Editor's Note: Jake Epstein, Seminarian for the Diocese of Des Moines, spoke at the masses at Corpus Christi Parish in July of 2017. The following are his story he shared, first in English and then in Spanish.
Jake with his parents at his candidacy mass.
Hello everyone, my name is Jake Epstein and, as Father said, I am a seminarian for our diocese, the diocese of Des Moines. I am studying to be ordained a priest in 2021, God willing. As you can see, like the other 20 or so men studying for the diocese, I am flesh and blood, just a regular guy. I’m from Urbandale, near Des Moines. I like to go camping, hiking, see movies, all regular stuff. The only thing unusual about me is that I’m in love with God’s Church, and I think he’s calling me to serve him as a priest.
In light of that call I’ve spent the past two years studying philosophy at Mundelein Seminary, which is near Chicago, and this fall I’ll be starting theology in St Paul, Minnesota. This summer my assignment is to a formation program at Creighton University in Omaha, but luckily my window in the dorm faces east, so even though I’m living in Nebraska all summer I can still see the promised land across the river.
In light of that call I’ve spent the past two years studying philosophy at Mundelein Seminary, which is near Chicago, and this fall I’ll be starting theology in St Paul, Minnesota. This summer my assignment is to a formation program at Creighton University in Omaha, but luckily my window in the dorm faces east, so even though I’m living in Nebraska all summer I can still see the promised land across the river.
Working hard at CYC!
So I’m here this weekend to say two things: the first is “Thank you.” Thank you for all your support for us. I know we’re in many of your prayers, and we appreciate that support more than you know. You all also support our education through the annual diocesan appeal: all the seminarians in college receive some support from the diocese, and for our last four years of study our tuition, room, and board are paid for by your contributions. Thank you very much for making my formation for priesthood possible through that annual diocesan appeal.
I also want to encourage you in your own call. We know that the Lord is calling each of us to holiness, to be a saint! And he’s calling each of us to live out that call in a particular way. So for the young people here, I want to encourage you to take that call seriously. I first felt called to be a priest in 8th grade, right after I got confirmed. I chose the Archangel Gabriel as my confirmation saint, because I wanted to announce the good news to the whole world, just like Gabriel. That got me thinking: although of course we’re all called to announce the good news, that priests do that “full time”, so maybe I should be a priest. That thought was very persistent, but it wasn’t at all welcome. I had all kinds of my own ideas about what I wanted to be doing. Those ideas came from a lot of places: from my friends, from TV and the Internet, from my own fears and ambitions, but they didn’t come from God. They weren’t bad ideas in themselves: I wasn’t choosing between being a priest and being a drug dealer. I wanted to be an engineer, and I did go to college and study chemical engineering, and then I worked as an engineer in Michigan for four years. I had a good job that I enjoyed quite a bit, good friends, everything that was supposed to make me happy, but something just wasn’t right, and those thoughts about becoming a priest never went away.
I also want to encourage you in your own call. We know that the Lord is calling each of us to holiness, to be a saint! And he’s calling each of us to live out that call in a particular way. So for the young people here, I want to encourage you to take that call seriously. I first felt called to be a priest in 8th grade, right after I got confirmed. I chose the Archangel Gabriel as my confirmation saint, because I wanted to announce the good news to the whole world, just like Gabriel. That got me thinking: although of course we’re all called to announce the good news, that priests do that “full time”, so maybe I should be a priest. That thought was very persistent, but it wasn’t at all welcome. I had all kinds of my own ideas about what I wanted to be doing. Those ideas came from a lot of places: from my friends, from TV and the Internet, from my own fears and ambitions, but they didn’t come from God. They weren’t bad ideas in themselves: I wasn’t choosing between being a priest and being a drug dealer. I wanted to be an engineer, and I did go to college and study chemical engineering, and then I worked as an engineer in Michigan for four years. I had a good job that I enjoyed quite a bit, good friends, everything that was supposed to make me happy, but something just wasn’t right, and those thoughts about becoming a priest never went away.
Playing in the alumni marching band at ISU.
What finally changed my mind about them was starting to pray the Angelus one year for Lent. The Angelus is a prayer focused on the Annunciation, when Gabriel (there he is again) appeared to Mary and announced to her the good news, and of course we know that Mary’s “yes” -- that cooperation with God’s grace -- planted the seed for our salvation. Meditating three times a day on Mary’s “yes” to God was a great inspiration to me, but it was also a big kick in the pants from our Blessed Mother to get a move on, because of course what I was doing was almost exactly the opposite. I’d been saying, “No God, you’d better pick some other way for me to serve you; I’m not doing that." What I’d forgotten in all this is that God is our father, and he knows what will make us happy much better than we do. And in following after all these other ideas for my life, I had shut out God’s plan. I can say that following God’s plan, rather than my own and others’ plans, has been a tremendous adventure and has taken me all kinds of places I never thought I’d go.
And to all of you parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles out there, I want to encourage you not to be afraid to talk to people in your life about priesthood or religious life. Since I started seminary, so many of my family and friends have told me, “I always wondered if you’d be a priest." I always appreciate hearing that, but nobody ever asked me about it before seminary, when it might have been really helpful! So don’t be afraid to ask people. You’re not putting too much pressure on them. Young people get pressure from every direction imaginable, so putting a word about what God might be asking them to do isn’t saying too much. And it isn’t something to be afraid of pursuing. You can talk to Fr. Tom, Fr. Carlos, you can call up the Vocation Director for the Diocese, Fr. Ross Parker, you can visit us up at seminary, or you can visit a religious order and no one is going to cart you off and make you a priest or a nun right away, I promise. So don’t be afraid to make that first step if it’s something you’ve ever wondered about, or prayed about, and don’t be afraid to encourage your kids, brothers, sisters, friends, or whoever.
I want to thank you all for having me this weekend, thank you again for all of your support, and, again, encourage you to answer God’s call to holiness in your own life, wherever that leads you.
And to all of you parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles out there, I want to encourage you not to be afraid to talk to people in your life about priesthood or religious life. Since I started seminary, so many of my family and friends have told me, “I always wondered if you’d be a priest." I always appreciate hearing that, but nobody ever asked me about it before seminary, when it might have been really helpful! So don’t be afraid to ask people. You’re not putting too much pressure on them. Young people get pressure from every direction imaginable, so putting a word about what God might be asking them to do isn’t saying too much. And it isn’t something to be afraid of pursuing. You can talk to Fr. Tom, Fr. Carlos, you can call up the Vocation Director for the Diocese, Fr. Ross Parker, you can visit us up at seminary, or you can visit a religious order and no one is going to cart you off and make you a priest or a nun right away, I promise. So don’t be afraid to make that first step if it’s something you’ve ever wondered about, or prayed about, and don’t be afraid to encourage your kids, brothers, sisters, friends, or whoever.
I want to thank you all for having me this weekend, thank you again for all of your support, and, again, encourage you to answer God’s call to holiness in your own life, wherever that leads you.
On a canoeing trip with friends.
Buenas tardes a todos, me llamo Jake Epstein. Soy un seminarista de nuestra diócesis, la diócesis des Des Moines. Primero Dios, voy a ser ordenado sacerdote en cuatros años más. Como pueden ver, soy un ser humano real, no sólo una foto en el póster. Soy de Urbandale, cerca de Des Moines, me gusta ir de camping, ver películas, como muchas otras personas. La diferencia es que nuestro Señor me ha llamado a servirle a él y su iglesia.
Es por eso que desde hace dos años estudio filosofía en un seminario de Chicago. Y este otoño voy a empezar a estudiar la teología en el Seminario de San Paulo en St Paul, Minnesota. Este verano, estoy en la Universidad de Creighton tomando algunas clases de espiritualidad. Afortunadamente, mi ventana mira hacia al este, así que aunque estoy en Nebraska, puedo mirar la tierra prometida.
Estoy aquí hoy para decir dos cosas. Primero: gracias. Gracias por todo su apoyo hacia los seminaristas. Yo sé que estamos en sus oraciones, y apreciamos eso más que cualquier otra cosa. También ustedes nos apoyan a través del Annual Diocesan Appeal: todos los seminaristas de la diócesis recibimos algún apoyo, y en nuestros últimos cuatros años de estudio estos son pagados por la diócesis, es decir, por todos ustedes. Por eso muchas gracias.
También me gustaría alentarles en sus propias vocaciones. Sabemos que nuestro Señor está llamando a cada persona a la santidad. Sin embargo, cada uno de nosotros está llamado a vivirla de una manera particular, y especial. Quiero decirles a los jóvenes que esa llamada es seria. Yo no entré en el seminario hasta que tuve veintiséis años porque tuve mis propias ideas sobre lo que quería hacer. Pero me olvidé que Dios es nuestro padre, y él sabe lo que nos hará felices. Puedo decirles que siguiendo el plan de Dios, en vez del mio, esta aventura ha sido mejor que cualquier cosa que podría haber planeado.
Y a todos: padres, tios, abuelos, amigos, me gustaría alentarles a hablar con sus familiares acerca de las vocaciones. Desde que empecé el seminario, mi familia y mis amigos dijeron, “Siempre pensé que quizás serías un sacerdote.” Yo pienso que eso es muy agradable, pero hubiera sido mejor si me lo hubieran dicho antes de que yo entrara al seminario. En ese momento quizá podría haberme ayudado. Por eso yo digo no tengan miedo de decir algo acerca de la vocación.
Si ustedes tienen preguntas, pueden hablar con el Padre Carlos, con nuestro director vocacional, el Padre Ross Parker, o pueden visitar un seminario o un convento. Les prometo que no los van a secuestrar. Por eso no tengan miedo de dar ese primer paso si tienen algunas preguntas. Solo es el primer paso, no es el último. No dudes en acercarte a alguien.
Gracias a todos por aceptarme este fin de semana con ustedes. Gracias de nuevo por todo su apoyo, y una vez más, asegúrense de estar atentos a la llamada de Dios, donde quiera que él les lleva.
Es por eso que desde hace dos años estudio filosofía en un seminario de Chicago. Y este otoño voy a empezar a estudiar la teología en el Seminario de San Paulo en St Paul, Minnesota. Este verano, estoy en la Universidad de Creighton tomando algunas clases de espiritualidad. Afortunadamente, mi ventana mira hacia al este, así que aunque estoy en Nebraska, puedo mirar la tierra prometida.
Estoy aquí hoy para decir dos cosas. Primero: gracias. Gracias por todo su apoyo hacia los seminaristas. Yo sé que estamos en sus oraciones, y apreciamos eso más que cualquier otra cosa. También ustedes nos apoyan a través del Annual Diocesan Appeal: todos los seminaristas de la diócesis recibimos algún apoyo, y en nuestros últimos cuatros años de estudio estos son pagados por la diócesis, es decir, por todos ustedes. Por eso muchas gracias.
También me gustaría alentarles en sus propias vocaciones. Sabemos que nuestro Señor está llamando a cada persona a la santidad. Sin embargo, cada uno de nosotros está llamado a vivirla de una manera particular, y especial. Quiero decirles a los jóvenes que esa llamada es seria. Yo no entré en el seminario hasta que tuve veintiséis años porque tuve mis propias ideas sobre lo que quería hacer. Pero me olvidé que Dios es nuestro padre, y él sabe lo que nos hará felices. Puedo decirles que siguiendo el plan de Dios, en vez del mio, esta aventura ha sido mejor que cualquier cosa que podría haber planeado.
Y a todos: padres, tios, abuelos, amigos, me gustaría alentarles a hablar con sus familiares acerca de las vocaciones. Desde que empecé el seminario, mi familia y mis amigos dijeron, “Siempre pensé que quizás serías un sacerdote.” Yo pienso que eso es muy agradable, pero hubiera sido mejor si me lo hubieran dicho antes de que yo entrara al seminario. En ese momento quizá podría haberme ayudado. Por eso yo digo no tengan miedo de decir algo acerca de la vocación.
Si ustedes tienen preguntas, pueden hablar con el Padre Carlos, con nuestro director vocacional, el Padre Ross Parker, o pueden visitar un seminario o un convento. Les prometo que no los van a secuestrar. Por eso no tengan miedo de dar ese primer paso si tienen algunas preguntas. Solo es el primer paso, no es el último. No dudes en acercarte a alguien.
Gracias a todos por aceptarme este fin de semana con ustedes. Gracias de nuevo por todo su apoyo, y una vez más, asegúrense de estar atentos a la llamada de Dios, donde quiera que él les lleva.
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AUTHOR: JAKE EPSTEIN
Jake Epstein is "a regular guy" from Urbandale, Iowa, who likes to go camping, hiking, see movies, all the "regular stuff" -- who happens to be in love with God’s Church. He is discerning his call to the priesthood while studying theology in St. Paul, Minnesota.
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