Parishioner Profile: Mr. Shane Hewson

 

Mr. Shane Hewson is a seminarian for the Diocese of Tulsa, studying at the North American College Seminary in Rome. He will be ordained a deacon in September.

 

How long will you be at the Church of Saint Mary?

I will be here through the third weekend of August and after that I will head off back to Rome to continue my studies.

 

What will you be doing here?

The basic idea for a summer assignment is to really get an idea of what it is to be a priest so a lot of that entails following the priests around. I will be Father Jack’s shadow more or less. I’m very excited about that. I get to live with the priests, have the meals with them, and even enjoy some of the meetings with them as well. I will also be at Catholic Charities three days a week.

 

What can you expect when you return to school?

This final year is changed up a bit. I just finished my Bachelor’s Degree in Theology. In Italy it’s a little bit different than the United States. I will be entering a second cycle of studies. The bishop has asked me to study canon law so I will study to do a lot of that work for the diocese: anything that needs to go on from moving parishes or building parishes to annulments.

 

Are you looking forward to life as a priest?

Yes I am looking forward to returning to the diocese. I’m happy now to dig in a little more and learn what it is to be a priest. It’s exciting to see Father Duy preach. I studied with him as a seminarian. I’m in a privileged position to see him in his transition [from seminarian to parish priest] and so I’m really excited to just do what I’ve seen him do: saying Mass and administrating the sacraments, especially the Anointing of the Sick.