Rest

Summer began on May 11 at the end of the graduation ceremony at Mount Angel, and I am currently overlooking the Boise foothills from the perch of my parents' new house thinking about all the experiences that have passed since I last blogged. Perhaps because of spring burnout or perhaps for lack of ideas, I haven't been in the mood to write lately. Life in priestly formation isn't always exciting, but it is fruitful and worthy of reflection. I'll try to post more regularly this summer, even if the story is brief.

Many people have asked me how I am doing at this point in formation, especially now that the academic year is complete. I'm good, I usually say. Glad that the year is over, but good.

A better answer would be something like this: Seminary life challenges me. I enjoy parts of it certainly. Ultimately, the purpose is to help me become the best version of myself, and I think it's doing that. (Thank you, Matthew Kelly, for that pet phrase.)

As much as I loved my life in youth ministry at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, I reached a point of stagnation where I couldn't grow in the ways I needed any longer. This was the fault of no one, just a reality of the restless human situation I encountered. I needed to seek deeper, renewed modes of prayer, and I found some at seminary: Liturgy of the Hours, Lectio Divina, daily journaling, playing the piano and singing liturgical music. I needed to continue my education, and I did this too, discovering the foundations of Catholic philosophy in Aquinas, finding hope in the face of New Atheism, grappling with the realities of our world and how we fit into and explain it. I needed to discern a call to the priesthood more diligently, and this is ongoing. As long as the Lord asks me to continue this way, I will. Daily time in the classroom of silence clarifies and allows me to dream. Do my dreams match the need of the Church, the advice of my superiors, and the gifts I can offer? That's the ultimate vocational question. God will provide direction with time.

For now, I'm savoring time off. I spend much time with family, playing with my nieces and nephews, looking for good books to read, cooking tasty food, catching up with friends, and helping my parents settle into and clean up their new house. Nothing exciting, but just what I need.

A couple views from my parents' new house: