Seminarians learning Spanish delight in Hispanic culture, faith

While living in Columbus, six seminarians immersed themselves in Spanish culture this summer.

Seminarians Zachary Goodchild, Michael Rhatican and Matthew Waldman, who are from the Diocese of Columbus and studying for the priesthood at the Pontifical College Josephinum, and Travis Seagraves, who is from the Diocese of Youngstown and studying at St. Mary Seminary in Wickliffe, Ohio, took part in the Diocese of Columbus’ Spanish immersion program for seminarians June 2-July 21.

The men spent eight weeks studying the Spanish language, serving at parishes with Hispanic ministries that celebrate Mass in Spanish, and sharing meals at the homes of Hispanic families.

Shane Gerrity, from the Diocese of Columbus, who will be studying at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology in Cincinnati, and Brother Joseph Logan of the Fathers of Mercy religious order, who is studying at the Josephinum, joined for the final two weeks of the program.

“The diocese recognizes that we have a lot of Hispanic people here in the diocese, and we need more priests that can minister to them and relate with them and be spiritual fathers for them, so we’re doing everything we can to learn the language,” Goodchild said.

“This immersion is the diocese’s first step for us, after taking some (Spanish) classes, to learn the language a bit more and to know the Hispanic communities around the diocese.”

Seagraves was asked by Bishop David Bonnar of the Diocese of Youngstown to learn Spanish, he said. A priest in his diocese connected Seagraves to the Spanish immersion program in the Diocese of Columbus.

The program gave the seminarians a better understanding of the lives of Hispanic Catholics in the United States. It also equipped the men to serve in a Spanish-speaking parish and walk with Hispanic parishioners in faith and life.

Living in the rectory of the Columbus St. Thomas More Newman Center, the seminarians began each morning by driving to Columbus St. Agnes Church for daily Mass in Spanish. They had morning prayer with the Missionary Sisters, Servants of the Word, a community of religious sisters based in Mexico , and two to three hours of Spanish class each day .

On Tuesdays, the seminarians spent the day with the Missionary Sisters, often participating in door-to-door evangelization in Spanish.

“We knock on the door; if the person’s receptive, we say, ‘Do you have five minutes or so to hear the Gospel today?’” Goodchild said. “And then, we read the Gospel, and then one or two of us gives a reflection on it, and we evangelize to anybody, whoever’s willing to listen.

“I think, for me, it’s like, wow, it’s really that simple to bring the light of Christ into people’s lives. I don’t have to come up with something crazy or new; we can just bring the Word of God to people.”

Wednesdays consisted of networking, meetings  and watching Spanish movies with Hispanic families in the evenings. The movies, such as “Voces Inocentes” (“Innocent Voices”), were based on true stories that families in the diocese lived in their native countries or as immigrants.

The seminarians were invited to the homes of Hispanic families for dinner on Thursday evenings. 

The families “do a really good job at inviting people to just come and share a meal with them and then just be human beings and relate to them,” Rhatican said. “I really love that part of their culture, and I think the other thing I noticed, too, is that a lot of them do have really strong faith, but it seems like they also struggle with a lot of the same problems that people everywhere in the world are struggling with.”

Friday through Sunday, the seminarians helped at various diocesan parishes with Hispanic ministry programs. The men assisted with Mass and Bible studies or young adult groups, and they spent time with parishioners and shared their vocation stories with them.

Seagraves, who had no prior experience studying Spanish, was challenged by the program, he said, but it also helped prepare him for the priesthood.

“It’s definitely been a growing experience, not only in my own language skills and my own mental flexibility, but also in my own trust and faith in the Church,” he said. “Not only have I been sent here for a reason, but the Church has called me for a reason, and I’m to answer that call, and it’s going to be tough. Good. It’s supposed to be. 

“If it were easy, it probably wouldn’t be worth doing. This has definitely given me a new perspective on what it means to have this particular calling.”

The seminarians said they were impressed with the strong Catholic faith of the Hispanic families they shared meals with, which was evident in their homes.

“The amount of people that have such a strong faith and a devotion to Our Lady of Guadalupe, many of them have small mini-altars in their homes, and it’s just really amazing to see how deep their faith is and how much they love the Lord,” Waldman said. “There’s icons and crucifixes and all kinds of things all over their home. 

“They know the Bible, and they want to share that with others. It’s been amazing to see their level of faith, … not that I wasn’t expecting that, but it took me aback to see how deep because I would have no idea, obviously, if I wasn’t in this program. I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to go to these families’ houses and find out how much their faith means to them.”

The men were also struck by the families’ hospitality and desire to serve the seminarians who were visiting their homes.

“It’s incredibly humbling,” Seagraves said. “It’s almost like too humbling. At first, I was very uncomfortable with it, like, ‘I’m an individual American. I can take care of myself.’ It was like, ‘Oh, no, I will take care of you,’ and it took some getting used to, but I do think that, going with my comrades here, it is an expression of their faith.

“It really is impressive. I think that, at least from what I’ve seen with these families, we, as individual Americans, can definitely learn a lot.”

While the seminarians enjoyed discovering the faithfulness and hospitality of many Hispanic families in the diocese, they also recognized that the Hispanic culture is a hidden gem.

“Their communities aren’t so visible in the diocese,” Goodchild said. “I’ve lived here my whole life, and I haven’t been to a lot of these parishes that they’re at and seeing a lot of their grocery stores and where they live, and getting to see that this summer was like, ‘Wow.’ 

“They make up a good portion. They’re sizable. I wish they weren’t so hidden. I wish more people got to know their communities, and so I hope people do because they have a beautiful culture.”

By engaging with Hispanic ministry at parishes in the diocese, Waldman said, he discovered the need for more unified churches and blending Hispanic culture with other cultures at parishes.

“Something I’ve really noticed is that these communities are out there, but they’re really separated from the Anglo community or whatever other community they’re a part of,” he said. “So, it’s almost like two different worlds in a parish. You have your English Masses, and then, sometime in the afternoon, you have your Spanish Mass. 

“So, I think a desire to try to – how you do that, of course, is difficult and requires a lot of thinking and a lot of work and a lot of people – bring those communities together more to unify them as one parish, one diocese, one church.”

The Spanish immersion program also helped the seminarians continue discerning their vocation and prepare for their future work as priests, should they continue to discern a call to the priesthood.

“Being able to see, OK, this is actually what the life of a pastor is like, and getting to see, if the diocese keeps sending me through with Spanish, then I’ll most likely eventually have some sort of Hispanic community at a parish to shepherd,” Rhatican said.

“And so, being able to see that community now and being able to get to learn about their community and learn about what they’re doing really well and what their needs are, I think is going to be really helpful for us as future priests.”

While there were often language barriers and conversations lost in translation, Goodchild recognized the power of presence and spending time with Hispanic families, regardless of whether the words spoken were understood.

“There have been a lot of uncomfortable situations to where it’s pushing us out of our comfort zones,” he said. “So, that has been helpful, because I think, as priests, we’ll be in a lot of uncomfortable situations. … 

“We were at a family’s home where we didn’t quite understand the exact situation, but the family, their child is missing, and we went and prayed the rosary with them, and there was another lay person there who was … consoling and encouraging this family in their faith. 

“I didn’t pick up everything that was going on, but we’ll be in a lot of situations that are pretty sad or uncomfortable, like I don’t know exactly what to say. I may not know these people, but the power of presence, of just people being there for them, that’s a big part of the priesthood, being with the people, being with the sheep.

“And then the other thing, for me, that has been very challenging, but challenging me to grow, is being comfortable with being misunderstood. 

“Normally, I connect with people pretty well, but when we’re speaking a different language, it’s a lot harder to do that, and I was like, ‘I wish I could understand what these people were saying, and I wish I could share with them how much what they’re doing for us means to me,’ but I have to leave a lot of situations just saying what I could in Spanish, … and that was hard.

“But I think a lot of times as priests, we will be misunderstood, especially in preaching the Gospel, where it doesn’t make sense all the time to people. … I like to make people happy, and sometimes that’s not possible when you’re preaching something that maybe they’re not ready for, but still something that needs to be said. So, the Spanish barrier has helped me recognize that.”

    This summer was phase one of the immersion program. Next summer, the seminarians most likely will do a “more intense immersion in Mexico,” Rhatican said, or in another Spanish-speaking country to “really home in on the language and perfect our skill.”