SJV

June 8th marks the calendar anniversary of my priestly ordination back in 2018. I'm forever grateful for my seminary experience. I did four years of college seminary at Mount Angel Seminary in Oregon and four years of Theology at St. John Vianney Theological Seminary in Denver. On my way home from retreat in Colorado, I swung in to reminisce a bit. 

Beautiful. The colors around here both lift your mind to God as well as draw your heart into the reality that He became man. 

St. John Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests. Thanks for the help, pal. Keep the graces coming. 

The chapel is the heart of it all. Here we daily encountered the Lord in the Eucharist, which is the source and summit of the Christian life. The main reason we are ordained a priests is to celebrate the Mass. This is probably the manliest chapel I’ve come across. 

The statues and side altars are dynamic, which lead you into the mystery our our Lord's incarnate love for us. 

On this the feast our the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the day I celebrated my first Mass, I totally entrust my priesthood to you, Mary!

St. Joe played a big roll in my personal priestly formation. It was through his spiritual encouragement that I took up wood working again. 

As a parting gift, our class of 2016 made two votive candle stands, one for St. Joe and one for our Blessed Mother. 

They were a fun project, which about three of us embarked on.

The original seminary was named St. Thomas and run by the Vincentians, the religious order founded after St. Vincent de Paul. After their doors closed in the 1990's the Archdiocese of Denver reopened the seminary as St. John Vianney and has been in operation since 1999. 

Along with the chapel, we spent a lot of time laughing and dining in the refectory. 

Over the years, Archbishop commissioned me to build a couple projects. 

The first were these benches to be placed outside the Holy Trinity Center. 

The next were the pews for the chapel inside his residence. 

These guys definitely tested my wood working skills. 

I built them, but another guy stained and finished them. 

What joy it brings me to walk down the hall and see that my buddy Frankie and I finally made the wall of fame. 

I couldn't have done any of it without my formation director Fr. Jason Wallace. Good man and good priest. He could see that I was cut from a different cloth so he made sure I had plenty of projects to keep my hands active. Fr. Jason knows what it means to be a son and a father. Thanks brother for helping bring out the best in me. 

I sincerely love being a priest. It is what I am made for and is my mission in life. This vocation builds on my baptismal identity of being a beloved son of God. I am forever grateful for this proper ordering of formation that I received at SJV. It helped me to learn that the priest God wants me to be is the man he created me to be. Let's ranch!