Luis S. Sa
Meet our Seminarians / Luis S. Sa
For consider your call, brethren; not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth; but God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are, so that no human being might boast in the presence of God. (1 Cor 1,26-29)
I was born in Lisbon, Portugal, the son of an Electrical Engineer and college professor and a Philosophy high school teacher. From an early age these two polarities of human endeavour (as they are often perceived), science and the humanities, were deeply enrooted into my heart and intertwined in a messy blend of “scientific” rationalism and vague philosophical mysticism. I grew up with a love for languages, mathematics and literature, and much was expected of both me and my sister academically. Yet everything was turned towards a selfish craving for self-accomplishment, a vane sense of intellectual prowess. Never was I prone to really pay attention to others, although a formal good education certainly gave the appearance that it wasn’t the case.
It wasn’t until our first trip throughout Southern Europe that the religious nature of my longings first became apparent to me. Assisi’s simplicity echoed deep in my soul leading me to fasten while we stayed there; the majesty and sacredness of the churches of Florence, Italy in general or Southern France inspired me with a sense of aw and bewilderment for. I returned back home with a more reverent respect towards Christianity, and I went so far as to go to Mass alone a couple of times (since none of my parents practiced their faith at the time). Yet the religious fervor didn’t last long, since it was mostly a passing aesthetic experience, and after a few months I was back into life as usual, although the seeds of that experience would never leave me and cease to discretely grow by the Grace of God.
Only when I encountered my first relevant amorous experience as a senior High School student was I faced for the first time with my profound limitations. And through that experience, and the Grace of God, I came to realize that without God in a human relationship, without the presence of the One who loves freely out of the infinite mercy of His heart, then little more is left but unreasonable demandings and expectations, and a twisted image of the loved one. We eventually went separate ways, and I asked to be baptized as an adult at the local Parish. My RCIA cathecist revealed herself to be a woman of tremendous spiritual insight, the pastor a man of tireless dedication to the Gospel and to his parishioners, and soon I begun to wonder whether I should dedicate myself to a life of service, a thought most foreign to my former frame of mind. I prayed and thought about it for 2 years, amidst the experiences and requirements of College life, and the thought didn’t seem to have any intention of going away. I explored several religious communities in search for a good formation among a good number of fellow seminarians that would be a source of spiritual growth, but in a country tremendously lacking in priestly vocations, I would never find a seminary with more than 2 or 3 seminarians. I felt that such a small number of fellow brothers would be harmful to my sense of pride and that challenges would consequentially be lacking in some areas I needed to grow in. I was almost ready to abandon the idea of priesthood when the opportunity arose of coming to the U.S. to study for the diocese of Springfield, potentially serving the existent Portuguese community. I visited the diocese in December of 2007, and was delighted to see a vibrant community, with strong devotional practices and an increasing number of seminarians. All the clergy that I met, all the seminarians and all the faithful that I encountered only reinforced this feeling, and consequentially I decided to embrace this opportunity, for which I am tremendously grateful to God’s Providence and the people of this diocese.
At Our Lady of Providence seminary, where I am now a seminarian, I found an astonishing program of formation with great priests running it, and a large number of fellow men contemplating a very serious vocation to the priesthood. The liturgy and devotional practices are beautiful, the human and academic formation challenging, the spiritual direction and fraternity profoundly honest and without taboos. I searched long and hard, discerned in and outside of Seminary walls, and I can guarantee you that there is no better place to discern a priestly vocation, I would even say any kind of Christian vocation, than inside the walls of a well-run, solid and spiritual Seminary, among fellow Christians. I give thanks to God everyday for His generosity, of which I know to be undeserving, and I would advise any man discerning a vocation to the priesthood to seriously embrace the opportunity to do it inside the walls of the Seminary.