“Just be open to the Lord’s will.” Fr. Patrick Bruen joins Fr. Craig and Fr. Drew to share his second vocation story. Following a 40-plus-year marriage, the death of his wife, repeated encounters with the Sacred Heart of Jesus, and lots of prayer led to hearing God’s call to the priesthood. In this episode of Men of the Hearts, Fr. Bruen talks about the challenges and blessings of the vocations of marriage and the priesthood and of the experiences of his first few months as a priest.
0:25: Fr. Craig and Fr. Drew welcome this month’s guest, Fr. Patrick Bruen, a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit who was ordained in June of this year and serves at Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish in Plymouth. The three share how they’ve spent the summer. Fr. Craig, who became Vocations Director in 2020, mentions that Fr. Pat is the first man he has guided all the way through the discernment process—from entrance to ordination.
3:26: Fr. Craig asks Fr. Pat to reflect on his recent ordination and the first few months of his priesthood. Fr. Pat shares how he’s somewhat surprised by how much he loves celebrating Mass and that the most fulfilling part of his ministry is hearing confessions.
12:23: Fr. Pat tells his vocation stories: first as a husband and father and, following the death of his wife, his call to the priesthood. He shares how, from the time his wife went into hospice care, he kept encountering the Sacred Heart of Jesus. These encounters continued, eventually leading to his decision to enter the seminary.
17:49: Fr. Pat talks a little about the role his parents had in shaping his faith, particularly his father, who was a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of Detroit.
22:25: Fr. Craig and Fr. Pat discuss the ebb and flow of vocational discernment.
25:09: Fr. Pat, Fr. Craig, and Fr. Drew talk about the difference between pursuing what we think will make us happy versus pursuing what God wants for us.
38:56: Fr. Craig and Fr. Pat talk about the conversations they had early in Fr. Pat’s discernment of the priesthood and, particularly, the differences in discernment for a man in his mid-fifties versus a young man in his late teens or early twenties.
44:07: Fr. Pat talks about his time at St. John XXII Seminary in Boston, a seminary specifically for older men studying for the priesthood.
46:34: Fr. Craig asks Fr. Pat how his family—especially his children—have reacted to his discernment, time in seminary, and ordination.
51:32: Fr. Pat shares a powerful experience he had during a Holy Hour a short time before he was ordained.
59:25: Fr. Pat closes the episode with a blessing.
