As it is my last semester in the seminary before ordination to the Holy Priesthood, I have spent a great deal of time in prayer about and meditation upon the priesthood. My thesis is on the theology and reform of the priesthood of St. John of Avila, the great Spanish reformer of the 16th Century. This has led me to so many different writings and thoughts on the priesthood. 

It is truly an amazing role. The priest literally becomes Christ when he is offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and when he forgives sin in the Sacrament of Penance. The priest represents Christ and the Church in all he does in the world. Yet at the Altar of Sacrifice, at Holy Mass, the priest represents all of us in what he does and in what he offers to heaven. The priest is that pontifex, that bridge, between heaven and earth. Only the priest makes the Eucharist possible. Only the Eucharist sustains the Church, and only the Church offers the ordinary means for salvation. Think about that for awhile! 


The priest has such a responsibility. The priest, by his sacramental power, holds in his consecrated hands his Lord and God. He holds the One Whom the angels adore without ceasing. The priest becomes so united to Christ that he must be a man of great and profound virtue. All the promises a priest makes, all the prayers that he offers, he does out of love and imitation of Our Lord! There should be no behavior in the priest that is inconsistent with what Christ did, with what Christ does. 

To this end, with all temptation, all the weakness, and the sin in the world, we each must pray for priests! If we do not support our priests, temptations will grow until they consume them. If we do not support our priests, their human weaknesses will overwhelm them so that they forget who they are. We must not allow this to happen. Let us pray for our priests, and let us pray that more men will answer the call to serve at the Altar of Sacrifice and mediate between heaven and earth. 



Below is a reflection from the daily meditation book, “Divine Intimacy” on the priesthood that sent a chill down my spine. It is a beautiful mediation, and yet for me, for a deacon preparing for ordination to the priesthood in ninety-eight days, it shows me the tremendous honor, daunting task, and transcendent ministry that I will be given. Please pray for me, that I will be a good and holy priest!

- Deacon Saiki


“Without the priesthood we would be deprived of the Holy Eucharist; we would never have the consolation of hear, in the name of God, ‘Thy sins are forgiven thee’ (Mt 9,2) If there were no priests, the churches would be deserted, schools would become secularized, there would be no nuptial blessings, the dying would be deprived of final consolation, children would be abandoned to evil; all men would become totally immersed in misery, with no one to raise them up and lead them to God, with no one to pray to Him in their name and for their welfare. But Jesus, the sole Mediator between God and man, willed to institute the priesthood to perpetuate among us, in a visible manner, His work of mediation, salvation, and sanctification. The priest accompanies us at every step of our life. Soon after our birth, he welcomes us at the baptismal font; he administers the Sacraments to us, He helps us to understand divine truths, he shows us how to lead a good life, blesses our efforts, sustains our footsteps, and strengthens us in our last agony. He often works unseen and unknown, misunderstood, never indispensable. Every Christian ought to be grateful for the gift of the priesthood: in the first place, we should be grateful to Jesus who instituted it, and then to those who perform its sublime duties. We must express this gratitude, not only by showing reverent respect and filial docility to God’s ministers, but also by assiduously offering our prayers and good works for priestly vocations. ‘Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that He send forth laborers into His harvest’ (ibid. 9,38). ‘What prayer,’ comments Pius XI, ‘can be more pleasing to the Sacred Heart of the Redeemer? . . . Ask, and it shall be given to you: ask for good, holy priests, and the Lord will not refuse to send them to His Church’ (Ad Catholici Sacerdotii). To our prayers we must add good works “to awaken, foster and help vocations to the priesthood” (ibid). Blessed are the families that have had the honor of giving a priest to God; blessed are all those who by their prayers, sacrifices, and good works help in the formation of Holy priests!”


“Divine Intimacy: Meditations on the Interior Life for Ever Day of the Liturgical Year” by Father Gabriel of St. Mary Magdalen, O.C.D. (Charlotte, NC: TAN, 2000).


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As it is my last semester in the seminary before ordination to the Holy Priesthood, I have spent a great deal of time in prayer about and meditation upon the priesthood. My thesis is on the theology and reform of the priesthood of St. John of Avila, the great Spanish reformer of the 16th Century. This has led me to so many different writings and thoughts on the priesthood. 

It is truly an amazing role. The priest literally becomes Christ when he is offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and when he forgives sin in the Sacrament of Penance. The priest represents Christ and the Church in all he does in the world. Yet at the Altar of Sacrifice, at Holy Mass, the priest represents all of us in what he does and in what he offers to heaven.

Today we celebrate the feast of the Presentation of the Lord. In the traditional liturgical calendar this was the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Mother. Both events were done to fulfill the prescriptions found in the Old Law. In the Gospel reading today we hear Simeon, the righteous and devout man, who came to the Temple and encountered the Infant Christ.

So it has been ages since my last post. Over the last year, we have seen the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the first time a pope has retired in 600 or so years. We saw the first non-European elected pope in nearly a millennium in the person Pope Francis. I myself was ordained a deacon on May 18th, 2013 by Archbishop Joseph Naumann. All this has brought great change to my life on a personal level, obviously, as well as on a universal level. I am still adjusting to being a deacon.

I have not posted in a long time, and a great deal has happened since my last post at the beginning of the school year. For me personally the year has progressed very nicely. After getting my degree in philosophy from Cardinal Glennon College Seminary I was very well prepared for the study of theology, and so far it has been great! atBut many great things have happened outside of me and my studies. The first is that this past November, Raymond Leo Burke, Archbishop Emeritus of St.

We are at the start of another school year. However unlike previous years, I am beginning the new and marvelous journey into theology. I finished my philosophy (formally, I plan to always be familiar with the mother of all sciences) and college career. Now I am in grad school, and all the closer to ordination.
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This is my final project for the intensive Spanish immersion course at the Universidad Anáhuac. It is all is Spanish, so therefore not everyone will be able to read it. But if you can, enjoy!

Las relaciones con la Iglesia y el Estado en México son muy complicadas.

I have been in Mexico for the last four weeks fulfilling my summer assignment to learn Spanish and Mexican culture. To be honest, it has been the time of my life! There are so many things to recount and the more that I think of it all, the more overwhelmed I get. The highlight of this trip though, I must share before I go on, has been my two visits to the Basilica of our Lady of Guadalupe, and there visiting with our Lady in person.

It has been a little while since my last blog entry, and we are right in the middle of the holy season of Lent, the fourth Sunday to be exact, and the seminarians at Cardinal Glennon College are finishing up spring break. As the Lenten season has progressed, it really has taught me so much about myself, my vocation, and the Lord and Savior who we commemorate with our Lenten participation.

This week we began the new liturgical year with the First Sunday of Advent. As we ended the previous liturgical year we reflected on the scriptures, particularly in the Mass and in the Liturgy of the Hours, and the association and message that they have regarding the second coming of Christ, the apocalypse, the end of time.

Last week the Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph, and the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas hosted the National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC) with the theme of "Christ Reigns." This was the second time hosting the event, the first being back in 1997.
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Welcome to the blog of Catholic Seminarian Anthony J. Saiki of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas.
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I am a Roman Catholic seminarian and transitional deacon for the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas studying at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. I have a great love for languages. I speak English and Spanish and I am learning Latin. I am studying to be a Catholic priest because I feel a very strong desire to grow closer to God and to my fellow man. These are the reasons that we have the sacred priesthood, for the salvation of souls and for personal sanctification. I have a full schedule from when I wake up at 5 a.m. until I go to sleep around 10 or 10:30 at night. Though I am very busy, I absolutely love this life. I cannot lie, there are many struggles, but through all of them, this life is so worth every moment. To represent Christ to all who you meet is such an incredible feeling. That is why the call to the priesthood and religious life is a supernatural calling, because of the person that the religious represent. I invite all to consider how to grow closer to Christ through prayer, or discernment of God's call for our lives. Thank you for visiting my blog and God Bless!
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A Seminarian and His Shepherd
A Seminarian and His Shepherd
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Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann and I outside of the Cathedral-Basilica of St. Louis on the evening of June 9th just after the solemn vespers for the installation of St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson
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