Moving in/Orientation Week 1

Hi there,

So I am now kind of moved into my room at Mundelein Seminary! I say “kind of” because there is still quite a bit of unpacking, organizing, and settling in to get done, but all of that can happen in good time. I have found that I definitely brought WAY too much stuff. My room is pretty good sized, but kind of difficult to organize.

It is especially tough to get organized this year because I am only in this room for one year, so there are limits on what I can do in the room. At one point in the past it used to be set up that a seminarian would move every year to a different room on campus based on where they were in the program of studies. This allowed people to be closer to facilities that would fit them, for example, those who were Deacons would be closest to the rooms to practice saying Mass (of course it wouldn’t be a valid Mass since they aren’t a Priest, but it would make practice easier). Now it happens that all of the guys in first year Pre-Theology (like me) are in one area, then after this year we will move into rooms mixed in with all the people at other points in their studies. We will be in those rooms for the rest of our time here.

When I get into my permanent room I will be able to do things like build a loft for my bed which will of course give me a great deal more floor space to organize stuff. For now though, I have to make do with what I can. It isn’t too bad, I have found in the unpacking that I brought a lot of stuff that I “may” want at some point during my time here. A lot of that is getting packed away again so that when my mom and her husband come down for family weekend I can give it to them to store in the rafters of their garage.

On Monday I went to Mass at St. Elizabeth’s as I always like to go to Mass and it seemed appropriate before heading down to Illinois. I also stopped at the DMV to get back my Wisconsin driver’s license and license plate… this made me very proud. I hope to never switch from WI again. Then came the drive down, routine and uneventful.

I got to the seminary and checked in. I already had my key and knew where my room was, so it was basically just picking up a packet of information with the schedule and details for this orientation week. I was very grateful to run into a couple of guys whom I knew from my Diocese who were here already and were very willing to help me carry my stuff up to my room. They also told me that it is allowed to drive on the sidewalk to the building to unload, making the whole process much easier than it could have been.

Although I didn’t need anything I accompanied these guys to the Target store just to hang out and basically procrastinate on unpacking. I did buy a pair of swimming trunks as there is a wonderful indoor pool on campus. I then got busy with unpacking, well, kind of… it was most difficult to figure out where to begin. I got a little bit put away and met a few of the guys who live in my hall way. These are some very wonderful men with amazing stories of what has brought them to feel that God is calling them to the priesthood.

On Monday evening I guess it is a little bit of a tradition (or so I’m told) to go on a “hotdog pilgrimage” basically running out for Chicago style hotdogs. I thought this sounded good, a way to get to know some more people and another excuse to procrastinate unpacking. I get there and we are loading up cars when I find out that the place we are going to is 45 minutes away… I didn’t expect that, but oh well. We went there and the hotdogs were indeed great. We got back and a few of us in my hallway (called “Cam” in seminary life… I’ll let you know when I figure out where that comes from) sat around chatting. I was growing even more excited for this journey based on the wonderful men that I will be going through it with.

Tuesday was more unpacking in the Morning, then Mass at 11:30. After Mass and lunch I unpacked a little more and then had to get dressed for my picture and a brief “business” meeting, just to go over the ins and outs of the business office here. They discussed the idea that each seminarian needs health insurance, and made sure that we had taken the program required by the Catholic Church to prevent abuse of minors.

Tuesday evening there was a welcome from the Rector and an introduction to quite a good percentage of the faculty, followed of course by a social to get to know each other.

Today, Wednesday, was the first full day of Orientation. We had the general sessions that everyone would expect when starting at a new school type setting. We also had sessions on living together in community, as we will be doing for the next few years. One session that most other schools wouldn’t have that we did was the one that discussed the liturgical practices here… basically what time and how Mass is set up here, and also the times and set up for praying the Liturgy of the Hours. The Liturgy of the hours is a prayer book broken up throughout times of the day that is required for all priests and religious in the Catholic Church to pray… of course they want us to get used to it and develop and appreciation for it. I really like the Liturgy of the Hours, it is a scripture based prayer, heavy on Psalms and Gospel Canticles.

The last session that I feel worth really mentioning from today was the session on our field education. This is a program where seminarians go out to different sites to minister to people. We don’t have class on Wednesday, so we are expected to go to our field education site every Wednesday. At this point in my time we aren’t doing ministry within a parish, that is saved for those later in seminary. The opportunities available to me are various hospital, nursing home, and jail/detention center ministries. I am actually hoping for a jail ministry assignment as I don’t have experience in that field, it will be a good way to grow in my faith by stepping out of my comfort zone to minister to God’s people there. I will see what I get picked for when that comes up.

Well, this is pretty long again. Please keep me in your prayers, along with all seminarians, priests, and religious.

Peace,
Adam