“Andrew, the brother of Simon Peter, was one of the two who heard John and followed Jesus. He first found his own brother Simon and told him, “We have found the Messiah.” Then he brought him to Jesus. – John 1:40-42
MICHIGAN CITY – Two dozen young men invited by their pastors to attend the annual Andrew Mass and Dinner held on Nov. 30 in honor of the first apostle called by Jesus joined Bishop Robert J. McClory and nine priests from the Diocese of Gary to consider whether they, too, may be called by God for a life as a “fisher of men.”
“Why do we have an Andrew Dinner?” Father Nate Edquist, diocesan vocations director and pastor of Holy Family Parish in LaPorte asked as the invited guests moved from Mass to the dinner at Queen of All Saints. “It is because Andrew led his brother to Christ, as the priests here tonight are leading you to a deeper encounter with Christ.”
Screening a scene from the television drama “The Chosen,” Father Edquist noted that as Andrew brought the person he knew best to the Lord, “You were chosen because (your pastor) sees in you some kind of openness to Christ.”
In his homily, Bishop McClory highlighted the Gospel story: “Men were in line to cast their nets (at the shore)” and Jesus came up to lure them away by telling them that “‘Instead of catching fish, you are going to harvest souls. Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.’”
“What are you looking for?” the bishop asked the young attendees. “That’s a question we should all ask ourselves. What are you looking for in life?
“There’s a better way to live; there is a meaning and a purpose,” he said. “I was raised in a Catholic home, so that was what I knew, and given that fundamental relationship (with Christ),” he added, a life serving God was always a consideration.
The bishop said he grew up with a strong foundation, believing, “Jesus, you are the ruler of my life, the one I want to follow. When Peter was trying to walk on water and he started to fall, he called out, ‘Jesus, save me,’ and Jesus said to him, ‘I’ve got you.’
“Jesus gives us a miracle every time (we come to him) at Mass in the Real Body and Blood of Christ – the Eucharist – that great gift to a world that needs Jesus,” added the bishop.
Addressing his young guests, Bishop McClory said, “He may be calling you … that would give your life a meaning and a purpose … the greatest adventure you could have. He might be calling out to you, like he did to Andrew and Peter and John.”
Father Edquist, in welcoming the young men to the dinner, said he and the other diocesan priests wanted to offer a glimpse into the life of a parish priest. “It is not a lonely place. You have a family of brothers around you,” he said before screening a video titled “Get Ready for the Ride of Your Life” that showed a number of local priests, notably assistant vocations director Father Roque Meraz, also the associate pastor at St. Paul in Valparaiso, getting ready for a bike ride.
Father Jacob McDaniel, also an assistant vocations director as well as chaplain at St. Teresa of Avila Catholic Student Center in Valparaiso, presented his personal vocations journey through a Power Point program titled “My Story in Four Acts.”
In the first act, “My Life Before I Knew Christ,” Father McDaniel said he grew up in a Catholic family that attended Sunday Mass regularly, but was not heavily involved in their parish. The second act, “Coming to Know Christ and Responding to a Priestly Calling” was more complicated, he explained. “I didn’t join a parish in college and ‘fell off’ from my faith, but was confronted by one of my fraternity brothers from a group that did attend Mass and I started going to Bible study, going to the Newman Center … and Father Rick Nagel (chaplain at IUPUI) said I was a ‘helicopter Catholic’ because I would swoop in and out.
Father McDaniel admitted that “I was not ready to receive that call (to the priesthood), but by the end of college, I did decide to pursue a vocation and first spent six months with the Dominicans. I did not feel called to their communal life, however, and came back to our diocese to attend seminary.
“My Life Now in Christ” is the third act, Father McDaniel noted, and reflects his “continuing conversion. Every single day is different, and every day is beautiful,” he said with a big smile. “No matter how challenging the day, I still said Mass today, and Jesus came to me.”
The fourth and final act is “Why I Want You to Know Christ” and involves Father McDaniel “inviting others to a relationship with the Lord. (The priesthood) is the greatest adventure of my life and I do things I never would have experienced otherwise. I want you to seriously consider it and offer that to the Lord.”
In small group discussions, each led by a priest, the young men were asked to share their written answers to what their life was like before they knew Christ, how they came to know Christ, what their life is like with Christ, and why they want others to know Christ. “My life now with Christ is happy,” said Juan Carmona, a teen from Valparaiso who attends St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.
“Where God has brought you in your life and where he wants to take you,” summarized Father Edquist, “Let this be a kind of springboard and see where God takes you.”
Young men 16 to 24 are invited to a discernment retreat, “Quo Vadis: Where Are You Going?” set for Dec. 27-29 with current Diocese of Gary seminarians, at Cedar Lake Ministries. To RSVP, contact Jo Anne Rosenow at jrosenow@dcgary.org or 769-9292, ext. 221. There will also be an opportunity to visit Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Winona, Minn., Feb. 15-17, 2024.
Caption: Father Nate Edquist (left), vocations director for the Diocese of Gary and pastor of Holy Family Parish in LaPorte, greets three young men, all from Valparaiso, at the annual Andrew Dinner hosted on Nov. 30 by Queen of All Saints in Michigan City. Hank Calhoun of St. Paul (from left), Juan Carmona from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and Greg Gillen of St. Paul were invited by their pastors to explore the priesthood at the dinner and Mass with an eye toward discernment. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)