January - A Month in the Life of a Seminarian
Philip Mayer
Greetings, I hope that you had a wonderful Christmas. Melissa and I
had an excellent time down in Florida. We were very encouraged in our
meetings with a variety of different folks in the diocese. I was able
to spend a good amount of time with Father Andrew, who is mentoring me
through the discernment process and he was very kind to allow me to
preach on the fourth Sunday in Advent. Father Jon Davis, a friend of
Melissa's showed us around his church plant in Oviedo and we very
excited to learn of all the great things that are happening at the new
mission. We also met with Bishop Howe, who strongly urged us to look
into Nashotah House Theological Seminary and so we are planning on
visiting the seminary toward the end of March. Afterward, Tom
Rutherford, our commission on ministry representative, was very kind
to take us out to lunch and get to know us. He is a very genuine man
and we are grateful to God that he is assisting us with this process.
On the first Sunday after Christmas I was honored to be invited to
preach at the parish of Father Al Jenkins, who Melissa and I came to
know while we finished up our undergraduate studies at Southeastern
University. We also met with Beverly Jennings who, along with her
husband is graciously leading the parish discernment committee which
will be helping us to determine whether or not we should move forward
in the ordination process. The people to whom God has led us to down
in Florida have been a tremendous blessing and very encouraging--
especially in this tumultuous time of questioning and searching,
making mistakes and trying to discover where God is leading.
FUN WITH FAMILY
We also had a nice time visiting with family. Melissa's sister and her
husband generously hosted us and lovingly put up with our hectic
holiday schedule. We spent much time going back and forth from house
to house seeing Melissa's mother and father, uncles, aunts, cousins
and friends, and going to multiple Christmas parties. Attempting to
fit months and months worth of family relationships into a couple of
short weeks is not a simple task. One of our Christmas gifts was to be
able to go and see an amazing indoor display of ice sculptures-
something one would not normally expect in sunny Florida. A giant
freezer was created inside of a hotel and with a temperature of a mere
nine degrees in which we, while shivering, were able to see life size
sculptures of people, a train and a breathtaking crystal clear
nativity scene along with other stunning works of art. At the very end
we climbed up a set of steps made out of ice and slid down an ice slide
-which was extremely cold, but great fun.
LIFE IN MASSACHUSETTS
The day after our return to Massachusetts it was back to seminary
classes. I have excellent professors this semester and am thoroughly
enjoying my studies, although the pile of work that is growing before
me seems overwhelming. Melissa is taking classes at Boston College
this semester, as well as at the seminary, and she is looking forward
to completing her course work for her master's degree by the end of
this summer. This past weekend we took the youth skiing and
snowboarding for the weekend. Those few days of swimming, video games,
movies, multiple late nights and sore muscles from the slopes were
enough to wear out an entire army of youth leaders, however we
survived. Near the end of each day we gathered together for Compline
and reflection on the workings of God in our day and it was always
interesting to hear how the youth saw God working in their lives-from
a near death experience on the slopes to another while flying a plane
(one of the youth has his flying license) to helping out a fellow
skier who had injured himself in a painful fall. On Sunday Father Bart
presided over our own Eucharist Service up on the slopes-which was
somewhat physically challenging with each of us trying not to slip and
slide down the hill during the short service. However it was a
peaceful experience surrounded by God's beauty of snow whitened
mountains and the voices of a group of young people singing the
doxology.
Thank you for all of your prayers. Melissa and I would love to hear
about what is happening in your life. Feel free to email us.