A Shared Experience in Galilee

In September 2019, Deacon Noah Thelen was looking forward to a much-anticipated year at Saint Mary of the Lake/Mundelein Seminary in Mundelein, Illinois. His seminarian class would be spending two months in the Holy Land and partaking in a canonical retreat in preparation for their ordinations to become transitional deacons. Despite the challenges of 2020, Deacon Thelen was reaffirmed in his discernment, trusting God’s holy providence would lead him closer to becoming a priest.

On his pilgrimage, Deacon Thelen was eager to visit Galilee, a place that has always had special meaning to his spiritual life. As the place where Jesus first called his disciples, Galilee provided Deacon Thelen the perfect place to reflect on his own calling from the Lord. He often recollects the exchange between Jesus and Peter: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” – John 21:16

During an all-night vigil in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, Deacon Thelen was able to reflect on the Lord’s call for him to tend to his sheep as a priest. That night was a powerful experience, affirming his path to priesthood and preparing him for his diaconal ordination.

As his ordination approached, Deacon Thelen knew it would not be the traditional large gathering of family, friends, and fellow peers. Rather, the occasion became intimate, allowing Deacon Thelen to contemplate the beauty in the words of the liturgy. The simplicity of the small affair made the sacrament especially prayerful for him. Deacon Thelen shared that his prayers during the Mass kept returning to that moment in Galilee: “I’m giving of myself here. I want to give all of myself for God and for His people,” he remembers praying. Deacon Thelen described the day as the most powerful experience of his life, and he was overcome with the outpouring of support and well wishes from
the community.

It is not lost on Deacon Thelen that he is blessed by the parishioners in the Diocese of Grand Rapids who have supported him through donations to the Our Shepherds – Our Future campaign and through their prayers. As Deacon Thelen said, “I think what’s even more powerful is all these people who support you you’ve never met before. To me, it’s very humbling. Just seeing what has been given to me, has been entrusted to me, by parishioners who are very generous.” He is looking forward to his ordination to the priesthood in the summer of 2021 and serving as a priest in the diocese that has already blessed him so abundantly.