Br. Peter Lamick, CSV, has a unique story to tell about his call to religious life — and it starts with playing football at Saint Viator High School and the influence of one of his coaches, Fr. Daniel Hall, CSV.
Br. Lamick, left, and Br. Robertson talk to confirmation students at St. Viator Catholic Community.
Br. Lamick got the chance to tell his story this week, when he joined Br. Jhobany Orduz, CSV, and Br. Rob Robertson, CSV, to talk about religious life with students in Las Vegas. One of the stories that drew a lot of interest was Br. Lamick’s role as coach of the bass fishing team at Saint Viator High School.
“It feels odd to say that a sport played such an important role,” Br. Lamick adds, “but God finds a way to reach us no matter where we are or what we are doing.”
The three Viatorian brothers were invited to tell their vocations stories by Associate Rosy Hartz, Faith Formation Coordinator at St. Viator Catholic Community, and Associate Kim Martinez, Campus Minister at Bishop Gorman High School. They enthusiastically responded, knowing well the importance of someone inviting young people to consider religious life.
Br. Robertson describes the Viatorian charism.
“We were so pleased to be able to spend time with these young people,” Br. Robertson says, “and invite them to consider God’s call to religious life.”
Br. Robertson’s own call came seemingly out of nowhere. He wasn’t even Catholic when he accepted his first teaching job at Griffin High School in Springfield, IL. But Fr. Robert Erickson, CSV, then principal, invited him to apply for the position and ultimately to consider religious life.
“It changed my life,” he says, “and has been more rewarding than I ever could have thought. I certainly had no idea that God had a plan of a religious vocation for me. God certainly does work in mysterious ways.”
Br. Orduz shared his own unique vocations story. It was while working in Colombia as a civil engineer that he began to discern a call to religious life.
“I was working with poorer communities, building homes for people out in the countryside,” Br. Orduz says.
Br. Orduz is a native of Colombia.
The chance to empower people with new homes opened his eyes to the needs of the marginalized and he sought a way to make a difference. But it took someone to invite him to consider joining the Viatorians, which Fr. Frank Enciso, CSV, did in 2010.
All of their stories — and descriptions of Viatorian community life and varied ministries — captured students’ interests.
“My students were surprised at the diversity of opportunities for someone in religious life,” Martinez says of her juniors and seniors at Bishop Gorman. “My senior World Religions class was especially curious to learn more about the men at Viator House of Hospitality and what some of their experiences have been.”
Overall, Martinez says: “It was great to give our current students an opportunity to connect with our Viatorian tradition.”