Meet Our New Seminarians!

By REV. JASON KERN

Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary welcomes seven new seminarians for the Diocese of Winona-Rochester this fall. Please pray for Joseph Bartosh, Aidan Holycross, Caleb Indahl, William Kahle, Thomas Lambrecht, Cole Larson and Cameron Vareberg as they discern God's calling.

Joseph Bartosh

Greetings, fellow brothers and sisters in Christ! My name is Joseph Bartosh, and I am a new seminarian studying for the Diocese of Winona-Rochester. I am currently 20 years old and am in my first year of seminary formation, known as the propaedeutic stage.

I have been blessed with a wonderful and supportive family consisting of both my dad and mom, as well as a younger brother and sister. I come from the southwestern part of the diocese, from the small town of Heron Lake, and am a proud member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Heron Lake. Throughout the years, I have had many interests and hobbies ranging from reading, watching movies, being out in nature, and a personal favorite of mine is antique, statuary and art restoration. I had felt the call and attraction to the priesthood over a year ago and have felt so blessed by all the support and help along the way. I am especially grateful to our diocese for the ability to be a part of the High Calling Program, an interactive online program for young men across the country discerning the call to priesthood. The program was filled with a wide array of Christian topics and material given by truly remarkable priests, religious, professors, theologians, and philosophers, and I am beyond thankful for the ability to have taken part in this nine-month program.

This past April I was formally accepted into Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary in Winona. On July 14, I moved to IHM and had the opportunity to grow with my brother seminarians and get to know them before the school year started on September 3. One of the big trips we took together this summer was a camping trip up in the Boundary Waters for a week, which was altogether a great experience. Really growing together as brothers and being completely immersed in God’s creation was such a gift. Another part of our summer program here at IHM was the morning formation classes with our great IHM formators who have great expanses of knowledge and insight into the faith. As I am writing to you all today, I have officially finished my first week of classes, and although I feel a little overwhelmed, I have a greater feeling of reassurance from our Lord. God is the way, and he always provides, whether we see it or not. He always has our back.

There is so much more I could share; however, I would just like to say thank you to everyone who has supported, encouraged, or prayed for me along this journey. It hasn’t been easy, but, with God at our sides, we can do anything!

Aidan Holycross

Hello, readers of The Courier; my name is Aidan Holycross. No, you are not reading that wrong; Holycross is my last name, not my parish. The running joke in the sacristy is that if one day I become a priest (God willing), I will be Fr. Holycross! I am 20 years old and have lived in Rochester with my mom, dad, and three siblings. My home parish is Pax Christi, with pastor Fr. Sauer and parochial vicar Fr. Joachim. I want to thank everyone I have encountered at Pax for making me into the man I am today and for helping me foster my relationship with our Lord. Without the constant support and effort to create a great faith formation program, I probably would not be writing this.

One of my favorite hobbies is listening to or playing music! I am a drummer but I know how to play piano and guitar, and I can play “Smoke on the Water” on a trumpet. For sports, I enjoy playing spikeball and hockey (in the winter months). I have a little bit of a competitive side when it comes to sports, but I love a challenge!

Now I wish to share a little bit more about my faith life. In all honesty, as a kid, I dreaded going to Sunday Mass. My family was Catholic, but I made my mother's job difficult getting me to Mass. During my time in middle school, I had a similarly rebellious attitude. Finally, by the grace of God, my mother decided to pull me out of public school. I remember it being my last year of middle school, so I complained to my mother in hopes to not switch schools. Reflecting on my transition from public school to Catholic school, I now see that it was a pivotal moment when God saw me moving backward, slapped me in the face, and said, “Turn around!” I’ll never forget how happy I was in my eighth-grade year. I had never thought I would enjoy school without my old friends, but there was so much growth in that year. My next four years were spent at Lourdes High School, where I slowly but surely came to know God more and more. I was far from the person God wanted me to be, and, although I struggled, I had great teachers, friends, and, most importantly, my faith. I had (and still have) a deep desire to find out what the Lord's plan was (and is) for me. The first time I recall the Lord calling me to seminary was while I was serving Mass at my parish, Pax Christi, two years ago. I remember the priest lifting the Eucharist, and I thought to myself, "What if that were me up there?" Many times, I would sit in eucharistic adoration and say, “Lord, I want to want what you want for me!” I desired to know my vocation as we all do. Another pivotal moment was when Fr. Michael Churchill and a young, newly ordained priest planted the thought of priesthood in my mind. I was scared and wanted to shove the idea out of my brain. I thought, “I’m not worthy to be a priest. I want to get married and have a family. What if I'm not smart enough to be a priest?” I had all these thoughts, but Fr. Churchill encouraged me along, as did my good friend Cole Larson, from whom you will be hearing on the next page. The opportunity for service attracted me to the priesthood even more. From a very young age, I have desired to serve and help others around me.

Having spent a couple of months at the seminary, I really can say it has been a huge blessing and another chapter for further growth in my life! My advice to any young man considering seminary is not to push the idea out of your mind. Chances are that if God calls you to enter this life, that's where he wants you to be! Remember that seminary is a place of discernment and that not everyone who enters the seminary will be called to the priesthood. To conclude, I want to thank my mom who helped me foster a deep sense of prayer, as well as everyone who has walked with me through my life. Thank you for your prayers and know of my prayers for you all too!

Caleb Indahl

My name is Caleb Indahl. I am 18 years old and the second oldest of eight children. My family lives on a small farm outside Peterson, where we raise pigs, sheep, and chickens. We attend Mass at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart in Winona. I love to read, spend time outside, and work with my hands. My dad has taught me a lot about woodworking, construction, and automotive repair. One of the biggest projects we have worked on was when we replaced the transmission in my older brother’s car. I have spent my free time teaching myself woodcarving and knife sharpening. Both are things that I love to do regularly as I continue to refine my skills. One of my favorite things to learn was how to sharpen and care for the knives and other blades we use around the farm.

I was taught about the faith and have believed that it is true for as long as I can remember. For many years of my life, being Catholic was something that made sense and I agreed with. It wasn’t until I went to Camp Summit and was on the Dream Team, and then Fiat, that I finally began to develop a personal relationship with Jesus and my faith. This was something I had wanted to do for years but had been unable to do. In my mind, what changed was how I viewed prayer and other aspects of my faith; instead of a relationship, I had looked at them as something that could be mastered if I just tried hard enough. During time on the Dream Team, I had the opportunity to learn about prayer in an experience unlike anything else I had ever done before.

I had been aware of the priesthood as a potential vocation for many years but started to give it more serious thought and prayer during the past three years, because of my experiences on the Fiat and Dream Teams. I attended a Come-and-See weekend in March of 2023 at Immaculate Heart of Mary Seminary, and, after that experience, I felt called to enter the seminary. Applying was a long process, and there were many times when I considered giving up, but, through the grace of God, I made it through the application and am eager to see what God’s plan for me is as I continue to discern his will at seminary.

William Kahle

Growing up in Austin, as a parishioner of St. Augustine’s Church, was where I first started to feel a call to the priesthood. I am a graduate of Pacelli Catholic High School in Austin. During my years of schooling, I was involved with the church in several ways. I frequently was an altar server at Mass on Sundays and for School Mass on Wednesdays. When I was in school, I had the blessing of attending Camp Summit a few times and a mission trip in Milwaukee. There on the mission trip was when God made it known to me that I may be called to the priesthood. Being surrounded by all the priests and having daily adoration, I had a desire to do that someday. Serving Mass was another big part of my discerning the priesthood. Being close to the altar while the priest was saying the Eucharistic Prayer, I was always completely immersed in what was going on.

After graduating from Pacelli in 2020, I moved to Iowa, where I worked as a meat cutter for a few years. Eventually, through much prayer and discernment, I reached out to the diocese’s vocation office and came for a visit to IHM. My visit to IHM was spiritually enriching, and, while I might have gone back home, my heart was still at the seminary. Back at home, I was wrestling with this experience. I knew that I needed to continue with the application process, but, at the same time, I knew a lot would change with that decision. I knew that my friendships would change a little bit; I knew that if I got accepted and moved in, I would be leaving my family; I would be leaving the job that I really enjoyed. But, with these thoughts, I also knew that if I did not act on the stirrings in my heart, I would regret it.

Through trust in God, I continued to apply for the seminary. The great thing was that, instead of resistance from family, friends and my co-workers, I was met with overwhelming support. There were still ups and downs during the time of doing my application, but I was upheld by these great people, and, most importantly, God lavished so many blessings upon me to be strong during that time. When I was accepted, I was filled with so much joy and peace.

Having been at IHM now for almost two months, I can say that I am so happy that I made the decision to apply. The relationships that I have with my brother seminarians have helped me to continue to grow as a man of God. My relationship with God has grown a lot through these past couple of months. Habits of working out, praying, studying, and much more have been fostered and continue to improve. Looking back at the last year when I was wrestling with whether to apply or not, I can say I made the right decision. If there is any advice I can give to any man who is discerning entering the seminary and is afraid, it is this: listen to the things that are going on in your heart; if you feel drawn to what is stirring and receive peace and joy from those movements, act on them and do not be afraid. Trust in God; he will never let you down.

Thomas Lambrecht

Hello everybody! If you told me a year ago that I would be sharing a short autobiography in The Courier, I never would have believed you. God is certainly good at surprises, and, to quote a good friend of mine, “When you let him in… oh boy!” My name is Thomas Lambrecht, and I am 19 years old. I grew up about 10 miles north of Byron with my parents, my two older brothers, and my older sister. Some of my hobbies include board games, hiking, climbing and music, but, most of all, I love to be around other people. Growing up, my parents gave me a strong foundation in the Catholic faith. We went to Mass every Sunday, we prayed as a family, and they taught us a lot about the faith at home. My problem was that I thought of faith like another class in school. Focused purely on the intellectual side, I knew a lot about Jesus, but I did not know Jesus. Then, in high school, I found a real relationship with Christ in consistent prayer. This changed my life. During my freshman and sophomore years, I started discerning a vocation to the priesthood but ultimately felt that God was calling me to medical mission work. I had always wanted to become a doctor, so I pursued that path until the end of my senior year, when God called me to seminary again. After a lot of prayer, I decided to drop my other plans and give seminary a shot. It was 100% the right choice. In just the first couple of months, I have already seen major changes in my life. I am learning a lot about myself, and I can see God growing my trust in ways I did not even think were possible. It is really busy at times, but it is also really transformative (and a whole lot of fun). In all, I am so excited to see where God leads me this year, and I know that, no matter what, it is going to be great.

A quick word of advice to anyone discerning their vocation: give it a shot. Even if you do not walk away from seminary as a priest, you will walk away as a better husband, a better father, and a better man. The environment here is truly designed to transform lives, and, if you let God into your life and give him a chance to work… oh boy!

Cole Larson

Hi, My name is Cole Larson. I am from Rochester. I have one sister who is two years older than me, but we were always together playing outside. I grew up playing tennis and golf for school sports. I also enjoy trapshooting, which I started in my junior year. I graduated from Byron High School in the class of 2023. One of our parish priests invited me to go to a Come and See weekend at the seminary. I continued with my senior year not knowing for sure if I was ready to go to seminary and what I was being called to do in my life. I attended the University of North Dakota with a major focused on computer science, and was a member of the marching band. In the time I spent at UND, I was very involved with campus ministry and joined two campus bible studies. I got the opportunity to attend a Seek conference with thousands of Catholic college students, seminarians and priests from all over the United States. I started actively discerning again in November when I went to the Diocese of Fargo's vocation retreat weekend with friends from the Newman Center. I kept feeling the call that I needed to apply and just see how things went with getting into seminary. Some people were surprised by my decision to transfer colleges and discern priesthood, but I found the people who deeply care about you will support you in whatever makes you happy and allows you to find purpose in your life.

This past summer, I had the experience of doing Totus Tuus in our diocese and traveling around meeting priests and sharing my love for the Lord with students who also wanted to grow in their faith and relationship with the Lord.

It feels very exciting to enter into the propaedeutic year this fall and to follow where God is calling me to love him more. I would say to anyone discerning their vocation: don’t do it alone, and take action by going on retreats and info weekends. Allow the Father to grow you in the way he wills, and be open to the calling of a religious vocation.

Cameron Vareberg

Hello readers! My name is Cameron Vareberg, and I am from Rochester. Before getting into my vocation story, I would like to give a little description of myself. I have grown up in Rochester all my life. I went to St. Francis of Assisi for kindergarten through eighth grade before going to Mayo High School, graduating in 2023. Afterward, I took a gap year, where I worked and took extra time to discern God’s call. Some of my hobbies include reading and collecting books, listening to music in analog formats (vinyl, cassette, CDs), working in the garage, and trying out new areas that catch my interest. I was also involved in a couple of activities in high school, namely Boy Scouts and band.

As a little kid, I was very confident about what I was going to be when I grew up: a firefighter. Around third grade, that certainty about being a firefighter shifted to certainty about being a priest. I was so confident in my vocation that I only considered priesthood all the way through sixth grade before I started considering other options. I flew between options such as fighter pilot, park ranger and welder. What I wanted to do changed with the wind. Concurrently, my prayer life took the back seat as I became a lazy middle schooler, which was not beneficial for me or my vocation. As I went into confirmation prep, however, I began to take my faith more seriously. If I were to be an adult in the faith, shouldn’t I actually believe and act like one? Occasionally, as I began to pray more, the question of the priesthood would reappear. I would acknowledge it, but then promptly ignore it. In my junior year, I decided to go on a visit to IHM. Suffice it to say, I loved it. The fraternity, the prayer, everything was awesome. After the visit, though, I ignored any feelings I had and went on with my high school life, along with having a girlfriend my senior year. After a couple of months of dating, the idea of the priesthood began popping into my head, much more aggressively. After a few months of that, I decided to break up so I could “discern,” which was really just thinking nice thoughts about the priesthood. Later that year, after a Steubenville retreat and stewing on the idea for a while, I decided to contact Fr. Kern and finally began the process of applying to the seminary during my gap year. During the application, many things lined up to really solidify my decision, and I thank God for that! Although I have only been here for a couple of months, the amount of joy and peace I have received from the decision has been wonderful. Already my seminarian brothers are some of my best friends. To all those reading who are considering the priesthood, trust in God and take the plunge! It already has been so fruitful in my life, and no matter what direction God has for me the seminary is an important step in that path. Please pray for me as I continue this process of formation and discernment, and I appreciate all those who are praying for me already. Pax!

Rev. Jason Kern is the Director of Vocations for the Diocese of Winona-Rochester.