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Twenty years ago I thought I knew where I was going. I happily experienced a year full of “full circle” moments that seemed to confirm my life choices. I got interested in science in second grade when Voyager I and II visited the planet Saturn, and now, at the age of 27, I was building a telescope for the organization that directed the Voyager missions. I recently moved back to my hometown, made new friends and reconnected with long-time acquaintances. I had just paid off the last of my college loans.
And then, on a Saturday morning in May 2001, I had a lightning revelation. God placed – what should you call it? the thought? the feeling? the instinct? – something in me to explore the possibility of becoming a Catholic priest.
At that moment I was shocked, excited, and scared. Was I crazy or was that really a divine call that would change the direction of my life?
None of us recognize our spiritual journeys alone. As I shared the revelation with family and friends in the days and weeks that followed, they validated me and also asked questions that clarified my reputation. In the months and years that followed, I continued to differentiate with students and clergy in religious life.
It took 10 years, but eventually I pledged my life to a religious community of Catholic priests, the so-called Paulist Fathers. We are the first order of priests established in the United States. Our founder, Servant of God Isaac Hecker, was a young spiritual seeker who eventually joined the Catholic Church and became a priest himself in 1851.
Hecker, the ill-educated glasses-eyed mystic who lived in a transcendentalist commune in the early 1840s, was the most profound influence on my understanding of my calling to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.
We Paulists pride ourselves on making the gospel relevant, which is why Bishop Gallagher asked us in 1908 to serve the University of Texas students. Austin Catholic Parish is home to people of different ages, economic statuses, political leanings, ethnic / racial heritage and zip codes.
We value ecumenism and encourage St. Austin to work with other Christian churches on West Campus to care for our destitute sisters and brothers. We engage in interreligious dialogue that leads to partnerships with the Hillel Center and the Nueces Mosque.
My spiritual journey continues to connect me with an ever larger group of people. I don’t just make a distinction with my family and friends, not just with Catholic professionals, not just with parishioners in St. Austin, not just with people in the neighborhood who are of different faith traditions, not just the Paulists and Saints I am come before me. Now I differentiate with generations that have yet to be born.
This month the St. Austin Community is breaking ground for an exciting new development on our property. We are partnering with a developer who will build apartments with affordable housing, and the lease payments will allow us to expand our ministry and school facilities. We leave an unfinished ground for future generations to do services that have not yet been revealed to us by the Holy Spirit.
Some people may see their goal in life as reaching a certain work position, entering into a certain relationship or living in a certain environment. I do not agree. Our goal is heaven. We cannot see past the first hill of the journey, so we must constantly check our orientation with the compass inside (the Holy Spirit) and with ALL people on our journey to determine where the road is going next.
Me? I’m trying to relax and enjoy the ride!
Rev. Rich Andre is an associate pastor in the St. Austin Catholic Parish. You can find his sermons at bit.ly/RichThoughts. Doing Good Together is compiled by Interfaith Action of Central Texas, interfaithtexas.org.
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https://www.austin360.com/story/lifestyle/family/2021/11/01/austin-catholic-priest-turned-faith-midway-life/6242832001/
