What A Year It Has Been....

Palm Sunday weekend is a milestone for me. It was this weekend last year, the days before, that informed family, friends, St. John the Baptist Diocesan High School and Our Lady of Lourdes that the Seminary accepted me and I would begin studies here in September. What a year it has been!

Today, we celebrated the Palm Sunday Liturgy at the Seminary. It’s a special day here as members of the Knights of Columbus through Long Island come and pray with this community. The Knights work hard to support many works of the Church, but make a special commitment to seminarians in formation. It some ways it is a “Thank You” celebration, in others a reminder of the tremendous support that exists in the Church on Long Island.

As I look back of this year, these days have particular meaning. It was in these times, a year ago, I made a life-changing decision to leave what I knew, where I was comfortable and what I loved to do with the hope and belief that God and the Church had more in store for me.

Truthfully, leaving stinks but it has been easier than I ever anticipated. My fear, I think, was totally disconnect or abandonment. This experience has shown me that relationships formed are not limited by location or distance. It is easier because of the love and support of so many! From family and friends to parish and former work place to community, I have never for a moment felt alone or abandoned on this journey. Thanks for that!

So as we celebrate Holy Week at the Seminary it is different than what it has been over the past few years. Yet, while change is tough hopefully it will be another positive step on what has already been quite a journey!

Indeed, what a year it has been!

The Parish of SS. Cyril and Methodius – the Heart of Jesus on Beautiful 231!

This weekend, Vian Ntegerej'lmana and I visited the SS. Cyril and Methodius R.C. Church in Deer Park. What a wonderful community of faith, hope, love and a little bit of laughter, too!

This weekend’s visit differed from our visit to Our Lady of Mercy – both parishes have many gifts and different ones, too. SS. Cyril and Methodius is a larger parish in Suffolk County (actually about 5 minutes from where I live!). The physical church is bigger and there are more families, I believe, registered here than Our Lady of Mercy. It’s different to speak in a place that is so big! There is much happening in this wonderul parish community!

Second, SS. Cyril’s already has a seminarian living in the parish. Lawrence Onyegu is spending his pastoral year in the parish. Seminarians spend a year in a parish while also working and completing hospital chaplaincy work. While our other years of formation are primarily academic, pastoral year allows seminarians to put their learning into action. It is great to see the tremendous love that SS. Cyril’s has developed for Lawrence. There is no doubt they have taught him a great deal over these past months. They love him!

Third, spending a weekend with Vian was also a great learning experience. I sometimes take for granted the tremendous sacrifice that our international seminarians make to come to the Seminary in the United States. They leave their home and family to be formed so they can return home for service and ministry. Vian is from the Diocese of Kabale in Uganda. What a sacrifice! What an honor to share life with Vian and our other international seminarians. What a tremendous example Vian and others provide the rest of us!

Visiting parishes like SS. Cyril’s this week and OLM last week offers a great deal of hope. It allows us to share a little bit of our story while learning about the great diversity of parishes present in the Diocese.

Have a great week!

From Huntington to Hicksville

The journey continues…now to Hicksville!

This weekend, Frank Zero and I spoke at Our Lady of Mercy R.C. Church in Hicksville (OLM). We spoke as part of Bishop Murphy’s efforts to foster vocations as outlined in his recent Pastoral Letter (see previous post). What a wonderful weekend of community, formation and support. I think we might have gained more than anyone else at Our Lady of Mercy this weekend!

First, this is a wonderful parish community! The priests, staff and parishioners are true examples of hospitality and welcome. From the moment we set foot in the Church, parishioners
reached out to welcome us. It is clear the people of OLM work hard to be an active, engaging and communal parish. It is not easy, I’m sure. Yet their commitment is obvious.

Second, much formation occurred this weekend. That’s a big word in seminary life. We are always being formed – on human, spiritual, intellectual, liturgical and pastoral levels. (That’s probably true for everyone, not just seminarians.) To spend a weekend in the life of a parish community gives one the chance to see how a place “runs”. It allowed us to see the diversity of ministries and gifts present in the community. Spending time with the priests of the parish – Fr. Bob, Fr. Peter, Fr. Dariusz and Fr. Rich – allowed us to see a variety of gifts and talents that can come together for good in the name of the Church. There is no doubt that I am more aware of what priesthood holds in to store for me than I was last Friday.

Finally, in many ways, this was my first time, out in the open, as a full-fledged seminarian. It felt a little weird initially but the people of OLM made it easy. It is a good reminder that some of the things I, as an individual, can get caught up in or become insecure about don’t make a tremendous difference to many others. Their excitement and encouragement towards each of us allowed me to see more clearly what I think I already knew. The parishioners of communities love those who serve them and those preparing to serve them.

Our work continues next weekend at SS. Cyril and Methodius R.C. Church in Deer Park!

Have a great week!

Ministry of Reader Pictures

Ministry of Reader

This past Friday marked another step on this journey towards priesthood. I was instituted into the Ministry of Reader. This is, traditionally, one of the first “ritual” steps in the formation process for seminarians.

The ceremony itself takes place within our regular daily Mass. Bishop John C. Dunne, Auxiliary Bishop of Rockville Centre presided at the liturgy. (He also confirmed me – so it was nice that he was part of this celebration.). After the homily, each seminarian to be instituted came forward. Bishop Dunne led the community in prayer for us. Then, we knelt before Bishop Dunne, placed our hand on a lectionary as he called us to:
“Take this book of holy Scripture and be faithful in handing on the word of God, so that it may grow strong in the hearts of his people.”

What does this mean? Well, first, it is one of the “official” steps on the journey and that makes the reality of things come into focus. Second, it is call, not just for me but for all of us, to reflect more powerfully on the Word of God in our lives. More than how we proclaim it, how do we hear it? Listen to it? Reflect upon it? Those have been questions for my own prayer this week. Third, it is a reminder of the great diversity of ministries in the life of the Church. Some who read this blog may already be serving as lectors in parishes or schools. What a powerful witness!

Celebrations like last Friday’s call me to try to look deeper within. Something that can be a challenge! The question for me is can I fulfill this ministry, not by proclaiming or reading at the Liturgy of the Hours or Mass, but by how I live my life each day? There is much to think and pray about during these Lenten days!

(I don’t do pictures well – but am trying to get a few of the liturgy – when I do, I’ll post them up!)

Checking Out the Church on LI!

Last week, I wrote about the parish visitations that are beginning this semester. Each weekend, seminarians are journeying to parishes throughout the island to talk about life in the seminary and to encourage and support vocations in the life of the Church.

There is another benefit to this process. We have some weekends off! For example, I have not been assigned to speak in a parish these first two weeks. This means we can come back to the Seminary a little later on Sundays and it gives us a chance to explore a little bit on our own. When Msgr. Swiader introduced this program, he encouraged those not assigned to speak on a certain weekend to return to their home parish, to join with a priest in the Seminary as he goes to a local parish to celebrate Mass or attend liturgy independently somewhere else. Over the past two weeks, I’ve chosen the latter. It has been a good opportunity to visit communities different from my own, recognizing both similarities and differences showing both unity and diversity of the Catholic Church on Long Island.

Last weekend, I journeyed to St. Aidan’s R.C. Church in Williston Park. Msgr. McDonald, the previous Rector of the Seminary, is the Pastor here. St. Aidan’s is in Nassau County and the Church (and the parish) is huge! There are three full-time priests, other priests who assist throughout the week and on weekends, a large staff, two school buildings, numerous parish buildings, tons of people and numerous programs and opportunities. The weekend I visited, the First Sunday of Lent, St. Aidan’s was preparing for it Lenten Mission, something all were encouraged to attend in the days that followed. You can tell by the spirit of the parish, there is much going here – not too mention the location. St. Aidan’s is located on Willis Avenue, a busy street in Nassau. The parish is right in the heart of it all!

This past weekend, I joined the parish community of Our Lady of the Snow in Blue Point, NY. This parish is in Eastern Suffolk and contrasts with St. Aidan’s (and my home parish) in a number of ways. The 7:30 A.M. Mass is celebrated in the “Mother Church” which is a small, comfortable gathering space that would probably be a ¼ or 1/8 of the size of St. Aidan’s Church., Our Lady of the Snow is smaller in size - in physical size and number of families – as compared to St. Aidan’s. Yet here, too, there are a slew of activities and events built for this local community – including a Lenten Soup Supper, preparations for the Ministry of Reader, important Religious Education events and a lot of information about the prayer life of the parish. You could tell that the people of Our Lady of the Snow know each other well as their families spent time before and after Mass catching up with each other. Are there as many “events” or “things” or even “people” at Our Lady of the Snow as compared to St. Aidan’s? Probably not. Is the same spirit of outreach, community building and energy present? Absolutely!

So the past two weekends have been good formation experiences for me. I haven’t had the opportunity to speak in a parish yet, but visiting and praying with these two communities is a good reminder of the diversity of styles and parish communities that are present throughout Long Island. Each use the gifts, talents and means it has to learn about its people and to discover the best ways to serve them. Though different, they work together to serve the one Church of Long Island!