Franciscan Focus

IN PURSUIT OF GOD

by Meg Duncan ′14

Fr. Dennis Schafer, OFM, has journeyed through life in pursuit of God. As he steps out in obedience, it’s in the unexpected places that God takes him where he finds his biggest blessings.

As a Friar of the Franciscan faith, and a former music teacher of 20 years at Quincy University, Schafer has lived life according to his calling. Born in Parma, Ohio, he attended high school in Cleveland at Padua Franciscan High School, where he first encountered the Franciscans. After graduate school in music education at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, he was ordained in 1980 and taught music at his alma mater, Padua Franciscan High School, for a year. He then returned to Quincy University and started teaching vocal music. He also earned a doctoral degree in music from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign during that time. His time at QU was an important part of his life. First, as a student and a young man learning to be a Franciscan and then as a teacher himself.

“QU has had a huge influence on my life, and it’s one that I continue to remember and give thanks for,” he said.

Even though Schafer believed life as a friar and music teacher was his lifelong ministry, he continued listening to God’s voice. In 2001, he moved on to St. Louis, where he earned a certification in Spiritual Direction from Aquinas Institute of Theology. He then moved to Joliet to be part of a “postulancy” program where he worked with young men interested in becoming Franciscan. Twelve years later, God called him again when he moved to Indianapolis, becoming the pastor at St. Patrick Parish, where he and a ministry team serve a congregation of about 2,500, many of them Hispanic. Schafer began learning the language to serve the Hispanic community, and the endeavor has been a surprise blessing in his life.

“I have experienced God’s grace and God’s call from people in the Hispanic community in ways that have been surprising and rewarding for me,” he said. “God has called me in wonderful ways to this change.” As Schafer sees it, life is a continual transformation into God’s will, and he will always be in pursuit of that. “A famous quote from St. Francis as he was dying said to the friars who were gathered around him, ‘Let us begin brothers, for up until now, we have done nothing,’” Schafer said. “It’s that call to continual transformation, continual growth, continual responding to the gospel, and to God’s call in our lives.”

“At that time, there were several Franciscans at the school; those who were an influence on me were Fr. Eberle, Fr. Justin Belitz, and Fr. Clarence Chambers,” he said. “I was impressed by the joy of the Franciscans and their sense of community.” During those years, Schafer was drawn to something else: music. Picking up the clarinet for the first time in high school was a footstep directly onto the path leading to his future. After high school, he arrived as a seminary student at Quincy University, where he became a Franciscan after his sophomore year. He knew God had a plan for his life, and he boldly pursued it even though it had never been done before. Schafer became the first seminary student to major in music, focusing on the clarinet. “What music means to me is that it is a way for me to know God in a way that is a different kind of prayer,” he said. “With that, in between teaching and performing, it has transformed my life as a Franciscan.” “What music means to me is that it is a way for me to know God in a way that is a different kind of prayer, ” he said. “With that, in between teaching and performing, it has transformed my life as a Franciscan.”