The Future is Bright

Saint John Paul II Seminary is primarily a college seminary, and so I find myself in an unusual position. As one born abnormally (1 COR 15:8), I received the call to the priesthood later in life, and so I am easily old enough to be the biological father of two-thirds of the seminarians here. However, while I may stand apart, I have never felt out of place. And why is that? It is a testament to the high quality of these young men and our shared calling to serve the Lord in His Holy Priesthood.

They stand apart from the world with an incredible amount of depth, maturity, and warmth of heart, especially for their age and our current times. They are a sight to behold, as they stand in direct opposition as a sign of contradiction in a world that cannot possibly understand their willingness to lay down their lives for love of Christ and their fellow man. The world is incredulous, asking how they can make such a commitment without having “lived life” or how on earth they plan to minister to the people without any “life experience.” Well, the world will have priests such as myself, with the wounds of having “lived” and the experience of secularism and sin, to meet those needs. No, these young men, with their self-sacrifice, self-giving love, and holy innocence are exactly what the world needs to cure its ailments of self-will, self-love, and the stains of sin.

The weary world could use a little purity of heart, and these are just the men for Christ to use to bring us out of our current darkness. These young men are lanterns of hope, shining bright for the world and for the future of the Church here in the Archdiocese of Washington and our other represented Churches: the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Dioceses of Arlington, Bismarck, Richmond, Trenton, and Wheeling-Charleston. The Church always rises again, reborn, better and stronger than ever, whenever times look their most bleak or darkest. We may be about due, and it will be beautiful to witness it unfold and be a part of it as we seek to reach out, re-unite, and heal the poor, wounded world through the Holy Eucharist, all the Sacraments, and the Word of God.

I am so excited and grateful to be able to serve the people here with these young men in God’s Holy Priesthood. I may not actually be their father, but they are all men that I would be oh so proud to call my sons.

Mr. Mastran is a Second Pre-Theology seminarian for the Archdiocese of Washington.