the Social seminarian

Last night, I attended the Saint Paul's Outreach Fundraiser Banquet. They celebrated 20 years of bringing young adults into the life of Christian discipcleship. My own life has been affected by this ministry. I lived in an SPO household in the Fall of 2000 when I moved to the Twin Cities from Los Angeles. With the job I had as the new Assistant Youth Director at a local parish, I had difficulties honoring household committments. So I made the decision at there was a conflict of interests, but I still believed in the ideal of living in a Christian household with other men who are pursuing a life of Christian discipleship.

When, a few years later, I made the decision to enter the seminary, I had known about a group of diocesan clergy here, the Companions of Christ, who have the same roots as SPO. These are a group of men who live in household, builing a common Christian life together as priests in active ministry. I knew right away that this was the chance for me to finally do what I was not able to do before. Though my time in household was a short one, I manitained many friendships with the men and women from SPO. Some have become my closest friends. We look forward to getting together for "family time" as often as our busy schedules allow.

This is one of the things that I learned through SPO. There is a unique bond that is forged among those who pursue Christ closely, not just admire Him from a distance. This is one of the reasons why I think SPO is such a potent witness on university campuses. There is something palpably Christian about them, different than what I have encountered from others. I think that they have a good handle on the notion of evangelization: their lives have been personally and deeply touched by Jesus Christ such that in their ministry, people listen "... more willingly to witnesses than to teachers, and if [they] listen to teachers, it is because they are witnesses." (cf. Pope Paul VI, Evangelii Nuntiandi, 41.)