2008 Woodie Awards
Lewis grad enters priesthood
David AshbyThis semester the Flyer will be publishing a series of articles entitled "First in the Fa
Issue date: 11/14/05 Section: News
- Page 1 of 3 next >
|
"I first thought about a vocation to the priesthood around the age of 12 or 13," he recalls. "At the time I was an altar server at my home parish, Holy Trinity in Westmont. Our pastor at the time, Father James Nowak, asked me if I'd ever thought about being a priest. I don't remember exactly what I said, but from that time the seeds were planted within me."
After graduating from Lewis University in December of 2004 with a bachelors in print journalism, Emanuelson decided to heed the call to serve the Lord.
So, with the help of the Joliet Diocese, he left his hometown of Downers Grove to attend Conception Seminary College in northwest Missouri to start his studies to become a priest.
The college was established in 1886 and is the largest of 37 Roman Catholic college seminaries in the nation.
According to Emanuelson, seminaries are places of discernment and formation, in which, through daily prayer, character formation and living the celibate life, young men are able to discern whether God is truly calling them to the priesthood.
Emanuelson seems to have been born to become a priest. With the exception of a two-year stint at the College of DuPage, he has always been educated at Catholic schools.
Plus, as a teenager, Emanuelson admits that most of his Saturday nights during his teen years were spent saying long prayers and reading chapters of the Bible.
He says that life at the seminary is not too different from life at Lewis; free time is scarce and much of the day is spent in class.
One aspect of the seminary that has surprised Emanuelson, though, was how "normal" the monks who taught the classes were.
"The monks whom I've met so far really defy the stereotype of the monk who sits in his room all day, isolated from all that is going on in the world," he says. "These monks abound in practical knowledge, and some of them are quite informed about sports, music, movies and other elements of popular culture."
Being the first member of his family to join the priesthood, Emanuelson's parents, Martin and Nancy, his older brother Edward, and his younger sister Emily have been incredibly supportive of his choice to enter the clergy.
