Rev. Andrew B. Turner
Summer 2023
In this time of the National Eucharistic Revival, we are invited to reflect on the mystery of the most precious gift given to us by Jesus as a source of great hope and love for our Church.
Jesus’ Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity is present to us at every Mass, and we are always invited to make an act of faith in his presence. We have the opportunity to make acts of faith that God is who he says he is, and that he has fulfilled his promises and stands by his Word.
“This is my body, take and eat.” (Matt 26:26)
“I am with you always, even unto the end of time.” (Matt 28:20)
It is this act of faith which God has placed on the heart of the seminarian who is responding to the vocation to discern the priesthood in our Seminary. As it states in the Program of Priestly Formation, sixth edition:
“In the Eucharistic sacrifice, the seminarian learns to offer himself with Christ to the Father and receives spiritual sustenance, Christ’s own Flesh and Blood. In Holy Communion, he encounters Jesus Christ, crucified and risen, and opens himself to the transforming power of his self-giving and redeeming love. The Eucharist is the source of pastoral charity, the love that animates and directs those who walk in the footsteps of the Good Shepherd, who gives his life for his sheep so that they may live” (229a).
It is this act of faith and participation in the One Body which inspires lay men and women, and consecrated religious, too, to enter intentional prayer and study in our Seminary, and to share in collaborative ministry within the local Church and beyond.
It is this act of faith by our generous benefactors and donors who sustain our Seminary through their financial and prayerful support which allow the continuation of our mission to form men for the ordained priesthood and to serve as a center for the Diocese for advanced theological studies to prepare men and women for ecclesial service to the people of God.
As we enter this new year of formation, I invite all of us to make a renewed prayer, a new act of faith in the Presence of Jesus in the Eucharist and allow him to reveal himself to us in a new way. Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist is not static but dynamic. He wants to come to us to change us this year. He wants to change us into himself so we can be His presence in the world.
The Reverend Andrew B. Turner
President-Rector