ORLANDO | Every summer seminarians for the Diocese of Orlando receive different assignments based on their stage of formation. Over the next several weeks, Florida Catholic will follow different seminarians as they share their varied experiences.

First stop — Catholic Charities of Central Florida. Three seminarians arrived to serve in various ministries June 1, 2025. They will spend time exploring the many facets of Catholic Charities through the end of July.

Seminarians Jonathan Arias (pastoral year), Gavin Foreman and Dakota Milburn (first discipleship year) spent their first week serving in the Semoran Agape Mission Market in Orlando and St. Joseph Parish, Lakeland, food pantries. For Arias, the most powerful experience came from serving two Ukrainians.

“They shared their experience of being so welcome and feeling so much love from the staff here,” he said. “They were so appreciative of the opportunity given to them to bring food back home to their kids.”

A similar experience occurred with an older man who came on the bus with a suitcase. As he left with the heavy bag laden with food, he smiled broadly.

“He was so happy he was leaving with food to feed his family. It was such a blessing to serve him,” Arias said.

Noting the theological virtue of charity, Arias, who is a parishioner of Holy Cross in Orlando, emphasized the magnitude of its expression through the staff and volunteers who serve at Catholic Charities.

“Witnessing the joy inside each staff member while they’re here has been a great testimony for me to witness. The joy, the love between them as they serve the people of God is great to see,” he said. “Transitioning to the priesthood, I can definitely see the value in this on both sides. From Catholic Charities, but also from those who decide to give (of their time). As we know, when we give is when we receive.”

The seminarians are at Catholic Charities for the poverty immersion portion of their formation. These are lessons they will carry into their priesthood.

“Knowing the Lord had a preferential option for the poor, allowing us to exercise charity is an opportunity to go and serve the poor,” Arias explained. “We see God’s hands here, God’s love, God’s providence in providing goods.”

Foreman agreed. “I definitely see Jesus in the people we are serving but also in those who choose to come here on a weekly basis to serve,” he said. “There is such a spirit of meeting people where they’re at here and just trying to love them whether they’re Christian, Catholic or whatever it may be. If you’re coming here, we’re going to serve you with love and compassion. That’s really living out the Beatitudes.”

Foreman, a parishioner of Ascension Parish in Melbourne, said he was most affected by seeing “this downtroddenness, but also the immense joy in the people that are coming here and the way they’re willing to be served and also help us serve them. It’s such a gift to be able to encounter them in these difficult moments.”

He said he can see how the experience will help him better serve those in need. “I can be really mindful of the food we’re giving them and the way we’re giving it to them. Not to try and push out volume but to really encounter them where they’re at and meet their needs.”

Milburn, a parishioner of St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in St. Cloud and a convert to the faith, likened his time in the food pantry to the corporal works of mercy laid out in the Gospel of Matthew parable of the sheep and the goats. He said, at Catholic Charities he could feed the hungry, help clothe those in need and give water to those who thirst.

Encountering primarily Spanish speakers, he said his need to learn the language has also become evident. “It made me realize this is the experience of those who don’t speak English. The frustration they must feel is what I am experiencing now for the first time,” he said.

Deacon Gary Tester, president of Catholic Charities of Central Florida, is excited to host the seminarians. Although they will not have time for all the organization’s ministries, they will spend time in the St. Gabriel call center, at Pathways to Care — a transitional rehabilitation facility for veterans, and at Comprehensive Refugee Services.

“Our hope is that they develop insight into what it means to interact with the poor and vulnerable on a daily basis, developing an understanding that will aid them when they become ordained,” said Deacon Tester. “I hope that future priests will see Catholic Charities of Central Florida as a critical partner in serving their parish community, inside and outside the doors of the parish.”

By Glenda Meekins of the Florida Catholic staff, June 18, 2025