Oliver, a third-year theology seminarian at the Byzantine Catholic Seminary is being formed for service in聽the Melkite Greek Catholic Eparchy of Newton. At recent meeting of the Pittsburgh Byzantine Catholic聽Serra Club, he shared his vocation story. It is shared here with permission.
After this brief introduction, Oliver said 鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 hard to pin down when I first started to think about聽a vocation. For some people they have a light come down from Heaven. My brother is kind of like that聽with dentistry. He just announced that he wanted to be dentist and in September he started being a聽dentist in Harrisburg.鈥�
Oliver grew up in the Eastern Church, but was baptized Roman. When his parents visited DC, they fell in聽love with the Liturgy at Holy Transfiguration parish, and when Oliver鈥檚 sister was born, they had her聽baptized and chrismated.
Shortly after that they moved to Amherst, Massachusetts, but there was no Melkite church there, so the聽family worshipped at the Ukrainian Catholic Church where Oliver became an acolyte at age six.聽鈥淪omething that I always loved,鈥� he said. 鈥淎fter five years we moved back to DC and started going to聽Holy Transfiguration full-time.
It was actually tough for me to move. Fr. Joseph鈥檚 acolyte program didn’t start until 10 years, so I聽stopped for a couple of years starting back at 10. But I always loved being at Liturgy and serving at the聽altar. Another thing that was very influential for me in discerning vocation, I went to a tiny little high聽school in Washington, St. Anselm鈥檚 Abbey School 鈥� all boys, jackets, ties 鈥� in a class of 31. Tiny little聽place. It was run by Benedictine monks, and seeing these intelligent, serious, thoughtful men who聽decided to do this with their life, I think, that was helpful to me 鈥� it opened up my eyes to the idea of a聽vocation.鈥�
He went off to college and double-majored in Economics and Philosophy. When he completed聽requirements for Econ, he was shy of credits. By filling in with Philosophy, only a small number of聽courses enabled him to declare a second major.
鈥淥ne thing I really appreciate about studying philosophy was it called me to really evaluate my Faith, not聽that I had ever doubted it, but it really did give the opportunity to step back, and say is this something 鈥撀燼nd growing up in the Faith, you can easily take it for granted. And studying philosophy, calls me to聽really evaluate where I find meaning in my life,鈥� Oliver said.
鈥淎lso, the summer I graduated from college, my father was ordained a deacon. It makes it easier to find聽a vocation if your father is also ordained. It predisposes you to look at that life and it really makes it聽easier when you go to your folks, saying, I think I want to go to the Seminary.鈥� But Oliver floated聽through a variety of jobs 鈥� Starbucks to George Washington University Law School clinics 鈥� before it聽would come to that. He found each experience provided tools and inspiration along the way. Oliver聽highlighted some lessons and insights. 鈥淚鈥檓 34 now, so it took me about 10 years after college to get to聽Seminary,鈥� he said.
鈥淎nd all this time, there鈥檚 this Voice the back of my head: Well, what about the Seminary, what about聽the Seminary? I kinda pushed it away鈥 always had a good reason not to look at the Seminary. I was still聽active in the Church. At this point I鈥檓 running the acolyte program, I鈥檓 on the Parish Council.
Somewhere I realized I was not Melkite 鈥� I was baptized Roman and never went about changing it. So I聽went to the bishop to ask permission to change Rites.鈥� And with 25 years actively participating in his聽parish, permission came quickly.
After that, 鈥淚 was serving as an acolyte. It was Presanctified or something like that, I was there in a holy聽place, Fr. Joe was doing whichever service it was. And I realized this is just where I am at peace; this is聽where I鈥檓 happy 鈥� this is where I need to be. What I want to do for the rest of my life, stand at the Holy聽Table and offer praise to God. It wasn鈥檛 so much a miraculous Voice, it was the realization that this is聽where the center of my life is 鈥� this is where I wanted to be, and so I鈥檓 at the Seminary.
So I talked to Fr. Joe, he said 鈥極h, I wondered when you were going to talk to me.鈥� I talked to my parents聽and they more or less said the same thing. It turns out I was the last person to realize that I had a聽vocation. But you know, better late than never. So that鈥檚 kinda how I came to apply and talk with Bishop聽Nicholas, and went through the process of getting into the Seminary. But that鈥檚 how I came to be here.
And it鈥檚 been the best couple of years in my life. It鈥檚 been a lot of work, a lot of study. Sometimes you聽can lose sight of why you鈥檙e there, you get so caught up in classes or that kind of thing. This summer,聽example, the CPE, clinical pastoral education, where you work as a hospital chaplain and help people聽who are suffering.鈥� Oliver said that all of the academics can get dry at times, 鈥渂ut you have experiences聽like the summer and it makes it worth it.鈥�
Oliver was permitted to do his CPE last summer at Georgetown University Hospital, near his parents鈥櫬爃ome. Since the hospital is nominally Catholic, he had to wear his cassock. It caught him by surprise to聽be called 鈥淔ather鈥� so often, but Oliver admitted that it was one of the little things he鈥檇 have to get used聽to:
鈥淚t really affirmed for me that this is really where I am meant to be. I never felt so fulfilled, so happy and聽so at peace with who I am and what I鈥檓 doing. One of the things that can be taken away from that,聽that鈥檚 applicable to everybody, not just people who go into the Seminary, is finding that which really聽makes you 鈥� that which is your vocation 鈥� whatever it is that God is calling you to do 鈥� whether it is be a聽mother or father, husband, wife, dentist, priest 鈥� you name it. That experience is available to everybody.聽It鈥檚 not limited to people who go to the Seminary. It鈥檚 what I鈥檓 called to do and I鈥檓 doing what fulfills