Hello All,
Please submit more questions about seminary life, vocation, or prayer. I would love to answer them, don’t be afraid, just ask! 
Also, if you have any prayer requests you can send them my way as well. It is kind of my job to pray for you!
God bless!
Posted in F.A.Q About Seminary | Leave a Comment »
Hi All,
Here are a few more questions and answers about seminary life and vocation that I am frequently asked. Hope it helps, If you want more in-depth answers, just ask me!
JREM, have you ever thought about having a family? Thats an easy answer, of course! The thought of having a family is normal and healthy for people discerning a vocation to the priesthood and for all males for that matter. A priest is called to be the spiritual father for many people, there a lot of qualities that a priest and a father (dad) should have. The main quality and main call for both the priest and the father (dad) is Faithfulness! No matter if you become a priest or get married you are called to be faithful in your vocation. I believe a man who is faithful would be a good priest and good father & husband. We must remember that both vocations require self-sacrifice and commitment by the person who is undertaking that role.
On another note, for the priest, every man is their son and every woman is their daughter. Priests are the father to all of God’s people.
Since a priest doesn’t have their own family, isn’t it a lonely life? Let me begin by saying, loneliness is a feeling EVERYBODY experiences! Married people experience loneliness, superstars & actors experience loneliness, elderly people experience loneliness, and so YES priests also experience loneliness.
I think the key to remember is the feeling of loneliness is a normal. But we should also remember we are NEVER alone! Sure we may live alone in the rectory, or we may have nobody to go to the store or watch a movie with but that doesn’t mean we are alone. We have friends, family, brother priests and seminarians we can call anytime.
We should also remember, ALL OF US are united in Christ. That means, Every baptized Catholic around the world are joined in prayer when we participate in the Holy Mass. We are united in our faith in Jesus Christ, and their are people around the world constantly praying for each of us. The saints in Heaven are also praying for us.
So to summarize, yes priests experience the feeling of loneliness just like everybody else but we are never alone. We are united through our faith with many people around the world.
What is the hardest part of seminary life? Personally, the hardest challenge of seminary life is the academics. It is more of myself getting in the way of doing work. Example, I have perfected the art of procrastination! (I am most likely procrastinating right now as I write this blog!)
What is the most rewarding part of seminary life? I think the most rewarding part of seminary life are the friendships and bonds I’ve made with other men discerning God’s will. I’ve formed many valuable friendships in the seminary, friendships that I will have for the rest of my life. We are brothers, and we journey through the daily life of semianary. Some days are blissful while other days are terrible. Yet we know, we have each other to share our experiences with and draw support from one another. The bonds made in seminary have been the most rewarding part of seminary life!
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Hello All,
Last Thursday (Nov, 3) I along with 20 classmates received the Ministry of Acolyte! This is the second “official” step towards the sacrament of Holy Orders. It was a beautiful Mass presided by the former Auxilary Bishop of Sacramento, now Bishop of Monterey.
In this moment or second “official” step, it is made clear God is still calling us closer to Him, calling us to be ministers. The Rite continues to call us to conversion, it states, “Take this vessel with bread (wine) for the celebration of the Eucharist. Make your life worthy of your service at the table of the Lord and of his Church.” God is calling my classmates and myself in particular, to follow Him in this way. It was a very moving to think, God would ask us for our service for His Church.
This point of my vocation journey is very exciting and very fruitful. I am grateful to be where God has placed me and it is clear God is calling me even closer to Himself.
Please let us continue to pray for one another in our journey towards the Lord.
God bless!
Posted in Updates | Leave a Comment »
Greetings to All,
Happy Feast Day!!!
I am happy to present to you my latest music video “San Francisco” filmed in Assisi, Italy this past summer. Feel free to share this music video to others! Thank to Be The Straw and all those who have supported and inspired me throughout my journey. Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us!
Posted in Raps, Rome Experience, Saints | 3 Comments »
Hello All,
Check out a the preview of my latest music video. The full video will be released next week on the Feast of Saint Francis of Assisi. Special thanks to Be The Straw for helping me with this production. Enjoy!
Posted in Raps, Rome Experience, Saints | Leave a Comment »
Hello All,
These past few days, I’ve been reflecting on Matthew 19:16-23 the story of the rich young man and the First Principle and Foundation from the Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. Lets go back to the scripture and listen to their conversation…
__________
Now someone approached him and said…
Young Man: “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?”
Jesus: “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good. If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
Young Man: “Which ones?”
Jesus: “You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and mother; and you shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Young Man: “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?
Jesus: If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.”
When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.
__________
Now, here is the excerpt from St. Ignatius…
Principle and Foundation
Man is created to praise, reverence, and serve God our Lord, and by this means to save his soul. And the other things on the face of the earth are created for man and that they may help him in attaining the end for which he is created. From this it follows that man is to use them as much as they help him on to his end, and ought to rid himself of them so far as they hinder him as to it. For this it is necessary to make ourselves indifferent to all created things in all that is allowed to the choice of our free will and is not prohibited to it; so that, on our part, we want not health rather sickness, riches rather than poverty, honor rather than dishonor, long rather than short life, and so in all the rest; desiring and choosing only what is most conducive for us to the end for which we are created. We are to be indifferent to all things.
__________
After reflecting upon these two passages and being aware of distractions/things in my life that keep me from God, I’ve come to realize the necessity of removing distractions/things in order to make room for God. Distractions can come in many forms and they may be different for each person. It can be concrete things like video games or iPhone, it can be people who are not necessarily bad but take our attention away from God, and it can also be a mindset/behavior.
Ever since I started school about three weeks ago, I’ve noticed that I haven’t been as distracted as I used to be. I’ve spent more time on academics and nourishing my spiritual life. I also noticed that staying away from distractions and keeping focused on Christ is a constant battle. We have to intentionally say “yes” or say “no” to what we are dedicating our time on. These distractions, whatever they may be are not bad per se but we must stay focused on our goal. If something or somebody takes our focus away from God than we should reflect upon this and figure out how important our relationship with God and eternal life really is. Sometimes it is necessary to turn away from these things or people who distract us, so we can reach our goals, ultimately reach eternal life.
Recently a priest said to me, “with your distractions you may feel happy now, but I don’t know if you’ll be able to reach heaven if you keep those distractions around. You have to get rid of them, and keep focused on Christ, then you can reach heaven.” These simple and straightforward words struck my heart and I can not deny it was Christ himself speaking through the priest.
Like the Young Man, we ask God, “what must I do to gain eternal life, what must I do to be with You, what must I do to be truly happy?”
But what will our response be when Christ says us to, “leave your possessions, dedicate your life to God and follow me.”
May we respond like Our Mother Mary, proclaiming the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord with a generous and loving heart. Please let us continue to keep each other in prayer in our journey towards God.
Posted in Reflections | Leave a Comment »
