March 19, 2020
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Updated April 3, 2020

Rev. Jerome Augustine Zeiler, O.P. (’00)
Rev. Jerome Zeiler, O.P. (’00)Writing on his Facebook page, alumnus priest Rev. Jerome Zeiler, O.P. (’00), posted the following poignant dialogue about some of the many ways Our Lord is at work during this time of ubiquitous closures and social distancing: 

Satan: “I will cause anxiety, fear, and panic. I will cause the churches to lock their doors. I will cause Christians not to worship together on Sunday. I will cause the sacraments not to be given or received. I will cause fights to break out at the grocery stores and on social media and inside the home. I will cause greater animosity between nations. I will cause turmoil inside and out.”

Jesus: “I will restore the family. I will bring husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, sons and daughters, brothers and sisters closer together. I will greatly strengthen the communal life of religious brothers and sisters. I will greatly strengthen the spiritual lives of my priests. I will bring dinner back to the kitchen table and to the refectory. I will help my children slow down their lives and appreciate what really matters. I will teach my children to rely on me and not on what is of this world. I will deepen my children's faith in me. I will renew their prayer life. I will deepen their love for me and for one another.”

The exchange quickly went viral, and questions soon arose to its origins, which Fr. Zeiler has now clarified. “My sister sent me the same anonymous meme,” Fr. Zeiler explains. “I thought it was great, so I tried to copy and paste from a text on my cell phone onto Facebook. But since it didn't allow me to do that, I simply rewrote it on Facebook, but changed and embellished a few things. I had no idea that it would be shared so many times and cause this viral sensation, or that people would fight to attribute it to me! … I had no intention to pretend I came up with it! You can share this information with whomever you like. God bless you!”

The parochial vicar at St. Patrick Church in Columbus, Ohio, Fr. Zeiler graduated from the College in 2000. He entered the Eastern Province of the Order of Preachers in 2005 and was ordained to the priesthood in 2012. He holds a Master of Divinity from the Dominican House of Studies and a Licentiate in Philosophy from The Catholic University of America.

Please keep him  — and all priests  — in your prayers!