Troy
Kelley
Where: St.
Sabina Parish, 1210 W. 78th St.
Why: Kelley will
enter the Redemptorist order as seminarian this year
Think Chicago's cold? St.
Sabina's Troy Kelley has been to New Hampshire and back.
During his three-year sojourn
to become a seminarian, Kelley has found himself in the
snows of the Granite State with hermits and in the urban
home of the Gateway Arch and pop-rapper Nelly, searching
for the right college program.Thank
God for the Eternal Word Television Network or Kelley may
never have heard of the Redemptorist order and Redemptorist
Father Maurice Nutt, pastor of the renowned St. Alphonsus
the Rock, the Black Catholic parish in St. Louis.
Of course how many high schools
seniors rush into the house to click on "Big Momma" to see
Mother Angelica instead of Martin Lawrence? Or, as a hobby,
thread homemade rosaries?
Last year, foot surgery led
to home-schooling which snowballed into summer school courses
and as a result delayed Kelley's entry into the seminary
formation with the Redemptorists.
In August of this year, Kelley
will head down to St. Louis, with his eyes on the prize:
ordination as a Catholic priest.
BLACK CATHOLIC CHICAGO:
It's said that it can be difficult for young black men to
envision themselves as priests if they don't see Black priests.
Did you find that to be true in your case?
KELLEY: There is a Black
priest here at St. Sabina, Father Paul de Porres Whittington,
OP. [Whittington is the presider of 8:30 a.m. Mass at the
parish.]
And here in Chicago, we have
Father David Jones [pastor of St. Ambrose Parish, president
of Archbishop Quigley Preparatory Seminary], Father John
Calicott [pastor of Holy Angels Parish] and then there's
Father Mike [Pfleger] … (Laughs.) No, Father Mike's
not black, but his ministry is to Black Catholics.
How did you go about answering
your call?
KELLEY: At first I looked
at the Quigley thing, but it was more about me trying to
get to them than Quigley try to get to me. They acted as
though they weren't interested in me so I finally left it
alone.
Did that experience discourage
you?
KELLEY: It didn't bother
me at all. So I remained at Calumet [a Chicago public high
school] and I began investigating college seminaries.
I started with St. Joseph
Seminary at Loyola [University Chicago]. They were pretty
good about reaching out and returning my calls. But after
the visit I just didn't feel comfortable there. Then I began
writing to different [religious] orders.
Eventually, I stopped searching
all together and asked God to show me the order he wanted
me to join.
The Monday following Palm
Sunday, I came home from school and I turned on EWTN and
a priest was on the screen: Father Pablo Straub who was
talking about the Redemptorists. I liked what I heard and
knew that was it. So when the number popped up at the bottom
of the screen, I called and that was it.
What gifts would you bring
to the priesthood?
KELLEY: The first gift would
be courage. I believe a lot of people are scared of what
people might say or think, or are afraid to enter certain
places to proclaim and minister the Gospel onto people.
What some might be scared to do, I won't.
For instance, a white priest
in the ghetto–some, not all–might be scared to
walk into a project building or into the middle of a huddle
of gang members, or whatever. I would not be frightened.
There is not much that intimidates me.
The second gift is patience.
I love kids and it takes a lot of patience to work with
children.
There are people who don't
like kids and teen-agers, especially those out in the street.
There are few priest who are willing to minister to them.
I want to be that priest.
