation, which involves deepening our curiosity about the world and ideas; spiritual formation, which involves deepening our interior life and our life of prayer; and pastoral formation, involving caring for others and attending to their needs. It is convenient to think about each of these pillars in separation, but they are actually inseparable. We either weaken or strengthen these attributes by everything we think, say and do – or fail to do.

This past week provided many opportunities to deepen these four pillars of formation. The seminarians were fortunate to be among the Pittsburgh pilgrims, led by Bishop David Zubik, to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. This pilgrimage was an opportunity to deepen our prayer life. Not only did pilgrims pray the Rosary and the Liturgy of the Hours as we traveled to D.C., our prayers continued as we visited each of the shrines contained on the two levels of the Basilica. There were priests available, around the Crypt Church, to hear confessions and confer the Sacrament of Reconciliation.

(This is part of a revised and more complete version of an op-ed piece that appeared The Pittsburgh Catholic Newspaper on October 10, 2014)

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.

People Who Instructed and Inspired Me Along the Path of My Journey to Faith

One of the trends of thought among secularists is a form of radical indivIdualism in which families and the community are seen as unnecessary baggage that prevent the individual from living a full life. There is even an element of exaggerated individualism in the theology of some Christian groups that proselytize on university campuses. They call people to individual conversion experiences while neglecting the importance of spiritual formation within the community of the universal body of Christ. I have been blessed, over the years, not to have fallen, or remained for long, in the trap of Christian or secular individualism. I have had the guidance, encouragement, instruction and support from many clergy and lay ministers from within the church, most of whom are still living but a few who have since passed away.

I appreciate the spiritual direction, early on, that I have received from Oratorian Fathers Drew Morgan, Michael Darcy and, particularly, David Abernethy, who inspired me toward a deeper prayer life and put me on the road to Lectio Divina, Eucharistic Adoration, and praying the liturgy of the hours. Father David also encouraged my occasional writing in the Newman Center’s Catholic Anchor magazine. This was later followed by the example and instruction of Fathers Donald Breier and Thomas Burke at St. Paul Cathedral, who encouraged me to step up and serve in the parish as a Eucharistic minister, a lector and as a member of the parish pastoral council. I am thankful that our scheduler at the Cathedral, Pat Pope, keep me engaged in the lay ministry through thick and thin. I also appreciate Father Breier for encouraging my occasional writing on spiritual matters in the Pittsburgh Catholic newspaper. I was inspired by the early morning Masses and homilies of Fathers Brian Welding and Daniele Vallecorsa at the Cathedral, and was frequently challenged to “shape up”, during confession, by Father Kim Shreck, whom many of the parishioners affectionately referred to “God’s marine.”

Other priests who have given me inspiration and guidance over the years include Fathers Lou Vallone and Carmen D’Amico, when I was a parishioner at St. Benedict the Moor; and Father Kris Stubna, who is currently the pastor at St. Paul Cathedral. Conversations with Father Joe Carr, whom I knew long before he began discerning his call to the priesthood, and Father Barry O’Leary were very helpful in providing me with insights into the special challenges and blessings awaiting older men who consider the calling. While Father David Abernethy introduced me to the Liturgy of the Hours, Father Barry taught me how to pray using the Breviary. Father David Taylor, of St. Charles Lawanga parish, has always offered his encouragement and support as have the Knights and Ladies of Peter Claver in Pittsburgh.

I received early encouragement to discern a calling from Father William Clancey, at the Oratory, 35 years ago, shortly after my conversion to Catholicism, and, more recently from Father Joe Freedy and Deacon Toby Gaines. I particularly appreciate the time Father Joe has taken to counsel me about the process of discernment and his encouragement to listen to voice of Christ. I also received consistent encouragement and support, at critical moments, from Father Joseph Mele.

I have received encouragement in the form of opportunities to grow through service to the church by working with Dr. Mary Ann Gubish, in the Office for Parish Advisory Councils, from Greta Stokes Tucker, in the Department of Black Catholics, Ethnic and Cultural Communities, and from Dr. Veronica Morgan Lee in the race and reconciliation interparish committee. I was introduced to the inspiring and insightful work of Father Luigi Giussani and the Catholic lay movement, Communion and Liberation, through Father Michael Roche, while he was still a seminarian. I am forever grateful to Matthew Craig, my brother in faith, for leading me back to the church during a critical period in my life, following my mother’s passing and taught me essential Catholic prayers. Matthew has also encouraged me, repeatedly, to write about my conversion experience. I sorely miss John Hannigan, whom I worked with on social service, social justice and human development issues and who knew my father.

One of the strongest and most consistent sources of support and inspiration has come from Bishop David Zubik, with whom I have served during the Good Friday liturgy at the Cathedral for the past six years, and who took time, during a discernment retreat in Ohio in December of 2010, to meet with each participant individually.

These good men and women of faith, and many others, have helped my formation through instruction, spiritual guidance, their living example and by encouraging me to walk through the doors to serve the church. They have all helped to nurture my spiritual growth and maturation.

(From my Spiritual Autobiography)

The Journey Begins

This week I have entered the St. Paul Seminary for the Pittsburgh Catholic Diocese. This entails a major change for a 57 year old African American man, who has had a professional career and has been accustomed to living on his own -- detached from family and community.

Living in a seminary has two main aspects to it; the most obvious aspect is the academic side, but the more profound aspect is the way that living in an authentic community nurtures spiritual growth. Seminary is a place of discernment for religious life, the deaconate or the priesthood.  It is a place to simultaneously withdraw from the world, and to become more deeply immersed in it, in order to listen for the voice of God to discover God's intentions and purpose for one's life.

I say it is a place to simultaneously withdraw from, and to immerse oneself more deeply in the world because seminary life does not embrace the inevitability of these apparent dichotomies. The seminarian does not withdraw from the world in order to escape from it; the seminarian withdraws in order to re-enter, with a clearer mind and a stronger heart. The seminarian re-enters the world, and goes to places that most people would avoid unless they wanted to romanticize and exploit vulnerable human beings who are often ignored or pushed to the margins social consciousness.

St. Paul Seminary is set on 17 acres of green landscape, woods and athletic fields, apart from much of the noise and distractions of the secular world. The art and the architecture that surrounds us, draws our minds away from secular concerns and values, and focuses them on matters of the heart and of the spirit. Yet the life of the seminarian immerses one in the world because it includes offering one's time and talents for charitable, or "apostolic", work -- the work of the apostles. This includes work within prisons, substance abuse recovery programs, work with troubled youth, work with the aged, work with the hospitalized, work with the homeless, and work in soup kitchens. It doesn't get more real than this.

The life of the seminarian also immerses one in the world because life in a seminary means living in a community. There can be nothing that is more real or more terrestrial than living in a close community, with the many different personalities that the members bring with them. The seminary is a place to develop awareness of the impact that one's thoughts, words and deeds have on others, and to develop empathy. It is a place of work, study, prayer and worship as a community. This is quite the opposite of a lifestyle based on escapism.

In my professional life -- as a university professor, a K-12 teacher, a historian, and a social worker -- I have seen people at different stages of their lives. I have discovered, in doing that work, that one's capacity to affect other lives, and to be affected by them, is limited to the extent that one does not embrace the whole human person. Teachers, social workers and other professionals are inundated with methodology and technical skills, but they are taught to steer away from matters of the spirit. Yet matters of the spirit are the most important matters to our clients, customers, constituents, students and neighbors -- even if they, themselves, are not aware of it.

People marvel at the mystery of birth, and they stand in awe of the inevitability and seeming finality of death. They think they can avoid death, or at least delay it, by not thinking or talking about it. They struggle with the suddenness and frequency with which people are afflicted with injuries and illness, which can quickly transform a healthy, vibrant and seemingly independent person into one who must depend on others for the simplest of matters, such as getting dressed or taking a bath. Even if this physical transformation is temporary it is an unsettling reminder of how vulnerable each of us is, and of how dependent we all are on other people.

The most sensitive and attentive souls will allow the marvel of birth, the awe of death, and the awareness of vulnerability and dependency to raise questions about what it all means. They will allow it to trigger questions about what the purpose of their life actually is, or even whether or not their life has a purpose. The technical skills and methods of the professional are not enough to help people work through these existential questions, yet to ignore these questions renders the teacher irrelevant to the deepest levels of inquiry in the hearts and the minds of the teacher's students; likewise for social work and other professions that are grounded in human interaction.

As a Catholic priest, Father Luigi Giussani, once pointed out in his work The Journey to Truth is an Experience, that a reasonable person is not a man or woman who remains in the realm of abstraction; "a reasonable person is one who submits reason to experience". Christianity is an event that one belongs to and that one participates in. It is a lived experience that awakens and informs consciousness. Christianity is existential -- it is something that we experience, live and do; it is not just something we believe.

Christianity, more than being the mere belief in Jesus as the Christ, is an encounter with Christ -- it is an experience and a relationship through this encounter. We encounter and experience Christ in community, as Giussani phrases it, "community is the phenomenon with which Christ carries on His presence in history."

I have come to this community, this seminary, to encounter Christ.

One of the requirements for entering the seminary was that the prospective seminarian submit a spiritual autobiography. Over the next few weeks I will intersperse sections of the spiritual autobiography that I submitted along with posts, such as this one, that are inspired by my current experiences. My spiritual autobiography should help to clarify my background, which has brought me to the life of a seminarian in the first place. Other posts, inspired by current experiences, will help to show where this adventure is taking me.

And so the journey of the spirit begins....

C. Matthew Hawkins