By John Nguyen
On January 30th, 1979, Pope St. John Paul II, at his meeting with seminarians in Mexico, instructed, “Form these young men to wholesome joy, cultivating a rich personality adapted to our time. But form this personality staunch in the faith, in the principles of the Gospel, in awareness of the value of souls, in the spirit of prayer, capable of facing up to the onslaughts of the future.” His teachings highlight the importance of fraternity – bonding where we can joyfully deepen our faith together and learn from one another.
Seminarians are encouraged to make an effort to meet with one another because this experience helps us to better carry out Archbishop Sample’s visions, such as that of evangelization. We try to act as pillars for one another and ultimately remember why we are seminarians for the great Archdiocese of Portland. Being able to really listen to each other’s story of life in the seminary, we are able to better accompany our fellow brothers in prayers and support. We all follow in the footsteps of Christ, but our paths are marked with distinct struggles and as diocesan brothers to one another, it is essential to understand how another brother is doing and possibly be a shoulder for them to lean on. The environment also allows us to build trust as sharing our struggles requires transparency.
Fellow seminarian, Erik Morris and I are participating in the Rome Experience program this summer, more than five thousand miles away from Oregon. It has been amazing thus far, and it has been a tremendous blessing to witness the “Eternal City,” knowing that countless fellow brothers and priests have come before us — and many more will follow after us. On June 1st we had the opportunity to meet with our seminarian brothers who reside here, Coulter McIntyre and Blake Thamer. Despite being far from home, when we are gathered together as one, we felt close to family. After not seeing each other for more than a year, it was such a blessing to be able to meet up. We had lunch, told funny stories and laughed with one another.
In 1 Corinthians:12-26, the Apostle emphasizes how we are all parts of the body of Christ and each part has a role to play. Similarly, each seminarian brother has unique talents to contribute for the glory of God. Getting to know fellow seminarian brothers and cultivating a stable foundation of faith is of vital importance since we are the future of our diocese. One day, we will be working with one another to bring as many people as possible to Christ. How can we bring people closer to God and to our homeland in heaven if we disagree with one another about Church teachings and are not unified in the one true faith? As we approach the struggles that Pope St. John Paul II had warned us about back in 1979, fraternity with our seminarian brothers is more important than ever before so that we can encourage each other and be “capable of facing up to the onslaughts of the future.”