Patheos by Seminarian Michael Duffy
Men don't enter the seminary because they are looking for a nice life, and certainly not because they are looking to make money. Men enter the seminary for one simple reason. Because God wants them to. God calls men to be His holy priests every day.
The world needs priests.
The world needs priests because the world needs the Eucharist.
Without the priest, there can be no Eucharist.
We need not just priests, but good and holy priests—the people of God deserve no less—thus the importance of our formation, and the urgent necessity of our seminary educations.
Formation can take many forms, of course, and it goes on during our whole lives as human beings, but for the priest it takes particular root in the 6-8 years of seminary training and all it reveals to us of Christ and the world and the church, and how we reveal ourselves in return.
There is nothing easy about being in the seminary; it is supposed to be difficult. It supposed to be challenging. Being in formation for the Priesthood of Jesus Christ is all about conforming our lives and our will to Christ's.
This is true for every Christian, for every person who longs for holiness. We are all called to follow and to conform to the promptings and teachings of Christ. But for the seminarian who will one day stand in persona Christi at the altar and offer His Body and Blood, this takes on new meaning. In a special way, priests are called to unite ourselves with the suffering of Jesus. It is only in this way that we can then stand in His Person. The Seminary is a time that helps us to inculcate this reality.
Read entire post here...
No comments:
Post a Comment