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From our Pastoral Intern Eben MacDonald
This week I am writing about the fourth and final pillar of seminary
formation: pastoral formation. Pastoral formation is where all the
pillars come together, preparing men to go out into the world among the
People of God as shepherds, following after Christ, the Good Shepherd.
Pastoral formation is where “the rubber meets the road” as seminarians
put into practice all of the theology have studied in real life pastoral
ministry. The seminary trains us in pastoral formation through classroom
study, supervised field ministry, and teaching us the practice of
theological reflection, which is the ability to connect our ministry
with the Gospel to answer the question: “How have I experienced the
presence of Christ in my ministry?”
To employ a medical analogy, a priest is not a specialist, he is a
general practitioner. A priest is called upon to be able to minister in
a wide range of pastoral situations, so a priest must receive a broad
spectrum of training in pastoral ministry. That is where supervised
field ministry comes in. Each year during our seminary training we do a
different type of field ministry and are evaluated by on-site
supervisors. During my seminary career thus far, I have worked at the
Ventura County Rescue Mission preparing and serving food to the homeless
and ministering to recovering addicts, I have worked at a convalescent
hospital ministering to the elderly and infirmed, and I have taught at
Alemany Catholic High School. All of that was in preparation to come to
Sacred Heart this year as a pastoral intern and I have gained a wide
variety of pastoral experience during this internship. Next summer I
will spend several weeks doing hospital ministry and then upon my
ordination to the transitional diaconate in Fall 2012 I will begin
pastoral ministry as a deacon, all of this leading up to priestly
ordination in 2012.
I have enjoyed all of my field ministry experiences and am convinced God
is calling me to full-time professional ministry as a priest. I look to
serving the People of God as a good priest. |
