How one person made a difference for a seminarian

By Patricia Kasten
Compass Associate Editor

	S p e c i a l   S e c t i o n : Vocations Awareness Week 2004
	• Bridging the Gap by Bishop David A. Zubik --     'Many are called:' Let's all be vocations directors  • Profiles of the men who became priests last year     Just what kind of men become priests today?  • Angels in the 'Hood'     Chicago outreach changes lives for inner city people  • Deacon candidates should show background of service     'Deacons are not simply created by ordination'     • Sidebar: Deacon eligibility  • Joining a religious community is a process     Years of discernment follow a gentle invitation     • Sidebar: Signs of a call  • Norbertine finds that God is always there     God comes to us in many ways, including in the flesh  • Things have changed since the days of veils     Formation for community life has adapted more     for individuality  • Editorial -- Our vocations     One of our callings as Catholics is to look for and     encourage call to the priesthood

Who helped you?

After hearing a call to a religious vocation, answering the call takes faith and strength. It's hard to do it all by yourself, as our current diocesan seminarians know. So we asked them how others have offered them support and encouragement.

Their responses might also give the rest of us insight in how we can help promote and encourage religious vocations.

By Joel Sember

During freshman year of college, my philosophy professor intimidated me. He was a Canadian in his late 50s with a loud laugh and a penchant for arguing. He would just cut us to ribbons when we said things in class. As a survival mechanism, I learned to defend myself with good arguments. In fact, I become so good at arguing, that I took a class with him the next quarter.

He had a deep love for the Catholic church, which I didn't realize at first because he used to argue both sides of religious questions. He approached his faith from a very intellectual direction, and loved presenting church teachings that seem contradictory (like the Real Presence) and arguing how they were really not against reason at all.

Dr. Coulter helped my vocation in two ways. First, I learned that faith is not contrary to reason, but aids reason and is supported by reason. It helped me to break down walls between my childhood beliefs and the "harsh truths" of a cruel world that I had learned growing up.

The second way he helped me was that I had the fortune of becoming friends with his family and seeing him interact as a father. He was a tough and abrasive guy, the runt of a big Irish family who loved hockey and had worked on railroads. However, when his children needed care, he could be incredibly patient and tender. Through him, I saw that tenderness is part of manhood, part of fatherhood, and an essential part of priesthood.

By Andy Kasely

I have thought about being a priest as far back as I can remember, and when I was very young I would have pretend Masses in my parents' living room. There was a middle-aged woman from my parish who found out about this and, one day, made a kid-size stole and chalice veil for me. Her name was Loretta and she was a very faithful and remarkable woman. Loretta became blind not too long after that and eventually ended up in a nursing home.

Before she passed away, I enjoyed my monthly visits with her when my parish would go and play bingo with the residents at the nursing home. When it was time for me to leave her to go home she would always say, "I am praying for you."

There was another woman from my parish whose name was Margaret. Margaret was an elderly woman who would faithfully attend daily morning Mass. When I went away to college in 1996, Margaret would send me a card every couple of months to let me know that she was thinking about me and praying for me. Her kind yet simple gesture of sending an occasional card of encouragement and support meant so much to me. Margaret became very ill and, when I went to visit her in the hospital the last time I saw her alive, she could no longer speak, but she knew I was there and reached out for my hand. After she had passed away, I was given a rosary that she wanted me to have. No doubt, it was prayed many times before, and it is now the rosary that I use.

Finally, the primary supporters who have encouraged me in my discernment to priesthood are my parents. My parents are the ones who brought me up in the Catholic faith and have supported me every step of the way through the years in my faith formation ... Never once did they discourage me or question why I wanted to become a priest. Since parents are the primary educators of their children I would encourage all parents to promote, support, and encourage religious vocations in the lives of their children.

By Mike Brummond

I had a religion teacher my senior year of high school who greatly encouraged my vocation to the priesthood. I had mentioned to him that I was thinking about the priesthood, and he reacted very positively and enthusiastically. It gave me someone to talk to about it, and he continued to encourage me the entire year. He also opened up the Catholic faith to me in a new way in class, making me want to learn more about the faith. Also, and certainly not least of all, he lived his life in a way that professed his faith through everything he did. He was an example and model of a faithful and joyful Catholic man who I wished to imitate in following Christ. Without his encouragement, I'm not sure I'd have found my way to the seminary.

By Ben Sember

The most influential people in my discernment for priesthood are my parents, James and Marion. They both tried to live their faith, not only in attending church and praying every day, but especially in doing their best to live a healthy, fruitful marriage according to the teachings of the Church. When I told my parents I was considering priesthood, they responded generously. My father told me to do whatever God was calling me to do. It was very inspiring to feel free to follow my calling, and know that they would not let their personal dreams and desires dictate how I should live my life. I will be the first priest in my family for many generations, and I think my parents now look forward with joy to having a "father" for a son.

By David Duffeck

In earlier years, I had looked past the idea of Holy Orders and was willing to serve the Church in a different and what I thought was a more hands-on way. My attitudes and action caught the attention of a wonderful person in my parish. Jeanne saw more than what I was focusing on and talked to me, in various ways, (to see) if I had ever considered the priesthood.

I had my objections, but I listened as she spoke. This help to open my heart to the possibility and to discern the idea in prayer. The longer I pondered in thought and prayer, God began to speak in many varied and different ways. Jeanne helped show me a door that I had not bothered to open and enter.

By Walter Stumpf

Fabio, my Spanish teacher, took a great interest in my vocation to the priesthood. Our conversations often took a turn towards theology and religion. He compared me to the prophet Jonah. "A priest is a prophet too," he told me.

He showed me the life of the poor and encouraged me to work for justice and holiness.