CHARLOTTE — Nine men who have enrolled at St. Joseph College Seminary heard words of encouragement Sunday during Mass with the seminary’s rector, Father Matthew Kauth.
The Mass at St. Ann Church marked the traditional opening of the seminary year, when the new class of men join the other seminarians and priest faculty for prayer before moving in and beginning their studies.
The new seminarians are Anthony Briones-Tristan from Our Lady of Grace Parish, Greensboro; Micah Burgess from St. Gabriel Parish, Charlotte; Walter Frei and Caden Miller, from St. Dorothy Parish, Lincolnton; Alexander Lavine, James Sides and Maximilian Torres, all from St. Mark Parish, Huntersville; Collin A. Petruska of Queen of the Apostles Parish, Belmont; and Pierre Westhoff from St. Bernadette in Linville.
They are joining 21 other men at St. Joseph College Seminary who are considering a priestly vocation while also pursuing an undergraduate degree at nearby Belmont Abbey College.
Father Kauth preached a homily that drew on the daily readings and described the journey of discernment the new seminarians are embarking upon.
He reflected on the day’s Gospel reading from John, in which Jesus tells the people “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”
“You are here because something stirred in you that said, ‘I don’t want to work for food that perishes,’ “ Father Kauth told the men.
Life in the college seminary will offer the men the chance to learn what it is like to turn their lives over completely to Christ and draw their spiritual nourishment from Him, instead of the material world and material desires, he said.
He also drew on the day’s first reading from Exodus for inspiration, which described how during their 40 years in the wilderness, the Israelites eventually became frustrated with manna, the special food God sent for them to eat. While manna nourished the Israelites, he said, the seminarians will have the chance to find an even greater nourishment in their relationship with Christ.
“We don’t know if God will eventually call all of you to the altar as priests, but we do know He did call you here now, with all your talents and particularities,” Father Kauth said. “He is calling you to live with Him and to live on Him, and watch what happens when you do! It’s extraordinary what happens when men begin to live on the true manna.”
Father Kauth drew laughter from the congregation when he brought up a description in the first reading of how the Israelites ate quail in the evening and then manna at dawn.
“You’re going to be getting up at dawn from now on,” he told the men, referring to the rigorous schedule of prayer, worship and study that comes with seminary life.
He also asked the congregation to keep the new class in their prayers, especially because they will be adapting to an entirely different way of life in the next few weeks and months.
The seminarians started moving into their dormitories in Mount Holly on Sunday in anticipation of the start of classes later this month.
The opening year Mass has traditionally been celebrated at St. Ann Church because its campus was the temporary home of the seminary when it first opened in August 2016. The college seminary opened its permanent home in Mount Holly in 2020.
— Christina Lee Knauss