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From our Pastoral Intern Eben MacDonald
While I was in the midst of wrestling with my own
vocation to the priesthood, two of my younger brothers also began
discerning religious vocations. My brother Adam discerned that God might
be calling him to be a missionary priest. He joined the Divine Word
Missionaries, the SVDs. He attended the SVD college seminary in Epworth,
Iowa. Later, he did his novitiate in suburban Chicago, and overseas
training in Japan. He then returned to the States to do his graduate
theology. Adam lived in the SVD theologate in the Hyde Park section of
Chicago, not far from Barack Obama’s residence, and attended Catholic
Theological Union for his studies. As part of his missionary training
Adam also spent time on the Philippine Island of Mindoro missioning
among the Mangyan tribe.
While Adam was preparing for life as a missionary
priest, my youngest brother Tim also experienced God calling him to
consider priesthood. Tim felt drawn to diocesan priesthood and he became
a seminarian for the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan, the same diocese for
which I had been a seminarian a few years before. The diocese sent Tim
to Saint John Vianney Seminary in Minneapolis/Saint-Paul and he studied
at the College of Saint Thomas. After finishing his undergraduate
program, Tim’s bishop sent him to Rome where he studied at the North
American College, and later the Pontifical Gregorian University. Tim was
ordained to the transitional diaconate in Saint Peter’s Basilica and his
ordaining prelate was none other than Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who
would later go on to become our current Pope Benedict XVI! I was blessed
along with my parents to be able to make the trip to Rome for the
ordination. What a blessing that was!
Adam and Tim ended up completing their theological studies about the
same time, so Adam received permission from his provincial superior to
be ordained in Lansing with Tim. So on June 10, 2000 we celebrated the
ordination of not just one, but two members of our family to the
priesthood! It was certainly a proud day for my parents and a proud day
for me as the oldest brother. Witnessing the ordination of my brothers
would have an enormous impact on my own discernment of priesthood. More
to follow…
May you have a blessed and peaceful New Year! |
