Meet the Dean....but quickly!

Msgr. Swiader celebrates Mass in Bethlehem.

Sorry, in advance, for the long post….

In a number of posts, I’ve promised a post about the Dean, Msgr. James Swiader. I have mentioned him a few times, particularly in the posting about the Alley.  Last Friday, we received some difficult news at the Seminary. On June 22^nd, Msgr. Swiader will take leave of the Seminary to become the Pastor of St. Joseph’s R.C. Church in Garden City.  I have wanted to write this post for a few weeks, but putting it all into words is a little tough.

There have been many people who have been a significant part of the journey of getting to the Seminary and managing life here. Without question or hesitation, Msgr. Swiader has certainly become one of those people. In June 2009, the summer before I entered the Seminary, I met Msgr. Swiader for the first time. When he had come in from outside to meet me he began by saying, “I presume you own the yellow truck.”  My first thought was “Oh man, I’m in trouble.’’ I remember coming with a slew of questions, concerns and ideas about seminary life. In the two hours he spent with me that June day, I met a man who provided the first of many times of comfort, reassurance, direction and support.

When I moved into the Seminary in August, I learned that I was on Msgr. Swiader’s alley (He warned me that it was a quiet and subtle alley – that may have changed a bit since I arrived). And during Transition (Orientation) Week, I learned Msgr. Swiader would be my Advisor – a relationship that would guarantee an important role in this journey.

Over the past two years, primarily as my Advisor but also as the Vice Rector, Dean of Seminarians and Alley Prefect, Msgr. Swiader has provided guidance, challenge, and direction in ways I did not anticipate in June 2009.  I found in my first few days when things were challenging, he listened and provided some good advice. He recognizes, often, when certain times might be a bit uncomfortable or overwhelming for me and is sure to check in with an e-mail or invitation to stop by. When I have fallen short at the Seminary, he’s been there to offer correction but never without encouragement.  At times, when loss or difficult relationships or uncertainty about the future has creeped in to cause fear, anxiety or doubt, he’s always provided confident reassurance.

Msgr. Swiader and I are different in some ways. I had to teach him about Jimmy Buffett and he has taught me to appreciate poetry, great literature, opera (people actually go to the opera?) and many other things. What has united us, though, is this journey in formation. When I first met Msgr. Swiader he assured me that formation is not uniform (i.e. the same for everyone) and requires incredible self-discipline and direction. Those words have proven true, time and time again, largely because of his influence.  Time and again, Msgr. Swiader has always brought my focus back to the habitus sacredtolis – that the sense of priesthood is such an internal part of the seminarian’s, and ultimately, the priest’s being that he cannot be himself without it.  In ways dramatic and simple, he has shown that to me from within himself and called me to the same.

The United States Bishops published the Program for Priestly Formation to guide seminary formation and write the following about the Advisor:

They observe seminarians and assist them to grow humanly by offering them feedback about their general demeanor, their relational capacities and styles, their maturity, their capacity to assume the role of a public person and leader in a community, and their appropriation of the human virtues that make them “men of communion.” These same formators may, on occasion, teach the ways of human development and even offer some personal mentoring or, at times, coaching. More generally, they offer encouragement, support, and challenge along the formational path. (80)

I would say, for sure, Msgr. Swiader has done this and more over the past two years. And while life will change in a few months, I hope in some way, we will somehow continue together on this journey.

Here's the alley - from our Ragtime in the Refectory celebration (It was Msgr. Swiader's idea - including the hats.)

Meet the Alley - Year 2

The view of our alley hall from my room.

Last year, around this time, I wrote about the alley community where I live here at the Seminary. I thought it’d be good to introduce you to the Alley Community this year. Each year there are some changes in the alley as people take leave for Pastoral Year or Ordination. Additionally, every two years, seminarians are required to move to a different alley.

As I wrote last year, in addition to being part of the larger seminary community, each seminarian at the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception is part of a “corridor community” or more informally an “alley”. The idea is, that just like Church, we don’t just experience support from the larger community but also on a smaller, more intimate level. I have come to see even more this year the need for a smaller community in the midst of a larger one.

I still live on Alley 3-B. There are seven of us who live here daily and our alley prefect, or professor is Msgr. James Swiader. (He’s also the Dean of Seminarians and my Advisor – so there will be a post about him one day.) We have some formal and informal ways that we attempt to support and be present to one another. We gather for Evening Prayer on Mondays and Thursdays and those times we usually share a few laughs or good stories about the week. Once or twice a semester we’ll try to go to dinner outside of the Seminary. (A few weeks ago we went to Besito for dinner –muy bueno!)



I’m going to provide a brief intro about each person on the alley – you can check out their pictures on the Seminary Website….



Daniel Opoku-Mensah receives
Candidacy and Killick Pierrilus
serves as the Bookbearer



Killick Pierrilus: Killick is a 3rd year theologian from the Diocese of Brooklyn. Orginally, he is from Haiti. He works in B wing – a place for the seminarians to hang out and catch up after a long day.

Fortunatus Mugishu: I’ve written before about Fortunatus (click here). He’s a great man who comes to our seminary from the Diocese of Kabale in Uganda. I miss Fortunatus. He is on his pastoral year at St. Patrick’s in Bay Shore.  We keep in touch pretty regularly. Even though he’s not living here daily, he still makes a great difference.

Daniel Opoku-Mensah: Daniel is now a second year theologian from the Diocese of Konongo-Mampong in Ghana. Daniel has a great sense of humor and perspective on life, here at the Seminary and in general. And, good news, this year he’s passed his road test and is now driving all over Long Island. (I've written before about Daniel here.)

Frank Zero: Frank is a 4th year theologian from St. Edward’s in Syosset. Frank is in many of my classes and is a great classmate. We find a good way to tease each other a bit but underneath it all is a great respect and admiration. He will be ordained a deacon this December 8th.

Ray Flores: Ray joined the alley last Spring and, like Fortunatus, is out on Pastoral Year in the Diocese of Brooklyn. He is a great musician and has a wonderful pastoral sense of things in and outside of the Seminary.



Jeremy Canna

Jeremy Canna: Jeremy is a 2nd year theologian from the Diocese of Brooklyn. He is a great musician and plays the organ at many of our seminary Masses and prayer services. Jeremy and I spent part of our summer together at the Southeast Pastoral Institute (SEPI) in Miami.

James Renna: James, a 1st theologian, is the newest member of our Alley Community. He comes to the Seminary from St. Joseph’s Parish in Hewlitt. He has a great reverence and love for the Church and for those he lives with. I’m glad he’s on the alley.


John Kwon and I at St. John the Baptist
Diocesan High School in May 2010


John Kwon: I’ve written about John before, too (click here).  He joined the alley last Spring. He is from the Diocese of Daejon in South Korea. He has a great sense of humor and perspective on things. He has become a trusted friend and mentor in managing life within and outside the Seminary.

So that's the alley! It's a great group of people and I'm fortunate to spend part of my journey here with them.

Hope House

This year, in Fourth Theology, seminarians are required to carry out some type of pastoral work in their local diocese. Some of my classmates’ experiences, this semester, include working with in college Campus Ministry program, a Children’s Hospital and other local outreach organizations. The seminary has allowed me to continue some of my previous pastoral work this semester at St. Anne’s Parish in Brentwood and Hope House Ministries in Port Jefferson.

I’ve written previously about St. Anne’s but have not written too much about my work at Hope House. Hope House is a Catholic social service agency that has served young people and families “in crisis” for over 30 years. Founded and led by Fr. Frank Pizzarelli, SMM and supported by the Montfort Missionaries, it began as one small house in 1980. In the past 30 years, Hope House has grown into an agency that services thousands of people each month. You can read more about the services of Hope House here.

My work is primarily in two different parts of Hope House. I work in the Human Services Center (photo, right) which offers counseling and mental health support to people of all ages in need of a variety of services. I work with a number of clients – at present, mostly adolescents and their families – as a counselor and social worker. Of those clients, a few of them live in the Community House, the long term residence established to treat young men who can no longer live at home or need to address issues related to substance abuse, family conflicts or legal challenges. Residents at the Community House (photo, below) live there, share community and carry on their lives – either by going to school, working, or focusing on recovery among many other activities. I try to be present to those living in the Community House, when I can by working for those who might need coverage and joining in the community meal when I am there. Fr. Frank is not only responsible for the house but serves as a real father figure to these young men who live there. It’s a different example of priestly service and one, for me, that is inspirational.

I have been involved at Hope House for over five years and have never failed to be challenged and humbled by my experiences there. In having the honor to work with people in their brokenness, I’ve learned much about resilience, endurance and hope. To be able to be present with people on a journey towards healing and recovery cannot help but transform all involved, including me.

Since coming to the Seminary, I have been able to maintain some involvement at Hope House. It’s been funny to hear many of these young people who knew me before I entered the Seminary say things like, “Are you sure you want to do this?” or “Oh man I could never…” but at the same time see their curiosity. I have some great conversations – often both serious and humorous - about vocation, direction and the future. There is no doubt that this has been another ministry in my life that led me here to the Seminary and priestly formation. I am better for being a part of Hope House.

Opening Days

I write to you as I’m about to complete my first full week in my second year - my sophomore year, I suppose – at the Seminary.

This year, as in my first year, an Opening Retreat started the year. Beginning on Wednesday, September 1, 2010, Bishop William Murphy led us through three days of prayer and reflection. (You can read more about the background to this here.)

First, and perhaps most striking, we are called to silence in these days. This is certainly a challenge but at the same time a powerful opportunity. It’s not easy to avoid talking and catching up or even talking on the phone, etc. Yet, the absence of the “noise” does allow for some deeper reflection and growth, at least for me :)!

Second, Bishop Murphy asked us to focus on the role of Mary in the life of the Church, in general, and the life of the priest and seminarians, in particular. His talks focused in four areas: a) Mary in the Mystery; b) Mary as the Ark of the Covenant; c) Mary and the Church; and d) Mary in the life of the priest and seminarian. Bishop Murphy offered us much to think about especially about Mary as the model for the Church and its members. He reminded us consistently of the need to remember the service of humility of Mary and put that into action in our own lives, especially as priests and seminarians. (There were many other points, but this post would go on for about three screens!)

Third, Bishop Murphy made himself available to meet with us individually. To be honest, that may have been one of the highlights of the opening three days. We all “know the Bishop” and the responsibilities and roles he plays in the operation of a Diocese and admittedly, it was a little intimidating to talk to “the Bishop”. Yet, I must say, he was nothing but kind, compassionate, understanding and supportive of my journey, recognizing and identifying some of the challenges I have faced and offering great encouragement and direction. When beginning the retreat, Bishop Murphy said he wanted to lead the retreat because too often bishops are seen as distant or primarily as administrators and he believes they must be seen as spiritual fathers, as brothers, as true shepherds. I can see what he meant and what he hoped to achieve, most especially when I left my meeting with him.

From the retreat, after a weekend at home, we are now in the midst of the Spring semester. We have a different “house” this year – as the five men ordained last year now have parish assignments, eight men have left to begin pastoral year in parishes, four men have returned from pastoral work and five new seminarians have entered! The journey…the transition….continues! Sophomore year is underway!

Meet the Rector

People have been asking me how the seminary works in terms of structure, organization and community. Every now and then I'll try and introduce you to some of the people who are part of the community here.

One of the first people I'd like to introduce you to is Msgr. Peter Vaccari. Father Peter was appointed Rector of the Seminary of the Immaculate Conception on June 24, 2009. Msgr. James McDonald - another good and holy man - who was the Rector here since 2005 was appointed Pastor of St. Aidan's in Williston Park. Father Peter has been a professor of Church History since 1988. I don't know everything about him but can tell you he's a dynamic teacher, a tremendous spiritual director and has made a real difference in the lives of many of the seminarians who have lived here over the past twenty years. (I had him as a professor before and have him this semester - there's no one more excited about Church history...trust me! In fact he's taking us to the Holy Land this Winter break so we can more powerfully understand the times of the early Church. If you're interested in being a part of that so the right hand column.)

The role of the rector is to lead the seminary community on a number of levels and in a number of ways. In some ways, I guess you can say he is the Pastor of our community here as well as the Principal, chief administrator, encourager-in-chief , mentor, and much, much more. And on top of all of that, he's a really nice person who makes himself available, approachable and is so generous with his time and energy. When you talk to him, you have no doubt you are being listened to with great respect and reverence.

I write about him today because we had our second Rector's Conference this morning. Each month, the rector meets with the seminarians to share some insight, direction, teaching and/or encouragement. Today, Father Peter talked to us about Pastores Dobo Vobis a document by Pope John Paul II on the formation of seminarians. We were asked to really consider what it means to live in community in the seminary - what we bring to it, what challenges we face, and what, individually and collectively, we can do to improve the community life here at the seminary. I never fail to leave a meeting with Fr. Peter without somehow being called to be a better person. So that's one of his jobs to constantly encourage and challenge us to really reflect on what we're doing here at the Seminary and even what we, collectively, can do better so that we leave here well prepared and well formed for life beyond the seminary.

Rector or not - he's a pretty impressive person and someone I wanted you to meet! (And I'm pretty sure that he does not follow this blog - so this is genuine post I assure you!)

P.S. Check out the new seminary website at icseminary.edu. I promise to post up some pictures of the Seminary this week....for now check out the site.