Seminarians (from left) Christopher Brock, Peter Rusciolelli and Chinonso Nnebe-Agumadu are pictured with Bishop Peter Jugis after Mass July 17 at St. Patrick Cathedral, where they were instituted as acolytes. (SueAnn Howell | Catholic News Herald)CHARLOTTE — Bishop Peter Jugis conferred the ministry of acolyte on three seminarians – Christopher Brock, Chinonso Nnebe-Agumadu and Peter Rusciolelli – during Mass July 17 at St. Patrick Cathedral.
In his homily, Bishop Jugis told them, “As men discerning the vocation to the priesthood, your institution to the ministry of acolyte is essential to the discernment of that vocation. By serving at the Eucharistic sacrifice as an officially instituted minister of the Church, you are participating in the Lord’s own sacrifice.”
He explained that they are being formed and prepared for that day of their priestly ordination, “when, on your knees and holding the paten containing the bread and the chalice containing the wine mixed with water for the celebration of the Mass, you are told: ‘Understand what you do, imitate what you celebrate, and conform your life to the mystery of the Lord’s cross.’”
Bishop Jugis noted that they now have a special role in the Church’s ministry. “It is your responsibility to assist priests and deacons in carrying out their ministry and, as extraordinary ministers, to give Holy Communion to the faithful at the liturgy and to the sick,” he said.
“Because you are specially called to this ministry, you should strive to live more fully by the Lord’s sacrifice and to be molded more perfectly in His likeness. You should seek to understand the deep spiritual meaning of what you do so that you may offer yourselves to God as spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Him through Jesus Christ,” Bishop Jugis said.
“In performing your ministry, bear in mind that as you share the one Bread with your brothers and sisters, so you form one Body with them and show a sincere love for Christ’s Mystical Body, God’s holy people, and especially for the weak and the sick,” he emphasized.
Bishop Jugis concluded his homily by telling the men, “Be obedient to the commandment which the Lord gave to His Apostles at the Last Supper: ‘Love one another as I also have loved you.’”
Brock, Nnebe-Agumadu and Rusciolelli have two more years of theological studies and spiritual formation remaining at The Athenaeum, Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio, before being considered for ordination to the priesthood.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
CHARLOTTE — Seven young men have been accepted to St. Joseph College Seminary this fall, bringing the total enrollment to 24.
Robbie Bauman, Marshall Bolling, Matthew Brakefield, Kolbe Flood, Ryan Ma, Emanuel Martinez and Matthew Stanley – the seven members of the incoming “Foxtrot class” – were welcomed by the college seminary’s rector, Father Matthew Kauth, during Mass Aug. 1 at St. Ann Church in Charlotte. After Mass, they moved in to their quarters at the seminary’s new home in Mount Holly.
In his homily, Father Matthew Kauth encouraged the men to look forward in faith, connecting the readings of the day to people’s hunger for something more than what the world offers.
“You can labor for bread all your lives. But man doesn’t live on bread alone, but by the words that come forth from the mouth of God,” Father Kauth reminded the congregation. The Israelites and Jesus’ followers recognized this, and so too do the young men who are beginning the discernment process as college seminarians.
“The reason you sit here is because whatever you had … wasn’t sufficient,” he said.
As Jesus explained in the Gospel of John, “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life.” Instead, Jesus tells them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.”
This is a challenge from Jesus, Father Kauth told the men, to look at the world with different eyes. “It means He is going to teach you how to live a supernatural life.”
“When He made wine … it wasn’t wine that reminds Him of blood. On the contrary, He made wine thinking about His own Blood. When He made bread … He designed it after His own flesh, which we receive. That’s a supernatural way of thinking.”
Becoming a parish priest means feeding other people with the Bread of Life and the Word of God, he said.
“You’re stepping up now because you want to be able to feed the people that are (sitting) behind you. That means you have to live a supernatural life.”
“So each time you come up against that little bit of longing or the desire to turn your shoulder and look behind you again,” he said, “that’s the moment when you do the work of faith and say, ‘I believe you, Lord. My hand is on the plow, and I will keep my eyes forward.’
“That is the work of faith. So – let’s get to work.”
Established in 2016, St. Joseph College Seminary is for undergraduate men discerning a possible religious vocation, before taking the step of enrolling in a major seminary for specific formation to the priesthood for the Diocese of Charlotte. Students work toward a bachelor’s degree at nearby Belmont Abbey College while experiencing a Benedictine-style communal life on their path of discernment
The diocese’s seminarian program continues to grow, with a total of 45 men now in various stages of formation.
— Patricia L. Guilfoyle, editor
Pictured at top: St. Joseph College Seminary is welcoming seven new college seminarians this fall: Robbie Bauman, Marshall Bolling, Matthew Brakefield, Kolbe Flood, Ryan Ma, Emanuel Martinez and Matthew Stanley. They are pictured with Father Matthew Kauth, college seminary rector (center); Father John Putnam, the diocese's judicial vicar; Father Matthew Buettner, the seminary’s house spiritual director; and clergy from St. Ann Church in Charlotte.