The Collar by Jonathan Englert, 2006, 301 Pages

The Collar by Jonathan Englert, 2006, 301 pages.

Jonathan Englert’s book about five seminarians struggling to find and keep their vocations is an antidote for the recent negativity about the Catholic priesthood. Following the five men for a year in a second-career seminary for Catholic priests was Englert’s method of researchforthe book. As Englert follows the men in their daily difficulties and joys, the reader can do the same. This book provides an intimate look at the lives and hopes and despairs of the seminarians.

What is different about these candidates is that they have had successful careers and earned hard-won wisdom before embarking on their journey to the priesthood. Although it’s called a second career, it’s really a sea change and could more accurately be called a second life. It’s a truly born-again experience, as literally everything is different from their previous lives.

Added to the feeling of dislocation encountered by these men who have left job, home, family, friends, and most of their material goods, is the newness of going back to school for those who’ve been out of school for a time.Some of them haven’t been to school in decades. How to study, how to write a paper, pass a test, and learn difficult concepts are all challenging to incoming seminarians.

One of the positive sides of this equation is the incredible stories of the way God has called them to be priests. Every single one of them can tell of a powerfulmessage from God which has resulted in being at the seminary preparing to be a priest. This call has often come at an inconvenient time in life, and the seminarian has had to make sacrifices to be where he is.

Another positive aspect is the wholeness and maturity of the men themselves. These are people who have been tempered by life, who have learned wisdom from the experiences of life. Many different lines of work are represented at the seminary, among them airline pilots, lawyers, managers, and business owners. A number of seminarians are widowers who have lost something precious, and are replacing it with the most precious gift life can offer, a special relationship with God. Often these men think of their former life as a preparation or introduction for them to what they’re doing now.

But the main part of the past that drives the men is a burning wish to serve God and people in a special way. These are people who have not only helped others in their work or as volunteers, often in the parish, but in other venues such as hospitals or social work as well. These are men who were highly paid executives who will face an enormous drop in salary. As an example, when one seminarian was asked what his future salary was going to be, he responded: $850 a month.

Taking a look at the setting in which all this takes place, Sacred Heart School of Theology is a large campus that is about a quarter of a mile from one end to the other. It’s set in a green and wooded spot that is peaceful and seems just the right place for the kind of study that goes on there. The chapel is central to the building and campus, and is an unusual round red brick building with a sky-blue roof.

The school is administered and partly financed by the Priests of the Sacred Heart. This is a religious order that has a history of being receptive to delayed vocations. The men of this order live and work in diverse countries such as Indonesia, South Africa, Cameroon, Finland, France, and Germany. In one example, in the Germany of the nineteenth century, younger priests were scarce because of required service in the military, and older candidates were readily accepted. And that’s part of the background of how the seminary found its mission.

The year that Englert chronicled was 2001. It began quietly enough that August, with the men arriving a day or two before orientation so they could find their way around the large campus, get settled into their nine by twelve rooms, and make their first acquaintance with the fellow seminarians, faculty, and staff that they would be spending the next four or so years with.

One of the first activities the seminarians engage in is the talk by Fr. Jim Brackin, the rector of the school, called appropriately, the rector’s meeting. Fr.Brackin was suffering from cancer at the time, and made his condition a teaching moment for the men. This focus on making the most of any situation is a typical one for Fr. Brackin. His practical nature is allied with a deep spirituality that had allowed him to become rector and do his best, though he initially didn’t want the job when it was offered to him ten years previously.

At the meeting, he told the attentive listeners that he has hope despite his illness because he believes in eternal life. He said that he tries to strike a balance between the selfishness of too much focus on his condition on the one hand, and on the other hand not paying attention to the needs of his illness, which would be selfish also.

As Fr. Brackin continues his talk, Englert quotes him:

You have made this journey to come here because God is moving in your life. The Holy Spirit has touched you in such a way to give you an inkling of an indication that God might be calling you to priesthood. The Spirit is stirring, conjuring that path for you. Please be faithful to a pattern of prayer. Be committed to establishing a pattern of prayer. It’s in that stance of receptivity that you listen to the Holy Spirit.

Now the academicians don’t like me to say this, but believe me, when you leave here as a priest, the people of God certainly want you to have adequate theological knowledge - they do, and they have a right to expect that. But more importantly, they expect you to be a holy person. They really expect you to be somebody who is in love with Jesus. Someone who is committed to continuing to grow in intimacy with God and who is open to assisting them in their own journeys.

So Fr. Brackin reiterates that prayer, the action part of a relationship with God, is the heart of a vocation. If a priest is to teach others, he’s got to have a strong relationship himself. At the basic level, these men aren’t just answering God’s call, but responding to God’s love for each one them.

The previous year had begun optimistically with the selectionof the theme for the year – fiesta. Theidea was gratefulness for God’s many blessings and joy and celebration in anticipation of a wonderful year.

Then came the momentous events of Sept. 11. This disaster was only the beginning of a series ofchallenges that occurred that year. The sex scandal broke like a heavy rain in Boston, and became a storm all over the country. This was an invisible part of the atmosphere that the new seminarians came into. At the same time though, the school was permeated with hope, and there was a general feeling that the situation would improve as the Church dealt with the crisis and made a series of changes.

The year progresses, and the struggles of the five seminarians Englert has chosen to chronicle become intensified. Classes, tests, and papers put pressure on the seminarians. The spiritual growth and awakening that has to take place as these leaders prepare for the strenuous life of a parish priest or chaplain in twenty-first century America is the paramount part of the mix.

All this plays out against the background of day-to-day interaction and friendship with colleagues and the seminary community. At the end of the year some will have grown and changed beyond what they would have believed could happen, and two of the five will decide to leave. You will be there through it all, and will share sadness and joy as Englert portraysthe life of these applicants for a hard, demanding job but one that can also be immediately fulfilling but is always ultimately rewarding.

Author Profile – Jonathan Englert

Jonathan Englert is a Columbia School of Journalism graduate who had been published in several national publications previously, but this remarkably professional work is his first foray into the world of book-writing. His efforts entailed a trip into the unknown both physically and mentally.

To accomplish his work, Englert traveled to an outlying part of a Milwaukee areasuburb from his home and wife in New York. There he conducted his research on-site at Sacred Heart School of Theology. His plan for staying at the seminary to obtain the information he needed by interviewing and observing at the seminary itself was rebuffed by two other seminaries before his proposal was accepted at Sacred Heart. His path as a convert to the Catholic Church left him open to the faith struggles of the aspirants to the priesthood at the school.