Lent is over and we are now celebrating the Easter Season. The spirit of the liturgy here at seminary has been very powerful especially in the Octave of Easter. I just got back from my week break during Holy Week and it is truly as if a breath of fresh air has filled the air here at the seminary. Here in Indiana spring has hit full force making it harder for me to concentrate on my studies. I cannot believe I have less than one month left in my first year as a seminarian. Unfortunately, even though there is less than a month left, I have more papers, homework, and readings than I have had in previous years. This increase in the work load and the beautiful weather outside do not make a good combination for finding the motivation to end the year off strong academically. This semester has turned out to be one of the most challenging semesters I have ever had in my years in school. I have had to find a balance between hanging out with friends, praying, and doing my homework. The increased workload has pushed me to dedicate more time to my intellectual formation. I do not feel like I have learned a lot this semester, but I see in the papers I have done for philosophy that I am able to take a lot of the theories and make them applicable to my studies and life.
Here are the classes that I am taking this semester:
Medieval Philosophy: a study of the philosophers during the Middle Ages and philosophers from previous eras that made an impact in the way they thought.
Philosophy of Nature and Man: this course has described how philosophy has explained and examined nature and man since the Greeks (Aristotle) to modern psychology (B.F. Skinner). We have dealt with the writing of Aristotle, Aquinas, Rousseau, Sartre, and Skinner.
Human Development and Christian Maturity: this class is concerned with understanding maturity by learning theories of how we develop cognitively, emotionally, socially, spiritually and sexually throughout our life. We are gaining self-knowledge so that one day we will be able to give ourselves freely to priestly ministry.
Ecclesiastical Latin II: we have moved past learning about grammatical constructions of the language to applications through translation and reading liturgical documents.
Mary in the Liturgy: this class is concerned with seeing Mary’s role in the Church and especially during the liturgical year. We are presented with many views of Mary throughout the ages and use encyclicals and document of Vatican II to understand a devotion that is in line with Catholic teaching
Philosophy of Nature and Man: this course has described how philosophy has explained and examined nature and man since the Greeks (Aristotle) to modern psychology (B.F. Skinner). We have dealt with the writing of Aristotle, Aquinas, Rousseau, Sartre, and Skinner.
Human Development and Christian Maturity: this class is concerned with understanding maturity by learning theories of how we develop cognitively, emotionally, socially, spiritually and sexually throughout our life. We are gaining self-knowledge so that one day we will be able to give ourselves freely to priestly ministry.
Ecclesiastical Latin II: we have moved past learning about grammatical constructions of the language to applications through translation and reading liturgical documents.
Mary in the Liturgy: this class is concerned with seeing Mary’s role in the Church and especially during the liturgical year. We are presented with many views of Mary throughout the ages and use encyclicals and document of Vatican II to understand a devotion that is in line with Catholic teaching
Even though these classes have been very difficult I am happy that I am struggling through them. At times (more often than not) the subject material is over my head, but being exposed to it is helping me gain a respect and understanding for philosophy.
I ask for your prayers in these last few weeks of the semester. I am tempted to give into my ways of procrastination and abandon my school work for the pleasures of outdoor activities. This will not happen because even though I have a lot of work we do have plenty of free time to enjoy the the spring weather, but staying concentrated on the tasks at hand has definitely become more difficult.
Praying for you all!
Much Love,
William
