I am pleased to announce that we have a new seminarian who will be starting his formation this month. Joe Pearson is a native of Flora and attended St. Richard Elementary, St. Joseph Middle and High School, Co-Lin Community College and the University of Mississippi. He graduated from Ole Miss in December and decided to apply to enter the seminary. I have known Joe since he was in high school and am very proud that he is taking this step in his journey with the Lord. Joe knows that his decision to enter the seminary is not a decision to become a priest, but rather it is a decision to discern fully whether or not the Lord is calling him to be a priest.

The seminary is the place where men who have the maturity and the desire go to know their vocation. The guys who enter do not know for sure that they will be ordained. They literally cannot know for sure because they are not the only ones who are making the decision. The church discerns with the man as well, and it’s my job as vocation director to help our seminarians discover their particular path. I am very happy with the group that we have studying for our diocese. I believe that each of our seminarians was called to the seminary and will become who they are called to be by the Lord, whether they get ordained or not.
Over the Christmas holidays I’ve been blessed to host three of our seminarians here at the Cathedral Rectory: Will Foggo, Wilson Locke and Francisco Maldonado. Will is one of our senior-most seminarians while Wilson and Francisco just started back in August. We had a great time and I believe that the best way to prepare men for the priesthood is to give them a realistic look at what being a priest is like. They were able to participate in various events from meetings to parties, but they also have blessed our Catholic community by their witness and their talents. Will and Francisco visited two of our elementary schools and Wilson and I will visit Sr. Thea Bowman School in January before he goes back to seminary. All of them have assisted with Masses and helped with parish activities as well.
One testament to the quality of our seminarians is the feedback that I receive from the community. Wilson and I have been going to a local gym downtown to exercise in the afternoon. One of the employees shared with me how impressed he was by Wilson’s witness when he had a brief conversation with him one day. I am grateful for our seminarians and ask you to continue praying for all of them as they embark on another semester of formation.

Father Nick Adam, vocation director

(Father Nick Adam can be contacted at nick.adam@jacksondiocese.org.)