Spiritual Conference – November 7, 2022

Pope St. John Paul II, in his apostolic exhortation (Pastores Dabo Vobis, 36), emphasizes that the seminarians must be enabled to discern "the free and gracious intervention of God who calls" and to freely respond to him. Accordingly, the seminary had arranged for a spiritual conference on November 7, 2022, on the theme "The Experience of God—EUREKA," and it was animated by Dn Naveen. He shared many of his personal experiences and lessons learned. He highlighted that from his life experience he has learned about "EMI" (E – There is emptiness in life, M – Life is mortal, and I – We are incomplete). He also stated that God is actively present in our EMI, but we are not tuned in. He also quoted many scripture references to strengthen the point: "relating our life experiences with the scripture will help us to understand the eureka: God is there with us." He quoted 2 Pet 1:5-8: "For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with goodness, and goodness with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love," and italicized that we need to reflect on our faith every day to understand the very presence of God in our lives. Finally, he concluded that we need to honor our parents and that in all our endeavors we need to be part of our community.

Br Roger Ruther Ford 1st Year Philosophy