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27 1 I first started thinking about priesthood when I was in grade school, but I put it off because, at that time, Mass was all in Latin, and I basically failed altar server training because I had a hard time learn- ing my Latin. But then, in about 8th grade, the parish would invite missionary priests to the classrooms, and I became enam- ored with the idea of becoming a missionary. I'm sure it had more to do with going on an adventure throughout the world than evangelizing, but I was obsessed. I am the oldest of seven chil- dren, and I applied to go to the Columban Fathers seminary in New York. However, my mother put her foot down and said I was not going to travel across the country at 13 to go to school in New York. So, the idea of becoming a priest went to the background. Then, I went to Western State College for a year, and down there, I met a young priest. I had never met someone young who had been ordained, and he had an influence on me. At that time, all the protests were going on about the Vietnam War, and I had this desire to be of service somehow. I decided to apply to seminary and entered St. Thomas Seminary in 1967. 2 It's had its ups and downs, as anyone in a vocational life would know. The Lord has been peeling away at me, slowly, layer by layer. I became very involved in Marriage Encounter for about 11 years, which was a pivotal point in my life. But there have also been disappointments and potholes along the way – times when things didn't work out the way I wanted them to or people walking away from the Church. A key experience in my life was also when I went to Colombia to serve after being ordained for about 15 years. At that time, the Archdiocese had a mission co-op with Monteria, Colombia, so they sent priests, lay people and religious down to work in parishes there. I was a pastor in a parish, struggling with Spanish and trying to survive. I was there for seven years and wouldn't trade it for anything. The people there suffered terri- bly, but they were resilient and taught me so much. If I were going to point to a lynchpin of my ministry, it's the holiness of the people and their hunger to know God. 3 Not to ignore it, first of all. Don't pretend that it will go away, because it won't. The world is different than when I was ordained. We live in a world where technology can be of great assistance, but it can give us the illusion that we don't need God. When you're a priest or religious, people invite you into the inner part of their lives. You're invited to the brokenness and joys of people's lives in a way that can't be repeated with other vocations. Monsignor Bernie Schmitz 27 DENVER CATHOLIC | AUGUST-SEPTEMBER 2024