I’m surprised I’m not a priest. Many would, perhaps, be surprised to read that from me. No, no, no, I’m a good Catholic boy and all, just not priest material. Brother material maybe, but that had more to do with my late night commiserations with Br. Willie when he single-handedly was our version of Life Safety. Anyhoo…as a wee lad and probably starting well before I entered the halls of St. Augustine’s Catholic Grade School on St. Cloud’s Greater East Side, my father would take me to football games at St. John’s University. We missed a few because of his (and now mine) passion for hunting, but, over the years it must have seeped into me that St. John’s was a special place.
Late in the 6th grade school year, Sister Consuello passed out pamphlets to the boys announcing St. John’s Leadership Camp starting that summer. I didn’t have much persuading to do as my parents were always looking for ways to save me from my 4 sisters. Off I went, and it was there that I met two of my mentors, priests, who were brothers, from a farm out by St. Martin…Fr. Arnold and Fr. Otto Weber. I went to leadership camp the next 3 summers.
I still call the 4 years from 1974-78 some of the best years of my life.
When I became a stud 8th grader at St. Aug’s, most of my classmates headed dutifully off to St. Cloud Cathedral. I chose St. John’s Prep School. To the surprise of Fr. Corwin and to the dismay of Fr. Simeon, I survived my 4 years at the Prep School, graduating in 1974.
As I look back, I’m not sure whether I even applied to college anywhere else. Naturally, I went off to SJU in the fall. Heck, I had a semester and a half’s college credits from my diligent work at SJP (see Simeon? I did some things when you weren’t watching me), I had tons of friends who were already at SJU, and 2 of my classmates were getting jobs as bartenders at the La Playette. I still call the 4 years from 1974-78 some of the best years of my life.
But all good things must come to an end, or at least change. After 8 full school years and 3 summer camps, and there being no openings for Dean of Students at SJU, I followed my dream, and Dad’s footsteps again, to law school. As awful as that was, I just didn’t feel that the Seminary was right for me, or vice versa.
Eventually coming full circle, I had 3 sons of my own, and our Saturdays in the fall were filled with St. John’s football and hunting. My oldest, Charlie, is a junior now at St. John’s. Eddie is starting his first year at Carlson School of Mgmt. at the U of M. And Willie is a junior in high school, and has been my main sidekick at games so far this year.
So, I’m not a priest, but close to it, I’m a lawyer. But I thought there was hope for one in the family to don the alb. Several years ago, as we were walking home from St. Paul’s after mass, Willie, then around 12 years old, turned to me and said, “Dad, I think I want to be a priest.” Quite surprised and nearly speechless, I turned and said, “Really? Why?” And Willie responded, “Because at church, he’s the last one to come in and the first to leave.”
See y’all at St. Johns.
Harry Burns, St. Cloud
SJP ‘74/SJU ‘78
finsleft@johnniefootball.com
