Planting the Seeds of Vocation
Father/son fieldtrip introduces Saginaw youth to life at the seminary
by Daniel Gallio

Saginaw native Mike Shabluk still remembers the visit to Western Michigan University when he was only nine years old. That day, his parents planted a seed in his mind that someday he might attend college there. And indeed Mike did, graduating from WMU in the early 1980s.

This childhood experience inspired Mike to organize a fieldtrip on January 20 to another center of learning he holds in high esteem: Sacred Heart Major Seminary. The aim of the visit was to introduce his son Patrick, age eight, and the sons of various fathers he knew, to life at a Catholic seminary. God willing, thought Mike and the proud dads, perhaps the trip would plant a seed in the hearts of their boys that might grow one day into a vocation to the priesthood.

At the very least, says Mike, the father/son pilgrimage "might keep the boys closer to the Church during those later years when people begin to drift. This is a way to expose them to another calling, so they know they don't have to go down the secular road if they choose not to."

Other members of the father/son group who made the 110-mile drive from Saginaw to Sacred Heart were Dick Potter and Adam, age nine; Carl Wilson and Elijah, age nine, and Noah, age seven; John Baker and Caleb, age nine; Mike Leddy and Matthew, age ten; and Rob Bartosiewicz and Gabriel, age ten, and Jonathan, age nine. The fathers are acquaintances either through an association with St. Stephen Parish Grade School or Holy Spirit Parish, both in Saginaw. Most of the boys had a scheduled day off from school, while the fathers felt the trip was so important that they took a vacation or personal day from work.

What motivated the fathers to make the long trip, considering most dads probably would prefer to hit the golf course on a vacation day?

"It almost felt like a stirring of the Holy Spirit," says Carl Wilson. "I definitely believe if opportunities like this were more frequent, and there was more discussion from the altar about such opportunities, more young people would be open to considering the priesthood."

Rob Bartosiewicz likened the trip to "take your child to work" days sponsored by many businesses. "If you are a construction worker or a doctor, you can take them to work. But nobody thinks to expose their kids to being priests.

"It was a cool experience for me, too," Rob continues. "If my sons didn't want to come, I would have come myself."

"One of my sons thought we were going to a cemetery," laughs Carl. "Once we cleared that up, he was just as excited to see what it is all about."

The six Sacred Heart seminarians from the Diocese of Saginaw - Richard Budd, Chris Coman, Eddie Dwyer, Nate Harburg, Denis Heames and Bill Spencer - joined together to give the group a thorough tour of the seminary. (Saginaw Bishop Robert Carlson enrolled all six men at the seminary for the 2005-06 school year.) Denis was Mike Shabluk's first contact with the seminary and was the primary guide. The day also included attending Noon Mass, lunch at the seminary refectory, a skit about listening for the Lord's call and a question/answer session.

A favorite stop for the boys was the weight room and handball courts. It is important, some of the fathers noted, that the boys see that seminarians are just regular guys, who enjoy sports just like they do, and that seminary life is not just about "praying all the time."

So, what did the kids think of the seminary?

"I didn't think it would be so big," said Gabe Bartosiewicz. Matthew Leddy liked the elaborately carved "Lions Chair" in the Ward Library, which was a gift to Pope John Paul II from the President of the Republic of Uganda. Three of the boys were most impressed with the beauty of the seminary chapel, and the gold-coated tabernacle in the Eucharistic adoration chapel fascinated another.

All of the boys got a kick out of visiting Heames' slightly messy dorm room, where they listened to his favorite rock band on his boombox.

For Heames, the father/son visit to Sacred Heart reinforced what he already believes about increasing priestly vocations: it all starts with the family.

"Kids value what their parents value, they learn from their parents. Normally, dads would take their kids to sporting events, which is important. But, for a father to bring his son to a seminary is for a father to say to his son: 'I think the world of this. If this is something God is going to ask of you, that would be great.'"

Carl Wilson believes like Heames that vocations to the priesthood are the result of encouraging parents, both mothers and fathers. "The Church teaches somewhere that we are the 'first teachers' of our children. The fathers are here today, but the mothers wanted to be here just as much as the dads.

"We are the first teachers, definitely."

After the boys return home, Mike Shabluk thinks they will probably discuss the trip with their friends at St. Stephen school. He hopes the word will filter down to other parents, who might become inspired to make the father/son pilgrimage to Sacred Heart a yearly event.

But, whether any of the boys eventually discern a calling to the priesthood is not the most important thing to Mike Leddy. Instead, he hopes that "whatever their vocation is, they are just open to it, that they are faithful to whatever call they receive."