Why do I have a website?
Why do I have a website?
No, it isn't for a seminary assignment
I have been living in Columbus for the past five years, so naturally I have met a few seminarians from the area. Columbus was one of the first diocese to implement the new PPF (program for priestly formation) that released in March 2022. I will not be participating in the new PPF yet, but my Columbus seminarian friends already completed what they call the "Propaedeutic Stage." I was curious on what this entailed, so I reasearched it a bit.
I found out that St. Paul Seminary in Minnesota was a prototype for this and tried it for the 2021-2022 calendar year. In order to emphasize the community life as the PPF calls for, they implemented a mandatory media fast. St Paul's says this:
"Aspirants, as they’re formally known, take part in a media fast to help each seminarian to re-order their relationship with technology and engage in deeper reflection on themselves and the world around them. Aspirants do not have access to phones, tablets or computers from Sunday through Friday. An appropriate amount of technology use is accepted on Saturday to communicate with friends and family."
Now in Cleveland, this is not demanded of us, but the idea excited me. I have a large dependecy on technology both for school and my personal life.
Is it really that useful though?
Due to the fault of my own sinfulness, I have developed a bad relationship with technology. I feel a pull to it, and I tend to use it to just "unplug" from reality when I am tired. Ironic right?
I won't fully be able to ditch my phone, laptop, and tablet like St Paul Seminary demands, but I still feel called to abstain from the optional parts of technology in my life like social media, YouTube, instant access to the news, and unlimited browing time.
That is where this website comes in. I copied the idea from my friend John Paul Gan who is studying at the Josephinum for the Diocese of Steubenville (Check out his site here). This provides a place for me to update friends and family with what I am doing without being additictive or burdensome. I hope that this tool can help me to engage in online relationships in a much healthier manor.
I also hope the prayer request page gets a lot of traction!
As a seminarian, we are required to start praying the Liturgy of the Hours with the rest of the church. The entire reason that monastic communities exist is to intercede on behalf of the church. They may seem disconnected from reality, but they are on the front lines of the spiritual war that is taking place.
I may not be considered a "religious" but I am still called to pray much more than the majority of the laity with full time jobs and families. I feel that the Lord is inviting me to step into this role as intercessor, especially since it has been a weakness of mine in the past.
If it doesn't catch on, at least it was free to setup ¯\_(ツ)_/¯