Recent Graduate Enters Norbertine Order

“Jonathan is a young man of character and heart,” says Michael Phelan of his son, Jonathan (CA’23), a recent TAC graduate who entered the Norbertine Order this summer. “My wife and I are glad that he is in the care of like men for this formational time. We fully support Jonathan in his discernment, no matter where it leads.”

In Jonathan’s sophomore year at the College, a Norbertine priest visited to lead the annual Triduum retreat. During a reflection on God’s love, the priest explicitly invited men in the group to discern the priesthood. “Jonathan felt a profound love from God the Father after this talk, and discerned from there,” says Mr. Phelan.

One year after his graduation, Jonathan entered St. Michael’s Abbey in Silverado, California, as a postulant alongside 12 other young men. He joins some dozen fellow Thomas Aquinas College alumni at the Abbey, including Rev. Sebastian Walshe (’94), Rev. Miguel (Gaspar’08) Batres, and the recently ordained Rev. Moses (Luke ’14) Blain. God willing, on Christmas Eve, Jonathan and his fellow postulants will transition to the novitiate, receiving their new names and habits.

“We are so deeply grateful,” says Mr. Phelan. “The call to religious life is reflective of God’s powerful movement in the world to bless the Church and the world with a beautiful, mysterious, and clear sign that Heaven is our true home. If this is Jonathan’s call, we couldn’t be more grateful to God for this and happy for him. And, if it is a temporary call, what better formation could there be for a young man to be a husband and father?”