College III
My name is Dan Wees and I was born and raised in Omaha, Nebraska. I am the oldest of three children of Curt and Lynne Wees. My two younger sisters are Kelly, a sophomore in college, and Kimmy, a senior at Gross Catholic High School. I have been a member of St. Gerald’s parish in Ralston my entire life and have been very blessed to have known many holy and inspirational priests. Growing up, I attended St. Gerald’s grade school and St. Gerald / St. Joan of Arc middle school before attending Gross Catholic High School, where I graduated from in 2005. For the past three years I have been a student at the University of Nebraska, Omaha, where I was working towards a degree in secondary education. It was during this time that a calling to the priesthood became more of a reality.
My call to seminary is actually quite boring compared to the stories of the other seminarians. Initially I had plans to obtain an education degree along with a degree in theology so I could get a job as a teacher in a Catholic high school or university. As my interest in Catholicism and desire to grow closer to Christ grew, thoughts of being a priest began to sneak up on me. At first, the idea of priesthood scared me. I wanted to meet girls, date, and eventually get married and have a family. So for awhile I tried to drown out the call as much as possible. However, it wasn’t long before the possibility of a religious vocation was always running through my mind, and it was then that I knew I had to give seminary a try. After meeting with my parish priest, Father Gary Ostrander, and discussing my feelings with my family, I contacted Father Ralph O'Donnell, who was the vocation director at the time. After a long summer of discernment, I came to the realization that the seminary is where God wanted me to be. As of right now, I am in St. Paul, Minnesota at St. John Vianney Seminary, which is located on the campus of St. Thomas University. I love the campus, the city, and amazing fraternal atmosphere among all the seminarians. I do not know whether or not I will end up being ordained as a priest, but I do know that my time in seminary will not be wasted.
For those who are also discerning a call to the religious life, the only advice I really have is pray constantly and try and participate in the sacraments as much as possible. If you really want some wise advice, I suggest either checking out the biographies of my fellow seminarians or talking with a priest you feel comfortable with. They have a lot more to offer you than me. Or, just to turn to God in the Scriptures. For example, one passage that really helped me to grow in my trust of God were these two verses from the book of Jeremiah: “The word of the LORD came to me thus: Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you” (Jer 4, 5).Finally, if you do have any questions feel free to contact me at either “wees8601@stthomas.edu” or “djwees@archomaha.org.” Thank you for taking the time to read my biography, and God bless!
