Returning Home Dbq

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Chapter Four
Returning Home For some reason in the fall of 1958 I went to Msgr. Bachmann who was our other “spiritual director” instead of conferring with my regular director, Msgr. Watters. Since Bachman didn’t know me, I told him about my childhood, etc., including the fact that I had attended public schools, that I had dated quite a bit in high school, and had, in fact, a couple of girlfriends I had been very fond of. He told me rather bluntly that he thought the priestly life might be too difficult for me and that I should give very serious thought to the question whether or not I should continue in the seminary. Later that day or perhaps it was the next day, I went to Father Marshall, who was the Assistant Vice Rector, for special …show more content…

O’Connor informed me that Father Marshall had reported that I was thinking about leaving. (Parenthetically it seems that Marshall might have told me he was obliged to report to the Rector everyone who was having doubts about his “vocation,” but he said nothing.) O’Connor then proceeded to tell me that he would get a ticket for me to New York and charge it to my diocese. Next he told me how to ship my books and other possessions home, and finally he asked me to keep my plans secret lest I upset friends and classmates. I was absolutely dumbfounded. I was being presented with a fait accompli, and things were completely out of control. Everything was moving ahead much more quickly than I had expected. I should have said that Marshall had jumped to conclusions, but I was not used to talking with to bishops, much less the one who was our Rector. I followed his instructions as if I were an automaton. Perhaps subconsciously I was happy that the decision to leave was made for me. Perhaps I thought that this was how the will of God was being manifested to me. Before I knew it I had packed and was on my way. A contributing factor may have been that my Mother had been seriously injured in a car wreck, and I was worried about …show more content…

The first day I stood in front of a class, I thought “Wow! This is something I can do.” After getting my M.A. at U.S.D. I taught for two more years as an instructor before going to Ann Arbor for a Ph.D. in Classics which I got in the spring of 1968. The first year I was at the University of Michigan I took a new course which was required of all first year Ph.D. students called “Special Reading Course in Latin,” and I also took Elementary Latin Composition.” Both courses were extremely easy for me after my two years at the Greg. A couple of fellow grad students even referred to me as a “native speaker of Latin.” Those courses got me off to a good start towards the Ph.D. I did not find the “Special Reading Course in Greek” and “Greek Composition” so easy. There were, however, a couple of faculty members who considered the Latin that was used at the Greg a corrupt dialect which had little to do with the Classical Latin that was taught and studied at Michigan. I think I proved to them that, although there was some truth in their claim, hearing Latin spoken and being forced to think in it and speak it provided a facility that could not be gained in any other

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