St. Francis de Sales tell us: “To be perfect in our vocation is nothing else than to fulfill the duties which our state of life obliges us to perform, and to accomplish them well, and only for the honor and love of God.” That was my personal theme during my internship this past summer.
Unfortunately, I was not perfect this summer and I made my fair share of mistakes, but I knew that I was working for the greater glory of God and it was my duty to keep trying my best.
My summer internship was at St. Christina Parish on far Southwest side of Chicago in the Mount Greenwood area. Living on the Northwest side my whole life I really didn’t have any idea what to expect, and while it was a whole other world, it was much better than I had initially assumed. I was fortunate enough to be working with my home parish’s previous pastor, Fr. Larry Sullivan. Fr. Larry has known me since I was in Kindergarten. However, I did not know the other three priests living in the rectory or any of the 2,400 families that congregated at the parish.
The whole parish was ext
remely welcoming and kind to me all summer. They were very spiritual people and also very fun! They each touched my heart and strengthened my vocation very much. I really fell in love with that parish. I enjoyed my time there so much I ended up sticking around for an extra two weeks after the internship was officially over. I was sad when I had to leave but I assured everyone I would be coming back to visit as often as I could.It’s hard for me to say exactly what I did because no two days were the same. Honestly, I did everything except administer the sacraments. The most consistent thing I did was visit the sick and the home bound. I visited the same people in their homes weekly and made stops at various hospitals to visit parishioners or their families. Other activities I helped with were Vacation Bible School, Adult Bible Study, alter server training, senior citizen trips, eighth grade trip, eighth grade dance/awards, vocations talks with school kids, Baptismal prep, Sacristan, Reader, Eucharistic Minister, attended finance, school board, parish activity board, athletic committee, picnic, raffle, youth ministry and staff meetings, I attended Deanery meetings, and theology-on-tap sessions, and in any other free time I found I was shadowing one of the four priests on staff on different visits or meetings. It was a very busy summer to say the least. One thing I couldn’t wrap my mind around was that their schedule slowed down over the summer and I was still busy all day, every day.
As I mentioned before, this experience really strengthened my vocation. Many times over the school year I would ask myself “Can I really do this? Can I live in a parish and work with people all day?” Well, after this experience I now know that I can do it and that I love doing it. Once I started working with the people I fell in love with them. They invited me into their homes for meals, camaraderie, and faith sharing; I was with some of them when they lost a loved one, and celebrated weddings and baptisms with other families. These parishioners were so welcoming and friendly that I felt as if I had been a part of the community my whole life.
One part of the experience that I was not good at was my own personal prayer life. I never learned how to set time aside to pray the Office, or any other private devotions. The only consistency in my prayer life was daily mass and weekly confessions. Because every day was so different than the previous, it was hard for me to really create a set schedule. I now know that at my next parish assignment I need to create a set schedule for my prayer life. Unlike some of the other seminarians at their parishes, the priests in my rectory didn’t pray or eat together. Once a month the priests, and myself, would choose an evening to go out, but, we still never prayed together. That isn’t a bad thing, but I know that I can’t always rely on a set schedule like we have in the seminary. I have to be hard on myself and create my own prayer schedule.
There was one specific experience that really touched my heart from this summer. As I had mentioned before, my only consistent ministry was visiting the home bound. I saw the same people, on the same day, every week. After week three it started to feel very routine and in a way meaningless. For a stretch of three weeks I felt like I was walking in, having the same conversations, and leaving. I didn’t feel like I was really helping these people. I didn’t feel like my presence was worth their time. It wasn’t until my last visit with one woman and her care giver that I felt I was making a difference in their lives. Her name was Joan, and I never knew her care givers name. On my last day with Joan, I rang the doorbell and the caregiver, who is probably in her late 60’s, answered the door in a nice dress and makeup on. I thought it was strange to be dressed that way at 11:00 A.M. but I thought “maybe she is going somewhere fancy for lunch.” Then as I walked to the living room I see Joan sitting on the couch, also dressed up with a ton of makeup on. I knew something was up. Then Joan started to rush me to start the prayers and give them the Eucharist, which was not like her to be in a hurry, so I thought they did have somewhere to go. Once I finished Joan told me to go in the kitchen, and waiting for me in the kitchen wa
s a small lunch with very fancy china and silver where. They told me that they appreciated me and my company all summer that they wanted to see me off right. We sat and talked over lunch for about an hour and a half. It really made me feel loved and showed me that, even when it doesn’t feel like it, I am making a difference in these people’s lives. The rest of my visits all gave me a huge hug and their tears drenched the shoulder of my shirt as I said goodbye to them, even the men. It was truly a humbling week for me.For my brothers who will be doing their internship this coming summer I pray that they will get a community as warm, holy, inviting, and loving as my parish community was to me. I felt the Lords presence every day and felt stronger and stronger in my vocation. I still have a lot to learn, and I am nowhere near ready to be in a parish full time, but if the Lord is calling me to priesthood, I am more than willing to continue walking this journey with him to that blessed day when I am ordained into the priesthood of Jesus Christ.
