It is amazing to think that in just a few weeks, we will be celebrating the ordinations of five men for our Diocese! Each year, at ordination time, so many memories always come back to my time in the seminary, from those very first days of the seminary to the days right before my ordination. It is such a great trip down memory lane!
In the seven years I was in formation, I changed in so many good ways. I still remember the fear and excitement of pulling up to the seminary to move in. I also still remember the fear and excitement of moving out of the seminary, ready to begin my ministry in our Diocese. So much had changed in me over those years, as God truly formed me into His priest.
We will see this, too, in the articles from our seminarians. We have some glimpses of their journeys from that first New Seminarian Welcome Mass, to a typical day at the college seminary. We also see their formation from the classes they take to the ministries they are a part of. The lives of each of our seminarians are different, but they are all focused on the same mission: becoming the men God is calling them to be!
This transformation is something that takes time and practice. Throughout the years of seminary formation, our seminarians are formed spiritually, humanly, intellectually and pastorally. They are challenged in many different ways, and they are given plenty of opportunities to grow and become the priests God is calling them to be. Their lives consist of prayer, classes, apostolic assignments, and living together with other men who are being formed with them. They pray together, they study together, and they grow together.
I often miss my days in the seminary, but I know God was using that time for something even greater for the rest of my life. In my classes and apostolic assignments, I received a great taste of the opportunities I would have in the parish to share the Good News with the people in our Diocese. Now, as an ordained priest for just five short years, I see how all of those years of prayer, study and work have paid off and continue to help me on my journey.
As we prepare for the upcoming ordinations, let us take time to pray for the men who will soon be ordained and experience full-time ministry here in our Diocese – that the fire and zeal in their hearts will continue to grow and bear much fruit in their future parishes. We pray for all of our seminarians, as they continue their studies and formation, that they may always stay the course by following God’s call in their lives. We pray for the men who are discerning and thinking about their vocations, may they have the courage to say “Yes!” to God and follow Him.
Father Adam Cichoski is director of vocations for the Diocese of Camden.
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