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By Erika Anderson
DULUTH—In Father Nathan Calhoun’s office at St.
Monica’s Church, the bookshelves are full of figurines of Jesus, Mary and
St. Francis.
Not to mention Homer Simpson.
At 29, Father Calhoun says he is trying to wean himself from his
love of toys, at least the small ones. He recently purchased a motorcycle. One
day he’ll grow up, he jokes.
Though Father Calhoun is a fun-loving priest, since a very young
age a love of God and a desire to serve others has characterized his life.
Growing up in Atlanta, Father Calhoun attended Immaculate Heart of
Mary School for eight years. He and his family are charter members of St. John
Neumann Church in Lilburn, where he was an altar server when Msgr. Paul
Reynolds, now a vicar general of the archdiocese, was the pastor. The
priest’s ministry had a significant impact on the young man.
“I just remember him being nice. He always talked to the
altar servers,” Father Calhoun said. “I remember his preaching being
very good. Even at 9 and 10 years old, I remember getting something out of his
homilies.”
Early on, Father Calhoun was an active participant in the Mass. He
said he never succumbed to the peer pressure where singing or praying in Mass
was “not cool.”
“I was definitely not cool,” he joked. “I guess I
was kind of a geek.”
He attended St. Pius X High School in Atlanta for two years, then
graduated from Brookwood High School in 1991 and headed off to Auburn
University in Alabama for college. But he was unhappy. He was engaged to a
woman who still lived in Atlanta and decided after a year in Alabama to return
home to attend Georgia Tech.
It was during this time that Father Calhoun first felt the call to
the priesthood. He began a co-op program at Tech, going to school one semester
and working for a plastic-making company in Decatur, Ala., every other
semester.
“I was fortunate to live with a Catholic family in
Decatur,” he said. “I had a lot of free time and I started to journal
on my computer. I wrote all my thoughts and ideas down . . . It was something I
had never really done before. In the midst of that, it suddenly struck me that
I wanted to go to seminary.”
The 21-year-old didn’t question his decision. After returning
to Georgia Tech, he withdrew from the chemical engineering program and headed
to St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana to finish his undergraduate degree. He said
that the first two years at the isolated seminary were tough.
“I wasn’t happy, but when I look back now, I’m very
grateful because I think St. Meinrad changed me and softened me so that I
became much less rigid in my views on life,” he said.
He attended major seminary at Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans,
and said that his whole experience there was a time of questioning and testing
his vocation.
“It was in my third year at Notre Dame that I said,
‘Okay, I am done discerning. I think I’m ready,’” he said.
“I realized that this was not going to be easy, but I had to trust God and
accept that there would be some hard parts and sacrifices.”
And so the 27-year-old, who hated school growing up, received his
master of divinity degree from Notre Dame Seminary and was ordained in 2000.
Though the young priest, with the almost-shoulder length curly
brown hair and blonde goatee, is a common sight at youth group functions at St.
Monica’s, where he serves as a parochial vicar, he said he relates to
people of every age group, even those who would be baffled by the over 100
episodes of the popular animated series “The Simpsons” that the
priest has on tape.
“I think I get along well with everyone,” he said.
“Because I’m young, people assume that I will be good with the kids.
I love the kids, but I also think I have a good rapport with the older
retirees.”
Father Calhoun said that there are advantages and disadvantages to
having a young vocation.
“I am a priest, yet I still have to deal with the things that
other 28- and 29-year-olds do,” he said. “But I think people see me
as a real person that they can relate to.”
Recently Father Calhoun led a backpacking and spiritual retreat
for a small group of hikers. The Eagle Scout’s passion for the outdoors
was sparked early on and has remained a large part of his life, as he is still
working on hiking the Appalachian Trail section by section.
“I think Boy Scouts was a huge part of formation for
me,” he said. “It taught me a lot about being self-reliant . . . It
really instilled in me a love of nature and a desire to preserve it and to be a
good steward of the outdoors. I think some of my most intimate moments, my most
peaceful moments, with God have happened in the wilderness.”
Looking back on his life, Father Calhoun sees the root of his
priestly ministry in a familiar face.
“I think my mom really instilled in me a sense of moral
responsibility and the importance of putting God first in my life,” he
said. “Her example and her compassion and desire to help people made a
real impression on me.”
And as a priest, Father Calhoun has found the niche in which he
fits.
“I could be in the Peace Corps, but still not have that
awareness of God,” he said. “I had to connect my desire to serve and
help people in need with my love for God.” |
