December 11, 2024

By Sister Mary Eamon Lyng, SSJ
Diocesan Vocations Coordinator

The Vocation Office recently sponsored the St. Andrew Dinners in Ogdensburg and Plattsburgh.  The purpose of the St. Andrew Dinners is to encourage parish priests to invite individuals they think might have the qualities needed to be a good priest to an evening with Bishop Terry R. LaValley beginning with a Holy Hour before the Blessed Sacrament, followed by dinner and sharing of priests’ vocation stories. 

These dinners give the bishop the opportunity to interact with those who are thinking about the possibility that they may be called priesthood. The events, held annually, give such young men the opportunity to meet other individuals who are considering this vocation.

Some of the young men attend the event with a parent or parents.

In addition to hearing vocation stories, parents of seminarians are invited to share their experience of what it means to have a son in the seminary and priesthood. 

Dinners were held in Ogdensburg at St. Mary’s Brzana Hall and Deacon Winter’s Chapel on November 17, and in Plattsburgh at St. Peter’s Emmaus Hall and St. Peter’s Chapel on November 24.

There were 10 young men were at the Ogdensburg session, while six young men attend the Plattsburgh site along with some of the parents of these men. 

At the Ogdensburg dinner, Father Joseph Morgan and Father Matthew Conger talked about their call to priesthood, and in Plattsburgh, Msgr. Dennis Duprey and Father Carter Pierce shared their vocation stories.

Mrs. Amy Schirmer, Ogdensburg, and Deacon James and Beth Carlin, Plattsburgh, were able to share their experiences of their sons in the seminary and now their parishes as they are now newly ordained priests serving in the diocese.  Father Christopher Carrara, Vocation Director was emcee and Father Matthew Conger, Assistant Director for Vocations, read the Gospel and gave the homily during Holy Hour. 

Let us pray for more young men to consider the call to priesthood to serve in the Diocese of Ogdensburg.

Reflections of a mother
Editor’s note: The following text is from the Andrew Dinner presentation given by Amy Schirmer, mother of Father Douglas A. Schirmer.

I stand before you having been for 8 years the mother of a seminarian, and for almost 6 months the mother of a priest. My son, Douglas, is a priest in Plattsburgh, and I’ve been asked to give a very brief personal perspective on what this is like!

From the standpoint of predictable timelines and events, it’s easy to see seminary as a college experience. It follows the school year and provides learning and friendships that shape the future of our children. The similarities continue, but in a different way. College is often a place where young people meet their future spouse, or at the very least they form an idea of the kind of spouse they would like to have. Seminary prepares young men to be wholly given to one relationship. That of the Church. They will be expected to love her, serve her, and even lay down their lives for her regardless of what kind of mood she’s in!

Without hesitation I can tell you that Douglas would have made a wonderful husband and a loving papa. I remember painting the top part of a built-in cupboard. I was going to leave the underside, because who would ever see it? And then, I pictured Douglas’ children toddling about. THEY would see it. And so, I painted the hidden part of the cabinet in anticipation of little upturned faces waiting for grandma to get them a glass of milk or a plate for their cookies. I even anticipated painting animals on that hidden canvas…elephants and giraffe that only tiny people could see when they lifted their eyes

We have this space inside of us ready for more: More children, then grandchildren. It’s a God-given space…and mustn’t remain empty. Most people, in the course time, find that space filled with the next generation in the family bloodline, and what a generous gift and plan this is of our good God.

But what to do with that space when your son is discerning a call to the priesthood? First, we must give them their own space to discern. Our good bishop is choosing the very best institutions in which our seminarians can prayerfully discern the path God has for them. Spiritual formation and direction are tailored to each man. If Douglas had been courting a young lady, my hope is that I would have been present for him if he had questions or wanted advice. But I also hope I would have given him the space to begin a life that necessarily would put me outside an inner circle. The circle of husband and wife belongs to two people before their God. As Douglas progressed through the formation process, I realized that, even though he wasn’t getting married, He would still need to “leave his mother and cleave to his calling.”

As I reflected on Douglas approaching the role of standing in persona Christi, I wondered how I could stand in persona Maria. Not everyone will love my son’s priesthood. Will I be able to remain quiet and strong at the foot of that particular cross? People who love him might tend to drain him. Will I be able to stand outside that circle and support him but also love those whose needs are so great? Just as the priesthood points to a heavenly reality, I believe that the parents of priests participate, to some extent, in that same reality. How could I find a way to “paint the underside of a built-in cabinet” so that even the littlest would know that they were being thought of, even delighted in?

The only way to do this is to pray. In fact, I would say, to maintain a rigorous prayer life. If we don’t know what that means, we have the rest of our lives to learn and to love the beauty, heartache and triumph of an active interior life. Most assuredly our sons would be happy to assist us in this goal!

Can we commit to this the way we would to actual grandchildren? We can try! There may come a day when I’m actually getting milk and cookies for one of Douglas’ spiritual children. How many grandchildren will I have? It could be thousands!