Fr. David O’Brien, newly assigned to St. Jude Parish, is our Parishioner of the Month for August.
 
Q: When did you find out you were being assigned to St. Jude? 
A:  I found out at the end of the ordination Mass. That’s part of the big surprise. The archbishop announced each of us by name and named the parish were assigned to. So I heard, “Fr. David O’Brien, St. Jude Church in Chalfont,” and that’s when I knew!
 
Q: Did you know anything about St. Jude prior to your ordination?
A: Not really. I’d been here once or twice to play basketball while in the seminary, and I knew Msgr. Beach’s name because he had been pastor of a nearby parish when I was growing up. I knew that St. Jude has a reputation as a gem of a parish, a really great community.
 
The archdiocese tries to place each new priest in a parish that has a pastor who would be a really good mentor and also has a vibrant community to help the new priest see the possibilities. There is a saying: the priest forms the people of God, and the people of God form the priest. So it’s really an honor for me to be here and it’s a real compliment to St. Jude parishioners that they are so highly thought of throughout the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.
 
Q: How did you receive your call to the priesthood?
A: At a very young age I did think about it, but honestly, for most of my life the priesthood wasn’t on my radar. I figured I’d get married, have a big family, and have a good job to support them. In my senior year of high school I applied to 10 colleges for aeronautical engineering and got into all of them. But I really didn’t know where to go or what to do. Nothing really inspired me.
 
That same year I had experienced an awakening in my faith, so I was praying in front of the crucifix in my room one day, asking, “Lord, where should I go? What should I do?” and the idea of the priesthood kept coming to me. I kept trying to dismiss it, saying to the Lord, “That’s not what I’m praying about.” But then I experienced Christ in an incredibly profound way – I was just emotionally overwhelmed and so filled with peace at the thought of the priesthood. After that, I got advice from a priest at my high school, who said I should probably give it a try and if it didn’t work out, I could always go to one of those 10 colleges and become an aeronautical engineer.
 
Q: How did your family react to this?
A: My parents have been my strongest examples in the faith. They weren’t preachy, they just treated their faith like a gift and shared it like a gift. So when I told my father I wanted to apply to the seminary, he was at first surprised because I hadn’t shared with anyone in my family what was going on in my heart. Then he said, “OK.”
 
Honestly, if my father had said no, I probably wouldn’t have entered so young. I believe I eventually would have become a priest because I’m convinced this is my calling, but parents have a great deal of influence. And I think this is a lesson to parents: Your children are a gift from God, and it’s a privilege to partner with God in the responsibility of raising them. Parent them in a way that they’ll realize that their lives ultimately belong to God.
 
Q: Do you have a priestly motto?
A: Wow! Well, I suppose it would be what I had on my ordination prayer card – the words of St. John the Baptist to his disciples as Jesus walked by, “Behold, the Lamb of God.” At these words, John was performing the priestly function of his Levite family. The priest would pick out the unblemished lamb that was worthy to be sacrificed. And the priestly role today is to point out the Lamb of God to the people – to show them that Christ is in their midst, even, and especially, when life is hard.
 
My mission, then, is to point out Christ, no matter how dark or confusing a situation may be. Christ enters into that situation – in a nonviolent, innocent manner – and transforms lives.
 
These are also the words the priest speaks at the Elevation of the Consecrated Host. These words encompass all the promises of God – hope, resurrection, and the infinite love of God.
 
Q: How do you see yourself helping St. Jude Parish?
A: Well, honestly, I have so much to learn! I have the book knowledge and training, but I hope to learn how to truly be a good priest. St. Francis de Sales said, “What you do, do well.” I hope to do that.
 
As I get to know people, their hopes, their prayers, their trials, I’ll hopefully help strengthen their faith, and I especially want to reach out to the lukewarm and those who are away. I want to be an instrument of welcoming them back, offering a sense of hope, vitality, and youthfulness.
 
I think my own age could be a beneficial factor, because so many people my age have just given up on the Church. Just walked away. But we are by nature religious beings. We have to believe in something. Even if you say you believe in nothing, that’s what you put your faith in. I want to say to my generation, “You believe that when you flip a switch the light will go on, or when you turn the key in the ignition the car will start. If you can have faith in little things, you can have faith in big things. The story of salvation includes you – God wants you. And He will reveal Himself to you, if you are open to Him.”
 
Q: What advice can you give young people trying to determine what to do with their lives?
A: Be open and honest with God, and talk to Him like you’d talk to a friend from whom you want advice. Stay close to the sacraments, go to Adoration, and make time every day for prayer – not just rote prayers, which are important but can sometimes put us in autopilot mode. Also look to people in your life who are good examples and bounce ideas off them. But give God your life and trust that He’s a good Father Who has a plan for your life – even better than your own plans. Abandoning your life to God is one of the scariest and most exciting things in the world. And sometimes it seems God’s timing is the worst! But it’s also the best, because it’s His.
 
Q: Do you have any advice for living out our Faith in the world?
A: The world is becoming increasingly secular, and Church leadership has lost its credibility, among its own people as well as in society. As I recognize that I now represent the clergy, I want to apologize. At the same time, the fact that the Church is still here, after so many centuries, is proof that the Faith is real. There are many voices calling you away. Keep your eyes on Christ .  
 
Q: What’s your favorite movie or book?
A: Well, I’m big movie guy! I’m a big fan of superhero movies – I think we all want superheroes in our lives! And I love space movies, like The Martian. I also love Gladiator. There are so many redemptive undertones. When Maximus says in the beginning, “What we do here echoes into eternity,” that reminds me that life is a battle, and this world is just the beginning. As for books, I’m currently reading Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom and rereading for the 3 ^rd time He Leadeth Me by Fr. Walter Ciszek, who was sent to the labor camps in Siberia.
 
Q: Can you share one thing people would be surprised to learn about you?
A: I suppose it would be that I love raising chickens! We used to have chickens, and every few years we’d get new chicks. It’s so much fun to watch them grow from chicks to chickens and then have them hanging out in the back yard.
 
Thank you, Fr. Dave, for your time and your thoughts, and welcome to St. Jude!



Click here to go to Fr. Dave's bio and a slideshow of his ordination!