The Spiritan life is full of surprises and joy. In this installment of our Spiritan Journeys series, Fr. Dan Sormani, C.S.Sp. describes what it’s been like to find the presence of God in everything, from teaching English in Algeria to doing the dishes with fellow Spiritans. It’s a great joy to live out what second-founder Francis Libermann described as a “practical union.”

 

Transcript: Hi I'm Father Dan Sormani, a Spiritan originally from Brooklyn, New York and I've been missioned in Mexico, in Algeria North Africa, and in the Philippines. And now I'm stationed at Holy Ghost Prep outside of Philadelphia in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. It's my fifth year there where I am the Spiritan chaplain to the high school and I also teach French, Spanish, and religion. and I'm also part of the rowing team and a number of other great activities like Model UN and many other things. I was asked to share what surprised me most after joining the Spiritans about being a Spiritan. and I suppose to me it's both the greatest joy and a big surprise is really living firsthand what Father Libermann referred to as "Practical Union." That in everything that we do we find the presence of God.

And maybe when I first joined I had, you know, great visions of being this noble missionary and preaching the gospel, you know, the Bible in my hands and going off into the jungles or the deserts. But in fact, I have found that, you know, doing the dishes with the fellow Spiritans I live with.

Suddenly arriving in Algeria and not knowing what I would do in a country with so very few Christians... and being told that I was already hired as an English teacher and to report to work the next day... and suddenly teaching English uh to mostly Muslim Students... and what does that mean to be the presence of God's love and mercy and also to see the presence of God in my students and colleagues? And to find the excitement of everyday life in the Philippines when I was asked to begin the Chinese Filipino community... and trying to learn uh Chinese... and suddenly finding myself you know sitting there with Chinese Filipino families and everyone's talking in Fukien. And we're eating the the most delicious food and I'm suddenly so blessed. Who am I, a kid from Brooklyn, that I'm suddenly like in the middle of other families who have made themselves my family as we share who God is and what God is calling us to.

And then leaving them to go back to my Spiritan family who are Nigerian and Irish and Brazilian and Malgash, and Tanzanian. The richness and the surprise of finding God in so many cultures, so many languages, so many ways of celebrating life and love and who we are, God's people.

See more from Spiritans about their lives and vocations.