Welcoming Our New Brothers

NICHOLAS STELLPFLUG ’25, DIOCESE OF GREEN BAY

Nicholas Stellpflug ’25 (Green Bay) welcomes new man Charles DeReuil II ’26 (St. Paul and Minneapolis) during his first moments at the North American College.

From the moment the New Men arrived at the NAC in mid-August, my understanding of New Man Orientation changed. The moment I had anticipated for so long came much differently than

I expected.

Our 2nd-year class began the preparations for the August orientation in March. We solidified the daily schedule, created liturgical plans, devised budgets, and gathered materials for the New Men’s rooms. We planned and prepared nearly all the details before leaving for our summer assignments. Three days before orientation began, we put the finishing touches on the preparations. I quickly discovered, however, that the preparations meant nothing without the ability to respond to the needs of the men in the present moment. On the first day, three groups arrived from language schools and three waves of new arrivals came from the airport, one of which arrived just moments before the start of the Clap-In and Mass with Msgr. Powers. With so much activity, we had to adapt our former conceptions and plans to meet the needs of the New Men as they presented themselves before us.

Practically every day, we experienced the same challenges. Inevitably, someone would come up to me and say, “We need to change this,” or “We need to fix that.” Even with all the planning, we could not predict exactly how everything would go—having a perfect plan does not compare to the ability to adapt and respond to the need when the circumstances change. Orientation does not merely comprise a few introductory activities. Orientation welcomes the New Men into the College, but even more, it welcomes these men into our common home. This home brings us closer to Christ through our relationships with each other and our life of prayer and service. In our priestly formation, we desire ways in which we can live out pastoral charity and serve those around us. Often, we look for these opportunities outside of the seminary, but more often than not, the opportunities to love and serve hit closer to home. I now understand orientation as an exercise in pastoral charity; learning to respond to the needs of others, especially our brothers closest to us. n