Let me talk about the homecoming for a while. There's something about going back to the seminary that I love. No, it's not the fact that I don't have any papers to write or that the faculty can no longer affect my future. It truly recharges my spiritual batteries each time I walk back into the building. The bells tolling every quarter hour, the smell of the seminary chapel (a good smell that comes from layers and layers of incense and candle wax), even the hallways and my class' graduation picture hanging on the wall, all make it special.Each year the homecoming is the same. A Mass on Tuesday night in the college's chapel, this year celebrated by Bishop William Lori of the Diocese of Bridgeport, CT (seminary class of 1977). The seminary schola was excellent, chanting the Ecce Sacerdos Magnus as the Bishop processed into the chapel. His homily on the guardian angels (the Mass was on their feast day) was a mix of humor and catechesis from the Church Fathers. The full choir loft and the full chapel and the benches in the sanctuary full with seminarians serving the Mass tell me that the Mount continues to do well when it comes to enrollment. Following Mass we had a great dinner, during which I sat with the alumni from the class of 1987. As I approach my 10th anniversary, it was great to sit with men who were in their tenth year of ordination when I was ordained to the Priesthood.
It was a refreshing time, and each year I come home thinking the same thing: I really should visit out there more often!
2 comments:
Father- were there any Barbarians in attendance?
Just one as far as I saw: Fr. Doug Kenney.
[NOTE: For the unenlightened: The term "Barbarians" refer to the Mt. St. Mary's Seminary class of 1999. They were, at first, called "Barbarians" by the faculty because they were an abnormally large class (about 50, as opposed to the average class size of 25-30), much like the Barbarians invasion of old. The class enjoyed the label.]
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