It recently dawned on me that, in addition to not updating this blog nearly as often as I should, my updates have almost always consisted of travels outside of the North American College - travel weekends, Christmas, and the wonderful summer experience the Lord blessed me with in Tanzania. I am so grateful for all of these wonderful blessings, and I pray that each place I have been able to see and experience will somehow make me a better priest one day! But I would certainly be remiss if I did not write at all about the more routine side of life which takes place here at the North American College.
All of us here (and that's over 260 men!) have now been back at the classroom for a month now. And, while most of our brothers back at U.S. seminaries are getting ready for the home stretch of their fall semesters, we are only just getting into the meat and potatoes! Such are the mysterious ways of the Roman Universities.
But while we have only just returned to the classroom, things have been far from uneventful here at the North American College in these past few months since we returned from our various summer apostolates. In fact, one of the College's most beautiful events happens every year at the beginning of October, before classes have begun. This is the Diaconate Ordination Mass for the 4th theology class, the men who, at the end of the academic year, will return to their dioceses to be ordained priests forever! As Monsignor Jim Checchio, the rector of the NAC, always says, the beginning and end of the year are always the most beautiful times to be at the College, since "the grace of ordination affects everything!" At the beginning of the academic year, we watch and pray as our 4th year brothers proceed to the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica, lie down on the marble beneath the stained-glass window of the Holy Spirit, and rise to be conformed to Christ the servant, or, in Greek, Christos diaconos.
Since early October, the schedule has settled into a bit of a rhythm, as classes, apostolates, communal prayer, and formation conferences have all gotten fully underway. It's been a great blessing to be back in the routine, even though it's a very busy routine! The faculty here is always fond of reminding us that, no matter how busy we think we are in seminary, there will always be more to do as a priest! Truly, everything we do and participate in here at the College contributes to our formation in some way - to helping us become the best priests we can be. And this is something for which I am truly grateful!
One such aspect of formation which my second-year classmates and I have had the opportunity to dive into this year has been that of preaching! Yes, this is the year when we begin to learn the art of homiletics. We had a week-long conference on the topic in September, presented by one of the College's faculty who is a Dominican, the Order of Preachers. So we were in good hands! The conference consisted of watching videos of various speakers and preachers - everyone from Martin Luther King Jr. to Joel Osteen to Venerable Fulton Sheen, and identifying what makes those particular speakers so effective. We would then receive various tips and tricks from Father related to his own preaching experience: how to prepare, delivery skills, advice on content, etc. It really felt like we were drinking from a fire hose!
Fortunately, after having spent time in discussion and receiving advice, we have had several opportunities to try our hand at preaching! Each of us have been divided into groups of 4 or 5 seminarians with a priest moderator, and given a specific preaching topic and scenario for a given day. For instance, we have preached on Our Lady of the Rosary, Exaltation of the Cross, Our Lady of Sorrows, the 30th Sunday in Ordinary Time, and a simple daily Mass. So we've already had a pretty wide range of preaching experiences! The practices have certainly not been without a healthy bit of stress, but my classmates and I have found it to be really awesome. I think we have been especially surprised by the fact that we actually can give a decent homily! Each of us, having our own experiences, devotion, prayer life, and disposition, have truly been able to make the homilies our own. One thing I have loved has been the opportunity to hear what my brothers have to say about the particular readings or feast of the day - oftentimes, they mention something that I had never thought about before! It's pretty cool.
Anyway, I just wanted to give a little update to anyone who might be reading. Thank you so much for your prayers, as always. I am so grateful for the way the Lord has supported me through the support of all my family and friends, so thank you! Know that I pray for you as well. May God bless you!
-Colin
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