This past Sunday, the World Day of Prayer for Vocations, found Daniel Opoku-Mensah and myself speaking at St. Mary’s in Manhasset. This is the last weekend in this Spring semester that seminarians visited parishes.St. Mary’s is an incredible place. First, it’s in Nassau which is a distant land for someone from the South Shore of Suffolk. Second, there are so many things happening in this parish. There is a high school, elementary school, incredible youth ministry program, faith formation, outreach and so much more – they have their own Gift Shop! Third, the priests and people here helped to make it a great weekend as well. They supported, affirmed, and encouraged both Daniel and myself in work and life at the Seminary.
There is a sadness and that our parish visitations are complete. Sadness because this has been a tremendous opportunity for me personally and I think the seminarians in general. I don’t often speak about my own vocation story so it has been a good “push” for me. Second, it has been wonderful to be present in parishes throughout the Diocese and to learn about the diversity and excitement present in so many of our parishes. It also has been a good opportunity to work on a project wit
h a fellow seminarian in a way that we would not normally work. While we were not at the seminary, a sense of community continues to form. For example, this weekend it was great to spend time getting to know more about Daniel's journey to the Seminary from the Diocese of Konongo-Mampong in Ghana and to share a weekend of experiences together. Finally, and perhaps most important, we learned a tremendous amount about priestly ministry over these past weeks.As we return to the Seminary and gain back some of the “rhythm” of seminary life again, the Spring semester is coming to an end. Bring on the papers and finals!
Have a great week.
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