Seminarian Blog

from Conception contributor Herby Labenz, a Wichita seminarian studying at Conception Seminary College

Each morning, before the seminarians of Conception Seminary College see the ruby-red sunrises amid a background of rolling, Missouri hills and wind turbines, many of us arise from our beds and gather with each other to share a moment in prayer, fraternity, and, most importantly, a cup of coffee!

During the past few years at Conception, two coffee groups, “Pacupajoemeus” and the “Fourth Floor Jorge Lopez Memorial Coffee Group,” have formed and become quite vibrant on campus.  As a member of the Jorge Lopez Memorial Coffee Group, I find preference in this group over its counterpart Pacupajoemeus.  Nevertheless, twice a month, both groups converge in the Student Union to hold “Coffee Unity Day” which allows all of us to share and embody the three principles of our groups: fraternity, prayer, and a cup of Joe!

The first principle, fraternity, provides a great source of community-building and personal friendship among different classes, dioceses, facility members, and various clerics, monks, and Bishops (including Bishop Jackels and Father Simone) which has provided us with many great opportunities to share a laugh, a story, or a moment of support with one’s brother seminarians.

The second principle, prayer, enables the groups to offer the first fruits of our mornings to God.  Pacupajoemeus has the tradition of reading the daily gospel and daily meditation from the Magnificat.  The Jorge Lopez Memorial Coffee Group ends each of our morning coffee gatherings by reciting the school’s motto “Caritas Christi urget nos” (the love of Christ impels us!) followed by a scripture passage that encapsulates the school’s formational focus for the year.

Finally, the third principle, coffee, is arguably the main attraction for all of us to get up early each morning.  I can personally attest to the difference that coffee has made in my life as I no longer struggle with staying awake during the morning meditation period, and I am alert and energized for classes each morning.  Not only has the introduction of coffee been a “life-changing” event in my own life (and the lives of many of my seminarian brethren), I am also being educated in the different varieties, makes, and blends of coffee from around the world so as to become an educated coffee connoisseur!

The next time you share a cup of coffee with a friend, please remember your Wichita seminarians and the seminarians of Conception Seminary College in your prayers!  Pacupajoemeus and the Jorge Lopez Memorial Coffee Group will likewise remember the great people of the Diocese of Wichita each morning that we gather to a share a cup of coffee!

from Kenrick Correspondent Alex Gorges (a seminarian studying at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis)

This past summer, an idea was born in the mind of Devin Burns. Realizing that Mexican food was doing a number on him, he decided he had had enough. Determined not to be conquered by fajitas and burritos, he made a resolute commitment to become a healthier him. But if you know Devin, you also know he does nothing without a competitive spirit. So, after contacting other interested seminarians, recording initial weights, and coming up with a clever competition name, The Sem Slim-Down commenced.

So what are the rules of this competition? The one who loses the most weight in percentage by Thanksgiving wins – that simple. Some are biking, others running, and some are even doing Insanity, a new merciless work-out program designed to kill (not really) it’s partakers. We will see who has the drive to win and become the Sem Slim-Down champion. But there is more to this weight-loss competition than just the satisfaction of winning.

You see, the body is important for Catholics. Designed and sustained by God, the body constitutes an integral part of our existence, but so often it gets neglected, as if it were just an instrument or a tool to be used. But, as St. Paul reminds us, the body is a “temple of the Holy Spirit,” and therefore holy.

Thus, this competition is an excellent opportunity for seminarians to restore their “temples of the Holy Spirit,” while having some fun in the process. Good luck to all involved!

One staple in the daily life of a seminarian is the Liturgy of the Hours. We use it to welcome each new day, keep us oriented toward Christ through the day, and to give thanks at the close of the day. It is composed of Morning, Daytime, Evening, and Night prayers along with the "Office of Readings." The prayers are different each day, though every four weeks they repeat. If you have ever heard your priest say something about praying his breviary, this is what he is doing. This universal prayer of the Church joins our prayer with members of the Church throughout the world. So, when I pray Morning Prayer with my seminary for example, I am also praying it with my pastor, Bishop Jackels, the Pope, the people being persecuted in foreign lands, and so on. At the seminary, the whole house prays Morning and Evening prayers together and one night each week the Wichita seminarians gather and pray Night Prayer together.

Although we celebrate the Liturgy of the Hours now as preparation for priesthood, because priests promise to pray the five parts of it daily, this liturgy of Psalms and other Bible passages truly structures the day as we are to structure our lives, around Christ. As a joke, since we are men discerning a life of celibacy, our breviaries are often referred to as our girlfriends. Though it is kind of fitting because priests are married to the Church.

The Mount St. Mary’s guys have successfully completed the journey back to Maryland, which I call the Super-Slab Slam Down, and now the semester has officially begun. The Seminary is maxed out this year with around 170 seminarians. So many guys really makes for an exciting house dynamic. This was evident during our start of the year field day.

Each of the classes competed against each other in various events including horse shoes, dodge-ball, Trivial Pursuit, tug of war, and others. One of the events was a relay of odd actions, all of which started with a number of spins around a baseball bat. Needless to say, many a man tumbled from dizziness, including our very own Derek Thome, pictured here in green.

The final event was was a tug of war competition. Derek Hooper, an anchor for the 1st year theologians, helped lead his class to multiple victories. Now that the games are over we are turning our attention to the books, ready for another great year in the seminary.

In the last few days left before returning to seminary I have been trying to do all the necessary cleaning, shopping, and packing to be prepared for another semester. Apart from these necessities, a new tradition has formed over the last year. Each time I have been home from the seminary I take Fr. Vic Bieberle, my great uncle, out for breakfast or lunch; though it is hard to tell sometimes because we frequent IHOP, his favorite restaurant. It has been a true blessing to have a priest in the family and I relish the opportunities to hear about his time in the seminary, his life in ministry, and his stories of our diocese 60 years ago.

He recalls a seminary experience far different than we are used to now. To give a snapshot, tuition for each year was $168, the seminarians were never allowed to leave the grounds except for summer or when needing to see a doctor (meaning they never spent time in parishes nor did they have teaching or hospital assignments), he shipped home all his dirty laundry each week, the bishop did not even know he was in seminary till he graduated minor seminary, he never called home once (do not gasp, he sent letters), and he preached only one practice homily before priesthood ordination. Times have changed. Fr. Vic was ordained in 1951 by Bishop Carroll just after the martyrdom of Fr. Kapaun. He too, like Fr. Kapaun, served our diocese and country in military chaplaincy for a number of years. I'll save those stories for another time.

P.S. Many seminarians are headed to school this weekend for orientation, please pray for their safe travels!

It has reached the point now when we can all taste the bittersweet onset of the end of the summer. Prayer & Action, the Spanish Immersion program, and parish Totus Tuus are done and many guys will soon be finishing up their jobs. For me at least, the scramble has begun to fit in all the things I want to do in the couple of weeks left before the long trek back to Mt. St. Mary's and the inevitable reading and paper writing assignments that await. Lets not dwell on that now.

I joined a few of my fellow seminarian brothers this last Sunday for the 2nd Annual St. Anne's Festival. The festival filled St. Anne's property with food stands, music, carnival games, crafts, sand volleyball, and much more. I played spectator for the predominantly seminarian team.

By Guest Seminarian Blogger, J.D. Betzen

On Friday, June 29 several thousand concerned Catholics converged on the south steps of the state capitol building in a rally for religious freedom. It was an amazing sight to see and an inspiration to know that so many are willing to stand up for our First Amendment rights. Equally inspirational were the speeches from the Kansas bishops, including our own Bishop Jackels, and the patriotic and faith-filled songs; both speech and song displayed that we can indeed support both Church and state.

It has been a great blessing to be able to travel around parts of the diocese through Totus Tuus. I have had the opportunity to meet so many fantastic people these last few weeks and their generosity has been humbling. Totus Tuus may be fun for all the youth, but my team has had a great time teaching. It is a great privilege of a Totus Tuus teacher to help the youth understand the Mass, to guide them in prayer, to teach them the Good News, and to act completely silly in skits for them. Well, it is fun until they pour sundae toppings on us each Friday.

Here is a photo of seminarian Mark Stadler playing the game Dead Lions with the younger kids in the day program at Blessed Sacrament. In the evenings we hold a more casual program for the junior high and high school students. I have really enjoyed it because we can have more serious apologetic and vocation discussions, and we get to have pool parties and play pillow hockey with them. All in all, teaching Totus Tuus is a great way to spend the summer.

Ordination weekend is glorious for our diocese. It was a real blessing to be able to get to know now-Fathers Ben (pictured steaming his alb right before ordination) and David (eating after giving out his first blessings) and Deacon Rickey (laughing) over this past year. Seeing them day to day helped me see that they are normal guys, though very unique individuals, who strive to live out God's will each day. I am excited to see them flourish in their new ministry but it's a hate to see them leave, love to see them go kinda deal.

For the rest of the "sems," summer is now in full swing. Our jobs vary from maintenance work in parishes to IT work to Totus Tuus to Prayer & Action to Catholic Charities to learning Spanish and beyond. I am one of nine seminarians who will be teaching Totus Tuus. We are currently in training before being sent out to the parishes next week.

As you may have guessed, Father David is no longer qualified to run the seminarian blog. So it has been passed to me, Adam Grelinger. Hopefully there will be others contributing along the way to spice the ride, but I am looking forward to giving some insight into the fun, serious, and sometimes odd happenings of seminary life. I know I have big shoes to fill, but have hope, the Spirit is always at work.

Many notable events have been happening around the seminary lately - so many that I have not even had enough time to blog about all of them. I'll limit myself to one for now. Last night, Kenrick Seminary hosted its annual Deacon Banquet. The banquet is for those who will be graduating / getting ordained in a few weeks.

Normally, the event is limited to only those who are "in house" because the main entertainment for the event is a "roast" of the class by the 3rd year men. This year, however, we allowed the event to be open to one other person - the artist of the painting below. As a class gift, the Kenrick ordination class of 2012 commissioned Cynthia Hitschler, http://www.celstumo.com/, to make an original painting of Fr. Kapaun. She did a rather excellent job on the rendition. You can view a close up of the painting on her site listed above under the "paintings" link.