With a Little Help From My Friends

This past Winter Break, I was able to spend the New Year Holidays hiking parts of the Appalachian Trail in Virginia and West Virginia. Together with a good friend from the seminary, we hiked up and down mountains, through small towns, and across rivers. It was an amazing experience.

Throughout our time there, we always made sure to make time for prayer and Mass. It was a great experience visiting new churches, or praying the Liturgy of the Hours along the trail. It showed me the importance of two lessons I have learned in my time at the seminary.

First, God is always with us if we choose to look for Him. There were times when we could have slept longer in the morning and missed Mass, but we didn’t. We could have neglected our prayers throughout the day, but we chose not to. We found God in every part of our trip. The second thing it shows us is that it is always better to be with a friend. Sometimes when we are by ourselves, we choose to do the lazy or wrong thing. With a friend, we are able to be held accountable for our actions as well as holding them accountable for their actions as well. The life of a diocesan priest can lead us to an assignment where we are by ourselves in our rectory, but we are never totally alone. We need friendships, just like we need God in our lives.

While the scenery and the experiences we had were a great part of the trip, the best part for me was the fraternity and prayer that I was able to share with a fellow seminarian. Our friends are some of the greatest gifts that God can give us. Our journeys to God are always more fun when we have a companion to journey with.