Two seminarians received as candidates
Bishop Michael Olson stands after the Rite of Candidacy with Caleb Scott (left) and Cristian Diaz. (NTC/Juan Guajardo)
PILOT POINT — “You have arrived at the moment when you are to express openly your desire to be bound in Holy Orders for the service of God and mankind,” said Bishop Michael Olson to seminarians Cristian Diaz and Caleb Scott, during their Rite of Candidacy at St. Thomas the Aquinas Parish in Pilot Point on June 15.
The Mass represents the point of their acceptance of the Lord’s calling to the priesthood and the Church officially receiving them.
During the Rite of Candidacy, the two men said “I do” to resolutions to complete their preparation for Holy Orders and for faithful service to Christ and His Church.
On the surface, they begin wearing the distinctive white clerical collar around their neck. But at the core, the occasion signifies the end of the second stage of formation, discipleship, where they’ve conformed to Jesus through prayer, rigorous study of philosophy, and self-awareness. Now, they begin the third stage, configuration, by studying theology, modeling their life after Jesus, and committing to the duties of priesthood.
“We were in their shoes once,” said Javier Escutia, a seminarian who studies at Assumption Seminary in San Antonio. “It’s not just them who discern, but the Church who discerns with them.”
Configuration
In his homily, Bishop Olson demonstrated the configuration phase through the actions of St. Isaac Jogues, a French missionary sent to Quebec to evangelize the Algonquin and Huron Indians. St. Jogues would go on to become one of the first North American martyrs of the New World.
When members of his group were ambushed by a rival Mohawk tribe on the way to the St. Lawrence River, the Jesuit priest was knocked down and fell out of sight of the enemy.
“[He] had to make a decision,” Bishop Olson said. “Either to remain hidden among the weeds or to come out with courage.”
He chose to come out and be with his converts, where he suffered persecution and great physical pain and humiliation.
“The configuration stage is, in a sense, for us to develop the courage to remain out of the weeds that hide us and offer us an opaque way of life where we hide behind titles or we hide behind studies or we hide from our true selves when the Lord asks us to empty ourselves.”
Diaz, a recent graduate of St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington, Louisiana, understood the gravity of the moment.
“[It] acts as something more tangible and real to what I’m saying yes to,” Diaz said. Throughout this process, Diaz felt that God “wasn’t asking me to do all these things that I think I should be doing, rather how can I be used, how can I serve, and give of myself.”
Diaz affirmed his commitment by saying he is going to be “this instrument that the Lord can use.”
God’s sense of humor
Meanwhile his brother, Ricky, thought the event demonstrated God’s sense of humor. Ricky explained that he, himself, was in seminary for a little over two years, before becoming a successful barber in Fort Worth. Conversely, Cristian, prior to entering seminary, had a girlfriend, worked in construction, and traveled.
“We didn’t come from much … but Cris always worked hard to get where he needed to be,” Ricky said. However, he noticed his brother’s desire for something more in life.
“When he got a taste of what the world had to offer, he realized how hollow and how not fulfilling it was,” he said.
Humility in the moment
Scott, another St. Joseph graduate, said marking a change in the phase of formation represents a beautiful moment of humility.
“It’s given me an opportunity to learn to love the Lord and depend on Him.” Scott said. “To know who Jesus is and what He’s done for me.”
Heading east
Both seminarians are heading east to continue their theology studies. This fall, Diaz will attend the Theological College, affiliated with the Catholic University of America in Washington D.C., and Scott will attend St. Mary's Seminary in Baltimore, Maryland.
Bishop Olson concluded, “The Church accepts your resolve with joy and may God who began a good work in you bring it to fulfillment.”