Semantics (A Seminarian Blog)

The love, devotion, and intercession of the divine is so incredible at this seminary. It inspires me in faith to form relationships with beings that I cannot see such as my Guardian Angel. Angels have a unique ability to help us receive the grace of Christ. The summit of joy we obtain from this beautiful alliance is simply that we never have to worry about being alone. Remember that your Guardian Angel walks with you and guides you.

Two years ago, when I signed up to go on the seminary's mission trip to Jamaica over spring break, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. The trip was filled with joy. These men and women may carry heavy crosses, but the reverence they had in the presence of our Lord and the enthusiasm with which they prayed was absolutely inspiring. Their hearts were on fire with the love of Christ.

Storytelling is all about our human capacity to enter into communion with others. Storytelling works because we are able to sympathize with characters—to feel what other people feel even without meeting them. The skill of storytelling is vital for a priest. Telling stories is part of everyday conversation, but also, in a certain sense, the whole job of the priest is to make visible present truths and realities that are not immediately visible, drawing people in to a place where they can encounter Christ.

Wednesday is my favorite day of the week. By all accounts it has no right to be, but late in the evening on Wednesday, deep in the suburbs of Bethesda, I get the opportunity to spend a little over an hour teaching sixth graders at Little Flower Parish about the Catholic faith. And in this unassuming assignment, God revealed to me a real, unexpected joy.

This summer I was preparing to enter medical school at Georgetown University when I began to seriously consider entering seminary. It was precisely this human love that prompted it all. True love multiplies. The love of my married friends begets a certain spiritual generativity--it opened my heart to a spiritual reality. Their love and their marriage is, in a very real sense, for the whole world.