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Seminary FAQ’s
By Fr. Dennis | July 18, 2003
Today I am leaving the best place I have ever worked, Venture Technologies, to enter seminary. My co-workers even took up a collection at the company headqarters in Jackson MS and sent it to me as a gift. I’m so humbled to be around such generous folk.
Here’s a brief FAQ for any of my co-workers who wonder what I’ll be doing next.
1. Why is Dennis leaving?
I’m leaving Venture to study for the Catholic priesthood.
2. How long will that take?
Minimum 5 years. Might take longer if I’m a slow learner. At the end of that time, I’ll be ordained and get to wear the white collar. (The oringal “white-collar” job.)
3. Where will Dennis study?
I will be studying at the St. Meinrad School of Theology. It’s owned and operated by a monastery that’s been ministering in southern Indiana since the 1850’s.
4. Is Dennis going to be a monk?
No. The monastery operates the seminary as a part of their “mission,” but most of the students there are just studying to become a normal every day generic priests.
5. What about women? Dating? Marriage? Family?
I won’t be allowed to marry, and since I won’t be marrying anyone, there’s not much point in dating. I’ll miss that, but I can still be friends with women. As regards having a family, I’m of the opinion that if a person doesn’t have it in them to be a decent husband and father, then they have no business entering the ministry. The same qualities that make a man a good husband and father would also make him a good priest and pastor.
6. Where will Dennis be after he finishes?
The Catholic Diocese of Memphis, headed by a local bishop, is sponsoring me in seminary, and when I’m finished I will return to Memphis to be ordained. Then the local bishop will assign me to a church. Unlike many Christian churches where a board of elders or deacons sets up a search committe to hire a preacher or a pastor, Catholics let the bishop assign church personnel to whatever job he decides they are best suited for.
7. Will Dennis have email? Telephone? Television? Electricity? Running water?
The seminary is like a college, and I’ll be living in a dorm. I am allowed to have a TV, but the nearest city with any TV stations is an hour’s drive away, so reception isn’t so good. There’s a TV lounge on each floor that is plugged into a satellite dish. Most of the dorm rooms have ethernet, but “first-years” like me get to stay in the unrenovated rooms, which have dialup. There are computer labs in several places though if I need broadband. I own a couple of cheap wireless devices, so maybe I’ll make friends with the school’s network administrator and everything will be OK. I’ll be sharing a bathroom with the other guys on my floor, with private shower stalls and all that, but when our part of the building is renovated, we’ll all have private bathrooms. The 2nd and 3rd-years and up get nice rooms with carpet and private baths and ethernet.
9. What will Dennis be doing all day?
Morning prayer is at 6:30 AM every day, followed by breakfast in the cafeteria. Then there are classes in the morning. Mass at noon or so. Then lunch. Then time to study. When I’ve been there a while, I’ll be assigned to go into Evansville or Owensboro or a nearby town to do ministry internships a couple times a week. That might mean hospital visits, working with kids in after-school programs, visiting the elderly, or whatever they decide is good for me.
10. Will Dennis ever be a bishop? Or a cardinal? Or pope?
Not likely. I don’t even want those jobs. I just want to work at a church and be a good priest and try to be a holy person and a good leader.
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