What does life as a Spiritan look like? Why does a Spiritan want to stay in this calling for their whole life? In this installment of our Spiritan Journeys series, Fr. Dan Walsh, C.S.Sp. discusses how the variety of mission opportunities within the Spiritans have brought joy and surprises in his life.




Transcript: Hello my name is Father Dan Walsh and I'm a Spiritan living right now in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. And so I'm going to try to just in a couple of phrases or a couple brief reflections why would I stay. 

Now I've been with the Spiritan Community nearly 40 years. I was a missionary in Brazil. I now live in Pittsburgh and work in Parish work. I've been the chaplain of the Port of San Diego, worked in Portuguese speaking parishes, Spanish-speaking parishes, been in formation, Administration on a couple different occasions and I think it's the the rich variety of Ministries that are available to us as religious. And you know most importantly as a community listening to the needs what are our needs as a community to spread the Gospel. How can we help other people to discern the movement and action of the Spirit in our individual lives and as a community. 

I've been richly richly blessed with many friends and every assignment I haven't had a bad assignment. You know it has been wonderful to work with such a variety of people young and old in challenging circumstances and in joyful circumstances. But we as Spiritans as we move around the world you know we're challenged in many ways to uncover what are our gifts and how are we going to use them. And the question is very easy but many times we're very very mistaken. 

I can remember as a boy I'm old enough to remember Roberto Clemente and as a little boy I wanted to play in the Outfield with Roberto Clemente thinking that I might have those gifts. Boy was I wrong. As a missionary coming to this community I knew Spiritans as Educators and I could see myself maybe fitting in in some way in the Ministry of Education. I didn't think that I could ever learn a foreign language or adapt to another culture. And I was sent to Brazil and fell in love with what it means to be a missionary all the time accompanied by a group of Faithful Men, Women, lay, professed who have challenged me to uncover my gifts and to be generous with them. 

And I think that that process is what keeps me alive and keeps me journeying with this wonderful group of people in ever, ever-enlarging circles. I challenge you to ask yourselves the same questions: "Who am I?", "What are my gifts?", and "How will I use them." Thank you.