"Come Break Bread with the Seminarians" Dinner

On Wednesday, February 24th, the Knights of Columbus of the Bernard P. O'Brien Council #3956 of St. Pius X Parish hosted a Come Break Bread with the Seminarians dinner and fundraiser at Crystal Gardens Banquet Hall in Southgate, Michigan. Around 200-250 parishioners courageously braved the inclement weather in order to show up and support Sacred Heart seminarians. Ten seminarians spread throughout the hall at various tables in order to meet those who had generously come to support them. The evening was emceed by First Theologian Adam Nowak, who attended St. Pius X elementary school for two years.

After a delicious buffet dinner of pasta, salad, chicken, and meatballs, Mark Livingston, a parishioner of St. Pius X and Theology III seminarian currently on a pastoral year at Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington, shared his testimony of his experience of the Holy Land. Mark had the privilege and blessing of going to the Holy Land in 2014 on the Desert Formation Experience, thanks to the generosity of many benefactors like those who attend Desert Meals throughout the Archdiocese of Detroit and the Diocese of Lansing. Mark expressed how the Lord had touched the hearts of his fellow seminarians as they visited the places of Christ's ministry, death, Resurrection, and, for Mark, most profoundly, at the place of Christ's birth. Overwhelmed by the sanctity of the moment, Mark told of how he felt overcome by the Holy Spirit as he descended the stairs into the Grotto of the Nativity as he approached the spot where Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary in Bethlehem. Mark's testimony was accompanied by an inspiring video of past seminarians' experiences in the Holy Land. Hearing the personal stories of seminarians who have visited the Holy Land invigorated those seminarians who are preparing to go to the Holy Land this year.

Br. Romeo Capella then shared his own personal conversion story and vocation story. Br. Romeo, another parishioner of St. Pius X, is a First Theologian at Sacred Heart Major Seminary hoping to embark on the pilgrimage to the Holy Land this summer. He shared of how he grew up Lutheran and was widely disengaged from a life of faith when he began to question the meaning of life in high school. His mother had a Catholic friend, in attendance at the fundraiser, who inspired her and her family to join the Catholic Church. Romeo described how this later led to an encounter with Christ that radically changed his life. Because of the power of that encounter, he began to think about the priesthood, but it was not until his pastor, Fr. Bob McCabe, invited him to think about it at precisely the moment he was praying about it, that Romeo knew he had to follow the call of Christ. Initially with the Archdiocese of Detroit, Romeo eventually discerned a call to the Companions of Christ the Lamb, a religious community which emphasizes the importance of the presence of God in nature through the contemplative life. Br. Romeo now looks forward to the many opportunities that this pilgrimage to the Holy Land will have to contemplate the life of Christ in the beauty of nature that surrounds the Sea of Galilee and the holy city of Jerusalem.

Matt Wagner, a First Theologian from the Diocese of Winona, Minnesota, joyfully told the story of his life growing up as a practicing, but non-informed Catholic. After a specific homily given by his parish priest during his early years of high school, Matt started exploring what it meant to be Catholic, only to discover he needed to receive the sacraments of First Communion and Confirmation from the Church. It was not until college that Matt enrolled in RCIA in order to be able to receive his First Communion and the sacrament of Confirmation. Despite the pressures of the world to live the typical college life, Matt heard the call to holiness from the Lord, who prompted him to keep striving toward a life of virtue and nearness to Christ. While going through RCIA, Matt began discerning what God wanted for his life. A call to the priesthood followed soon after, and Matt graciously gave his yes. Matt is excited to walk in the places where His Savior did.

Lastly, Dr. Fastiggi, a professor at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, gave a brief talk on Lent as a call to mercy. He expressed how mercy is something that Pope Francis, himself, dramatically experienced when he was a teenager after confession. He felt like St. Matthew the tax collector being called in mercy to come follow Christ, an experience from which Pope Francis took his papal motto Miserando atque eligendo" By having mercy and by choosing." Dr. Fastiggi spoke of how the season of Lent is a time of conversion, a time to acknowledge one's sin, not for sin's or guilt's sake, but in order to turn to the mercy of God. He expressed his appreciation for how each of the seminarians who spoke gave witness to the power of Christ's mercy and responded to it. Each of us are called to see our weaknesses and sins, and turn to Jesus Christ who is the face of the Father's mercy.

A special thank you to all who attended, especially to Fr. Bob McCabe, St. Pius X parishioners, the Knights of Columbus of the Bernard P. O'Brien Council #3956, to the family of Br. Romeo Capella and Adam Nowak, who were in attendance, to Mark Livingston for sharing his testimony, and to Dr. Fastiggi who spoke so beautifully of the message of mercy.