8th Grade Students Recognized At Annual Evansville Serra Club Luncheon
Back when he was a second grader, Father Jason Gries thought life as a priest seemed pretty rosy.
“Playing cards with all the old people, going on fishing trips, only working on Saturday night and Sunday,” he told the 8th graders who had gathered at the Catholic Center along with their parents and teachers for the annual Serra Club luncheon. “That sounded pretty good to me.”
Father Gries, pastor of St. John the Evangelist, Daylight, and associate director of vocations for the diocese, gave the keynote address at the Jan. 18 luncheon, where Catholic 8th graders from throughout the diocese were recognized by Serra Club of Evansville for successfully completing a project about vocations. The event was timed to coincide with National Vocation Awareness Week (Jan. 13- 19.)
Father Gries told those in attendance that, as he got older, his vocational focus shifted away from the priesthood and toward medicine. He thought being a doctor was the best way he could help people.
During his high school years at Evansville Reitz, however, he said he started having thoughts about the priesthood – especially after a life-altering Teens Encounter Christ retreat during his junior year. He said adults started asking him if he had ever considered a religious vocation. “But I continued to run from it,” he said. “It wasn’t what I wanted to do.”
Yet God was persistent in calling Father Gries, and fortunately he had family and friends (including current Vocations Director and Christ the King Pastor Father Alex Zenthoefer) who let him know they would love and support him no matter what vocation or profession he chose. And fortunately for the Diocese of Evansville, Father Gries elected to take a chance and open himself up to the will of the Holy Spirit.
He said he decided to give priesthood a try after graduating from Reitz, but was “deathly afraid” to tell his friends – especially those who weren’t Catholic. He recalled visiting several of them at Purdue University, where he decided to break the news.
“So, I’m thinking of becoming a priest,” Father Gries remembered telling his buddies. “Then I was waiting for things to be thrown at me or something. But they all just nodded and said, ‘Yeah, I can see that.’” Their support and understanding helped affirm his decision.
Bishop Charles C. Thompson also spoke at the luncheon, sharing a story about a family with nine children who said a vocation prayer at the dinner table for years hoping that one or more of the kids would choose religious life. While one of the children did ultimately become a priest, Bishop Thompson said the parents eventually realized that they had “nine vocations around that table, not just the one they thought they were praying for.”
“Each and every one of us has a vocation,” said Bishop Thompson, noting the importance of strong adult role models who have chosen the married or single life. “I encourage you to keep listening to the Holy Spirit in your lives, and how God is calling us.”
Father Gries said understanding what God wants for you starts with a commitment to prayer. He said when he made the decision to begin praying more on his own, “I started seeing and understanding that God did have something in store for me and the gifts and abilities that he had given me.
“God continued to confirm for me in my prayer, and also as I looked at my life, that I was where he wanted me to be.”
Father Gries’s advice to all young people: “Continue to look in your lives, to see that relationship with Christ growing stronger. Continue to ask him the questions, ‘Where do you want me to be? Who do you want me to be?’”
Serra Club of Evansville is one of 600 clubs that comprise Serra International. An organization of Catholic laypersons, the mission of Serra International is to foster vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
This year's honored students include
• Lauren Ziliak, Chase Roberts, St. James, Haubstadt;
• Emma Regan, Jessica Porter, Molly Jillson, St. John the Baptist, Newburgh;
• Arley Will, Jarred Kinnaman, St. Joseph, Vanderburgh County;
• Molly Kissel, Maddox Williams, Coleman Maynor, St. Benedict Cathedral, Evansville;
• Aubrey Dyson, Ali Spahn, Joel Kelley, St. Wendel, St. Wendel;
• Hannah Nichols, Holden Abshier, Holy Rosary, Evansville;
• Nathan Folz, Lucy Walsh, Good Shepherd, Evansville;
• Jacob Murphy, Mackenzie Whitten, Holy Cross, Fort Branch;
• Erin Lasher, Kaylee Schmitt, Sts. Peter and Paul, Haubstadt;
• Mitchell Brown, Elizabeth Massey, Christ the King, Evansville;
• Mitchell Heim, Grace Cox, Corpus Christi, Evansville;
• Claire Friona, Patricia Brenner, St. Theresa, Evansville;
• Emily Goodin, Ben Halter, St. Philip, Posey County;
• Ethan Dale, Sarah Raber, Resurrection, Evansville;
• Matthew Heldman, Austin Cayce, Holy Redeemer, Evansville;
• Sammi Korschgen, St. Boniface, Evansville;
• Maddie Happe, Sacred Heart, Evansville;
• Ashley Pierre, Holden Hunt, St. Agnes, Evansville;
• Sarah Garrett, St. Anthony, Evansville;
• Josh Bowlds, Maria Rust, St. Bernard, Rockport;
• Colin Duncan, Deslin Brannon, Holy Spirit, Evansville.
