Holy Spirit Prep’s newest chaplain arrived this past school year with a unique ministry opportunity: the witness of being ordained a priest. When John Klein, LC, joined the campus ministry team in August 2017, he was a newlyordained transitional deacon fresh out of three years of theological studies in Rome. HSP marked his first major assignment. A date was engraved in his calendar: December 16, 2017, when he and 32 other Legionary seminarians from around the globe would be ordained as priests. Of course, Fr. John almost missed that date. His early plans never included the priesthood. In college, he tried engineering, then quickly shifted to music, his true passion. “It was a rush for me each time we played,” Fr. John recalled about his high school band. “I loved the loud music, the sound of the crowd, and the adventure of getting to play at different places.” His heroes wore popped, rather than Roman, collars – Dave Matthews especially. “I made a commitment to myself that I was never going to settle for a 9-5 office job. I was going to have an adventure with my life, just like Dave had an adventure with his.” Music, though, left him feeling empty. Fr. John recalls an unforgettable performance with his band in college, “I remember thinking, ‘That was great, but it wasn’t as great as I thought it would be. Now what?’” That question led him, over months and months, to the priesthood. “I visited the Legion of Christ’s website from a computer in the University computer lab. The first picture that popped up was a picture of 50 Legionary priests…. ‘This is it,’ I realized, ‘the greatest adventure of a lifetime is to leave all behind and follow Jesus Christ.’ It wasn’t Dave whom I was meant to follow, but Jesus Christ.” Then-Deacon John kept his date and was ordained on December 16 at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. “It was out of this world” Fr. John said, “laying prostrate during the ceremony was incredibly moving. I felt all the prayers of heaven, the saints, and the Church descending on me.”
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| ministrāre • FALL 2018
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