Friendly competition helps priests, seminarians stay connected and support one another

Detroit — The students have beaten the masters … of theology.

Seminarians from Sacred Heart Major Seminary took to the field to challenge priests from around the Archdiocese of Detroit in friendly soccer match Oct. 7, with the seminarians emerging victorious with a 4-2 win.

“We have a basketball game every year between the priests and seminarians, and this was our first soccer game,” said seminarian captain Deacon Jared Holzhuter, who was doused with Gatorade to celebrate the win.

“The priests were old and tired, and we had the younger legs,” Deacon Holzhuter joked. “Sports are a big part of formation. You learn how to push yourself, learn how to deal with passion in the moment of something.”

It wasn’t easy going for the seminarians at first, with SS. Cyril and Methodius associate pastor Fr. Libor Marek scoring first to put the priests up 1-0.

“I was shaking in my boots back there, I could hear them taunting,” Deacon Holzhuter said. “In the goodness of our hearts, we wanted them to stay in the game and get some confidence.”

The seminarians eventually founded their form, with Alex Collautii and James Bird scoring to put the Lions — Sacred Heart’s mascot — up 2-1 at the break.

After a miscue caused the priests to score on their own goal, Deacon Holzhuter scored to make it 4-1. Our Lady of Grace’s Fr. Hoang Lam scored for the priests with minutes remaining in the match.

“It was a great time, and I was glad we could come together and compete with each other,” said Fr. Dominic Macioce, captain for the priests. “Hopefully we make it a yearly event. We want to get some high school teams to come, watch and participate.”

Supporters of the priests and seminarians were in attendance, and Fr. Macioce hopes matches in the future will increase awareness and interest in the priesthood.

“It’s a good event to come together and compete, hopefully get some vocational awareness,” Fr. Macioce said. “I feel like this is a great opportunity to make it a fraternal event.”

Besides giving people a chance to see the athletic prowess of their favorite priests and seminarians, Fr. Macioce said events such as the soccer match are important to keeping the spiritual connection between priests and seminarians alive.

“A lot of the time when we go out into the parishes, we get disconnected from our brothers in the seminary,” Fr. Macioce said. “This is a good event to come together and compete, but also support one another in our ministries. It’s a great way to help pray for each other, help the brothers in the seminary see what they’re working toward, and it helps keep the priests grounded.”
Physical activity and sport also has its own spiritual benefits, Deacon Holzhuter said, as pushing one’s body to its physical limits also test one’s spiritual capacity.

“You learn how to push yourself, you learn how to deal with passions in the moment of something,” Deacon Holzhuter said. “You grow in virtue by striving hard while remaining humble and meek, even in the midst of working hard and competing.”

After the match, both teams joined together in prayer, and the seminarians were awarded the unnamed trophy for victory in the inaugural — and, both sides hope, annual — match.

“Most of all, this shows people that’s it’s a good time to be a priest, a seminarian, that we do get out,” Fr. Macioce said. “Events like this show people a different side of us, a more active side. And we want to do this game every year so people can think about vocations and supporting their priests and seminarians.”