Apr 29, 2015
by MOSAIC Editorial Team
Pilgrimage to Holy Land helps graduate seminarians discern their true calling.
For undergraduate and graduate students alike, the majority of their summer days involve serious spiritual and pastoral formational activities designed to prepare them to be an effective and mature ministers of Christ. As for the men just completing their first year of graduate-level theology, the faith-building Desert Formation Experience (DFE) is one way the seminary trains domestic missionaries for our spiritually-needy culture.
Thirty Days of Inspiration
On April 29, eleven theologians from six dioceses and one religious community began a pilgrimage to Holy Land, to walk in the footsteps of Jesus. Some of the sacred sites they will visitwhere Scripture will come alive for theminclude the Jordan River where Jesus was baptized, the Sea of Galilee where Jesus preached to the multitudes, the Via Dolorosa where he carried his cross, and the Garden Tomb where the men will celebrate his resurrection.
Before returning to Detroit on May 29, the men will spend the last part of their spiritual journey in the Holy City of Rome, including attending a Wednesday General Audience with the pope. Each day on the month-long journey they will attend Mass and pray for Sacred Heart's benefactors. Each evening, led by Sacred Heart priest-formators Fr. Gerard Battersby and Msgr. Daniel Trapp, they will reflect upon insights they experienced at the holy sites that day.
Over the course of the strenuous pilgrimage, the men hope to develop a deeper understanding of how the priesthood is essentially a pilgrimage of faith they are called to walk with their parishioners. Their formators will encourage them to look deep inside and ask, Am I really being called to be a man for others'? As one seminarian expressed after completing the 2014 DFE pilgrimage, I began to experience a profound sense of Jesus calling me to his priesthood. And I kept on thanking Jesus for choosing me to spread the Gospel message.
Before leaving on their plane flight to Tel Aviv, the men celebrated Mass and later received a parting blessing from rector Msgr. Todd Lajiness. As the pilgrims gathered next to their packed luggage in the seminary entrance vestibule, well-wishing members of the Sacred Heart community raised hands over them in prayer as did members of their own families who came to the seminary to send the men off with love.
Building Faith and Character
Seminary formation is much broader than simply training men to perform the duties of a priest, says Father Battersby, Sacred Heart's vice rector and dean of formation. It is the whole man who is being formed at Sacred Heartmind, body, and spirit. Father says Sacred Heart's summer experiences are designed to enhance the spiritual and intellectual formation seminarians receive throughout the year.
The ultimate goal of the Desert Formation Experience and all of the summer programs is to ensure the priest-graduate of the seminary is a man of strong character and deep spirituality; a man you can be proud to call your spiritual Father.
DFE Blog: Walk Along with the Seminarians
Why not follow the DFE pilgrims on their day-to-day journey through the blog on this website? It could be like a spiritual pilgrimage for you, too. Only through the generosity of benefactor—by sponsoring a Desert Meals fundraiser or participating in the Desert Golf Classic in Septemberare the men able to cover the cost of this enlightening experience of faith. Learn how you can help at desertformation.org.
MOSAIC Editorial Team