God Knows What He’s Doing: A Seminarians Convocation of Faith, Fraternity, and Joy

From July 26–30, 2026, our seminarians gathered for the third annual Seminarian Convocation, held this year at the Divine Word Retreat Center in Riverside. It's one of the few retreat houses spacious enough to hold all of our men under one roof, and for many of them, that meant a new and humbling experience: sleeping in a room with fifteen beds, surrounded by the very unglamorous, very human symphony of each other's snoring.

It sounds like a small thing. But it was, in its own way, a lesson in communion and fraternity that none of them chose and none of them controlled. And that is so often how God teaches us, not in the moments we plan for, but in the ones we simply have to live through together.

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A Retreat Master Who Embodied the Theme

That theme of community was carried and deepened by our retreat master this year, Fr. Gary Sanders, OSA, an Augustinian priest ordained for over fifty years, and for fourteen of those years the provincial of his order's Western Province. As if that weren't enough of a gift to our seminarians, Fr. Gary is also a good friend of Pope Leo XIV. In fact, at the close of our Convocation, he sat down and wrote a letter to the Holy Father, WHO RESPONDED, which you can read below.

It was, truly, a special retreat. Fr. Gary reminded us that community, whether religious or diocesan, is not an accessory to priestly life. It is the core of who we are. God does not call each man to the priesthood because he fits a particular mold, but precisely because he doesn't. The Church is made up of all our differences, each man a distinct part of one Body. Fr. Gary reassured every seminarian in the room that the "nudge" God has placed in his heart is the very reason he is there. It is not an accident, and it is not even, in the end, a matter of our own desire, everything is a response to God's Divine Will and Love, and that response is where the beauty of a vocation is found.

The Hard, Holy Work of Community

For many of our seminarians, community life is the hardest part of formation. Those of us who are already priests know this well, and we also know it is one of the greatest blessings we are ever given. I can say for myself that I would not have made it through seminary without my brothers standing beside me.

All weekend, Fr. Gary kept telling me how struck he was by this particular group of men, how lively, talkative, and supportive of one another they were. "Something good is really happening in this Diocese," he said more than once. He also noted, with appreciation, that our formators were present for the entire Convocation alongside their seminarians.

A Diocese Full of Talent — and a God Who Knows What He's Doing

God is clearly shaping our Diocese through these men who are willing to lay down their lives for Him and for others. But there's something else worth noting: I have never met a group of men so gifted across so many areas of life, reciting Scripture verses verbatim,

playing soccer like seasoned professionals, singing sacred and secular music as if they'd just received the golden buzzer in America Got Talent Show. God really does know what He's doing.

Bishop Rojas Among His Seminarians

On the last evening of the retreat, Bishop Rojas joined us for dinner, socializing, and karaoke night, and he even opened the karaoke competition himself, singing two songs to get things started. His presence and participation said everything about his love for the seminarians and for the Church. He showed his future priests, God willing, what it looks like to be both human and holy.

Sent Out, and Still Being Formed

What the world desires is not what God desires. What God desires are men who come to know themselves the way He created them to be known, and that is the quiet, patient work of formation. Convocation is a gathering centered on Christ, and every seminarian leaves it transformed. But the work continues, because we are gathered only to be sent out again, to bring others to God.

Please continue to pray for your seminarians. They need your prayers and your support, and know that those prayers are already bearing fruit. Wherever these men are sent, our formation team keeps hearing the same question from the people they serve: how are your seminarians so joyful, so happy? They're the best seminarians we've ever had.

We know exactly whose work that is. And we thank God for it.