How faith, family, and perseverance led Andrew Sheedy to the diaconate

The obvious place to begin is with my family. I’m the eldest of eight children, with a 19-year spread from myself to the youngest. I grew up in a very Catholic household. We prayed every day as a family, went to Mass during weekdays as well as Sundays, observed many different traditions during different parts of the liturgical year, celebrated patronal feast days and baptism days, and went to confession monthly or even weekly. My mother also took the time to teach us the catechism and had us memorize passages from Scripture.

Faith was never something I took for granted. This was even more the case when my father left the Church during my teen years. I wrestled deeply with questions and doubts of all sorts, but the end result was that I came away with a renewed appreciation for my faith and the depth of the Church’s intellectual tradition.

I was also blessed to grow up in two wonderful Catholic parish communities: first, St. Joseph’s in Derwent and second, Holy Family in St. Albert. I fell in love with the Christian community that I encountered in these churches. They gave me an experience of the beauty of Catholicism and played a significant role in my attraction to parish priesthood.

Another significant experience I had while growing up was living in Quebec with my family for a year while in Grade 10. While there, I attended school and the parish youth group in French, which I did not speak at the time we moved there. It was very humbling to not be able to express myself coherently, to misunderstand basic instructions, to be laughed at without knowing why, and to have the feeling of being on the margins. Along with my struggles with faith, that experience had a profound effect on my capacity for empathy and my growth in humility, both of which I sorely needed.

Seminary, of course, has had a significant impact, but I’ll say more about that below.

I think I had the first inklings of my vocation following my confirmation, but I did not experience it as a call until Grade 12. It began as an attraction to what I could see of the life of a priest: daily Mass and spending time with parishioners. Altar serving at weekday Masses during the summers (or while homeschooling) and then staying for coffee afterwards filled me with peace and joy and I wanted more of it.

Parishioners and priests frequently told me that I should become a priest, so I couldn’t ignore the idea. As my teen years progressed, the idea faded into the background and going to seminary became my backup plan if I didn’t think of anything else. However, in Grade 12, just as I had settled on a career path and was thinking of asking a girl out whom I had liked for a few years, my attraction to priesthood developed into something I couldn’t ignore.

As I explored the possibility and came up with all sorts of excuses for why it wouldn’t work anymore, it also became increasingly clear that everything in my life was pointing in that direction. After months of inner turmoil, I made the decision to apply to seminary and instantly felt deep peace.

My whole internship experience was the big highlight. I’ve never felt more alive. I was blessed to meet many wonderful people and I experienced deep joy and fulfillment in ministry. I also have fond memories of my first months in seminary, in my propaedeutic year: the many conversations with my peers, board games in the evenings, and the joy of learning so many new things about my faith.

My first seminary retreat also left a profound impression on me. I felt deeply at peace and because everything was so new, I soaked in every minute of it. Ordinations of friends have also been very memorable. But how could I pick out just a few moments from what has been the last third of my life?

The internal struggles were the hardest, but more on those below. Otherwise, I think what I found really difficult was the constant grind of the studies. I love learning and reading, but I found I often had to sacrifice the parts of my studies I liked best in order to be able to balance all of my responsibilities. During my internship, I found that the rigours of the seminary schedule had prepared me well for staying afloat amidst the busyness of parish life.

There were a few periods that were quite difficult. The one that stands out the most was my fifth year of seminary. As I reached the approximate halfway point of my studies, the reality of what I was committing to, along with a deep sense of my inadequacies, weighed on me. My prayer was very dry, I was lonely, and studies seemed quite challenging. I would have been happy if the formation team had asked me to leave seminary.

However, I did not get any sense from them or from the Lord that I should change course, so I persevered. Jesus also blessed me with a powerful experience in prayer — the one respite from the dryness — which encouraged me and kept me going. My pastoral experiences, which were nearly always a cause of joy, also encouraged me to persevere through the studies.

Throughout formation, each seminarian has a weekly placement in some form of ministry (2-3 hours/week), in addition to the year-long internship. These experiences were often the highlight of my week. They helped to orient the rest of what I was doing and to keep my eyes on the end goal of seminary. I have especially fond memories of school visits, RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) , and Teams of Our Lady. During my internship, preaching, teaching RCIA, helping at youth events, and bringing communion to the homebound were among my greatest joys.

Who has supported you along the way, and what would you like to say to them?

There have been so many, I would certainly forget some if I tried to list them all. Many people from my home parish, as well as various Knights of Columbus and CWL (Catholic Women’s League) councils were incredibly supportive with their prayers and (often very generous) financial help.

Certain priests, like Fr. Adam Lech and, of course, the seminary formators (especially my spiritual directors) were not only great mentors, but also encouraged me to continue striving after God’s will. Many other people also supported me by their words of affirmation. To all of them, I would say thank you: your support helped me to trust in God’s call during times of doubt and to have some assurance that I was not simply following my own will when I was struggling with pride. You were also a constant reminder that my vocation is not for myself, but for the sake of the Church.

How do you feel as your ordination day approaches?

As one would expect, a mix of excitement and nervousness. There were a couple times I woke up in a cold sweat, wondering what on earth I am getting myself into! But most of the time I feel a lot of joy and anticipation, less for the ordination, and more for the ministry that awaits me afterwards.

I think I’m most excited about baptisms and blessings. Baptisms, because it’s awe-inspiring that God will give people new life through my hands and words. Blessings, because they’re so effortless and yet such a beautiful sign of the gratuitous nature of God’s grace — both for the one receiving the blessing and the one giving it, who realizes that he’s nothing special in himself!

As you look toward priesthood and the future, what are your hopes and prayers for the ministry God is calling you to?

Above all, that I will be a holy and zealous priest. When I look at my spiritual life, I see so much lukewarmness at times that I wonder why God would pick me. Yet I have also had powerful experiences of God using me as His instrument, so I know that He can work through me and that focusing on my limitations can itself become an obstacle to how God wants to use me. My hope is simply that I will not get in the way too much.