For seminarians in the Diocese of Columbus, one draw to the priesthood is a desire to give of oneself.
Should the seminarians become priests, they will give themselves to their parishes and the people they minister to through the sacraments and in the daily life of the Church.
This year, the faithful in the diocese can match the seminarians’ gift of self by making a gift to support men in seminary. The diocese is featuring a campaign, “A Good and Growing Need,” to raise money for the cost of seminary.
A second collection will be taken at Masses during the weekend of Feb. 24-25. The growing number of seminarians has led to increased tuition costs for the diocese.
The faithful can make a monetary donation to support the men who are studying and preparing to make the ultimate sacrifice – the gift of themselves.
“There’s something in the seminarians, the men that are in formation, they want to give their life to something,” said Shane Gerrity, a seminarian for the diocese in his first year of theology. “The Church is such a perfect place to do that – to become a gift.”
Gerrity is in the configuration stage, the third of four seminary stages: propaedeutic, discipleship, configuration and vocational synthesis. In the third stage, a seminarian is configured to Jesus Christ, the leader and priest.
Gerrity, one of several seminarians from the diocese studying at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati, said seminary life is structured around prayer.
Seminarians begin their day at 6:30 a.m. with morning prayer followed by Mass. There are classes throughout the day, and in the evening, seminarians have evening prayer and Holy Hour.
The men also spend time with one another, he said, and diocesan seminarians studying in Cincinnati regularly meet with their counterparts at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus. Gerrity serves the community, too.
“Pope St. John Paul II talked a lot about a man who’s able to be a gift, and we recognize ourselves as we give ourselves away,” he said.
A key part of seminary is spiritual formation. Gerrity said seminarians need to know themselves to be a gift for others.
“We talk about self-knowledge,” he said. “That leads to self-acceptance, to really understand who you are in relation to God and the people you’re going to be around, and then, to be able to give yourself.
“There’s this movement of self-knowledge, acceptance and gift that happens throughout the stage of seminary, but it also happens every day in every situation. You need the amount of time that we’re in formation to be able to listen to yourself and know what’s going on at that level.”
Gerrity said he was drawn to seminary because of the impact priests in his parish – Columbus St. Patrick Church – had on him. He recognized them as men who dedicated their lives to God, and, he said, he felt a need to explore seminary life.
“As soon as I got there, my discernment turned into, ‘What does God want?’ rather than, ‘What do I want?’ and that allowed it to take off,” Gerrity said.
Brandt Boyden, a seminarian for the diocese, said he has grown because of seminary. He is in his second year of college at the Josephinum studying philosophy, which corresponds with the second stage of seminary, discipleship.
“The amount of resources we have as seminarians is just amazing,” he said.
Priests are present in seminary for human formation and for spiritual direction, Boyden said, and fraternity, living in community with the seminarians, “is probably the greatest impact.”
Boyden said he had an “amazing childhood” growing up in a “strong Catholic family.” He has nine siblings, including seven sisters.
Having a brotherhood at seminary has been a “formative change,” he said, which has aided him spiritually. In addition to taking classes together, seminarians pray with and for one another, study together and spend time in recreation, such as playing basketball.
“You grow in so many ways, especially in self-knowledge,” he said. “I have not delved in as much as I have in the past few years to how I react or respond to things, or what my tendencies are spiritually, humanly in human interaction.
“I haven’t really done that as much as I have in seminary. I’ve learned so much, and I’ve grown so much being able to know what that is exactly, and interiorly, that’s probably the biggest thing.”
Boyden said seminarians in the discipleship stage focus on growing spiritually, so, one day, they can sustain themselves and their parish by shepherding their flock, the people they serve.
Once outside of the seminary walls, priests might encounter corruption in secular society, and corruption can occur within a person, too, he said. Seminarians must know themselves well to withstand temptation.
“Am I able to conquer the enemy that is within?” Boyden asked. “That enemy can take the form of bad habits or imbalances in your peace.
“So, seminary, especially the priests there who’ve had experience with that, they’ve been extremely helpful in how to conquer that struggle within, that struggle of peace in the constant shepherding of a priest.”
Boyden said he first took an interest in the priesthood at age 4. He did not fully understand the vocation at the time, but his interest in the priesthood remained through high school. By sophomore or junior year, he began to wrestle with the calling.
“I was struggling with this idea, ‘OK, what does the Lord want me to do?’” he said. “It really was beforehand like, ‘OK, what do I want to do?’ but then it shifted – ‘I’m going to be the happiest doing what the Lord wants for me.’”
Boyden said he experienced a peace about priestly sacrifice – a total gift of self. He was also attracted by the idea of administering the sacraments.
Boyden continued discerning a call to the priesthood after high school by entering seminary.
“That’s presently where I’m at now and wrestling with, ‘OK, do I have peace with this idea of sacrificing, being a celibate man, being a celibate man for the good of the diocese, for the good of my parish, for the good of every individual I encounter?’” he said.
Deacon Tyler Carter, who was ordained to the transitional diaconate in May, is in his final year of seminary at the Josephinum. He entered the seminary in 2015 after graduating high school.
“This is my ninth year of seminary life, but it’s really been a great blessing,” he said. “It’s really been very formative, and I knew even from the beginning this is a long journey, and I’m in for a long haul.
“It’s going to be at least eight years with four years of college seminary and four years of theology, but really, every bit of it’s been a joy. It’s been a grace because I’ve learned so much, and I’ve grown so much through it.”
Deacon Carter said he has learned a lot through his classes, bonding with the seminarians and having priests for spiritual direction and advice. All have been a great blessing to him, he said.
“They’ve all helped form me into who I am now and into the priest that, God willing, I’ll be.”
Deacon Carter said he first felt called to the priesthood around age 3 or 4. His uncle, Father Timothy Hayes, who is the pastor of Granville St. Edward the Confessor Church, answered questions about the priesthood and offered advice.
Deacon Carter said he felt “something in my heart” drawing him to the priesthood, and he spent many years in prayer and discernment.
“The sacrificial life of the priest is something that really draws me,” he said. “The priest is called to be another Christ, and like Christ, to give himself, to be crucified for his people, to be given.
“Like Christ is given in the whole Eucharist to His people, the priest is called to be given to his people, to give of his time, his talent, his ministry to them, and there’s something so beautiful in that, in that self-giving.”
As he finishes his final semester of classes, Deacon Carter is serving at Canal Winchester St. John XXIII and Groveport St. Mary churches on weekends. He assists with Masses, baptisms and weddings.
“It’s been a great blessing because it reorients me toward why I first entered seminary: to serve the people of God,” he said. “All the theoretical parts and the studies are very important, but it is hard sometimes being away from the parish life.”
Deacon Carter’s seminary formation has been important to his parish ministry. He said the beginning stage of seminary was especially formative for him.
“That was helpful, getting to know how to pray the Divine Office, how to pray the Liturgy of the Hours together, and it’s all the very basic things that seem so simple, but these are things that I’ll be doing for the rest of my life as a priest,” he said.
Developing a pattern of daily prayer was helpful, Deacon Carter said. His prayer life includes praying the rosary and making a daily Holy Hour.
“These are the foundations that help the rest of your spiritual life to grow, and then, to eventually help and form your priesthood,” he said.
As he looks ahead to his anticipated May 2024 ordination to the priesthood, Deacon Carter is preparing to give the gift of himself.
“The world tells us we should focus on ourselves and on getting more for us, but Christ tells us we need to give of ourselves and be for others,” he said. “There’s something so beautiful in that and so countercultural in a way.
“I feel really drawn to that – to being totally Christ’s, and in Him, to be for His people.”