Adventures to Come

    When you start to tell your families and friends about your plans to get married, invariably one of the first questions that come up is where you plan to live and what are your long-term plans are. We figured this section might address these questions.

    We are both Theology and Philosophy majors through Franciscan University, and for now, we both plan to continue in academia, while living in Steubenville, Ohio.  Ryan will be graduating this upcoming summer (Don't worry, after the wedding- he is not taking classes at the start of June), and beginning his Master's in Theology this fall, which will be a four-year program. He hopes to attend the Antiochian House of Studies, an online school in Pennsylvania. Although, because God has given him the ambition to pursue the Byzantine priesthood, his place of study would really be up to Bishop Benedict. We are still waiting to hear from him about Ryan's on-going application to be a seminarian for the Saint Nicholas Eparchy of Chicago, but we are not worried about it. God's timing :).  He will also be taking a job working full-time in Pittsburgh. Victoria, on the other hand, is a part-time student and working full-time. She still intends to become a canon lawyer*, but since she still has a few years until she graduates, she figured she'd have time to go to trade school to be a carpenter (which will be her full-time job). 

    We both intend on settling in Steubenville, Ohio for a good while. It is going to be nice to finally have a long-term home together. We are both very excited to be back and involved with our home parish from when we first lived in Steubenville - Holy Trinity Greco-Catholic Church in Carnegie, PA. The pastor there, Fr. Jason Charron, will actually be at the wedding! We will also be studying and hanging out at Leonardo's Coffee Shop, connecting with old friends, starting an Open Porch Ministry**, and having a vegetable and flower garden. 

    Stay tuned for more updates from the Schaefer's. We are excited to have you all apart of our journey :)

*Canon law is the legal system of the Catholic Church and, incidentally, is the oldest functioning legal system in the western world. The Catholic Church, unlike civil society or the state, is charged by Christ the Lord to guide men and women to their supernatural end. This task necessarily implies a certain ecclesiastical authority over what some might loosely term “internal” or “personal” matters in the lives of Catholics, an authority which would, of course, be entirely inappropriate in the hands of civil governments. But, although canon law operates in service to the Church which has supernatural responsibilities, canon law itself, with some exceptions, continues to function primarily as an objective regulator of that ecclesiastical society. Most canon lawyers spend 2 or 3 post-college academic years studying canon law, earning therein a licentiate (J.C.L.) degree (Catholic Answers).

**Open Porch Ministry - Victoria discovered this ministry about two years ago through this podcast (listen to it, seriously). It is about giving formation and encouragement to ordinary missionary disciples to open their homes (and porches) and host their own life-giving dinners and gatherings. Just a little something we both feel called to do.