The Fall 2008 Encounter With God's Call weekend was a tremendous success. Here are some pictures from the weekend.
For more pictures, please visit our Conception Seminary College Facebook Page.
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Pictures by J.B. Kelly, seminarian of the Diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau
Fall Encounter Weekend Boasts Record Numbers!
By Br. Paul Sheller, OSB
The Fall 2008 Encounter With God's Call weekend was an overwhelming success. It drew a crowd of 70 participants, a record number for the fall semester Encounter weekend. This attests to the work of the Holy Spirit in the world and the willingness of young men to be open to God's call in their lives.
Before the weekend even began, the seminarians of Conception Seminary College took turns praying before our Eucharistic Lord 24 hours before the young men arrived for the weekend. The seminarians prayed that the participants would have a true encounter with our Lord during the weekend and open their hearts to whatever He may be asking.
On Saturday afternoon, waves of participants entered St. Raphael Hall, Conception's Welcome Center, and were greeted by the seminarians at the registration table. Fr. Samuel, the President-Rector, presided at the opening prayer service and gave a welcome address afterwards. The first talk was entitled "Experiencing the Call." Seminarians Ben Boyd (Diocese of Omaha) and Seth Jirak (Diocese of Wichita) shared with everyone their vocation story and the different aspects which eventually led them to enter the seminary. The talks allowed for time in small group discussion and further reflection. A mixer/social was held in the Alumni Union and participants, chaperones, vocation directors and seminarians alike had the opportunity to chat and get to know one another over some snacks and refreshments, or a game of pool or ping-pong. A strong spirit of fraternity manifested itself immediately.
The Sunday morning talk was entitled, "Risk and Conversion." Chris Brashears (Diocese of Oklahoma City) and Andrew Dever (Diocese of Tulsa) delivered talks about their personal experience with the different risks, challenges, fears and obstacles they faced when deciding to enter seminary and how they confront them. All joined the monks of Conception Abbey for Sunday Eucharist in the Basilica of the Immaculate Conception. There were a few different options for the afternoon. Some engaged in some friendly competition on the soccer field with a game of ultimate Frisbee, others attended the "Monastic Life" talk by Fr. Benedict, and others relaxed or visited one on one with monks, priests, or seminarians. Many attended the Fall Production, the play "The Canterbury Tales". The seminarians had been working for a couple months on this entertaining production. All gathered for Evening prayer with the monks and supper followed. The last of the three talks was a presentation called, "A Day in the Life of a Seminarian." The talk was presented by three seminarians: Brian Buettner (Diocese of Oklahoma City), Chris Brown (Diocese of Des Moines) and David Esquiliano (Diocese of Sioux City). It gave the participants a glimpse into the daily life of the seminary and was accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation.
The participants joined the seminarians for the customary Sunday evening Holy Hour, with the Sacrament of Reconciliation available. Afterwards, some returned to the Alumni Union to socialize and others watched the video "Fishers of Men." Some of our visitors departed sometime after supper, but the majority were able to stay for Monday's classes.
The philosophy classes seemed to fill up most quickly. A seminarian is required to take 30 hours of philosophy before graduating, so many of the participants wanted to get experience firsthand what it was like. They sat in on classes along side of the seminarians, a real immersion experience. The weekend concluded with Mass and lunch.
It was great to see 70 young men attend our Encounter With God's Call weekend. It was encouraging to see that they were open to God's grace by their accepting the invitation to attend the weekend. The weekend was educational, enlightening and spiritually invigorating. Some attended because their friends were going, others had already made up their minds and will attend Conception Seminary College in the near future, but others were simply responding to the subtle voice that they had heard within the depths of their hearts which exclaimed, "Come and see." That is the prompting of the Holy Spirit which invites men to take that leap of faith toward God and experience something of Himself and receive His love.
View the spring 2009 Encounter brochure
Br. Paul Sheller, OSB
Director of Admissions & Vocation Promotion(660) 944-2886
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