It's Beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

Today, December 17th is my final day of the semester at the Seminary. The reason for lateness of this post is the past week has seen a flurry of finals (both oral and written) and papers. Classes are finished and today we celebrated our Closing Liturgy and Luncheon.

It has been a journey to get to this point but one that has sought to bring us closer together as a community. It began on November 30th with the beginning of the Advent season. Then, on December 9th (after Diaconate Ordination), we came together to get the “house” set up for Christmas. This involved putting get our tree together including stringing the lights (very frustrating!) and decorating the tree as well as putting up the Christmas Nativity scene. This is one of those “all hands on deck” experience and while it can be work it’s also good for us to work together! And, of course, we were able to smuggle some lights and a donated tree (and a light up snowman) for our Alley…so we were the talk of the Seminary.

Today, we celebrated our Closing Liturgy. One of the traditions here is that we sing the Closing Hymn, “O Come All Ye Faithful” in the first languages of those who live here. So we sang verses in seven different languages. It was a good reminder of our community unity and diversity.

It’s appropriate we end today as the Church begins to celebrate the O Antiphons, the time of Advent that marks our final preparation for Christmas. So as the members of this community return home or to local parishes, we go forth in a great spirit, ready for a wonderful break!

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Please remember in your prayers, Msgr. Jim Kissane, who passed away yesterday after a very short but intense illness. Fr. Jim was a graduate of St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School (Class of 1982) and the pastor of St. John of God Parish in Central Islip. He is truly one of the “good guys”…someone who was a great source of encouragement and strength for me and many others. Funeral arrangements can be found here.

It's Deacon Week!

This week is a big week at the Seminary. On December 8th, five men of this house will be ordained to the diaconate by Bishop DiMarzio. They will begin serving in parishes over the next few months and then be ordained to priesthood this June.

The five men who will be ordained this week, in a real sense, are the leaders of this community. Their presence, experience, wisdom and enthusiasm for ministry certainly set a high bar for those of us who live here. Simply by their status here they inspire us to continue working on this path.

For the entire community it's an "all hands on deck" week. There is much to do from preparing the Chapel, setting for all the details of the celebration, moving chairs all over the place and preparing the seminary for the nearly 300 guests who will visit us this Tuesday, to supporting the men who will be ordained. It's a good time and moment when everyone can work to bring things together.

So pray for Alonzo, Nixon, Henry, Dave and John (you can see their pictures at the Seminary website) and pray for our entire community in the days ahead, especially in this Year of the Priest.