Two seminarians from Saint John Seminary in Brighton, MA have been assigned to St. Anthony of Padua Parish and Saint Mary of the Assumption Parish for their 8-week summer pastoral formation placement. For both Matthew Harrington and Aaron Yohe, this summer's 8-week pastoral placement is just a start to a longer-term pastoral formation experience in the parishes.
For Matthew, this summer's 8-weeks with us is the start of a 2-year placement, often called the "Deacon" assignment because it will, God-willing, lead to his ordination as a Deacon in June 2023 and his ordination as a priest in May 2024. After the summer experience, Matthew will return to the seminary for the 2022-2023 academic year, during which he will also have a few hours per week of pastoral formation in the parishes. He will be with us again for 8-weeks in the summer of 2023 (as an ordained Deacon, God-willing!). Then during the 2023-2024 academic year, Matthew will be with us on the weekends for more pastoral formation, especially around preaching and celebration of Sacraments appropriate to a deacon.
For Aaron, this summer's 8-weeks with us is the start of a 1-year full-time placement with us for what is called a pastoral year. Having recently transferred from another diocese to the Archdiocese of Boston and from another seminary to Saint John Seminary, this pastoral year will allow Aaron to get to know the Archdiocese of Boston better and return to his seminary studies and his next pastoral assignment (his "Deacon" assignment) with this pastoral year as a new foundation. After this summer's 8-weeks, Aaron will take a break and return to us full-time September 2022 through May 2023, with some appropriate breaks along the way!
We look forward to introducing you to, and welcoming, Matthew Harrington and Aaron Yohe, seminarians for the Archdiocese of Boston.