the men come to understand how the priesthood is essentially
a “pilgrimage of faith” they are called to walk with their
parishioners. They are encouraged to look deep inside and ask,
“Am I really being called to be a ‘man for others’”?
Patrick Setto, a seminarian for the Chaldean Eparchy of St.
Thomas the Apostle, was a member of the 2014 DFE pilgrimage
group. At the Sea of Galilee shoreline, he received an insight
about his priestly vocation. “I began to experience a profound
sense of Jesus calling me to his priesthood. And I kept thanking
Jesus for choosing me to spread the Gospel message.”
Thirty-day Ignatian Retreat
For sure, summer is no time for slacking for these DFE
seminarians. After a short breather to take care of personal
business (and yes, perhaps drink a little lemonade), the men
embark on a spiritual excursion of a different kind—a thirtyday silent retreat to the Broom Tree Retreat Center in Irene,
South Dakota.
The retreat is based on the rigorous Spiritual Exercises
developed by St. Ignatius of Loyola, led by a master in the
Ignatian method. The seminarians are taught to discover how
to “conquer the self” and find God in all things—even in the
clutter and suffering of everyday life.
The Sacred Heart formation team wisely has placed this
retreat right after the Desert Formation pilgrimage. The men
carry into the retreat the vivid experience of the pilgrimage still
alive in their minds. This receptive state allows the Holy Spirit
to reveal during the four weeks of silence even deeper lessons
about the life-changing journey.
latrines. One collegian says he is “amazed” at the bond his
fellow seminarians forged through their hard work this
past summer. “At the end of our work camp all of us were
exhausted,” he says, “but there was no doubt each and every
seminarian at Camp Sancta Maria had grown.”
Cultural Immersion Experience
A cultural immersion pilgrimage to Cuernavaca, Mexico, is
how the men entering their second year of philosophy spend
the first half of their summers. For seven weeks, they attend
class each day learning the Spanish language and culture while
living with a Mexican family and speaking only Spanish. In this
way, they are preparing to better minister to the spiritual needs
of Latino Catholics when they become priests. The pilgrimage
includes regular spiritual formation and taking time out for
apostolic work such as visiting children at local orphanages.
Parish Internships
What about the men entering their critical third and fourth
years of theology; how do they spend their summer vacations?
These seminarians engage in another type of “immersion
experience”—a parish internship.
The men drop their duffle bags at the rectory of a local parish
for the summer and, under the guidance of an experienced
pastor, learn the ins-and-outs of parish management. This
experience is particularly important for the seminarians in
their final summer before ordination, men who have just been
ordained to the diaconate in the spring. Theirs is considered a
“diaconal” internship: they gain valuable practice preaching at
Summer Work Camp
the altar, baptizing babies, officiating at funerals, and performing
Are the seminarians of other grade levels making the most
of their summer “vacation” time? You bet they are.
First- and second-year collegians spend two sweaty months
doing manual labor at an informal “work camp” at the
seminary and later at Camp Sancta Maria, a Catholic youth
camp in Gaylord. This past May, the men scraped and painted
the wrought iron fencing surrounding the seminary grounds.
Two years ago, seminarians got their boots dirty landscaping
the Sacred Heart of Jesus shrine along with repairing its famous
“Black Jesus” statue.
“The physical work gave seminarians a way to come
together as a team caring for something important to Sacred
Heart and the city of Detroit,” Detroit seminarian Craig Marion
says of his summer days mixing patching concrete and edging
the shrine sidewalks. “We quickly discovered our neighbors
identify deeply with the statue, too.” Craig recalls how local
residents would call out from their cars—“What are you doing
there?”—and giving the thumbs-up when the seminarians told
them about the repair project.
At Camp Sancta Maria, a typical work assignment would be
re-shingling the bunkhouses or deep-cleaning the bunkhouse
other duties appropriate to their new ecclesial status.
The Whole Man
Clearly, a Sacred Heart education includes more than just
classroom work. Seminary formation is much broader, too,
than simply training men to perform the “duties” of a priest,
says Fr. Gerard Battersby, Sa