Catholic seminarians ride, talk about vocation
As students at St. Mary School in German Village cheered and chatted in the gymnasium bleachers, seminarian Jeremiah Guappone reminded them that sometimes it’s important to stop and just listen. • Two, three or five minutes a day spent in silence, he said, could help the kids determine how God wants them to serve and how he wants them to love others.
Guappone was among about 15 Catholic seminarians who visited the school on Wednesday as part of an annual “Seek Holiness” bike tour. The men, studying to be priests at Pontifical College Josephinum on the Far North Side, bicycle to schools and churches to discuss vocations to the priesthood, other religious lives and marriage.
“A vocation is a calling, something from the very beginning of time — when God created the earth and the seas and the stars in the sky — that he had in his mind for each and every one of you, a particular vocation or way of life,” said Guappone, who attends St. Catharine of Siena church on the East Side.
“It’s more than just a job. ... It’s what we do with our entire lives.”
The seminarians, joined by a priest and deacons, rode their bicycles into the gym as support staff members tossed rubber “Seek Holiness” wristbands to the youngsters. Those who asked questions were given tour T-shirts.
About 250 students from preschool to eighth grade, both Catholics and non-Catholics, attend St. Mary.
During the assembly and in a more intimate Q&A with seventh-graders, the seminarians fielded queries that included where they had obtained their bikes, what other careers they had considered, what they had in common with Jesus, and if it was difficult to give up the possibility of getting married and having a family.
Deacon Brian O’Connor, a seminarian who also serves at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Pickerington, told the group that his call to the priesthood
See
Page
meant that he had to break up with a long-term girlfriend. At times, he said, he’s sad when he considers that he’ll never be married or have children, but seeing priests in action at church has helped cement his decision.
“What we’re doing is choosing between two very, very good things,” he said. “I see the priest doing holy work, and my heart is set on fire for that.”
Brett Garland, of St. Colman of Cloyne Catholic Church in Washington Court House in Fayette County, just finished his first year at the seminary. He began thinking about the priesthood when he was in seventh or eighth grade, he said, and decided to attend seminary because he wanted to serve others.
He sees the bike ride as one way to do that. “It’s a really wonderful opportunity to get to know the people we’ll eventually serve as priests,” he said.
Some students were impressed that the men weren’t afraid to talk about God or be judged, and surprised that they were so joyful and had interests that included sports.
“It’s remarkable to see that they’ve found right where they need to be,” eighth-grader Ben Smallwood said. “How interesting it is to see that God speaks to people and shows them what they need to do.”
Kayla Walton, who teaches religion to sixththrough eighth-graders, said the visit helped students see seminarians as real people and religious life as accessible.
“It gives the students a beautiful opportunity to see the path that our Lord might be calling them to,” she said.
The 150-mile ride started on Monday and ends today. It included stops in Dublin, Hilliard, Columbus, Grove City, Chillicothe in Ross County and Portsmouth in Scioto County.
Along with taking the potential priests through the Diocese of Columbus, the ride helps the seminarians shed stress and spend time together after wrapping up the school year with final papers and exams, Guappone said.
The ride was started five or six years ago by the Rev. Matthew Morris, then a seminarian and now a priest assigned to St. Michael Catholic Church in Worthington. It is sponsored by the Catholic Foundation and the Face Forward Connecting Catholic Youth social-media campaign of the diocese’s Office of Vocations.