What is a seminary?

What is your vision of seminary?

Is it a large remote castle, sitting on a hilltop? A mysterious place where men to go, not to return until they come back as priests? I must admit that even as I headed off to major seminary in 1993 I had no idea what to expect. Among my misconceptions: that seminary would be a quiet, somber place, and that I would be the best basketball player there.

What I found was a vibrant community of young men who had come from all walks of life. Some were just out of college but many were coming from other professions: teachers,
coaches, military, and farmers. They were gifted musicians, athletes, and scholars.

What struck me first was the sense of fraternity. We were 160 men discerning if God was calling us to the priesthood. There was an atmosphere of trust, respect and support. One hundred sixty men who had laid aside their school and jobs to come listen to God. This proposition attracts a certain quality of men and made seminary an attractive home to me.

We prayed the Liturgy of the Hours and celebrated the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. There was Adoration, Theology classes, and confession. And there was intramural football,
hiking, and pancake breakfasts.

I found seminary to be a place of peace. The most peaceful place to be is in the center of God's will and here were 160 men gathered seeking God's perfect will surrounded by a devoted faculty and staff of priests, religious sisters and lay people there to support and form us.

Seminary is not a place of "no return." It is about formation, and the opportunity to see if God is calling a man to the priesthood. A sign of a healthy seminary is that some men leave there is no shame in that. These are men who have set aside a time in their life for discernment, and sometimes they don't hear the call to the priesthood. But this year in seminary makes these men better Catholics. They have spent a year in prayer, attending daily mass, frequenting confession and studying Theology and they have grown.

A large gothic castle on a hill? Hardly. The seminary is a place of life! It is a place of education and formation and for young men to say, "Here I am, Lord. Is it I, Lord?"

-By Fr. Tim McKeown, Vocation Director