Meet Your Seminarians
Not a What but a Whom
I
John Bettin, 50
Archdiocese of Detroit
Second-year Theology
wondered what it would be like to be a
priest from an early age, but it was not
until high school that I thought about it
seriously. But then college life and the secular
world got the better of me.
After graduating from the University of
Detroit, I began my career as a certified public
accountant. While it was fulfilling to help others
with their tax problems, there seemed to be
something missing. I always knew in the recesses
of my heart that I was called to the priesthood,
but for some reason, perhaps fear, I never pursued
the priesthood any further. I thought seminary
was for guys who knew with certainty that they
wanted to become priests. I, mistakenly, thought
once you entered they locked you in until you
were ready to come out as a priest!
I attended some Bible study programs but
there was something still missing. So in the
winter of 2009, I began taking classes at Sacred
Heart. I remember walking up the stairs of the
main entrance then turning right down the hall
when suddenly a sense of peace overtook me,
and an inner voice said to me, “You are home.”
One of my first classes was with Dr. Mary
Healy. I was struck by the passion in which Dr.
Healy read Scripture and talked about Jesus. I
quickly realized that Dr. Healy was in love with
Jesus. My own restlessness ended because I
finally realized that it was not a what that I was
seeking but a whom—Jesus Christ.
One day, Dr. Peter Williamson stopped me
in the hall and asked if I had ever thought about
becoming a priest. I responded, “Many moons ago,
but I’m too old now.” He assured me that I was
not. I finally mustered enough courage, surrendered
to the Holy Spirit, and answered the call which has
beckoned me since my youth. I applied to Sacred
Heart and entered in the fall of 2011.
My journey was a long one but after twenty-five
years of my life in service to Caesar, the remainder
shall be devoted to God and his Church.
Thank You, Mrs. Weekley
S
Br. Nicholas Hamilton,
SOLT, 24
Society of Our Lady of the
Most Holy Trinity
Second-year College
18
MOSAIC
etting my banking slips down on the
counter, the bank teller asked again with
a more solemn tone. “If they called you
right now, would you go back to the mission?”
I stared back at the teller, confused at his
questioning. I paused.
“Yes,” I said, “I would go.” The man smiled
at me. He left. I walked toward the exit. As the
door of the bank closed behind me, my phone
rang. It was the campus minister from my
mission school in Belize. He wanted to know if
I would come back.
My name is Br. Nicholas of the Word of God
Hamilton. I began my second year as a brother
with the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy
Trinity (SOLT) on July 16 of this year. I am in
College II level of studies at Sacred Heart.
No one event in my life could I point to
and say, “That is when I knew I wanted to be
a priest,” though there are moments, like the
opening paragraph, when God chose to use
people I met, especially ones I do not know, to
invite me to follow him. Today, I am following
him; tomorrow I will wake up and pray that
still I may follow him. I feel that God gives
me every day the opportunity to follow him,
especially through ministering to his people.
Many people have helped form me into the
man I am today. Above them all stands my
youth minister from San Antonio. If ever there
was an example of Mary, a mother who pours
herself out for her children, it is Mrs. Weekley.
She helped to foster in me the vocation to love
and serve Christ through her selfless example
of service.
Fortunately for me, I went from a place
modeled after the Immaculate Heart of Mary—
the youth group Mrs. Weekley led—to a
seminary that forms its men after the Sacred
Heart of Jesus. Every aspect of formation—
intellectual, human, spiritual, and pastoral—is
carefully worked on. I desire to respond to God’s
invitation to the priesthood in order to serve his
people in the confessional, through the graces
won during Mass, and especially through service
in the areas of deepest apostolic need.