St. Joseph the Worker

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, 

Before I begin my message, I want to say two things: “I’m sorry" and “thank you":

“I’m sorry" because my Spanish is not very good; and “thank you” for listening to me anyway — and for your patience as I do.

My name is Maxim Farrell, and I am one of the college seminarians of the local Church of Grand Rapids; I was raised in, went to school at, and am still a parishioner at the parish of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in the southeast side of the city.  This coming fall, I will begin my fourth and final year of college at the Seminary of Saint John Vianney, which is in Saint Paul, Minnesota. 

Every year, our seminarians make an effort to visit, as we are able, some of the parishes of our Diocese; this year, for the first time in a long time, we have a sufficient number of seminarians who are able to speak Spanish — or, in my case, to read it — to make it possible for visits to communities in the city where Spanish is spoken, like Saint Joseph the Worker in Wyoming; Saint Mary in the downtown; and the Cathedral of Saint Andrew.  For this, God is truly good, and I have hope that this will continue and expand in the years to come.  

Even so, in light of the restrictions and health concerns right now, caused by COVID-19, we know that it is not possible for our voices to be heard by as many people as is normal.  Therefore, this is made in hopes of connecting with those we are not able to encounter in the parishes, to be shared on the internet.

To that end, what follows is the message that I shared with the faithful of Saint Joseph the Worker on the 12th of July, the 15th Sunday of Ordinary Time. 

In the Scriptures which were read in the celebrations of the Holy Mass this Sunday, the Church has given us a collection with a clear theme, which is carries by all of them: the harvest.

The image of the farmer harvesting the fields is very important in the history of the Christian people, and it is precisely this image that I want to use to offer a brief response to the questions I know are on the minds of many people: What is a seminarian? and What do seminarians do?

First and foremost, the seminary is a place where men go to pose to God the central question of the life of every Christian: “Father, what do you want for my life?”

In the seminary, we learn how to do the essential task of giving to God the time and the space which He needs to respond to this question; essentially, we permit ourselves to fall into the fertile ground of prayer and brotherhood — certainly, this ground is a very fertile ground; it is an environment where the Lord is free to “prune” us as he would like to.

In giving to the Lord this freedom in our lives and our heart, we enter into a space where the prophecy of Isaiah in the first reading can be realized for us:

“Thus says the Lord:
‘Just as from the heavens/the rain and snow come down/and do not return there
till they have watered the earth,/making it fertile and fruitful,
so shall my word be/that goes forth from my mouth;
my word shall not return to me void,/but shall do my will,
achieving the end for which I sent it’.”

Certainly, this is a perfect picture into the mission of the seminary, because, in it, we invest in a life dedicated to prayer, study, fraternity, and the Sacraments; and, in a special way, to meditating on the Divine Word — the Bible.   The Scriptures have been called “the love letter of God to each of us”, and, during our time in priestly formation, we submerge ourselves in it.

In this takes place the “falling from the Heavens”: the Word of God enters into our hearts, and, in doing so, works to form a relationship between each of us with Him.  And, in learning to hear the voice of God in the messages of the Bible, our capacity to discern the particular message of God individually is enormously grown. 

As I prepare for my fourth year of formation, I must say that, while this process is, without a doubt, long, it is so worth it!  And, even more than that: it is essential; for, without dedicating a considerable amount of time to formation, we risk wasting the time in which we could be absorbing the rich nutrients of the fertile soil.  Without these nutrients, our hearts would not be able to sufficiently mature, and, without this, the Lord would not be free to completely prune us.  If we do not permit Jesus to do this, we will never be formed into the holy fathers, whether biological or spiritual, that He desires us to become with all of us His Heart. 

In all that is a part of the process of priestly formation, each seminarian depends on almost nothing more than the prayer and kindness of the People of God.  Such goodness from our brothers and sisters in Christ really is a great help for us seminarians, because our desire for the priesthood is rooted in great measure in our desire to give ourself to a life of service to each and to all.   

Certainly, our visits to the parishes of our Diocese help in this respect, as it is very edifying for us to see personally the devotion and holiness of so many people — and, I must say that this has been demonstrated even, and, in a certain sense, especially, during this time of pandemic.  Without a doubt, seeing such tremendous love for the Lord in our community fills us with a great hope for our future.  Therefore, I speak in the name of all of the seminarians when I say this: thank you for this testimony, as well as for your continuing prayers for us.

I want also to encourage you, if possible, to listen to the words of some of my other brother seminarians, who speak more about how the Lord has guided them personally during their time spent in the seminary. 

I say all of this with a hope of being able to give a brief look at the reality so beautifully expressed by the Venerable Archbishop Fulton Sheen: “the priest is not his own.”  By the grace of God, every seminarian has begun a journey of giving his life completely to Christ and to His flock.  For this reason, the restrictions imposed on society by the pandemic are, without a doubt, a source of great sadness for all of us.  However, with firm confidence and hope in the Lord, we anxiously await a future in which we are able to encounter and form relationships with you all which are rooted in His Love.

Therefore, given the situation of our times, if you wish to communicate with our Diocesan seminarians, I encourage you to reach out in the way which will, at this time, best keep us all safe; the primary way to do this being physical mail.  Every seminarian of our Diocese has a mailing address listed on our Vocations website; these are accessible at GRpriests.org.  And, while we still have a few weeks before school starts again, the campuses of both seminaries that Bishop Walkowiak sends us to will be opening at the end of August; because of this, we will be able to read and respond to written communication when we return.

As I said in the beginning, my ability to speak Spanish is far from perfect; and so, before I finish, I also want to offer my sincere gratitude to the friends who helped me film this video, and also to say many thanks to Father Steve Cron, to Father Robert Mulderink, to Deacon Noah Thelen, and to the parishioners of the parishes we have visited so far this year, who have given tremendous support to all of us seminarians who are striving to develop our Spanish-speaking ability.

Therefore, in gratitude, I will say one more time: I am thankful for your time and patience with me in these last few minutes.  I also want to express that every seminarian continues to pray for you all, for all who have been reclaimed by Jesus our Lord, and, indeed for the whole world:

That the Lord bless us,
protect us from all evil,
and lead us to everlasting life. 

Amen. 

Thank you very much!