Chase Hilgenbrinck, from the pitch to the priesthood

EMMITSBURG, Md. -- Chase Hilgenbrinck is alone in the middle of the field, just outside the goal box, with his back to it. He's facing his teammates, who are standing several yards away, split into two lines for pregame warm-ups. One by one -- left, then right -- they kick a soccer ball his way, and start jogging in his direction. Chase deftly deflects each ball off to the side with a flick of his foot, setting up each teammate to launch a shot on goal.

It's been a couple months since he last put on a uniform. But it still feels comfortable. Natural. His mind drifts back to the last time he suited up: Sunday, July 13, at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. He was a member of Major League Soccer's New England Revolution, facing Mexican club Santos Laguna in a SuperLiga game. Now, on the final weekend of September, he's preparing to play against a team from St. Joseph's.

My, how things have changed. We all have grand dreams when we're growing up. We don't just want to do something with our lives -- we want to be great at it. And for many of us, the ultimate dream was to be a professional athlete.

Chase Hilgenbrinck, sliding to his left to pass the ball to a teammate. Chase Hilgenbrinck dreamed that dream. Three months ago, he was playing professional soccer, in his native country. He had reached the end of the rainbow. Only, at the end of the rainbow, he discovered another path he felt compelled to follow.

Chase and his fellow first-year seminarian, Matt Hoelscher, standing by the seminary pub. (Note the framed picture of Pope Benedict XVI behind the bar.)

That's right. Mount St. Mary's Seminary has its own pub, in one corner of its giant first-floor recreation room. That's where approximately 200 people, from all four participating seminaries, gathered to eat, drink and be merry on the eve of the 2008 Rector's Cup. They enjoyed a feast of homemade Italian food, and many of them sipped from glasses of wine or red plastic cups of beer, as they bonded with their brethren from the other institutions.

It's definitely not all prayer and no play here, despite what many people would probably expect. Besides the pub (which is open four nights a week, and beers only cost a buck!), there's a 65-inch HDTV in the rec room. And a second large flat-screen TV, in another room, has a Nintendo Wii hooked up to it.

Great story.

We have been in the process of “clustering” with another parish for the past year.

Our pastor told us last week that the bishop has slowed the process down because they have had a dramatic increase in vocations.

Blessed be the Lord.

Chase Hilgenbrinck, from the pitch to the priesthood

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