TAC and Vocation: Alumni Dominicans Tell Their Stories

On Saturday morning, students gathered to listen visiting alumni Dominicans share the stories of how God led them to the Dominican Order. For Br. John Peter Anderson, OP (’17), the revelation of God’s call to him to join the priesthood occurred while he was a student at the College, even though he was discerning marriage at the time.

“I had this image of married life as this great light that was very attractive to me, that had clarity and I could see it,” he told students. “On the other hand, there was religious life that was dark, and yet there was something to it that attracted me, drew me.” It wasn’t until the beginning of his sophomore year that he realized that his heart burned for contemplative life, and he finally discerned his call to the priesthood in the Dominican Order. 

For Rev. John Winkowitsch, OP (’04), the journey to the Dominicans took longer, but in a way it, too, began at the College. Raised as a Protestant, Fr. John studied his way to the truth of the Catholic faith before coming to TAC, where he was baptized his freshmen year. After his baptism, he was filled with a great desire for the unity and sanctity of the Universal Church, but it was another 10 years before the answer to his prayer came to him.

“How is the Church purified? How are saints born?” Fr. John asked students. “The sacraments were the answer to this prayer I’ve been begging God for throughout the last decade, and I just wanted nothing more than to be a conduit of God’s sacramental grace so that He could purify the Church and raise up saints.” That epiphany led him to seminary, and then to the Dominican Order. 

For Br. Athanasius Thompson, OP (’12), God’s plan took him to unexpected places before he was finally brought to the Dominicans. A science-loving child, he was convinced of the opposition between Holy Scripture and modern science until studying St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine revealed a coherency to the truth of the Catholic faith. After this conversion, he was moved to a desire for religious life, and he joined the Norbertine Abbey for a time.

Encouraged by the Norbertines to further his education, Br. Athanasius enrolled as a student at Thomas Aquinas College for a year, then went on to become a software developer and work for Boeing on a classified military program. Finally, he returned once again to his desire for religious life. “God has a great adventure for all of you,” he told students. “If I could tell you one thing, it would be this: whatever you think your life is going to look like in five years, your life is not going to look like that. I can guarantee you. That’s the bad news. The good news is that God’s plan for you is even more interesting and exciting than what your plan for you is.”