NEWSLETTER of the St. John Vianney Vocations Ministry of SavannahJuly 2016

The Diocese of Savannah has its seminarians take a year o! from their studies, usually between their 2nd and 3rd Theology, although sometimes it can be between 3rd and 4th Theology. It is sort of an internship before ordination. It gives the seminarian some practical experience, letting him see what the job of a priest is like and allows his formators to see him in a quasi-ministerial role.

I just completed my Pastoral Year in a parish of the diocese and it gave me the opportunity to see the full life and liturgical year of a parish. Seminarians spend their summers in a parish but typically many programs — the schools, RCIA, etc. — are not

meeting during that time. A Pastoral Year gave me not just the opportunity to see these activities but to be a part of them as I prepared for the priesthood. It took me out of the academic environment and allowed me to see the life of a priest, day in and day out, as well as to continue to discern my calling. This has been what I have been doing this past year.

I was assigned to St. Francis Xavier in Brunswick (top right) and its mission church, Nativity of Our Lady in Darien; Fr. Tim McKeown and Fr. Chris Ortega were the priests there. Coming into the year I wanted to be involved in the RCIA program and with St. Francis Xavier Catholic School, as these were two areas of parish life I had not yet

What is a

PastoralYear ?By Chris Hassel

Photo by Paul H! Camp

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experienced. Fr. Tim gave me opportunities to dive into both these areas as well as other facets of parish life.

In the school I was assigned to the 6th grade religion class, as their teacher; I taught throughout the year, preparing lessons/assignments, grading, and giving tests. This opportunity allowed me to use my skills and knowledge to teach and to try new things. I learned a great deal about teaching, especially about how to break a topic up into teachable parts, which will be handy in my future ministry as a priest. It was a great experience that I never thought I would have and gave me a whole new level of appreciation for teachers.

I also wanted to be involved with the RCIA program as well this year, and boy did I! The parish and the mission this year both had RCIA programs. The deacon at the parish, who runs the RCIA program there, allowed me to teach monthly and be involved with the program. For the mission parish, Fr. Tim gave me the challenge of not only teaching but also coordinating the entire RCIA program for that church. This allowed me

to plan out the topics, meeting times, etc., as well as to teach and be fully responsible for it. I only expected to be involved in teaching occasionally and being “present” at other

times, I never imagined the opportunity that I was given at both the parish and mission and I truly enjoyed it. Both the school and RCIA program gave me an appreciation for how much I enjoy teaching about the faith, particularly being able to walk with an individual in their faith journey.

The other notable area for me was to being

involved in Hispanic Ministry. I was able to use and practice the Spanish I know, that I am still working on, and to be present to the Hispanics of the parish. I was able to participate in many of their

cultural customs and

learn about the culture of those who attend the parish. It was something that I had been looking forward to.

This year has continued the con"rmation of my calling and has motivated me to continue on to my ordination to the priesthood in 2018. I look forward to completing my studies and returning to the diocese to minister here as a priest.

Chris !rear" with the College of Coastal Georgia # Bible Study Group

Chris at the Diocesan Youth Conference with Bishop Hartmayer and the Youth Group from St$ Francis Xavier Photos this page provided by Chris Hassel$

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It's Shadow a Priest Days again at St. James

By Michelle Migone

This summer Fr. Jason Adams is again having a few good young men join him to experience what it is like to be a diocesan priest on “Shadow a Priest Day” at the Church of St. James the Less in Savannah.

After his "rst year at St. James, Fr. Jason knew of at least one 8th grade student who was interested in the priesthood. His mother asked if her son could shadow him one day, and although at that time he could not do it,

that planted the seed to do something like that in the future. A few weeks later#he was able to have a shadow day with him and two others.

Then he found a few other boys to join and decided to do the shadowing on a Wednesday#because that was the day that the parish held most of its activities. Having a mutual friend participate in the shadow experience too makes it more “fun and cool”.

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On June 22 , 2016, Fr. Jason had the "rst Shadow a Priest Day at St. James this summer. He o!ers a few shadow opportunities on selected Wednesdays so young men can see what a priest does. He will have another shadow day #later in the summer.

Fr. Jason planned the day in a way that the boys could learn how priests# balance prayer, work and leisure.#The schedule included daily Mass, liturgy of the hours, breakfast with parishioners, lunch with resident parish priests or with sta! as well as homily prep. The day ended with a parish Holy Hour, and also included time for confessions. He also shared his vocation story and allowed time for Q&A with the boys.

Being in Savannah, a visit to the Pastoral Center was a must. The boys met with Vocations Director Fr. Pablo Migone and Vicar General Fr. Dan Firmin, they learned about the

geography of our diocese. They also ran into Bishop Hartmayer and had a chance to talk to him as well as Bishop Boland. The tour continued to the o$ce where our diocesan newspaper the Southern Cross is edited and also visited the archives.

This summer Fr. Jason will take two groups: one for high school age kids, under 18 and then those 18 years and over. According to Fr. Jason, “From this experience, I want the young men to realize that priests are normal and we joyfully serve and can still be ourselves.

Also, some seeds might be planted in their vocation discernment that can bear fruit later as they complete their schooling to give them peace of mind on how the Lord might be calling them.

Finally, I wanted to make sure they knew how to discern a vocation vs an occupation.”

Joseph Paslawski and Thayer Jones are spending the day %Shadowing& Fr$ Adams

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The reaction from the young men has been very positive. “The most recent group said their favorite activity was homily preparation and they recommended more time should be spent on that activity.# All of them thanked me personally too for taking the time to do this. At the end the day, some of them were exhausted, which was a surprise to them,” he said.

Parents have also been very grateful. Fr. Jason believes that this opportunity also helps evangelize the parents about the vocation to the priesthood and that might open their hearts and minds to a vocation for their son, knowing that he could be happy as a priest and

not be lonely.When asked what he would share with his

brother priests about his experience, Fr. Jason re%ected, “We are all vocation directors and our lives are the best example of what the priesthood means to people for better or for worse. Some people might have had the idea

of the priesthood imposed on them, but by proposing an invitation to shadow you or take time to answer questions, means so much to a young person. We can all get busy with our ministry, especially in the missions, but if one day could be carved out each year to try this, everyone might be surprised by the results. The goal is that the young people of our parish can have clarity in their vocation whether or not it is God calling them to the

priesthood. At the very least, they should walk away with a healthy respect of what we do.”

Let’s hope this idea catches on to other parishes in the diocese so that the seeds for vocations will be planted in the hearts of many young men and their families.

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During their 2009-2010 Deployment to Iraq, Father Pat Van Durme and Father Je!ery Whorton celebrated Mass for US Troops in this war-torn country’s oldest Christian Monastery. St. Elijah Monastery rested like a fortress on a hill over Mosul, across the Tigris River from the Old Testament site of Nineveh.

In January, 2016, the Associated Press (AP) broke the tragic news that satellite images had con"rmed destruction of St. Elijah at the hands of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).

The shattering took place sometime between 27 August

and 28 September 2014. The oldest Christian monastery in Iraq has been reduced to a "eld of rubble, yet another victim of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria's (ISIS) relentless destruction of heritage sites it considers heretical.

As it turns out, Father Patrick Van Durme, CH (CAPT), USA, who spoke to our club in March 2009, while serving as the Catholic Chaplain at the Military Chapel on Hunter Army Air"eld, was the last priest to preside at the liturgy in the ancient monastery.

On 3 April 2010, just before Iraq’s government shut it down, Father Van Durme (above) celebrated a "nal

Easter Vigil in the courtyard on a makeshift table altar. In late 2009, Father Whorton was the last priest to preside on the ancient altar in the monastery. “It was a sacred place,” The 27,000-square foot, 26-room monastery, built in the late sixth century and named for a devout Assyrian Christian monk. In 1743, as many as 150 monks were martyred there on orders of a Persian general when they refused to convert to Islam.

Celebrating Mass on the monastery’s old altar, Father Whorton said, was “wonderful

ISIS Destroys Iraq’s oldest Christian Monastery

Content and photos published with permission of Salute - The Magazine for the !Archdiocese for the Military Services, USAPhoto of Father Van Durme by Walt Kessel

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in a mystical and powerful way. There was an odd-shaped piece of wood above the entrance to the nave,” he recalls. “It looked like a yoke for oxen. It was a humbling reminder that as a priest I was yoked to Christ, o!ering His life, death and resurrection in the Holy Sacri"ce that had taken place there thousands of times throughout the monastery's 1400 years. I would bow low through the short door into the transcended space of the saints and martyrs.”

Father Van Durme, now

retired from active duty, recalls that “there were more than 250 people at that last Mass. Not just Catholic Americans, but people from all over the world and many other faith traditions.

“We prayed and celebrated together. At Communion, I mentioned something about reception. I encouraged anyone not receiving to come forward for a blessing. I would say almost "fty percent of those attending came forward for the blessing. That says so much about ISIS. They are destroying and killing anything

di!erent from themselves, but that monastery stood for a welcome and a blessing right to the end.”

Now rubble, St. Elijah is still a holy site to Iraq’s war-weary Christians, whose population has dwindled from 1.3 million to 300,000 since the 2003 U.S. allied invasion in Operation Enduring Freedom.

After learning that ISIS "nally obliterated what was left, Father Whorton was grief-stricken at its loss. "Why we treat each other like this is beyond me," he said. "Elijah the prophet must be weeping.”

Published by the St. John Vianney Vocations Ministry of Savannah Supporting Vocations in the Diocese of Savannah

President: Gretchen Reese; VP Communications: Peter Paolucci; Editor: Walt Kessel 912-354-9493 <waltkessel@comcast.net>

Photo by: Sta' Sgt$ Russell Lee Klika