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Day #2 - Orientation and so much more
Rats, this didn't post yesterday - sorry folks, this is all about yesterday (8-16-13), the internet was being finicky.I am trying to get a little blogging done each day here - we'll see how long I can keep that up. Anyway, today began orientation, basically going through introductions of all the seminarians as well as the staff/priests here at Bruté, the ground rules - basically making sure everybody knows how life happens here.
We began with Mass at 8:30 AM (mercifully not at 6:45, because I didn't get to bed until midnight or so), followed by breakfast (which was delicious - but unfortunately, I had forgotten it was Friday, and inadvertently consumed meat, something I usually refrain from on Fridays - mea culpa), and then introductions. We did this funny method of introductions - everybody said their name, class, and diocese and then 4 facts about themselves (1 of which was false). Some people were pretty hilarious, I wasn't all that creative... Next was introductions of staff and the priests. We have a new vice-rector this year, Fr. Joe Moriarty, so everybody is in the process of getting to know him. Then Daniel Elsener, the president of Marian, came over and gave a short talk. It was one of those things, I was like "oh brother, another speech", but if you actually listened to his talk, about generosity, thankfulness, and working towards the betterment of ourselves and others, there was many good points. That is something that I need to work on - listening to others even when I think I already know it or whatever... The we had a quick introduction to spiritual direction, which I thought would be mostly for the new guys, and once again I learned a lot. It is so important to be open to our spiritual directors and follow their directions and challenges. It is so easy for me to slip into the thought that, "well, I'm doing pretty good, I guess I don't have much to work on" - totally wrong! Then we had lunch, which, being only 2-3 hours after breakfast, nobody was hungry, but we all ate anyway. That is another thing I need to work on this semester - eating less. After lunch the new guys had server training while the older guys had reader training. Positions are split up (somewhat) to different classes. Then we had a break (during which I went over to Marian and spent an absurd amount of money on a parking pass), and then at 4 PM, a run-down of all the policies and rules and what-not (basically, act like seminarians, not heathens, don't destroy the seminary, and clean up after yourself). Then evening prayer, then dinner (more food...), then schola practice/get-together (lots of new guys, most of which are much better than myself), then a ton of guys went downtown for ice-cream (more food...)
All-in-all it was a great day. Yes, it was long, and sometimes a bit boring, but I am constantly amazed at how much I can actually learn if I am open too it. I have a lot of work to do...
Tomorrow is looking to be a fun day. A few more conferences, but then we are going out to a lake to do some swimming, bbq-ing, and tons of other (fun) stuff.
Good Night All! Sorry this was just a boring update - there are so many funny stories, but it is getting close to being tomorrow, so I need to hit the sack.
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