Annual Report 2016 I Am Deeply Grateful to Have Motion a New Vision of Pastoral Formation, and My Immediate Been Appointed President Predecessor Fr
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ST. MARY ’ S SEMINARY&UNIVERSITY Annual Report 2016 I am deeply grateful to have motion a new vision of pastoral formation, and my immediate been appointed President predecessor Fr. Tom Hurst who brought years of national and Rector of America’s first Roman international seminary experience to St. Mary’s. Catholic Seminary. Over the Administrators, faculty, staff, students, Board Members and past six months I have had the everyone affiliated with St. Mary’s exudes the kind of opportunity to renew my confidence that comes from being associated with America’s appreciation of St. Mary’s first Catholic seminary and university with such an outstanding remarkable history and program of priestly formation. Rev. Phillip J. Brown, P.S.S. impressive strengths. For my President Rector St. Mary’s has exceptional faculty members and administrators. first annual report letter I would The quality of our program in the School of Theology and St. like to share some thoughts Mary’s Ecumenical Institute is unexcelled, as is our priestly about St. Mary’s strengths and formation work. Maintaining and enhancing the quality of that how I would like to continue building its program during my program is a top priority. tenure. Our theme for this year’s annual report is Responsible Stewardship . The essays in this report will articulate that theme We are committed to preparing well-balanced, committed and in relation to leadership, seminarian formation and the hardworking priests to lead today’s parishes! We want to spiritual foundation which shapes everything we do at St. graduate priests who are ready to step into their assignments Mary’s Seminary & University. from day one with the pastoral sensitivity, spiritual depth and pastoral and administrative competence needed for effective St. Mary’s has many strengths, the greatest being our pastoral leadership in the Church of today guided by our seminarians. We have a gifted group of seminarians who show beloved Pope Francis. every indication of becoming good, holy, healthy priests. Going forward, maintaining high admissions standards is St. Mary’s Center for Continuing Formation, has been crucial. My life experience as both a civil and canon lawyer, providing outstanding programs of ongoing education and with experience in juvenile court and family matters, has taught formation since 1996, inspired by St. John Paul II’s focus on me about the complexity of human behavior and the continuing formation throughout a priest’s active years. importance of interpreting it correctly; also what can be done to help people develop self-discipline and healthy behavior Finally, ecumenism. the Ecumenical Institute has been a part patterns. It has taught me the importance of mercy, but also of of St. Mary’s for almost 50 years, fulfilling the Church’s accountability and achieving measurable results. Applied to unbending commitment to superior theological education and priestly formation, this constitutes a strong foundation for dialogue among Christians of different traditions, and among assessing what works best in properly evaluating and forming Christians and non-Christians in efforts to bring us closer seminarians to be the kind of priests and pastors the Church together. We want the EI to be recognized as the unique and and the People of God deserve. There is a special joy, and deep unsurpassed venue for promoting Christian unity and inter- satisfaction in watching young men grow in maturity, self- faith dialogue that it is. discipline and pastoral skills and sensitivity over their time in I am grateful to Archbishop Lori, the Sulpician Provincial the seminary. Council and the Board of Trustees for the opportunity to serve Another great strength is the confidence of those involved with as President Rector of St. Mary’s. I ask for your continued St. Mary’s. I served on the faculty and as Dean of the School of prayers and support. Let me mention one final exceptional Theology from 2001-2006. It is exciting to return after ten strength: St. Mary’s benefactors. We are so deeply grateful to years and see all that has come to fruition, especially with everyone mentioned in this Report. Alumni, benefactors and respect to pastoral formation. Pastoral formation is where all friends have supported our mission for many decades. The areas of formation come together: human, spiritual, entire St. Mary’s community joins me in thanking you for all intellectual and pastoral. We are in the business of providing you have done for St. Mary’s. Our mission is the same as it was parishes with good pastors; the Church with good priests. 225 years ago, that St. Mary’s has been accomplishing so well: Seeing the good pastors St. Mary’s is sending out to spend their To provide outstanding priests and other graduates for lives in ministry to the people of God fuels a special passion ministerial service to the Church of the United States. We within me to continue that good work, to cultivate it and help cannot do this without your support. I hope the essays in this it grow. Building on the work of my outstanding predecessors Report give you an even better understanding of the important is humbling and deeply gratifying: Fr. Bob Leavitt, who work you are making possible. Thank you so very much. provided outstanding leadership for many years and set in 1 RESPONSIBLE STEWARDSHIP Rev. Phillip J. Brown, P.S.S., STB, JD, JCD Fr. Brown signs the Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity as the 16th President of St. Mary’s Seminary & University. “Responsible stewardship” has been the overarching member and chairman; as university theology dean, theme of my life as a Christian, my priesthood, and my rector of two seminaries, and now President Rector of ministry. It is the attitude I want to impart to St. Mary’s. I often, though not exclusively, see things seminarians and future priests as ministers of the through the lens of civil and canon law, management Gospel and pastors. The idea of Christian stewardship and Church administration. But everything I’ve done as is found in the Sacred Scriptures. It involves five aspects a priest has been directed toward cultivating my own and of priesthood and pastoral ministry as I understand others’ spiritual life, teaching the Catholic faith, and them: forming good pastors. • Personal qualities Church administrators are required to make an • Parishioners inventory of the goods they administer; secular • Personnel administrators the same. Our faith encourages a regular • Facilities examination of conscience, a kind of spiritual inventory. One very successful rehabilitation program • Finance starts with a rigorous personal inventory. Responsible I have background as a lawyer and business manager; as stewardship begins by taking stock of what we have to Pastor and Priests Personnel Board chairman; as high work with, and how best to use it to fulfill our school chaplain, school superintendent, school board responsibilities. 2 In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus says: good care of oneself. It’s about assuring the parish is well taken Which of you wishing to construct a tower does not care of, and parishioners well-served sacramentally, individually, spiritually, socially as a community, and first sit down and calculate the cost to see if there is temporally. Yes, it’s also about paying bills, keeping the lights enough for its completion? Otherwise, after laying on, the building heated or air-conditioned, and well the foundation and finding himself unable to finish maintained, and making sure employees are paid just wages. It’s the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, about everything that goes into sensitive pastoral care and good “This one began to build but did not have the pastoral administration. resources to finish.” The Catholic faith is for this world! Directing us toward the Or what king marching into battle would not first sit down and world to come, it is practiced in this world. We are called to decide whether with ten thousand troops he can successfully bring the Catholic faith to today’s world and make it oppose another king advancing upon him with twenty thousand comprehensible to the people of today. It’s about the pastoral troops? needs of today’s Catholics, and missionary evangelization of the world that’s out there today. PERSONAL QUALITIES PERSONNEL We ask seminarians to do an honest inventory of their talents, skills, dispositions and tendencies. Doing this at the outset and Pastoral ministry involves responsible and sensitive stewardship throughout life is the surest way to marshal and use one’s of employees and volunteers who serve the Church. It’s about resources in the most effective way: to grow in one’s spiritual personnel management that accords with the values and life; to lead others in their spiritual lives; to cultivate fruitful sensibilities of the Catholic faith. We teach seminarians sound prayer and spiritual lives; to develop sound, sensitive pastoral principles of human resource management at St. Mary’s. skills; and to fulfill the many administrative responsibilities of a Stewardship is not just about the needs of the institution, but pastor. We help seminarians to do this so they will be also the personal needs of employees and volunteers. outstanding pastors and spiritual leaders. PARISHIONERS Responsible stewardship of parishioners begins with a profound respect for them and their human dignity. It manifests a deep desire to help them grow spiritually and in their personal lives. It involves individual ministry and community building. It is about being a “man for others” and knowing that priests are ordained to be pastors, not policemen. It’s about being available to serve other’s needs, while also taking Fr. Brown teaching Canon Law of Marriage to the third year theologians.