10 Ways to Enjoy Community Life as Seminarian

by Sem. Jeff Loma

Embracing the dynamism of seminary life is fairly intricate as you would perceive it. However, in the actuality, seminary days are certainly pleasant and ecstatic if you will just compose yourself as a person chosen by God as His servant and relish yourself in this form of life. Here are some means to make your seminary life rewarding:

1.Respect your differences as Seminarians.

Always remember that all of you came from different backgrounds. You were molded in different cultures, beliefs, and values within your family. That is why at times, it is just normal that you would have misapprehensions with each other. Yet, since you revere your variations, in the end, you will cultivate the value of acceptance towards your brother within yourselves.

2.Engage yourself in the community activity such as in sports.

God did not choose or call anyone because of his physical capacity or ability. Just like in sports within the seminary, it does not matter if you are an expert or inexperienced about the playoffs as long as you are participating and trying your best to hold the essence of being in the community sharing the moments of having fun. Then, you will just be surprised that the clumsiness you made while playing would be the source of joy and humor within your activity.

3.Enjoy all the meals and dine with some talks.

It is not true that we should keep ourselves composed and still within the banquet, just like in fine dining. For us in the seminary, it is without a doubt effective to build community while we eat and spiced it up with talks and stories. Our simple meals are made to be delicious because we savor our moments with discussions and chats that mostly would result to enormous laughter and bliss.

4.Do not make your cleaning time a boring one.

Always equip yourself with cleaning materials during the cleaning time. But it is not enough. You also need to be serious and naughty sometimes while cleaning. The most obvious and effective way of making a fun cleaning time is to dance while you mop or sweep the floor, sing while you remove the spider web in the ceiling, having the rap songs while wiping the window pane. For sure, with these extra hobbies, you will never get bored while cleaning.

5.Let yourself involve in the events organizing activity.

Seminarians are not just good in praying and doing the apostolates. They are also recognized as good facilitators, leaders, and most especially, event’s organizers.  During the birthday celebration activities, Lenten season, feasts, and other celebrations, seminarians are indeed very creative in doing the physical arrangement of the stage, the flow of the program, the table settings for dining, and even in the restoration. Since the overall preparation is a way of showing their creativity for them, the word “tired” does not exist. Thus, you must definitely involve yourself to this.

6.Make a timeframe for your academic endeavor and have some group studies.

Academic life is somehow exigent in the seminary since this is one of the most imperative pillars of this kind of endeavor. But there are helpful tips for seminarians to be able to succeed in this requirement. First, seminarians need to be organized in terms of their time schedule especially when to study their lessons without clashing with the activities within the seminary. In this aspect, it is practical to make a timeframe of your study time, or when you will be finishing your home works and other academic demands. By this, you will be guided on what would be the things that you should prioritize. Second, it is also without a doubt very advantageous if you will organize a study group especially to those seminarians having the same subjects. Herewith, you could arrive at the right understanding of academic theories that could actually help you pass the subjects.

7.Emerge yourself in the movie time.

In Canossian Seminary, movie time is “a-must” activity to get into. It is somehow a trademark of the seminary since they believe that seminarians must also enjoy their lives in the formation house. Who would not enjoy in the movie using a projector and loud speaker that would scare you when you watch horror films, the laughter in their faces in comedies, their outraged faces in the action films and many more? That would be the exciting part of it.

8.Who said that having laundry is just for girls, it’s for boys too and they are better!

Seminarians are not just taught how to be a good preachers and proclaimers of the word of God. They are also exposed to those tasks that would make them realize how to be independent and having their laundry is one of these things. But will you be getting bored when you will have your laundry in group? Will you be worn-out when you spiced it with so many chats and conversations with any topics under the sun? Or is it also dreary if you will be naughty sometimes playing with soaps and water? Perhaps this would be an interesting one.

9.Love the charism of your congregation and be used to it.

Every congregations have their own “charism” or identifiable way of contributing to the betterment of the church through the different ministries they administer. Just like in the Canossian Sons of Charity Congregation, their charism is for the youth and also to the little ones comprising of those who are not just poor in physical but also those who are destitute in spirit and faith to God. During Sundays in the Oratorio time of the seminary as an example, seminarians are the one who facilitate the catechism and tutorials for children and youth. In these ways, they would have a personal encounter with their vocation and discover the unity of their charism and with the congregation.

10.                Whatever happens, submit yourself to God.

Formation is very important in the seminary in order for the seminarians to be purified especially their vocation for the future ministry. Thus, having the crisis within the self is common for seminarians. That is why Formators are there to develop and cultivate the heart and intentions of the aspirants. On the other hand, the greatest thing that they must bring into this journey is their faith to God and always reminiscing how God called them.

These are the effective ways of making your seminary life worthy and blessed as you go along with this kind of journey. Whatever life that every person chooses, there would always be ways on how to embrace it wholeheartedly. It is just a matter of loving the things that you do and believing on what God plans for you.