share, catholic and non-catholic alike. think of a man in a hello. on behalf of the arch diocese of san francisco, welcome to mosaic. it's one of the most images we share, catholic and noncatholic alike. think of a man in a black suit and roman collar or a man in vestments holding a challis of wine, a man who sits and listens to confessing sins. a man offering a small disc of unleaven bread. we catholics carry this thanks to personal experiences but such images are probably

embedded in the minds of nearly everyone. the image is familiar because the vocation is represents it deeply and enduringly fascinating. today we will talk about that. we are joined by george schultz, president and director of our training school for priests, st. patrick's seminary. with him, we will discuss the catholic priesthood, who is answering the call to priesthood, how is the vocation discerned and developed, what training and education does a priest get, how is priestly life lived out in the 21st century. after this break, please join us as we learn about the catholic priesthood today.

>> hello. welcome back to mosaic.

with me is father george e schultz sj. sj societies for society of jesus. i briefly know your background. you have a masters degree, a phd. you have a b.a. before that. can you tell us where you got these? >> yes. i studied industrial relations at cornell university in new york although i am from california. the masters in business administration was uc berkley. i was a full time student there. usc, i studied social ethics at the university of southern california. that's my phd. >> you have authorized a book. >> yes, about strangers in the foreign land, authorizing of catholic latinos in the united states. >> you are a native of california. >> i grew up in mount view, went to public views in mountain view, st. joseph parish, my parish, st. francis high school. both my parents were from the

santa clara valley. my mother was a farm worker. her father was a foreman on a ranch. my father's family had cherry and apricot orchards. >> are you from a big family? >> my mother and father were from large families but they could only have two. my mother called my brother the miracle. >> much younger than you? >> seven years. they didn't expect to have any more children. >> fantastic. you have a local fellow with a severe education. you had a career i think before looking to the priesthood. >> i did. i worked -- when i was in undergraduate i took a year and worked the national labor relations board as a board agent in oakland on 22nd and broadway. i was hired by them later to

investigate unfair labor practice charges through parts of northern california. i worked as a board agent with labor attorneys to protect workers and also employers as well. >> now you are head of the seminary. we'll get to that. how did you discover your own vocation or call to be a catholic priest? >> i always had this awareness even as a child. i grew up around the block from our parish. i would go and just sit in the parish church by myself and look at the stained glass windows. i was praying, meditating as a kid. it was my second home. i just felt great consolation as a very young child. then through my adolescent years, i had this sensitivity for other people, wanting what was good for other people, trying to help other people. in high school that helped as well. i worked for catholic workers in san jose, played sports and all the rest of it. i always had this awareness that we need to be available to

others who are in need. it never left me. in college it remained, daily confession, all the rest of it. it hounded me right through my little bit of professional work. i was sitting in my cubical. i had worked for hewlett packard and i said i think god is calling me to be a priest. that's how it happened. >> the society of jesus in particular. >> yes. that's because in the south bay at that time there were so many jesuits and you grow up around that culture. you are aware of it. it was a certain attraction. the education, missionary zeal they have, that outreach to people across the globe. i was attracted to that religious life to be a jesuit. >> the definition of a priest, i have a brief one. we talked about it momentarily. when you are called to be this, it's a powerful role but also i

would think rather frightening, rather daunting. it says the priest has the power when he is ordained to offer sacrifice, celebrate the eucharist, forgive sins, to bless, to preach, to sank fi. that's a lot of transcendent work. >> it is a lot. it's beautiful, a great gift of our church, apostolic succession going back to st. peter, to our lord himself and recognizing that men have been left behind and are always being encountered by god to come and see and to provide sacramental life that unites transcended with the imminent, the temporal with the eternal as well. it's a great gift. and people look for that. they want something that frames their life, that gives them purpose and meaning and direction. all of that is important. the priest provides that and

all the sacraments, all the pastoral counseling, education formation that goes along with it. >> it seems to me that the priest can dispense great comfort but also comes with implicit challenge to the soul that's seeking comfort or understanding. the priest as a representative of the transcendent and the absolute is probably going to say your real interest is in the absolute, not in the details of this and that suffering in your life. >> yes. that's a great part of it. i like to share with the seminaries that sometimes i think of myself, if i were an airline pilot would i be constantly looking out the window, reading things, not paying attention to my work? you are responsible for a lot of people. a priest has that responsibility. a good priest can do great good and support people in helping them understand the love of god in their lives. a priest that's not paying

attention and not being responsible can do harm as well. so you do feel that necessity to be on top of things, to be aware of what the church wants from you, and what's expected of you. so there is that desire to always be there and available as best you can because it's for god and for eternal life. >> let me ask this to be clear, there are no freelance priests. the priest is ordained by a bishop and obedient to a bishop. >> that's right. as a jesuit, you are ordained by a bishop and you are in a sense ordinary, the person who is your superior is the superior within your community. it would be my prudential. he makes assignments and i respond to him in obedience. >> very interesting. we'll talk about what a priest is today, who is entering the

priesthood and what you do at st. patrick's seminary. so please rejoin us after this brief break. [music] [music] [music] we'd do anything for kids. yet 1 in 6 children in the us

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>> hello. welcome back to mosaic. we are talking with father george e schultz, president and director of st. patrick's seminary where our priests are trained. let me ask you this. you have been a priest for 23 years. >> a jesuit for 33 years. >> been teaching young priests at the seminary. >> for throws to 12 years. >> who are the men seeking and finding priesthood? what kind of people? what are they doing? >> i would say most men who seek the priesthood today have probably had a college education already. there was a time when you would

receive a college education in a seminary setting. that still happens in various seminaries across the united states and it's not bad to be called at a young age. there are great advantages to that. the men i find have worked for a little bit, have lived on their own, have had as i did in my experience, a desire to serve, a prayer life, have worked in their parish as a volunteer. these sorts of things happen. it dawns on them "i am called to perhaps live my life dedicated to this work of serving others through the priesthood." that's men of every ethnicity, every race, every culture in our multicultural california, we have people across the cultural board. >> let me ask about the nexis of what a priesthood is. we live in a culture in which young people are encouraged to be successful, entrepreneurial, get the next job, change

careers every four years, what's the wisdom on that? how do you operate? >> it's interesting because people do perhaps attempt to work in those areas. and they recognize that the material world doesn't offer everything that they're seeking. like st. augustine. there is something more that they're searching for and we all are, every person. in particular these seminaries come from the professions, come from the cost and benefit and their way of looking at the world. they want to give of themselves. that's that surrender of being free and being directedly god and being available in such a way that they can touch others so they might have happy good lives. that's the fundamental seed i think that starts in the men i would say between 25 and 30

years old that come. they come with some talent, some profession even. what is it that you teach them? what do they have to learn? >> some come without philosophy so they'll start with philosophical training to prepare for the theological training. we teach them about church history, theology in terms of the sacraments, theology and anthropology in terms of the human person. we teach them how to preach, pastoral counseling, all the elements of what the priesthood entail are part of our education, especially in those last four years. at st. patrick's we have one year where they actually work in a parish as an internal would work in a hospital. they work in a parish shadowing a priest and helping and supporting that local parish life. >> very interesting. i know that in june, a month ago, we ordained two young men

for the arch much diocese of san francisco from st. patrick's. tell us about them? >> michael originally from alaska and taught in schools at may republicans catholic -- marin catholic, very well educated. at st. dominic's he found the call to the priesthood was strong in his heart and applied to the arch diocese of san francisco, entered and was accepted at st. patrick's and has been a great contributor to our community and has supported various parishes in the arch diocese during his time as a seminarian. >> the other went to sacred heart prep high school. >> that's right.

he speaks cantonese, spanish. he obviously is an english speaker, athlete, very intelligent man, invested in the liturgical life. we are going to ask him to do some work at the seminary this week. he is a man who can do many things and has dedicated himself because of family members who have been priests and religious women as well in his past back in hong kong. >> interesting. you are doing this work training priests in the seminary, how is the context of priesthood? i saw a headline that said seminary enrollment holds steady but i think we are familiar with the 40,000, 40 years ago and it is declined to whatever number it is. what's the situation? >> we are holding steady. i would say in the last couple years there was a down turn in various seminaries across the

country. but it's in that 5000 range which is a good number. it's not the number we need to replenish the priests that are retiring or passing away and the needs of the parishes. at the same time, we are finding a person who really wants to evangelize and promote vocations. we will see that steady state and in particular st. patrick's seminary will see a growth in the number of seminaries. i am working with vocation dinners. we have right now at the seminary some adolescents from the san jose diocese who are on a three day retreat of sorts to think about the priesthood. >> part of your job is to let the world know that st. patrick's seminary exists. >> that's right. >> very good. >> we are having success.

we are producing good men. >> not just for this arch diocese. >> yes. >> let's take a brief break and we'll come back and talk further about the catholic priesthood today. it's okay to be scared.

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we ourselves have had a little drop in the numbers in the last year. so i am going to visit various bishops around the west coast and encourage them obviously to send seminarians. we are going to promote the priesthood. i am excited about that. >> do you have a program for donors for advancement, development, and so on? >> we do. we have an annual st. patrick's gala. it's going to be on september 9 september 9th this year, 2017. we'll be honoring from the west coast walk for life. the foundresses. >> very good. this is an important event founded by these two catholic women. tens of thousands of people

come to the city. >> the seminarians are there every year and we host them at st. patrick's. >> wonderful. we talked about the popular image of the catholic priest. i went back and looked up things like actors that have played priests, won academy awards. it's an interesting crew. a lot of priests in movies. >> priests in very good respected literary novels. do you have a favorite fiction or movie about priests? >> well, in terms of the diary of a country priest, it's always been an influence in my life because a normal man carrying out his days of work in france in a rural area, fairly impoverished area interacting with people who sometimes accept him and don't

accept them. that's true for priests in every area. the challenges he felt in that and also his own spiritual and physical journey. he is declining in health and ultimately dies at the end of the book. he says that the grace of god is all over, always present. >> i recall reading a book in english, written in french, very powerful in the sense of seeing a man with no earthly prospects and in fact a fatal disease but giving of himself to others and able to see others. this is what i liked about his character. >> the priest is both priest and victim. he is the good shepherd. he also is the lamb of god. the beauty is the surrender that happens. when priests are in the world and people seek you out, they ask as in the movies or books,

father can i share something with you? father, there is something that concerns me. how might you be able to give me something that will move me forward? that's when you feel in your heart that you are serving as you should serve. they want that. the dress itself, people come up to you at airports and railroad stations or wherever and they'll stop and ask for a prayer or some intention. >> you are a marked man. >> yes. >> you are saying i believe in god and i am here to represent him, weak though i am. >> yes. and in this present moment. >> right here in this studio. >> the priesthood today may be changing as society changes. i don't know. you can tell me about that. i think you mentioned to me a book by cardinal timothy dolan. >> yes, priests of the third

millennium speaking about frequent confession, liturgy of hours, things that are basic, good priest support groups. i have fellow priests and we present the rosary together, have -- pray the rosary together, have lunch together, this keeps them rooted to the dedication. >> you mentioned when we spoke about the term sacrificial love. it sounds challenging if that's the essence of what priesthood is. >> sacrifice, the root is sacred. the sacrifice is to do something sacred, the sacrifice of the mass and so on. it's that surrender. it's finding that happiness and expance of love in serving others in your life. there is a richness and fullness. married life has that opportunity, family life. but there is something about the priesthood that allows you

to be constantly connected to the transcendent in your awareness that this is for god and for those around you. it's the cross, the vertical and horizontal elements of the cross. >> this is a major mystery and i believe everything you are saying. i am a married man myself and i know what sacrificial love is myself. >> very good. that's why we are working on this together. >> can you help us end with a prayer for vocation? >> of course. >> thank you. >> heavenly father, we ask you to send us good men who have that spirit, that spark within them to seek you out and want to serve others in their life as priests. for religious women who are educators, caregivers in our church and in our faith. we pray that they might respond to your call and find their happiness in their fulfillment in it. we pray this in the name of our

lord jesus christ. amen. >> thank you very much for a wonderful prayer and an interesting discussion. thank you for joining us on mosaic. we'll see you next time. [music] [music]

lots in store this morning, some theatre, .. good morning. welcome to bay sunday. we have so much in store for you this morning. we have some theater, some gala. it's a unique gala in fact. first, the golden globe nominee comedy series casual back for a third season. i had a really great chance to talk to the stars of the show. let's take a look. >> please bring your father. >> she's not getting his ashes. we did the dirty work. >> what's that supposed to mean? >> the show is