The Diocese of Plymouth currently has several men at various stages of formation. From time to time we share their reflections on what life is like as a seminarian. Hugo Lomax has been living in Sacred Heart Parish for the last few months before returning to Allen Hall.
“When Jesus was forming his first disciples he didn’t keep them with him the whole time, but as is recorded by Matthew, Mark and Luke, he sent them out ahead of him to all the towns he was to visit. My own journey of discipleship this year took me to Sacred Heart parish in Exeter where I have been living for the last few months.
When I talk about what I am doing in Exeter I’ll often say something like, “I’m here to shadow Fr Petroc and learn from him”, but then I worry that I’m slipping into the language of workplace training and professional development. Jesus didn’t just send his disciples out on a fact-finding mission, he gave them authority to preach, heal and cast out demons.
“By Baptism [we] share in the priesthood of Christ, in his prophetic and royal mission” (Catechism of the Catholic Church 1268); so I like to think that my time in Exeter has been not so much a looking and learning exercise as a time of growing into the priestly identity I received in my baptism. While the ministerial priesthood differs from the common priesthood of the faithful “in essence and not only in degree” (Lumen Gentium 10), preparation for the former first requires the latter to be discovered and lived out to the full. How is that done? “In receiving the sacraments, in prayer and thanksgiving, in the witness of a holy life, and by self-denial and active charity.” (LG 10) So that is really what these months in Exeter have been about; (and, yes, learning how to husband a diva-ish photocopier).
Now as my time here is drawing to an end, I am excited to launch into the next phase of my formation at Allen Hall, but it is with no small twinge of sadness that I will be taking my leave of this place and the people who have made me feel so much a part of their family.”
If you are discerning the call, the Diocese of Plymouth is here to support you with our prayers and with our work to help you discern as fully as possible. Please find here various resources from guidance for prayer, some introductory materials about the priesthood, and ways to take your discernment forward.