Why Via?

My single year with Via changed my life in dramatic ways. First and foremost, it increased my desire to have an intentional faith life—one that is disciplined, and with greater dedication to daily prayer.

John Henry Newman said, "When you gain new knowledge from experiences, you have a shift in your moral center." While I was in Via and immersed in a variety of rich experiences, my natural moral impulses and intentions became better aligned with right reason and what is Good. This in turn brought unexpected color to my life, and led me to desire a life that is ordered chiefly towards the love of God.

Via’s education and structured way of life resulted in what I can only describe as a monumental and transformative year for which I’m most grateful. Throughout the highs felt throughout the year there were also many challenges, but those challenges were the very means by which I was able to grow. Our day-to-day life—especially living in community—provided abundant opportunities to grow in virtue and to submit to God's will.

One of the main reasons I did Via was for the intellectual formation. I recognized the blessings of my classical education in high school, and I felt that such formation shouldn't end so early. I also wanted to be deeply challenged, and while I did experience intense academic challenges during my senior year of high school, I knew there was still more out there and I thought Via would be able to provide what I was looking for. Looking back on my year, Via either met my expectations or completely surpassed them.

The studies in Via are a major feature of the life, though not all of it. Via's intellectual formation is not just about acquiring knowledge; it's about awakening wonder, cultivating wisdom, and seeking truth. We did not merely study ideas; we entered into a centuries-old conversation about what it means to live well, to be human, and to seek the good. Even though some of Via's curriculum consisted of works I had already studied in high school, I found that exploring these texts alongside the Fellows and with the assistance of our tutors was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Seminars at Via teach us not only how to ask meaningful questions, discern falsehoods, and seek truth with humility, but also how to see how the texts we read speak to the soul and shape our journey toward sanctity. I found all of our readings to be constantly sharpening my capacity for reason and better equipping me to enter into the world not as a passive observer, but as an intentional, discerning follower of Christ.

Life in Via was demanding, as I had anticipated, but never to the point of misery. I was pleasantly surprised at how fulfilling and joyful things felt most of the time. Every difficult aspect was very clearly directed toward some good, and surrounded by people pursuing the same good things. Every part of me was challenged in Via: how I organized my days and used my time, as well as how I navigated and grew in my interior life.

I think of Via as a kind of universal good, and I believe everyone could benefit from an experience like it. Not everyone is in a position to participate, but I don't see it as something that's only for a certain type of person who would particularly like it. To me, everyone should pursue something like Via insofar as everyone should strive to become more fully human and better formed by the best resources our tradition has to offer.

There are a lot of ways someone can expect to grow in Via. I found that what we did in Via helped me to love my faith and love learning about my faith in a significantly deeper way than I ever had before, which in turn fueled in me a new desire to share the faith with others. I experienced a similar growth from my intellectual life. As I was learning how best to live (whether it in our readings of Aristotle or sacred scripture), I developed greater discipline and intentionality in my daily habits.

I believe the structures of prayer in Via were a major catalyst for all the growth the other Fellows and I experienced. Countless unspeakable graces come from being with our Lord, and Via's prayer regimen is very conducive to receiving such graces. In the way that a seedling grows from continuous careful nourishment, although one may not know exactly how or when the growth happens, so it is with prayer. I did not find there to be especially grand moments in prayer throughout my time in Via–though sometimes that may happen–rather the growth happened slowly and organically. As the year went on, I experienced a great deal of peace, a clearer view of reality, and greater intimacy with our Lord and His Church. My love for the Mass, the Sacrament of Penance, and my desire to follow our Lord's will tremendously increased while in Via, and it was definitely due in large part to the structured prayer time built into Via's schedule.

Via was an extremely fruitful experience for me. The saints attest to the fact that a vital component of growing in the spiritual life is consistency, and Via's way of life, being as full as it is, constantly called me to keep showing up even when I didn't feel like it and place my life in the Lord's hands. This process was enormously fruitful for my relationship with God and I continue to pull from it during my seminary formation today.

Via was the most fulfilling nine months I've ever had, and the fastest nine months of my life. Some of the experiences, like the presentations and the pilgrimages, brought me out of my comfort zone in a big way and taught me things about the world and myself I couldn't have learned otherwise.

However, the most important thing Via taught me was that we are on this fundamentally earth to know, to love and to serve Jesus Christ. As much as I was told this in the past, I needed to learn this experientially. Features of life in Via, such as the fact that we were going to wake up and pray (no matter what happened the night before and no matter what opportunity might be occurring the next morning) and that we will close each day in prayer (no matter how late it is or how busy we are) taught me that a rich prayer life is not merely recommended or highly advised but essential for my relationship with God in a deeper way than anything I could have been told.

My experience in Via showed me that forming habits of holiness and discipline is not only attainable, but also necessary to live a happy, well-ordered life, oriented to God and seeking His will.