{"id":2128,"date":"2007-12-03T16:31:00","date_gmt":"2007-12-03T16:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/deaconsbench\/2007\/12\/a-deacons-son-and-seminarian.html"},"modified":"2007-12-03T16:31:00","modified_gmt":"2007-12-03T16:31:00","slug":"a-deacons-son-and-seminarian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/12\/a-deacons-son-and-seminarian.html","title":{"rendered":"A deacon’s son — and seminarian"},"content":{"rendered":"

What’s it like to be a seminarian today? <\/p>\n

This piece from a paper in Salt Lake City<\/a> profiles one seminarian — who, it turns out, is the son of a deacon:<\/p>\n

<\/a>\u201cWhether you\u2019re new or almost finished with your seminary education, you\u2019re always very sensitive to the feeling, the question: \u2018Am I supposed to be here?\u201d said Christopher Gray, a seminarian at Mount Angel Seminary, Oregon, studying for the priesthood for the Diocese of Salt Lake City. <\/p>\n

Gray\u2019s face and his gifts are familiar to many of us. A graduate of the University of Utah with a Bachelor\u2019s degree in mathematics and a minor in Spanish, Gray put in four years as a staff writer and information technologist for the Intermountain Catholic. During those years he not only edited the monthly Utah Cat\u00f3lico and managed the IC web site, being recognized twice by the Catholic Press Association for excellence, he also developed the paper\u2019s streaming video program and its podcast, \u201cHis Own Words,\u201d with Bishop John C. Wester. Gray worked closely with his mother, Maria-Cruz Gray, director of the Diocesan Office of Hispanic Ministry, and his father, Deacon Forrest Gray of the Diocesan Office of Continuing Education for Deacons.<\/p>\n

In the diocese for his first visit home since entering Mount Angel Seminary in August, Gray shared his first impressions of seminary life.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone has an interesting story about a crisis of faith or a conversion experience,\u201d Gray said. \u201cAnd everyone is acutely aware of a personal stop sign that says, \u2018Is this for me? Am I for this? It\u2019s like living in a pressure cooker.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gray\u2019s university degree put him into the seminary\u2019s theology program, the first year of which is pre-theology studies. His formation, he said, isn\u2019t limited to his instructors, his advisors, his classmates, and the seminary faculty, who are all together all the time. \u201cEveryone there forms us. Even the lay students who study at the seminary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gray said he doesn\u2019t pretend to understand yet all of the undercurrents of seminary life, \u201cbut it\u2019s obvious there\u2019s a lot going on there, and that\u2019s exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI arrived at the seminary in a car packed, modestly, I think, with just what I though I would need. We were met by seminarians at all levels of study who helped us unpack the car and carry everything up to my room in Anselm Hall. One of the men carrying my things was a deacon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their week of orientation began with the Liturgy of the Hours. Later, their first week of classes began with Mass, a lecture by Abbot Nathan Zodrow of Mount Angel Abbey, a picnic, and evening prayer.<\/p>\n

During his first week at Mount Angel, the seminary and abbey were installing new bells in a tower named for the Visitation of Mary to Elizabeth. Gray documented the installation photographically.<\/p>\n

Like the abbey, the seminary\u2019s hours are marked by the bells calling the monastic community to prayer seven times a day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe live in community,\u201d Gray said. \u201cWe learn about being a person from the people around us. And we learn what shape prayer takes, and what brings sanctity. Now, we are building relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gray said most of the men in Anselm Hall know his door is always open for those who drop by. \u201cThere is no television, which is fine with me because I was never much interested in television. Some of the men in Anselm Hall have had military experience. We have men there from Portland, Bend, Yakima, and cities and towns in California. All of us study with men and women from religious orders, and lay men and women. <\/p>\n

\u201cBeing around such a diversity of people seeking sanctity has given me a sense of forward vision,\u201d he said. \u201cI find myself asking, \u2018What does the Lord want me to do?\u2019 Ideas come later.\u201d<\/p>\n

So early in their studies, Gray said, they are learning first how to be good people, \u201cto build on our good qualities. We\u2019re just beginning. Later, we will learn more about the pastoral aspects.<\/p>\n

Gray said the seminarians who have reached the diaconate stage of their studies have been very helpful, showing leadership to the new-comers. \u201cThey\u2019ve been much more open, talking about their faith experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n

For a 26-year-old man who never had any trouble multi-tasking, Gray said he is grateful the seminary has allowed him to focus. \u201cI can actually direct my thoughts to just one thing at a time.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There’s much more at the link<\/a>, so check it out. And keep this young man, and all seminarians like him, in your prayers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What’s it like to be a seminarian today? This piece from a paper in Salt Lake City profiles one seminarian — who, it turns out, is the son of a deacon: \u201cWhether you\u2019re new or almost finished with your seminary education, you\u2019re always very sensitive to the feeling, the question: \u2018Am I supposed to be…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":365,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2128","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deacons","category-vocations"],"yoast_head":"\nA deacon's son - and seminarian - The Deacon's Bench<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/deaconsbench\/2007\/12\/a-deacons-son-and-seminarian.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"A deacon's son - and seminarian - The Deacon's Bench\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What’s it like to be a seminarian today? 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