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Immersed in Ministry in a Distant Place

by MOSAIC Editorial Team

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Catholic social teaching becomes a lived experience for seminarians of Sacred Heart. During the third term each spring, second-year philosophy and pre-theology seminarians are provided an opportunityunique to Sacred Heartto broaden their understanding of the Universal Church and of themselves.

These men embark on a seven-week-long cultural absorption experience to Cuernavaca, Mexico, as part of the Apostolic Experience undergraduate formation program. They attend school each day to study the Spanish language while living with a Mexican family absorbing the culture and speaking only Spanish.

They also perform works of mercy such as visiting children at a local orphanage, and give spiritual talks to high school students. The men celebrate Mass each day officiated by Sacred Heart priest-formators, who also provide spiritual guidance to the undergraduate seminarians. In regular spiritual reflection sessions, the men focus on the Church's social gospel to minister to the needy in body and spirit.

Through the Apostolic Experience, the men begin to understand firsthand that spiritual wealth is more important than material wealth. The cultural/missionary venture will assist the seminarians on their larger pilgrimage toward the priesthood. Especially, they will be better prepared to minister to the increasing population of Spanish-speaking Catholics.

Six philosophy and pre-theologian undergraduates spent the month of May participating in this unique learning experience. They are Reynaldo Salce, Zaid Chabaan, Edgar de la Cruz, Adam Nowak, Derik Peterman, and Evan Pham. Fr. Eric Weber, an assistant professor of theology at Sacred Heart, accompanied the seminarians, along with seminarian formators Fr. Charles Fox and Fr. Charles Canoy.

MOSAIC Editorial Team

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Sacred Heart Major Seminary is a Christ-centered Catholic community of faith and higher learning committed to forming leaders who will proclaim the good news of Christ to the people of our time. As a leading center of the New Evangelization, Sacred Heart serves the needs of the Archdiocese of Detroit and contributes to the mission of the universal Church.