Seminarians Visit Local Parish

On Sunday, March 18, seminarians from Sacred Heart Major Seminary, along with Msgr. Todd Lajiness, rector and president of Sacred Heart, joined the parishioners of St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church in Saint Clair Shores, Michigan for the 10:00 a.m. Mass. The liturgy was celebrated by Sacred Heart alumnus and newly-ordained Fr. John Bettin, now the resident associate pastor at St. Joan of Arc.

On most weekends, the seminarians celebrate Morning Prayer and Sunday Mass as a community with the rector at Sacred Heart. Annual visits to parishes within the archdiocese, however, have become an integral, joyful, and formative piece of Lent for the men in formation. The visits are welcome opportunities for a change of routine during ‘long winters,’ and provide the men and parishioners an opportunity to meet and pray with one another.

Tyler Arens, a second-year college seminarian for the Diocese of Lansing, noted parish visits are enriching for his own vocation. “One of the things I like the most about visiting any parish is having the opportunity to meet and get to know families,” Arens said. “I am always struck how men and women in various vocations really build one another up and call each other on to greater holiness, no matter what God has called us to. It’s important to foster and sustain such encounters, like we are this weekend.”

First-year college seminarian for the Diocese of Steubenville, Joseph Hahn, said, “Even though I am from a different diocese, visiting St. Joan of Arc in metro Detroit allowed all of us to meet men and women ‘on the journey’ in their walk with the Lord, and to be a part of their faith community. It was an enriching and blessed experience.”

Third-year graduate seminarian for the Archdiocese of Detroit, John McKenzie, who will be ordained to the transitional Diaconate in April, found the experience personally enriching. “With diaconate ordination approaching, every opportunity we have to grow in relationship with our brothers and sisters from across the archdiocese is a blessing,” said McKenzie. “Every parish is unique and brings a special gift to the whole of the archdiocese and our mission to unleash the Gospel of Jesus Christ!”

Following Mass, parishioners welcomed the seminarians for a coffee-and-donuts social, which was also joined by Msgr. G. Michael Bugarin, pastor of St. Joan of Arc.