Encouraged by his parents, blessed by priestly role models and a desire to seek God’s will in silent, attentive prayer led Deacon Sebastian Spencer to the priesthood.
“Part of it was just the Lord had to bring me into a much more substantial relationship with him than I had when I entered college,” Deacon Spencer said as shared his story with The Catholic Spirit and in the May 22 “Practicing Catholic” radio show.
“And then just spending time with the Lord in silence in the adoration chapel” over the course of three years while studying biology at the University of Mary in Bismarck, North Dakota, he said.
At first, he asked the Lord to help him pursue his own ends, said Deacon Spencer, 28. Near the end of his last year at the university, he wondered if he had stopped to ask God’s will.
“The Lord brought me there, drew me more into the silence to give me an opportunity to see (that) I’m talking a lot (and then) giving him the opportunity to speak. He brought me to the point where I could ask that question and really be open to the answer.”
Gradually opening his will to conform with God’s bore fruit. For the first time, he felt strongly called to the priesthood, Deacon Spencer said, which ultimately led to preparing for his 10 a.m. ordination Mass May 30 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul.
His parents, Dr. Paul and Judi Spencer, and his six younger siblings are excited for ordination day, Deacon Spencer said. Growing up, they often prayed as a family, seeking the Lord’s will for future vocations, future spouses, “whatever the Lord was calling us to,” he said.
As parishioners of St. Charles Borromeo in St. Anthony, the family was blessed with good priests as role models, Deacon Spencer said. In addition, his great uncle, the late Father Oliver Dufresne, was a priest of the archdiocese, and Father Tom Wilson, pastor of All Saints in Lakeville, has been like an uncle in the family, he said.
“My life was very much informed by the sacramental life of the Church, especially Mass and the sacrament of reconciliation,” Deacon Spencer said.
He also was interested in the sciences and had a desire to help people, Deacon Spencer said. As high school graduation drew near, he decided to study at the University of Mary.
After graduating from the university with a bachelor’s degree in biology, he worked a little more than a year as a medical assistant at a family clinic in White Bear Lake that includes his father. He brought patients to the exam rooms, took their pulse and blood pressure, updated their medical history, drew blood, gave vaccinations, and helped the doctors in other ways.
He was inspired anew by his father’s deep faith and ability to see patients’ needs beyond their medical conditions. “Hearing the witness of other people … telling me of how he impacted them or their families, and their great affection for him and the care that he provided for them,” Deacon Spencer said, was something he wanted to emulate.
He entered The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul. “With each passing year of seminary, I have increasingly felt that the Lord was calling me to the vocation of priesthood,” Deacon Spencer said. “I have experienced a sense of deep peace about being a priest, which has continually grown.”
Deacon Spencer said he looks forward to celebrating the sacraments, particularly reconciliation, so he can share the mercy and love of Christ with which he has been blessed.
He also wants to help Catholics understand and bear witness to their faith, live in real relationship with the Lord and share the good news of the Gospel, Deacon Spencer said. “Especially amidst a very worldly culture that discourages us from thinking about God or the ultimate meaning of our lives,” he said. “I think that there is also a need to help Catholic parents effectively share their Catholic faith with their children.”
As men might be discerning priesthood, Deacon Spencer said, he would encourage them to spend time with the Lord in prayer every day “and to regularly spend time in Eucharistic adoration. I would also encourage him to have periods of silence in his time of daily prayer, so that he can better notice how the Lord is speaking through the desires of his heart.”
