Name: Aaron Wessman
Hometown: Cokato, Minn.
Stage of formation: Novice

Aaron Wessman, 24, a 2004 graduate of St. John’s University in Collegeville, Minn., learned about Glenmary after meeting Father Jerry Dorn while Father Jerry was on sabbatical at St. John’s. “After we met, I felt a call start to come alive,” Aaron said. "[Meeting Father Jerry] was an appointment set up by God.”

As he listened to Father Jerry’s description of Glenmary’s efforts in ecumenism, rural ministry and work with the poor, Aaron says he “felt something stirring in me. A life of poverty and getting my hands dirty really attracted me to Glenmary.”

He told Father Jerry about that attraction and shared the feeling that he might have a calling to the priesthood. “And Father Jerry said, ‘I’ve been thinking the same thing about you,’” Aaron recalls.

As he settled into the idea of becoming a home mission priest, Aaron worked as a youth minister for a Lutheran church in his hometown of Cokato, Minn. Then he finally made application to Glenmary and was accepted into the prenovitiate program which he completed. Now a novice, Aaron began his novitiate year in Maple Mount, Ky.

During his prenovitiate year in Hartford, Ky., Aaron used his degree in mathematics to tutor groups of students. “I love hanging out with kids!” he says. During his prenovitiate year, Aaron also applied his experience in youth ministry and music to Holy Redeemer, the nearby former Glenmary mission where he played music with the choir.

“The choir is very good,” he says, adding that he thinks “they just put up with me!” throughout the year. He became involved with liturgical music after Father Jerry taught him some basic guitar chords. “Then the kids in my youth ministry taught me some more.”

After his experience as a youth minister in a Lutheran congregation, Aaron knows that he would like to continue to work with other faith communities. He is particularly interested in ecumenical outreach. “I have a passion that we all become united in the Body of Christ,” Aaron says.

The experiences of his prenovitiate year were "priceless," Aaron says, "and they have helped lead me to a decision to continue in formation in the novitiate."

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