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Interview With A Priest To Be...God Willing
Nich Wolak
My best friend is just about the nicest guy you’ll ever meet. He’s the
kind of guy who would drive back 10 minutes to a restaurant, in a snow
storm, to hand a waitress the extra 15 cents she accidentally gave him. We
didn’t become close until high school (neither one of us can pinpoint
exactly when). I’d like to think that God brought us together. He helped
transform him from someone who was shy and awkward to the friendliest guy in my class, and God was the reason we were around each other so much (we went to the same church and youth group).
One of the places that both of our faiths developed was Steubenville, Ohio, where a charismatic Catholic youth conference is held each summer. Last summer we decided to take part in the conference’s Young Apostles program. The trip entailed going to the conference a week early, meeting 20 or so other kids who were also compassionate Catholic-Christians, reading the Bible, praying, going to confession and adoration, attending mass, leading the dance to the conference’s theme song, and just further exploring our faith.
It was one of the best weeks of my life, and it must have been one of my friend’s, too, because he just did not want to leave. In the hour or so leading up to our departure he was easily moodier than I had ever seen him. He was having trouble dealing with the fact that this wonderful week was coming to an end. My friend has always been there for me to talk to, whether it was about the latest girl breaking my heart, my sports failures or my pessimism and fear about the future. We never talked about his problems, but the car ride home became a total role reversal.
He told me that he was going to miss it so much, that he could really picture himself living that lifestyle forever, and finally …it came out. He told me he wanted to become a priest. I had a lot of plans for us; we were going to come to MSU together and room together, he was going to marry my cousin, and we were going to remain best friends forever (which is still a strong possibility). Despite all this I was not shocked by his decision, I had kind of seen it for years. I could not be prouder to call him my best friend. The weekend before Holy Week I sat down to interview him about what his life is now like. Modest guy that he is, he asked me not to have him or his seminary identified.
How long had you been considering the priesthood?
When I was really young, like three to five years old, I used to tell my parents that I was going to be a priest. As I grew up not too many people were talking about priesthood; it kind of got shoved to the back of my mind. In eighth grade I really started reading the Bible, and the call of priesthood kept coming up in mind. I would think about marriage, but then I would go to youth group, or some other religious activity and it would come back up. It helped that I met some seminarians and saw that they were just normal guys, not some far-off elite group. I talked with them about my vocation and they said just to pray about it.
I later felt that something was pulling me to be part of the Young Apostles group during the Steubenville conference. That week was when I fully realized that this was something I needed to explore. All of the meetings’ praise and worship, prayer and getting to know more about my faith got me thinking about how the material things in life aren’t what matter. It helped me to realize my call, although I was still thinking that maybe I was called to marriage. When I left the conference I was in a terrible mood, I felt like I was heading in the wrong direction. Then a Bible verse hit me, it was something like if you don’t preach the Gospel you will be miserable. I felt a sense of courage, and I decided to try and get into seminary and contacted my bishop.
What is a calling?
In the Catholic Church we believe that you have a certain vocation; that you
are called to marriage, priesthood, religious life or generous single life. By fulfilling your calling you will ultimately achieve what will make you happiest, even though you may not see that it will make you happy right away. Its about putting full trust into what God wants you to do.
What would have your future entailed had you not decided to join the priesthood?
I would have probably gone to Michigan State. I was going to become engineering major, but I think I would have dropped out of that. It is hard to say, really. I probably would have tried to stay really active in the church.
Don’t you wish you could still have a wife and kids?
I wish for God’s basic will; if that involves me having a wife and kids then
that’s great, but there are certain things to the priesthood that are
amazing. You get to consecrate the Eucharist, which is just monumental if
you think about it, that God is changing ordinary bread and wine into the
body and blood of Jesus Christ. One of the main aspects of the priesthood
is being a servant to people by helping them with their faith. In a sense
you become their father.
What kind of steps do you have to take to become a priest?
There are different paths depending on whether you come from high school,
college, or already have a college degree. If you already have a college degree they try getting all of the philosophy done in two years. Then you move on to study four years of theology. I came right out of high school, so I will probably spend four years studying philosophy towards a philosophy degree. I will probably move to a different seminary to get a change of environment. At that seminary I will be learning about theology, which is basically studying about God.
What is your typical weekday like?
It is a lot of prayer. You need to really have a set structure. Some days we have meetings about spirituality. It’s like a normal college; you go classes, except you have lots of other events planned. What I really like is they have us go out and do service projects. Some people become unfrozen by the coldness of the world, and kind of just melt before your eyes.
What is your typical weekend like?
We have holy hours; we also have a lot of free time just hanging out as a community. We’ll just go to a place and do something like watch a movie, that’s not to say that we don’t leave the seminary.
What are holy hours?
We believe that Jesus Christ is the Eucharist, so during holy hours they show the Eucharist and we praise God and pray to him. You get a really deep sense of God’s presence.
It sounds a lot like adoration.
It is adoration
Have you bonded with the other seminarians?
Yeah it’s like one great community which helps in my formation. If I have a fault they point it out to me; not in a judgmental way, but in a constructive criticism kind of way. It’s great that you can talk about faith and philosophy with these people, who, like you, have a foundation with their faith. There are a few guys you get closer with, but overall there is a feeling of friendship with everybody.
If you don’t become a priest will you view your time there as a waste?
I would definitely not think of it as a waste. I have grown so much spiritually, just learning how to be a good Catholic man. I’ve learned so much more about my faith. Not to mention I love the stuff that I’m studying.
Where will you end up being a priest at?
Most guys have a diocese sponsoring them and go back as a priest in the one sponsoring them. I have a sponsorship, but basically you’re supposed to be a priest wherever you go. It’s not like a nine to five job where you take off your collar and are like, “ I’m not gonna be a priest until tomorrow morning.” It is more of a lifestyle than a job.
What advice would you give someone considering the priesthood?
I’d say a lot of prayer. Prayer is key to seeing what God wants you to do. You have to further your relationship with him to see what He wants you to do. Normally it’s not like a smack; like I’m 100 percent sure I’m called. I’d also recommend talking with your local priest about it or visiting the seminarians and getting more active in your church.
Questions? Comments? Contact Nich Wolak at wolaknic@msu.edu
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