Home Parish: St. Clement Parish in Boonville
Anticipated Ordination Year: 2025
Parents: Keith and Christy Herrenbruck
Siblings: Kyle (Kelsie) Herrenbruck, Lindsay (Colin) Thompson, Alex Herrenbruck
If you ask my momma, she will tell you that I said I wanted to be a priest or the president when I was a kid. I would say that I am pretty happy with my decision at this point! In reality, I first really thought seriously about the possibility of being a priest in high school, but I quickly talked myself out of that. Then at the end of my sophomore year at Purdue University, I decided I wanted to go to seminary. Father Alex (Zenthoefer) had me finish my bachelor’s degree first and then after graduation, I started up at St. Meinrad.
Discernment into seminary was a lot of trust in that if I am meant to go, then it will happen. For me, I think the greatest indicator was my desire to bring people to the Lord. In high school, it was helping my best friend convert to Catholicism. In college, it was forcing my friends to go to Mass with me every weekend and go on the Boiler Awakening retreats the St. Thomas Newman Center put on. Having friends who supported me in my faith, and were also encouraged by it, was the greatest support for me. I found these were the things that gave me life and truly fulfilled me. In this, it was those people praying for me and being with me that gave me the courage to make the leap to seminary. My family and friends’ support made me more confident and helped me to see myself as capable of being a priest. That is not something I could always believe. That support was not surprising because I realized how important it is to surround yourself with people who build you up rather than tear you down. My family has always been that for me and keeping friends connected to God creates that as well.
If you know someone who is discerning, don’t be afraid to let them know their strengths. Let them know what it is about them that will serve them well as a priest. Because, in order to really begin discerning the priesthood, a young man must first see himself as capable of being a good priest.