February 2nd, 2006

Something goofed up on blogger. This entry appeared on the rss feed, but did not appear on the normal front page of the blog. So I am reposting it in its entirety.

Groundhog day.

I got up before the groundhog on Thursday. There was no way to see my shadow as the sun was a couple hours from rising.

I got very little sleep and woke up around 5:30 am. Showered, grabbed some McD breakfast, and drove to Detroit.I arrived at Sacred Heart Major Seminary at 7 am. It was of course still dark. I banter with the guard for a bit and then am admitted. Jeremy picks me up and we head to the main Chapel.

The chapel is beautiful. Old school, lots of stained glass, nice woodwork. Next time I go I will take pictures. There is a virtual tour here.

Mass began at 7:15 am. It was Candlemas aka the Feast of the Presentation of the Lord. (40 days after Christmas) Latin was held in a place of respect in the mass (as it should be universally) in the Gloria, Agnus Dei, and Sanctus. There was post-missal chant of morning prayer a la the Liturgy of the Hours. I see familiar faces among the seminarians. One turned out to be a former neighbor. Another was a Catholic Central grad, class of '99.

After mass Jeremy and I head to the cafeteria and I get a large vessel and fill it with coffee. I then begin consuming the coffee and meeting some of the seminarians. Lots of names are learned and forgotten.

9:30 we arrive at the first class of the day. Scripture. Professor was talking about the ark of the covenant. 1st thing I notice about the sketch was that it was a bad design (mechanically speaking.) 1st thing I noticed about the class is that %wise there are more females here than in some of my engineering classes. Besides the young men studying to become priests there are many lay people learning here. BA in philosophy, MA in theology, etc. I of course wouldn't suggest attending seminary to meet girls. These are mostly older women, presumably married.

Midway through class I meet with Fr. Spezia for some spiritual direction. So we talked about the Lord and me for 40 minutes or so. After we spoke I went to Dr. Echeverria's Epistemology class. That was interesting and entertaining.

Then came lunch time. Lunch was delicious. I had a Philly cheese steak and oreo cream pie... mmmm. It is quite similar to your typical small dorm cafeteria. Met more people, learned and forgot more names.

After lunch was a rector's conference. This was a very interesting hour-long talk on formation.

Jeremy showed me around the place. I got to see what the stained glass looks like when the sun is out. We went through the Cardinal Szoka library. Met people. Walked around.

Some more LOTH and hanging out. We ate some dinner. Chicken marsala, pasta w/ meat sauce. I played Chess with a fellow from the Chaldean Eparchy. I am terrible at chess.

The evening continued with a Holy Hour. Spent time reading Imitation of Christ.

After Holy Hour, we hung out for a bit and had some beer and nachos.
I left around 10:45 pm. I went to bed...I woke up, and exactly the same stuff happened all over again!

ok that's made up.

Things to take from this.
-Seminarians are normal people like you and me.
-if by normal you mean a little nuts...
-Seminarians know how to have fun.
-Celibacy can be a fun and rewarding lifestyle.
-support young men discerning the Priesthood.
-God is in charge.

I am considering the priesthood insofar as I have certainly not ruled it out. I still have no real idea what the Lord wants me to do. I do see the joys both in marriage and the priesthood, but what I think is less important than the will of the Lord.

As for right now, I am still seeking employment as I have debts to pay.