Dear Friends of SJV,
As we enter into these quiet months here at the seminary, we have a moment to reflect on all the blessings of the last month. Our men in formation studied for their exams and wrote their final papers. The deacons all passed their oral comprehensive exams, degrees were conferred with honors, and they have either been ordained to the priesthood or will be in the coming weeks.
The seminarians will continue their formation in the summer months with assignments to summer camps and parishes, as well as vocations and missionary work. Later this summer, we will hear from some of them as they share their experiences in this newsletter.
Today we will hear from two men who just completed their time at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary. They were deacons when they wrote the articles and now, they are ordained to the priesthood and ready to begin their service to the Church.
In Christ,
Fr. Ángel Pérez-López
Three men from the St. John Vianney Seminary, and one from the Redemptoris Mater Seminary were ordained to the priesthood on Saturday, May 9.
(L to R): Father Jason DiRito, SJV; Father Manuel Alarcon, RM; Archbishop James Golka; Father Daniel Rivas, SJV; Father Jonathan Francois, SJV.
(Photo by Daniel Petty/Denver Catholic)
The Long Haul of Training for Heaven
Having now run four marathons, the way I approach such a daunting race has certainly changed. Some very experienced runners and a couple of deflating experiences of seeing good training misapplied and hitting a wall with five to ten miles left, have been very good teachers to me.
While discussing the challenge of balancing marathon training with the demands of seminary life with the men who recently ran the Salt Lake City marathon, it came to my attention that my preparation for this race began long before the specific workouts I started in January. Those workouts were built on a solid base formed by fall soccer practices, summer bike rides, previous races, high school cross country and track, 5Ks with my family growing up, and all the runs I’d taken to stay sane while studying.
My priestly formation is much the same story. This last year has not been an isolated project of preparation. The work of this final year of seminary was built on the work that the Lord has done in my life beginning with my Baptism, through all the gifts of my family and the prayers and sacrifices of so many in the seminary and this Archdiocese year after year.
I’m so grateful for the coaches and training partners in the seminary who have built me up day by day, who have given me the solid base to support the next ongoing phase of my configuration to the priesthood of Jesus Christ. It is ongoing training that, I pray, culminates in reaching the finish line of a life ready for Heaven.
Rev. Mr. Jason DiRito
Seminarian, Archdiocese of Denver
Father Jason DiRito finished the Salt Lake City Marathon in 2 hours 49 minutes, just 2 weeks before he was ordained to the priesthood on May 9.
Ordination: Gathering us into One
Very few times in the liturgical year does a diocese gather to worship as a single body. The Chrism Mass and Ordination remain as the two consistent moments which seem to draw members from every corner of the diocese: countless priests, various religious orders, diverse cultural and ethnic groups. This is a profound physical expression of what the priesthood is, Christ drawing all into his singular, priestly, Sacred Heart.
If the seminary is the “heart of the diocese” (Optatam totius, 6), then the Mass of Ordination is the heartbeat of the diocese which draws all in and sends all forth with a new and profound understanding of Christ’s love for the Church. The chants, hymns, incense, vestments, tears (perhaps from the ordinandi themselves, and certainly from their parents), acclamations, handclaps that we experience within the Ordination are all signs pointing to the everlasting reality that Christ is asserting in this Mass: “I am with you always, even until the end of the age” (Mt 28:20).
Alongside the incredible newness of the priesthood which the ordinand receives, he too experiences the sign of the Church being gathered into one. At the ordination Mass he may see many friends—old and new—family members—distant and close—and priests—from his own diocese and from across the region. During his ordination, as he steps into the priesthood, which is the “Love of the Heart of Jesus” (St. John Vianney), the ordinand experiences that it is not on his account that all have been joined for a rare moment, but it is “the love of Christ which has gathered us into one.” (Hymn, Ubi Caritas et amor).
Rev. Mr. John Donart
Seminarian, Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas
