August 8, 2024 // Bishop

‘Lake Week’ Offers Seminarians a Chance for Rest, Fellowship

Clare Hildebrandt

Reporter

There comes a time when young men need to get away and spend time with their friends, and the seminarians of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend are no different. Because most had recently finished their summer assignments, ranging from serving in local parishes to spending a portion of their summer in Guatemala working on their Spanish, the young men were in need of rest. “Lake Week” provided an opportune time for rejuvenation.

Throughout the week that straddled the end of July and the beginning of August, diocesan seminarians gathered at Noll Hall, the diocese’s residence on Lake Wawasee in Syracuse, for relaxation and leisure. Daily prayer was coupled with watching movies, boating, cooking, and other leisure activities. On Wednesday, July 31, seminarian Nicholas Monnin, who is studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, made Italian food – a pesto dish, caprese salad, and bruschetta. The lunch followed a Mass at nearby St. Martin de Porres Parish, which was celebrated by Bishop Rhoades, who joined the seminarians for the meal and fellowship.

During the week, “We all cook together, clean together,” said seminarian Michael Hickey, who will be continuing his studies at St. Meinrad Seminary in southern Indiana in the fall. “It strengthens the relationships we already had,” he said, and gives the seminarians a chance “to meet the new guys.”   

Thomas Bundy, one of the “new guys,” explained, “The fact that the diocese sends us to three different seminaries makes it hard to keep in regular contact.” Bundy recently finished his propaedeutic year at Bishop Simon Bruté Seminary in Indianapolis, while other seminarians for the diocese study at St. Meinrad or Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Monnin and Patrick Ernst study in Rome.

Full of much conversation and laughter, Noll Hall provides the perfect location for seminarians to reunite and take advantage of the limited time they have together.

“Having a whole week to grow in relationships is really fruitful,” Bundy said.

Father Jonathan Norton, Director of Seminarians for the diocese, agreed and said, “My personal goal is … getting to know them even more, on a deeper level, sharing the camaraderie and facilitating some of it.”

A perfect example was his plan for the young men to tell more about their lives with Christ. “There will be an evening where all the guys sit down and share vocation stories,” he said.

“Lake Week” has occurred annually for the last 20 years
or so, and through the decades, there have been many memories made.

Father Norton told Today’s Catholic that, at one point, the diocese owned a small boat – until it sank during “Lake Week.”

“They had guys who were too heavy on the front of the boat. When they slowed down, [the boat] tipped and sank.”

Now, friends and family will lend the young men pontoons to take out into the water for the week. Thankfully, it has quite literally been smooth sailing since the previous boat accident.

“Lake Week” serves to “carry on the tradition and character of strong fraternity” among the clergy in the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, according to Bishop Rhoades. It provides the fulfilling connection so needed during the formation process.

Bishop Rhoades is an advocate of “Lake Week,” during which he celebrated Mass for the seminarians on July 31 – the feast of St. Ignatius of Loyola. In his homily, he urged the young men to adopt the “holy indifference” of the Spanish saint.

“Ignatian holy indifference is a beautiful spiritual attitude and disposition, but it’s tough,” Bishop Rhoades said in his homily. To be spiritually indifferent requires a surrender of well-being to divine provision and a manifestation of trust, Bishop Rhoades said, explaining that it takes great discipline to trust in divine providence to the point of material detachment. Catholics ought to use created things “only if they help us reach heaven” and thus for “the greater glory of God.”

Bishop Rhoades ended his homily by urging the young men to maintain a “constant prayer life,” as it leads to greater detachment in the spiritual life. Their efforts to do so will produce lasting fruit in their vocation, particularly an unwavering confidence in the divine, he said.

“[And] that confidence will manifest when you step forward to receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders, when you offer your whole lives to God as a sacrifice,” Bishop Rhoades said.

Hickey said he appreciated the spiritual guidance given during “Lake Week.”

“The guys here really take you under their wings and show you there is nothing to be afraid of.”