Since you are reading this blog, you might be interested in following a blog where seminarians and faculty post regularly. “Seminarian Casual” is the blog on the website for St Charles Borromeo Seminary in Philadelphia. FYI: This is where Pope Frances will be staying when he comes to Philadelphia for the World Meeting of Families (WMF). I expect we will see more posts from an insider’s perspective on these events, including hanging out with Pope Frances.
The post, Discernment: How Long is This Going to Take?, quotes and links to a “Seminarian Casual” post on the myths about a time frame for discernment. Scanning the blog reveals a a wide ranges of topics; some spiritual, others temporal including pop culture, music, politics and sports. This gives you an indication of how seminarians spend their free time.
One of the objections parents express about a son attending seminary is “You should live a little, get out there in the real world.” One myth of seminary is that you are completely cut off from the world and surrounded by an intense environment of indoctrination, discipline and sacrifice with little to no personal freedom.
When a young man goes to seminary, he does not stop living in the world. Between the Internet, cellphones, TV, Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat and instant messaging, your son is NOT cut off from the world. The post HERE: Advantages of Going to Seminary, describes the positive environment of the seminary which balances boundaries and responsibilities with free time. I was happy to learn that one of the boundaries was the same in our home: no TV in your bedroom.
The “Seminarian Casual” blog gives you an inside look at what seminarians are interested in, talking about and how they spend their free time. These thoughts came to me when I read the most recent “Seminarian Casual” post titled “2015 NFL Season Preview”. Now it is not so 
unusual for young guys to follow football. But when I read this post, I was astonished at the level of detail on the history, stats and current status of teams in the NFL divided by division. This level of detail has to come from a deep and ongoing passion for keeping up with everything from player trades to injuries to coaching strategies. I am sure there are obscure points of significance not in this post, which the author would be happy to discuss over a cold beer.
Their major in college may be Philosophy or Theology in graduate school, but you can bet these guys can argue the merits of the offensive strategies of the Philadelphia Eagles with the same passion as the classic works of St.Thomas Aquinas.
Here is just a sample of the post:
To read the rest of the post click HERE. 2015 NFL Season Preview for more analysis and predictions for this season. Last season, this blog periodically posted ongoing NFL analysis and commentary through the post season which I expect will continue this year.
Please know that the authors of this blog pray daily for parents of discerning sons and daughters to find understanding and peace.
Seminarian Parents 