Dec. 23, 2024
The Everyday Apostle - EP012 - Fr. Louis Merosne
What happens when a young boy from Haiti, dropped unexpectedly into a life in Boston, charts a path to priesthood in America? Join us as we unravel the extraordinary journey of Father Louis Merosne, a radiant figure in the faith community with ties to both Haiti and America. Father Louis graces our episode with tales from his childhood, capturing the awe of experiencing modern wonders for the first time and his educational pursuit at Franciscan University. He candidly shares the momentous choice to return to Haiti, where he now champions the cause of the poor and serves as a beacon of hope in his role as pastor of the Cathedral of St. Anne.
Amidst the vibrant backdrop of growing up between two cultures, Father Louis navigates the complexities of a bilingual environment and the cultural challenges of moving from Haiti to the U.S. With memories of being different but finding strength in his Haitian roots, he paints a vivid picture of his academic success fostered by an upbringing steeped in memorization. The narrative is rich with anecdotes about embracing his Catholic identity, sparked by encounters in Haiti that deepened his spiritual beliefs and reconnected him with his faith's core teachings.
Father Louis's priestly journey is a tapestry woven with intellectual curiosity and spiritual epiphanies. From the moment a fervent believer ignited his passion for faith, to the soulful bus ride that brought him to Franciscan University, Father Louis's story is a testament to the transformative power of faith and community. As we celebrate his ministry, he invites us all to nurture our relationship with Christ and embrace the love for the poor—a legacy instilled by his mother. Don't miss the chance to witness Father Louis's heartfelt journey and the inspiring message that resonates with listeners far and wide.
Chapters
00:00 - Everyday Apostle With Father Louis
12:19 - Faith, Learning, and Cultural Challenges
18:03 - Transformation Through Faith Journey
21:25 - The Priestly Discernment Journey
32:36 - Celebrating Father's Ministry and Message
Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:00.481 --> 00:00:05.658
3, 2, 1.
00:00:09.101 --> 00:00:15.454
Welcome to the Everyday Apostle, where ordinary lives meet extraordinary faith.
00:00:15.454 --> 00:00:25.629
Join our host, kendall Peterson, as we explore how everyday men and women bring the gospel to life wherever they live, work and play.
00:00:25.629 --> 00:00:28.440
Let's dive into it right now.
00:00:34.128 --> 00:00:37.293
Hello and welcome to episode 12 of the Everyday Apostle.
00:00:37.293 --> 00:00:42.304
So thrilled to be here with you once again to bring a great story that we have for you today.
00:00:42.304 --> 00:00:58.534
A little bit different episode today, bringing a very, very special guest to the show, somebody that means something very important to me personally but means something to our faith community in the work that he's doing as well.
00:00:58.534 --> 00:01:11.070
So can't wait to get into that Special shout out to all of the people that have sent prayers and petitions, everybody who has supported us along the way, greatly, greatly appreciate that.
00:01:11.070 --> 00:01:17.620
Looking forward to getting this episode published and out to you guys tomorrow, which you guys will be hearing today.
00:01:17.620 --> 00:01:26.430
So that was kind of foolish to say tomorrow, but so let's get right into it, because I want to maximize as much time as we have with our guests.
00:01:26.430 --> 00:01:31.391
So our guest is Father Louis Merosny Did.
00:01:31.412 --> 00:01:32.783
I get it Good job.
00:01:32.843 --> 00:01:37.888
Yes, you did Thank you From here on out, you're just going to be Father Louis.
00:01:38.581 --> 00:01:40.227
I'm not going to tread on that again.
00:01:40.227 --> 00:01:41.441
That's perfect.
00:01:41.441 --> 00:01:44.570
Good job though for daring to go there.
00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:49.066
Yeah, so Father Louis was born in Haiti.
00:01:49.066 --> 00:01:54.275
He grew up in Boston, Massachusetts, though, which is going to be an interesting part of the story.
00:01:54.275 --> 00:02:08.817
After graduating from the Boston Latin School, he studied at Franciscan University from 2002 to 2007 for his undergraduate and graduate degrees in philosophy, French and theology.
00:02:08.817 --> 00:02:22.711
As a missionary, he helped establish Haiti 180 in the south of Haiti, and in 2010, he responded to the call to definitively return to his homeland in order to serve the poor and the local church.
00:02:22.711 --> 00:02:24.444
It was an amazing call.
00:02:24.444 --> 00:02:25.810
I can't wait to hear more about that.
00:02:25.810 --> 00:02:29.647
In 2011, he was ordained a priest in the diocese.
00:02:29.647 --> 00:02:30.570
I'm going to butcher this.
00:02:30.570 --> 00:02:31.252
I'm so sorry.
00:02:31.252 --> 00:02:32.223
What's the diocese?
00:02:32.881 --> 00:02:34.288
Ansevou and Miragouin.
00:02:35.480 --> 00:02:37.622
Ansevou, okay, and Miragouin Well.
00:02:37.622 --> 00:02:39.860
There's no wonder I didn't take a shot at that?
00:02:40.199 --> 00:02:41.921
No, that's a good choice, father Louis.
00:02:41.961 --> 00:02:43.082
No, that's a good choice.
00:02:43.082 --> 00:02:47.926
Father Lewis continues to preach the gospel and to serve the poor in Haiti and abroad.
00:02:47.926 --> 00:02:52.572
Currently, he is the pastor of the Cathedral of St Anne in Haiti.
00:02:52.572 --> 00:02:57.955
He also serves as Episcopal vicar on his bishop's council.
00:02:57.955 --> 00:03:09.788
He is a proud board member of Lifeteen International and other mission-oriented organizations, which I can't wait to get into that as well.
00:03:09.788 --> 00:03:13.156
He's the executive director of the Francis Integral Development Foundation Corp.
00:03:13.156 --> 00:03:26.621
A New York-registered foundation, Correct, that is focused on promoting a strategic plan of integral human development of Haiti through a revival of national production and capacity building.
00:03:26.621 --> 00:03:28.444
That is amazing.
00:03:29.486 --> 00:03:35.310
Father Lewis is an international speaker who ministers at youth and adult conferences as well as at parish missions.
00:03:35.310 --> 00:03:49.548
He's passionate about knowing Jesus and making him known, and he loves Mary and the church and if you guys are watching at home, you'll notice we have an addition to our crew today in the form of Mary here with us.
00:03:49.548 --> 00:04:10.770
He founded Mission to the Beloved, a US not-for-profit organization and a dear friend, a beloved pastor, a guest pastor at my parish St Augustine Catholic Church in Coral Gables, Florida, and with that, Fr Lewis, welcome to the show.
00:04:11.060 --> 00:04:11.923
Well, thank you very much.
00:04:11.923 --> 00:04:13.387
It's an honor to be here, kendall.
00:04:13.387 --> 00:04:17.730
Thanks for the invitation and, by the way, I'm not a guest pastor at St Augustine's.
00:04:17.730 --> 00:04:25.716
I am a guest priest, though, so the pastor is the one in charge of the parish, and that would be Father Richard Vigoa, who is fantastic.
00:04:26.218 --> 00:04:26.959
I sit corrected.
00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:30.411
I come in and serve with him at his request sometimes.
00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:39.314
So I go back and forth to my parish and here Right, yeah, so I guess the best place to start this story would be Haiti.
00:04:39.875 --> 00:04:41.540
Yes, that's where you grew up In the beginning.
00:04:41.540 --> 00:04:44.983
That's where I was born and that's where you grew up.
00:04:44.983 --> 00:04:57.903
My second grow-up is in Boston, if you will.
00:04:58.365 --> 00:05:00.483
Okay, how old were you when you made the move About?
00:05:00.524 --> 00:05:00.906
11.
00:05:01.389 --> 00:05:05.966
Okay, so you had quite a long time in Haiti, that's true.
00:05:05.966 --> 00:05:08.067
You're nurturing and developmental.
00:05:08.108 --> 00:05:08.672
That's right.
00:05:08.672 --> 00:05:09.055
That's right.
00:05:09.055 --> 00:05:15.817
So I have fond memories, some scary but mostly fond memories of Haiti, of my childhood and Haiti itself.
00:05:15.817 --> 00:05:17.904
I actually lived in three different places.
00:05:17.904 --> 00:05:20.262
So there's the small village where I was born.
00:05:20.262 --> 00:05:24.886
There's a second small village where I moved to when I was about five or six years old.
00:05:24.886 --> 00:05:26.540
I was there, I think, for one or two years.
00:05:26.540 --> 00:05:31.505
Then I moved to Port-au-Prince, which is the capital, where I went to school.
00:05:31.505 --> 00:05:41.920
There I did my first communion, but every summer I would go back to my home village where I was born to be with grandma, grandpa my home village where I was born to be with grandma, grandpa and my dad.
00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:45.120
He was still living in the village where my mom was living in the capital.
00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:46.661
So we went back and forth.
00:05:46.661 --> 00:05:50.363
It was nice and it's a beautiful small village, farm village.
00:05:50.603 --> 00:05:55.346
Okay, so I know, because I'm going to drive us in that direction.
00:05:55.346 --> 00:05:57.627
I know we're going to talk about the Haiti of today.
00:05:57.627 --> 00:06:00.730
Sure, tell me a little bit about the Haiti when you were growing up.
00:06:01.250 --> 00:06:22.742
Yeah, so the Haiti, the only Haiti I know when I was a child, was beautiful mountains, river animals, fruits, vegetables, work and having fun as a kid, and so and that's's all.
00:06:22.742 --> 00:06:23.504
I didn't know much technology.
00:06:23.504 --> 00:06:37.925
I still remember the first day I saw a vehicle as her car and it was mind-blowing to me because the fastest thing I knew was my grandpa's horse, and so seeing a car on a highway or, yes, certainly a highway was like what is going on.
00:06:37.925 --> 00:06:41.851
I still remember the first time I felt ice.
00:06:41.851 --> 00:06:44.098
Uh, because we didn't.
00:06:44.117 --> 00:06:52.166
It was just everything was natural and you know, you cook, you eat and then you, you grow your food, and it was very organic living, if you will.
00:06:52.166 --> 00:06:58.822
Um, I remember the first time I saw a television set and thought there's it.
00:06:58.822 --> 00:07:17.041
It doesn't register to your listeners or viewers what that means going from no screen at all, no iPad, no telephone, not even one of these little, you know, like tiny Nokia's.
00:07:17.041 --> 00:07:24.867
When I was a child, at least, I'm not saying these didn't exist in Haiti, but in in my village, my surrounding, we didn't know any of that.
00:07:24.867 --> 00:07:30.115
It was pure natural living and it was beautiful.
00:07:30.115 --> 00:07:40.211
So, yeah, it was a beautiful, simple, community village life.
00:07:42.976 --> 00:07:47.521
And then when I moved to, so then I moved to another village like I said, similar situation.
00:07:47.521 --> 00:07:48.644
But I moved there.
00:07:48.644 --> 00:07:57.540
I don't even remember when my parents sent me to that other village, but I was whatever, my aunt, my mother's sister and her husband, and going to school there, it's probably for schooling.
00:07:57.540 --> 00:08:02.180
And then we moved to Port-au-Prince, and then that was a very different thing.
00:08:02.180 --> 00:08:05.360
That's when I saw a car for the first time, that's when I saw a television for the first time.
00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:06.403
I was like what is going on?
00:08:06.403 --> 00:08:10.545
And so Port-au-Prince was a bit, of course, way more crowded.
00:08:10.545 --> 00:08:20.548
It was not the cute little village Every house is, you know, on top of each other, like I was not used to that.
00:08:26.295 --> 00:08:46.418
But it was also during a time I remember at a certain point there began to be some political upheaval and what we call manifestation, so public riots even sometimes, and I still remember a couple of times my parents were rushing, or my uncle rushing, to pick us up from school early, because they had heard that there was some kind of riot going on somewhere and they wanted the kids to be safe.
00:08:46.418 --> 00:08:47.280
So they came and got us.
00:08:47.280 --> 00:08:48.144
I was like what's going on?
00:08:48.144 --> 00:08:49.427
I didn't know what was going on.
00:08:49.427 --> 00:09:05.467
We still had the army at the time, because our neighbor, her brother, was in the army, and so he would come with his buddy every Sunday or every couple Sundays, and then before they left, they would always take out their rifles and just started shooting in the air.
00:09:06.596 --> 00:09:16.966
And I thought I was so cool as a kid seeing that and hearing that, and so it was a crazy beautiful life as well.
00:09:16.966 --> 00:09:18.542
There's still a lot of simplicity, even in Port-au-Prince.
00:09:18.542 --> 00:09:19.125
Crazy beautiful life as well.
00:09:19.125 --> 00:09:20.432
There's still a lot of simplicity, even in Port-au-Prince.
00:09:20.432 --> 00:09:26.602
And going to school there, walking to school with my friends, and yeah.
00:09:26.602 --> 00:09:28.501
So you let me know what questions you have.
00:09:31.035 --> 00:09:43.380
I mean, that sounds beautiful, right, especially if you live in a city now and you think about the countryside and you just think about the purity and the peacefulness and all of that, which is a great way to grow up.
00:09:43.380 --> 00:09:49.802
I grew up in a similar way Then, so quite a shocking difference.
00:09:49.802 --> 00:09:57.960
When you get to Port-au-Prince, correct, then you go to Boston, right, which is shocking again, right, a next level shock, yeah.
00:09:57.960 --> 00:09:59.063
So what was that like?
00:09:59.696 --> 00:10:07.307
So it took me some time actually I think these past couple of years for me to actually process all that change in my life.
00:10:07.307 --> 00:10:16.124
I never took it as something important, but it actually has an impact on a child to go from location to location.
00:10:16.124 --> 00:10:20.990
Being with mom and dad, not being with mom and dad, being with mom and dad again not being with mom and dad again.
00:10:20.990 --> 00:10:24.325
It was just like separation after separation as well.
00:10:24.325 --> 00:10:26.883
Yeah, boston was a whole other shock.
00:10:26.883 --> 00:10:30.461
Well, snow was one of those big shocks.
00:10:30.461 --> 00:10:32.162
I was like what the heck is that thing?
00:10:32.162 --> 00:10:35.381
And the cold.
00:10:35.381 --> 00:10:51.364
And also I felt too that in Boston it was not as community oriented, unfortunately, and I wasn't even allowed, for example, to go out to the park because we lived kind of in a bad neighborhood and I was like I don't want to go play.
00:10:51.806 --> 00:10:58.325
And it was interesting how you could have neighbors in certain places and you don't really know your neighbors.
00:10:58.325 --> 00:10:59.006
That's unheard of.
00:10:59.006 --> 00:11:00.421
In Haiti there's no such thing.
00:11:00.421 --> 00:11:14.144
Like you, all know each other up and down the street and people are usually outside of their homes, like they go inside their homes to go to bed or maybe to eat or something, but mostly people are outside hanging out or going out to work.
00:11:14.144 --> 00:11:18.866
But the outside world, outside of our home, is important to us.
00:11:18.866 --> 00:11:38.803
We like to be together, and so and that's a common feature in Haiti You'll get on a public bus and people just sit right next to each other, right up on each other, and you go to church and there's like a ton of benches open and let people just they come, sit right next to this other one who was there, like can I get my own space?
00:11:38.803 --> 00:11:40.475
Or like no, I wanna sit next to this other one who was there, like can I get my own space?
00:11:40.475 --> 00:11:40.745
I was like no, I want to sit next to you.
00:11:40.745 --> 00:11:51.841
So there's a beauty to this connection that we have Very, I guess, maybe in a sense tribal, in a good sense, or communal, I should say.
00:11:51.955 --> 00:11:53.335
But when I got to Boston, it was different.
00:11:53.335 --> 00:12:02.626
My neighbors are strangers to me, and so that was another big change.
00:12:02.626 --> 00:12:05.764
Learning the language was a huge change.
00:12:05.764 --> 00:12:07.682
I didn't speak English growing up.
00:12:07.682 --> 00:12:11.346
I spoke Creole and I learned French in school.
00:12:11.346 --> 00:12:19.541
These are two official languages in Haiti, creole being the national language, french being a second official language, and so learning English was different.
00:12:19.541 --> 00:12:34.506
So I started out in like a bilingual program in fourth grade and fifth grade, and so that's where I was during the transition, if you will, and during that time also, I was picked on because I was different.
00:12:35.356 --> 00:12:49.222
I was from a different country, I spoke a different language, I looked different, I spoke different and I had different mannerisms, different cultural values, and so some people are afraid of that, and so they would sort of make fun of that.
00:12:49.222 --> 00:12:51.024
I remember, I still remember this day.
00:12:51.024 --> 00:12:57.149
One insult that was given against me is well, they thought it was an insult is this young lady calling me oh you, little Haitian.
00:12:57.149 --> 00:13:01.941
And I thought wait, but it's good to be Haitian, it's beautiful to be Haitian.
00:13:01.941 --> 00:13:03.039
I love being Haitian.
00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:11.323
And Haiti has rich history and has contributed historically to the entire world, especially to the world of freedom and human values, human rights.
00:13:11.323 --> 00:13:17.115
Actually, we're the first black republic, the first nation to be formed by slave rebellion, et cetera.
00:13:17.115 --> 00:13:19.177
So all that is awesome.
00:13:19.177 --> 00:13:25.864
But seeing that, oh wow, people look at us differently here, like this is a whole different world out here.
00:13:26.784 --> 00:13:28.206
But eventually I learned, you know what?
00:13:28.206 --> 00:13:33.191
Let's stay focused, stay focused on faith, stay focused on education, and so I would get down.
00:13:33.191 --> 00:13:39.628
Going to Latin school was an awesome thing.
00:13:39.628 --> 00:13:42.719
We had to take an exam.
00:13:42.719 --> 00:13:55.904
It's a public school, but it's a tradition because it's the first public school in America, and so they've held this prestigious tradition of education, very strong education, and so I was able to go there in seventh grade, which is when you can enter either in seventh or ninth grade.
00:13:55.975 --> 00:13:59.634
So I entered in seventh grade after taking the exam and it was a good environment.
00:13:59.634 --> 00:14:17.059
It was a better environment there because people were more focused on all right, let's learn, let's, let's put, put stuff in our minds and hearts and uh to grow, uh in in our education, and so that was a very good experience there, making some friends and also taking the intellectual life more seriously, if you will.
00:14:17.059 --> 00:14:21.375
Um, and my, my Haitian background was very helpful there as well.
00:14:21.375 --> 00:14:40.365
We do a lot of memorization in school in Haiti, and so we had to do some memorization in school at Boston Latin for declamation, so you'd have to memorize a speech or something, or a poem or something longer typically, and get in front of the classroom to speak it, to express it, and so I would wait till like the day before or something.
00:14:40.916 --> 00:14:43.679
And then my friends hated me, like what the heck?
00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:51.486
Like we've been studying for months but it came easy, easily for me with my Haitian background.
00:14:51.486 --> 00:14:54.090
So yeah, a lot of differences, if you will.
00:14:55.116 --> 00:15:03.745
Yeah, that's a lot of differences you mentioned when you were talking about the communal aspects of Haiti.
00:15:03.745 --> 00:15:04.807
You mentioned church.
00:15:05.188 --> 00:15:05.408
Yes.
00:15:06.777 --> 00:15:12.447
And then, when you were talking about Boston, you talked about how you relied on your faith.
00:15:12.447 --> 00:15:18.006
Yes, tell me a little bit about growing up, what that faith life was like in your family.
00:15:18.034 --> 00:15:29.687
Yeah, I was lucky to be born in a Catholic family, where my family was active in the faith, and so my grandfather was the chapel director, and I should explain what that is.
00:15:29.687 --> 00:15:42.042
And so in the Catholic church we have parishes, which are the main churches of the community, and there's a priest in charge who is the pastor of the parish, and he can have other priests with him that are associate pastors or parochial vicars we call them same thing.
00:15:42.042 --> 00:16:00.128
Um, now, in some places the extent of the parish is so wide that the priest can't be in all the places at once and people can't reasonably walk from all these different places to the main church, and so we'll establish chapels in those different parts.
00:16:00.128 --> 00:16:19.846
And so my village was a chapel under the St John Mary Vianney Parish, and as a chapel we'd only see the priest once a year, and so throughout the year we have a lay director who helps with the readings every Sunday and who even gives some exhortation, et cetera.
00:16:19.846 --> 00:16:41.662
And so my grandpa played that role of the lay director of the chapel, and so every Sunday we'd go to church, we'd hear the same readings that you would be hearing here, except we didn't have the Eucharist, unfortunately, except every year for the Feast of Our Patron, which was St Isidore the laborer the farmer, excuse me and Father would come for a few days.
00:16:41.662 --> 00:16:46.022
He'd do first communions, baptisms, marriages, everything, all like one weekend, that's right.
00:16:46.022 --> 00:16:51.222
He would usually stay for like a couple of days, so it was a big feast when father would come.
00:16:51.222 --> 00:16:59.860
My dad sort of inherited a little bit from my grandpa and actually one of my younger brothers sort of inherited some of that as well, helping out in the chapels.
00:16:59.860 --> 00:17:03.375
Now our chapel has become a parish actually, so we're very thankful for that.
00:17:03.495 --> 00:17:10.497
But yeah, my family, they, uh, they raised me catholic and I'm very happy for passing down that faith to me.
00:17:10.497 --> 00:17:18.880
I I received it as a child, um, and then, as I started to grow up, I started doing my own investigations and I almost lost that faith because I wanted to.
00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:19.099
Like.
00:17:19.099 --> 00:17:24.347
It was attacked in Boston and I was like, oh gosh, what do I do?
00:17:24.347 --> 00:17:31.484
If I'm going to be authentic, then I need to learn this thing, to decide to leave it or to love it.
00:17:31.484 --> 00:17:35.260
And in learning it I fell in love more and more with the faith.
00:17:35.662 --> 00:17:36.945
What did you do to learn your faith?
00:17:38.237 --> 00:17:39.425
So a couple of things.
00:17:39.425 --> 00:17:41.276
One I asked the Lord to teach me.
00:17:41.276 --> 00:18:02.721
I asked the Holy Spirit to fill me and one of the ways that happened is in going back to Haiti three years after I had come I came in 93, and then in 96, I went back to visit and there was this evangelical lady who would either evangelical or fundamentalist or both, but anyway who would, or either evangelical or fundamentalist or both, but anyway non-Catholic, and she was passionate.
00:18:02.721 --> 00:18:10.587
But she was also annoying to me, at least as a young man, kind of boring in a sense, like I didn't take my faith that seriously at that point.
00:18:10.587 --> 00:18:21.705
I wasn't on fire, I should say, even though I was given all the tools for my family and so, but she would every day be on my case about, you know, repenting and turning to Jesus, and I was like, lady, forget you, man.
00:18:21.705 --> 00:18:27.423
But there's something I noticed is that I felt like she put my coldness to shame.
00:18:27.423 --> 00:18:29.997
I felt like I was lukewarm in my faith.
00:18:29.997 --> 00:18:34.220
She was not lukewarm, I didn't agree with her, but she wasn't lukewarm, you couldn.
00:18:34.220 --> 00:18:43.307
She was passionate and I asked the Lord to help me fall in love with them like she was, and that's how I became a better Catholic, if you will.
00:18:43.307 --> 00:18:46.628
And I just the Lord, heard my prayer.
00:18:47.069 --> 00:18:51.855
Before I got back to Boston after vacation, something happened, something clicked Like.
00:18:51.855 --> 00:18:54.625
Even my parents in Boston were like what the heck happened to you boy?
00:18:54.625 --> 00:19:00.547
Praying every day, reading scripture every day and gathering with friends and feeling a sense of.
00:19:00.547 --> 00:19:04.589
I want to share this with others now, because the gospel is contagious.
00:19:04.589 --> 00:19:09.747
Once you've encountered Jesus in the gospel, you want to share Jesus in the gospel, the goodness, with everybody else.
00:19:09.747 --> 00:19:12.480
So that's that.
00:19:12.582 --> 00:19:26.224
But also, though, intellectually, I found Catholic Answers, which is an apostolate based in California, san Diego, and for the first time I was hearing the Catholic faith explained and defended in ways that I had never heard before.
00:19:26.224 --> 00:19:29.460
The way I had heard it defended before is, well, you know what?
00:19:29.460 --> 00:19:30.323
I don't care what you say.
00:19:30.323 --> 00:19:35.670
I was born Catholic, I want to die Catholic and I'm like that doesn't satisfy my intellectual curiosity.
00:19:35.670 --> 00:19:39.116
And so, finding Catholic Answers, I was like, oh, wow, there are answers.
00:19:39.116 --> 00:19:41.619
Why do we call the Pope Holy Father?
00:19:41.619 --> 00:19:42.761
Why do we call the priest Father?
00:19:42.761 --> 00:19:45.984
Why do we honor the saints?
00:19:45.984 --> 00:19:51.131
Why can we ask Mary to pray for us, like the professional virginity of Mary, all these things?
00:19:51.131 --> 00:19:57.259
I was like, wow, I can learn these things faith, justification, grace, et cetera.
00:19:57.259 --> 00:19:59.064
I was like, oh my gosh, I would print out articles upon articles.
00:19:59.064 --> 00:20:06.008
I would go to the Northeastern Library Northeastern, if you're listening, I was that kid that was printing out all those articles in your library for free.
00:20:06.008 --> 00:20:08.103
Thank you for that, northeastern University in Boston.
00:20:08.103 --> 00:20:12.326
So print these out, read them on the bus, go home, read them.
00:20:12.635 --> 00:20:17.721
I was consuming so much during my high school years and I was also called up Catholic Answers.
00:20:17.721 --> 00:20:20.618
Uh, during my high school years, and I was also called up catholic answers.
00:20:20.618 --> 00:20:28.083
That's how I found out about franciscan university, because there's an apologist working there by the name of jason everett and I was like I need to call this guy.
00:20:28.083 --> 00:20:30.352
I just called him up and they put me on.
00:20:30.352 --> 00:20:37.621
Thankfully, the catholic answers was good enough to pass me over to him and I asked him where he studied because, like, I've never heard people explain the faith like this.
00:20:37.621 --> 00:20:40.067
Then he told me he studied at Franciscan University.
00:20:40.067 --> 00:20:45.224
So that's how I decided that's the first time I had heard of it and wanted to go there.
00:20:46.015 --> 00:20:49.365
So obviously we know how the story ends you become a priest.
00:20:49.444 --> 00:20:49.665
Yes.
00:20:51.397 --> 00:21:03.003
But at that time so maybe in your younger years, prior to that moment or that trip, when you went back and something clicked for you, what did you think you were going to do with your?
00:21:03.044 --> 00:21:03.203
life.
00:21:03.203 --> 00:21:09.663
Well, the priesthood actually was always sort of there At least I can't pinpoint what age.
00:21:09.663 --> 00:21:14.106
I do remember when I was 14, it was very clear.
00:21:14.106 --> 00:21:17.084
It was like, oh, I want to be a priest.
00:21:17.084 --> 00:21:24.643
I remember that particularly, and because I remember a Haitian priest coming over to Boston preaching, I was like, wow, I want to be like him.
00:21:25.395 --> 00:21:55.695
And again, this is after I fell in love more with the Lord, after going back to Haiti and coming back, and so but even before that, even, I think, remember back in Haiti, because we grew up poor, but my mother would always teach us to love the poor, and so I didn't realize we were poor, because there were others who are poorer than and then then we're less fortunate, if you will, but we were really poor, and so my mother would choose to love the poor, and to love that would take us to mass, and I'm so grateful for that.
00:21:55.695 --> 00:21:59.324
So there was something there drawing me to the priesthood a little bit.
00:21:59.324 --> 00:22:09.260
I couldn't formulate it, but back in Boston, though, I thought of a couple of different things, one of which is to become a pilot, and I also thought of the military.
00:22:09.260 --> 00:22:11.261
That's still kind of a little part of my heart.
00:22:11.654 --> 00:22:13.903
Still back to that neighbor shooting the gun.
00:22:13.903 --> 00:22:15.019
There we go, there we go, yeah.
00:22:17.576 --> 00:22:38.772
So I remember one night going to the website for the Marines and just eating that up I was like I want to be a Marine, I want to be the best of the best and I thought the Marines were the best of the best, especially because I had a friend who had joined them and I really thought either a pilot or a Marine, if I didn't become a priest.
00:22:39.094 --> 00:22:40.342
Okay, could have been a Marine pilot.
00:22:40.342 --> 00:22:41.048
Could have been a Marine pilot.
00:22:41.067 --> 00:22:43.740
I could have been a Marine pilot and transitioned to be a chaplain.
00:22:43.780 --> 00:22:44.163
That's it.
00:22:44.323 --> 00:22:45.757
That's right, still possible.
00:22:45.757 --> 00:22:46.400
I could be a chaplain.
00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:46.842
There you go.
00:22:46.842 --> 00:22:52.940
They tried to recruit me for the Army, but my bishop was like, hmm, maybe not now.
00:22:54.064 --> 00:22:56.540
So Franciscan pops on your radar?
00:22:56.540 --> 00:22:56.962
Yes.
00:23:01.939 --> 00:23:02.690
And you decide I'm in.
00:23:02.690 --> 00:23:10.428
Yes, yes, I decided I'm in, but this was back in, I think, 10th grade, when the whole Franciscan thing maybe 11th grade.
00:23:10.428 --> 00:23:17.055
So it gets time to senior year and we're applying for colleges Boston Latin, what's the word?
00:23:17.055 --> 00:23:18.476
Boston Latin what's the word?
00:23:18.476 --> 00:23:24.817
So they train you to go to the big guys.
00:00:00.481 --> 00:00:05.658
00:00:09.101 --> 00:00:15.454
00:00:15.454 --> 00:00:25.629
00:00:25.629 --> 00:00:28.440
00:00:34.128 --> 00:00:37.293
00:00:37.293 --> 00:00:42.304
00:00:42.304 --> 00:00:58.534
00:00:58.534 --> 00:01:11.070
00:01:11.070 --> 00:01:17.620
00:01:17.620 --> 00:01:26.430
00:01:26.430 --> 00:01:31.391
00:01:31.412 --> 00:01:32.783
00:01:32.843 --> 00:01:37.888
00:01:38.581 --> 00:01:40.227
00:01:40.227 --> 00:01:41.441
00:01:41.441 --> 00:01:44.570
00:01:45.519 --> 00:01:49.066
00:01:49.066 --> 00:01:54.275
00:01:54.275 --> 00:02:08.817
00:02:08.817 --> 00:02:22.711
00:02:22.711 --> 00:02:24.444
00:02:24.444 --> 00:02:25.810
00:02:25.810 --> 00:02:29.647
00:02:29.647 --> 00:02:30.570
00:02:30.570 --> 00:02:31.252
00:02:31.252 --> 00:02:32.223
00:02:32.881 --> 00:02:34.288
00:02:35.480 --> 00:02:37.622
00:02:37.622 --> 00:02:39.860
00:02:40.199 --> 00:02:41.921
00:02:41.961 --> 00:02:43.082
00:02:43.082 --> 00:02:47.926
00:02:47.926 --> 00:02:52.572
00:02:52.572 --> 00:02:57.955
00:02:57.955 --> 00:03:09.788
00:03:09.788 --> 00:03:13.156
00:03:13.156 --> 00:03:26.621
00:03:26.621 --> 00:03:28.444
00:03:29.486 --> 00:03:35.310
00:03:35.310 --> 00:03:49.548
00:03:49.548 --> 00:04:10.770
00:04:11.060 --> 00:04:11.923
00:04:11.923 --> 00:04:13.387
00:04:13.387 --> 00:04:17.730
00:04:17.730 --> 00:04:25.716
00:04:26.218 --> 00:04:26.959
00:04:27.040 --> 00:04:30.411
00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:39.314
00:04:39.875 --> 00:04:41.540
00:04:41.540 --> 00:04:44.983
00:04:44.983 --> 00:04:57.903
00:04:58.365 --> 00:05:00.483
00:05:00.524 --> 00:05:00.906
00:05:01.389 --> 00:05:05.966
00:05:05.966 --> 00:05:08.067
00:05:08.108 --> 00:05:08.672
00:05:08.672 --> 00:05:09.055
00:05:09.055 --> 00:05:15.817
00:05:15.817 --> 00:05:17.904
00:05:17.904 --> 00:05:20.262
00:05:20.262 --> 00:05:24.886
00:05:24.886 --> 00:05:26.540
00:05:26.540 --> 00:05:31.505
00:05:31.505 --> 00:05:41.920
00:05:41.920 --> 00:05:45.120
00:05:45.120 --> 00:05:46.661
00:05:46.661 --> 00:05:50.363
00:05:50.603 --> 00:05:55.346
00:05:55.346 --> 00:05:57.627
00:05:57.627 --> 00:06:00.730
00:06:01.250 --> 00:06:22.742
00:06:22.742 --> 00:06:23.504
00:06:23.504 --> 00:06:37.925
00:06:37.925 --> 00:06:41.851
00:06:41.851 --> 00:06:44.098
00:06:44.117 --> 00:06:52.166
00:06:52.166 --> 00:06:58.822
00:06:58.822 --> 00:07:17.041
00:07:17.041 --> 00:07:24.867
00:07:24.867 --> 00:07:30.115
00:07:30.115 --> 00:07:40.211
00:07:42.976 --> 00:07:47.521
00:07:47.521 --> 00:07:48.644
00:07:48.644 --> 00:07:57.540
00:07:57.540 --> 00:08:02.180
00:08:02.180 --> 00:08:05.360
00:08:05.360 --> 00:08:06.403
00:08:06.403 --> 00:08:10.545
00:08:10.545 --> 00:08:20.548
00:08:26.295 --> 00:08:46.418
00:08:46.418 --> 00:08:47.280
00:08:47.280 --> 00:08:48.144
00:08:48.144 --> 00:08:49.427
00:08:49.427 --> 00:09:05.467
00:09:06.596 --> 00:09:16.966
00:09:16.966 --> 00:09:18.542
00:09:18.542 --> 00:09:19.125
00:09:19.125 --> 00:09:20.432
00:09:20.432 --> 00:09:26.602
00:09:26.602 --> 00:09:28.501
00:09:31.035 --> 00:09:43.380
00:09:43.380 --> 00:09:49.802
00:09:49.802 --> 00:09:57.960
00:09:57.960 --> 00:09:59.063
00:09:59.696 --> 00:10:07.307
00:10:07.307 --> 00:10:16.124
00:10:16.124 --> 00:10:20.990
00:10:20.990 --> 00:10:24.325
00:10:24.325 --> 00:10:26.883
00:10:26.883 --> 00:10:30.461
00:10:30.461 --> 00:10:32.162
00:10:32.162 --> 00:10:35.381
00:10:35.381 --> 00:10:51.364
00:10:51.806 --> 00:10:58.325
00:10:58.325 --> 00:10:59.006
00:10:59.006 --> 00:11:00.421
00:11:00.421 --> 00:11:14.144
00:11:14.144 --> 00:11:18.866
00:11:18.866 --> 00:11:38.803
00:11:38.803 --> 00:11:40.475
00:11:40.475 --> 00:11:40.745
00:11:40.745 --> 00:11:51.841
00:11:51.955 --> 00:11:53.335
00:11:53.335 --> 00:12:02.626
00:12:02.626 --> 00:12:05.764
00:12:05.764 --> 00:12:07.682
00:12:07.682 --> 00:12:11.346
00:12:11.346 --> 00:12:19.541
00:12:19.541 --> 00:12:34.506
00:12:35.356 --> 00:12:49.222
00:12:49.222 --> 00:12:51.024
00:12:51.024 --> 00:12:57.149
00:12:57.149 --> 00:13:01.941
00:13:01.941 --> 00:13:03.039
00:13:03.039 --> 00:13:11.323
00:13:11.323 --> 00:13:17.115
00:13:17.115 --> 00:13:19.177
00:13:19.177 --> 00:13:25.864
00:13:26.784 --> 00:13:28.206
00:13:28.206 --> 00:13:33.191
00:13:33.191 --> 00:13:39.628
00:13:39.628 --> 00:13:42.719
00:13:42.719 --> 00:13:55.904
00:13:55.975 --> 00:13:59.634
00:13:59.634 --> 00:14:17.059
00:14:17.059 --> 00:14:21.375
00:14:21.375 --> 00:14:40.365
00:14:40.916 --> 00:14:43.679
00:14:43.679 --> 00:14:51.486
00:14:51.486 --> 00:14:54.090
00:14:55.116 --> 00:15:03.745
00:15:03.745 --> 00:15:04.807
00:15:05.188 --> 00:15:05.408
00:15:06.777 --> 00:15:12.447
00:15:12.447 --> 00:15:18.006
00:15:18.034 --> 00:15:29.687
00:15:29.687 --> 00:15:42.042
00:15:42.042 --> 00:16:00.128
00:16:00.128 --> 00:16:19.846
00:16:19.846 --> 00:16:41.662
00:16:41.662 --> 00:16:46.022
00:16:46.022 --> 00:16:51.222
00:16:51.222 --> 00:16:59.860
00:16:59.860 --> 00:17:03.375
00:17:03.495 --> 00:17:10.497
00:17:10.497 --> 00:17:18.880
00:17:18.880 --> 00:17:19.099
00:17:19.099 --> 00:17:24.347
00:17:24.347 --> 00:17:31.484
00:17:31.484 --> 00:17:35.260
00:17:35.662 --> 00:17:36.945
00:17:38.237 --> 00:17:39.425
00:17:39.425 --> 00:17:41.276
00:17:41.276 --> 00:18:02.721
00:18:02.721 --> 00:18:10.587
00:18:10.587 --> 00:18:21.705
00:18:21.705 --> 00:18:27.423
00:18:27.423 --> 00:18:29.997
00:18:29.997 --> 00:18:34.220
00:18:34.220 --> 00:18:43.307
00:18:43.307 --> 00:18:46.628
00:18:47.069 --> 00:18:51.855
00:18:51.855 --> 00:18:54.625
00:18:54.625 --> 00:19:00.547
00:19:00.547 --> 00:19:04.589
00:19:04.589 --> 00:19:09.747
00:19:09.747 --> 00:19:12.480
00:19:12.582 --> 00:19:26.224
00:19:26.224 --> 00:19:29.460
00:19:29.460 --> 00:19:30.323
00:19:30.323 --> 00:19:35.670
00:19:35.670 --> 00:19:39.116
00:19:39.116 --> 00:19:41.619
00:19:41.619 --> 00:19:42.761
00:19:42.761 --> 00:19:45.984
00:19:45.984 --> 00:19:51.131
00:19:51.131 --> 00:19:57.259
00:19:57.259 --> 00:19:59.064
00:19:59.064 --> 00:20:06.008
00:20:06.008 --> 00:20:08.103
00:20:08.103 --> 00:20:12.326
00:20:12.635 --> 00:20:17.721
00:20:17.721 --> 00:20:20.618
00:20:20.618 --> 00:20:28.083
00:20:28.083 --> 00:20:30.352
00:20:30.352 --> 00:20:37.621
00:20:37.621 --> 00:20:40.067
00:20:40.067 --> 00:20:45.224
00:20:46.015 --> 00:20:49.365
00:20:49.444 --> 00:20:49.665
00:20:51.397 --> 00:21:03.003
00:21:03.044 --> 00:21:03.203
00:21:03.203 --> 00:21:09.663
00:21:09.663 --> 00:21:14.106
00:21:14.106 --> 00:21:17.084
00:21:17.084 --> 00:21:24.643
00:21:25.395 --> 00:21:55.695
00:21:55.695 --> 00:21:59.324
00:21:59.324 --> 00:22:09.260
00:22:09.260 --> 00:22:11.261
00:22:11.654 --> 00:22:13.903
00:22:13.903 --> 00:22:15.019
00:22:17.576 --> 00:22:38.772
00:22:39.094 --> 00:22:40.342
00:22:40.342 --> 00:22:41.048
00:22:41.067 --> 00:22:43.740
00:22:43.780 --> 00:22:44.163
00:22:44.323 --> 00:22:45.757
00:22:45.757 --> 00:22:46.400
00:22:46.400 --> 00:22:46.842
00:22:46.842 --> 00:22:52.940
00:22:54.064 --> 00:22:56.540
00:22:56.540 --> 00:22:56.962
00:23:01.939 --> 00:23:02.690
00:23:02.690 --> 00:23:10.428
00:23:10.428 --> 00:23:17.055
00:23:17.055 --> 00:23:18.476
00:23:18.476 --> 00:23:24.817