It is hard to believe that another academic year is here, and we are back to sitting in the classroom. One of the highlights of this formation year is the fact that I am no longer the only Camden Seminarian studying at Saint Joseph’s Seminary (Dunwoodie). This past August, I was accompanied by Stephen Robbins and Logan Nelson back up to Yonkers. It is great to have other guys from South Jersey to speak about Wawa, the Jersey Shore, and the Eagles. Also, I am no longer the only one at Dunwoodie that pronounces “water” the correct way!

At the beginning of this year we had Bishop Caggiano, from the Diocese of Bridgeport, give our opening retreat. The bishop spoke about the theme of hope within the lives of seminarians and priests. All of us enjoyed the retreat and how open Bishop Caggiano was with
what is going on in the Church at this present hour. After our excellent retreat, we had a conference given by Dr. Tim Grey, who is the founder of the Augustine Institute from Denver, Colorado. Within this conference, Dr. Grey spoke about the need for apologetics within the Catholic Church during this time of the New Evangelization. Both of these topics helped all the seminarians in preparing ourselves for this semester of formation ahead. Please know of the seminarian’s prayers for all the faithful of our diocese, and please pray for us, as we continue to follow the way of the Lord in our lives.