Friends,

After traveling all too quickly through Mexico, I finally got home at the end of May from El Salvador and my Peace Corps journey.

What a journey!

I rode a bus from El Salvador to Houston and then flew home to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. I spent 120 hours (five full days) either waiting for a bus or sitting on a bus just to get to Houston. And people complain about traffic jams.

But the trip was worthwhile. I got to see many things and meet many people. The only downside was that my small daypack was stolen on the bus at the border in Guatemala City. It was the first time I was robbed in 21⁄2 years in the Peace Corps.

I didn’t lose anything irreplaceable, just my breviary (a book of prayers, hymns and psalms prescribed for daily use), a camera (fortunately without film), a copy of The Story of a Soul by Therese of Lisieux, and a few other odds and ends. Oh well, perhaps the thief will read the book.

I got a job this summer doing forestry work up by Au Train, on the shores of Lake Superior. It was an outstanding job. My boss was very flexible with my schedule and I got to spend a lot of quality hours working in the woods by myself or with our dog, Annie.

I worked for a forestry consultant, mainly marking hardwood stands for selective cutting. It’s beautiful country up there. My brief time there made me realize how much I missed it while I was in El Salvador and how much I will miss it at the seminary. I got to work in some really nice stands of hardwood, made a little money, and paid off some bills.

I got in a lot of good canoeing this summer, too, with trips on the Paint, Brule, Sturgeon, and Menominee rivers. I even took my little sister, Libby, and some friends on an overnight trip on a previously uncharted stretch (by me) of the Menominee River.

Photo by Steve Raiche Before starting classes at the seminary, Hasse spent as much time as possible in the woods and on the water. Here he kayaks on the Net River in Michigan's Upper Peninsula.

In spite of our being two (Becky) and six (Libby) years apart, all three Hasse siblings started school this fall. Becky started medical school at Michigan State, Libby is at Notre Dame, and I am at the seminary in Mundelein, near Chicago.

And so, after a copiously full and joyful summer, I am settling in at the Mundelein Seminary, University of Saint Mary of the Lake. I’ll be studying for the priesthood for the Diocese of Marquette, basically the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, so eventually I’ll be home again.

Since I have an undergraduate degree in forestry and Spanish, I won’t have to do four years of college seminary. I’ll start with a year of pre-theology (sort of a crash course in philosophy and church history) then four years of theology, instead of the normal eight-year program.

There are 26 pre-theology students enrolled in the program. I think the average age is around 27.5, with a couple of guys over 40. God willing, I will be ordained in five years, at 30.

The Mundelein Seminary is about 20 minutes west of Gurnee, so it really isn’t in Chicago. The campus is a big woods, with the seminary in the middle, and a lake. There are good possibilities for tree climbing, swimming and boating (when the weather gets a little better). Folks, we’re living the good life!

I’m really excited to start seminary. I’m increasingly confident that this is truly what God is calling me to do. In any case, a year from now, I hope and pray that I will see my future even more clearly.

A typical day at the seminary begins with Eucharistic adoration from 6:15 to 7:15 a.m., followed by morning prayer from 7:30 to 8. We have Mass at 11:35 and evening prayer at 5:15 p.m.

In between, we have two to eight hours of class. I have six classes (19 credits). I also am volunteering with the Little Brothers of the Elderly, visiting four elderly Spanish-speaking shut-ins.

The formation is academic, spiritual and human. Certainly the classes are important and necessary. But the spiritual and human formation is equally important. I believe the crisis we are experiencing in the church is not the result of priests and bishops who lacked academic training.

I would never deny the idea that an underlying, inadequate theology results in much error. But the best theology in the world is no substitute for common sense, an intense prayer life and a deep desire and quest for holiness. I’ll be taking classes, which is important, but I will be learning much more about myself.

I often think about my time in El Salvador, its people and places. I miss them every day. I wonder how the trees my replacement, Maria Marasigan, and my other friends planted, are growing.

Too much good eats and not enough cutting firewood with the machete and hauling stuff on my back have caused me to completely lose any decent shape I may have achieved while in El Salvador. It would seem my body misses the rigors of Peace Corps life, too. I guess I’ll just go on the seminary Slim-Fast program. Or, perhaps, I’ll give up completely and become a Friar Tuck look-alike.

So, another adventure begins. I am at peace about becoming a priest. I am by no means absolutely sure this is what God is calling me to do, but my doubts are slowly diminishing. I am excited to see what the other seminarians are like, and the seminary too. Please pray for me, as I will really need it.

For the many folks in or near Chicago, drop me a line. I don’t know how loose or tight my schedule will be at Mundelein, but I’d love to catch up with many of the people I haven’t seen in several years.

God Bless,
Ben Hasse
benjhasse@yahoo.com