Seeing through 'the bubble'

By -

Peter Jutras
Special to the Florida Catholic

BOYNTON BEACH | It is incredible how important video conferencing and livestreaming have now become in our day-to-day lives.

Before the COVID pandemic, it was nice to Facetime with friends and family, yet so often it could be seen as a hassle. Now, after being stuck inside for the past few months, we realize and appreciate the great importance of sharing our lives with others in the community. While we are here inside our “bubble” at St. Vincent de Paul Seminary, we continue to miss this aspect of community in our lives.

A big question became clear once the shutdown began: Now that we are unable to go outside, how can we reach out to our family and friends from inside the seminary itself? One very important aspect in the life of a priest is serving and ministering to the people of God. When the people we are called to be serving are just out of reach, what are we to do?

One of the answers came in the form of the Live Stream Team. The goal of the Live Stream Team is to assist with bringing the outside world into our home on campus. While we would normally be opening our gates to the public for events such as Family Weekend, Friends of the Seminary and our Wednesday public Masses, the Live Stream Team has been diligently working on brining us to the public like so many other parishes this year.

Thanks to the Live Stream Team, the opening academic exercise and Family Weekend – where the Theology I and Theology II seminarians were installed as lectors and acolytes, respectively – were livestreamed to hundreds of people.

The process of livestreaming is, as many of you know, fairly complex and can be difficult to figure out. Issues and problems pop up last minute and changes must be made. Although sometimes stressful and complicated, it is an exciting and beautiful process to be a part of.

The beauty of livestreaming is not just in the broadcasting process, but rather in how many of our loved ones can attend the different events. There were family members and friends watching this broadcast from all over the world!

Many people would have never had the chance to attend these events in person due to the distance, health, availability or other reasons. Thanks to the Live Stream Team, we were able to have our families present for these important moments in our formation. More people watched the stream than could fit in our beautiful chapel, and each one of them had front row seats.

Let us recall Romans 8:28: “We know that all things work for good for those who love God.” In these challenging times, we know that God is able to bring about so much good. Even in times of COVID we must continue to stand in the virtue of Hope. Hopefully soon, we will be able to welcome our family and friends physically back to our home here at St. Vincent de Paul Seminary. Until then, we will continue to bring our home and events to our community and families through the livestreaming of certain events.

Peter Jutras is a Theology I student from the Diocese of Pensacola-Tallahassee. This article originally appeared in the Fall 2020 edition of St. Vincent de Paul Seminary’s magazine, Seeds of Hope. It is reprinted here with permission.