This picture is of my dear friends here at Nashotah House a few months ago. They are proceeding from the Chapel of Saint Mary to bless the Cellar of Saint Gambrinus, while singing the Litany of the Saints. Former Benedictine monk Father Peay lead a ceremony of blessing with the appropriate Scripture readings. The pub has been a welcome watering hole for us seminarians to enjoy fellowship outside of the library, to pray, debate, and just relax.

The homework is piling up, Greek flashcards are everywhere, essays need to be written, and a small mountain of books need to be read. Getting a Masters degree is not at all like managing my house painting business. But I love the work.

I wish I could say Nashotah House was buried in swaths of snow, but the winter here has been unpleasantly tepid. God is grabbing me and really jostling me this semester. We’re digging deeper into Scripture in class, this semester especially the synoptic Gospels, and Greek is really wrangling my brain. I’ve purchased some pipe tobacco, and join some of the brothers every Friday night in the Cellar of Saint Gambrinus for pipes and a reading of our theological essays.

I gave my first sermon two weeks ago in the 150-year-old little red chapel. I preached on 1 Corinthians 9:24-27, Psalm 30:2-3, Mark 1:40-45, and 1 Kings 5, and how they are all related in the most beautiful and profound ways—recapitulation, transformation, and the imitatio Christi. All things considered, it went pretty well for a first sermon. With some trepidation, I decided not to stand behind the pulpit, but to stand with my Bible in my hands out in the open. I felt a bit naked, but all in all it was a positive experience, and I learned a lot—mainly that I have a lot to learn about public speaking.

I am preaching again this Sunday on Covenant and Baptism, while inviting the small congregation to join me in receiving 1 Peter 3:18-22, Genesis 9:8-17, Mark 1:9-15, and Psalm 25:1-9. I’m calling it: “Death by Water!”

Every day I pray that God would continue to work in me, and prepare me to serve in His ministry in Minneapolis. Christ is already there, working, loving, and bringing about His Kingdom. Although I love the challenge of the studies and spiritual formation here at Nashotah, I can’t wait to join Him more directly through Word and Sacrament.

Slowly, yet persistently, I feel a deepening call to be a parish priest—to marry people and bury people, to hear confessions and make house calls, to love people deeply and to serve, to visit the hospital and to preach the Gospel through word and deed, however ordinary.

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