That’s how newly ordained priest Friar Thomas Fetz `07 describes his conversion experience midway through college at the University of Washington. That beckoning led him to change his major to philosophy, finish college in 3 years, and join the Franciscan Order in 2010.
“The charism of St. Francis of Assisi called me to be more authentically myself. It challenged me to be me.”
Fetz returned to Prep in September to concelebrate Mass of the Holy Spirit and offer words of gratitude to his teachers and the education he received at Prep. “The Holy Spirit dwells in this place in a unique way and makes this more than just a high school, but a community.”
Fetz acknowledged he probably wouldn’t have been the guy in high school that you’d peg to be a future priest, yet the seeds were planted. Gonzaga Prep’s retreat program had a big impact. “Search was where I began to learn to have enough trust of God.” After his own Search, he also served as a Search coordinator. Fetz was involved in a handful of other activities too: rock climbing, band, lacrosse, and Destination Imagination (now called S.T.E.A.M.)
As a student, he truly felt the cura personalis from teachers, and the English department had the greatest influence. “They gave me the greatest appreciation for who I am as a person, for the human experience, and the foundation that I needed in order to embrace faith. Because without the power of symbol, without the ability to empathize with others, then nothing that we do in religion makes any sense.”
In his journey with the Franciscans, he has spent time in Australia, Costa Rica, and the midwest United States. The beauty of the friary, he says, is that “you feel at home no matter where you are. Home for now is Mary, Mother of God Parish in Chicago.
Fetz encourages students to be open to God’s existence and the way God is calling them to trust. “Embrace that sense of wonder and don't lose it because it is our spark of joy. It is the spark of God.”
» Listen to Friar Fetz’s reflection from the Mass of the Holy Spirit