Bonjour from Ars, France!
Bonjour from Ars, France! After a delay that gave us a day to spend in Madrid, Spain (and a lot less sleep!), we finally arrived in France early Wednesday morning. Thanks be to God that the jet lag wore off before we began our retreat Friday!
We are just about to finish a wonderful retreat given by Father Christopher Mahar of the Diocese of Providence on what it means to be a priest in this time we call the New Evangelization. Father Mahar has connected so well the life of Saint John Vianney to the life we are called to as future priests, especially in terms of our prayer. Each of us will be sent to our own Ars, our own parish that we are called to bring closer to Christ. A priest cannot bring others closer to Christ if he is not first close to Him. You cannot give what you do not have!
The Rome Experience is about seeing Rome with prayerful eyes, not just tourist eyes! This whole experience is meant to be for the benefit of the people that we will serve one day. This is why we begin with retreat; it is the foundation for the rest of the experience to build upon. There is no better place to do this than Ars, where one can literally walk the same road, pray in the same church as, and pray before the body of Saint John Vianney. It is enough to move any seminarian to a greater love of his vocation.
I can honestly say that this has been one of the most life-changing retreats I have been on. Stay tuned for more updates on our travels and know that we are praying for each of you every step of the way.
Robert Little
The Rome Experience Class of 2016
Diocese of Burlington
Ordination 2019