Seminarian Bradley Gehlhausen
Seminary, Class: St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology, 2nd Theology
Home Parish: St. Mary Parish, Ireland
Birthday: April 7
I don’t think I understood the Eucharist when I was younger. Perhaps it was after my Confirmation when I started to grasp that Christ was truly present in the Eucharist. What changed in me was realizing how little my perception was. I had eyes, but I did not see. I had ears, but I did not see. I had a nose, but I did not see. My limited capacity to perceive created a limited capacity to believe. There was a bigger reality than what I could see. To me, now, God’s presence is increasingly obvious. I only have to wake up another day for him to appear more and more substantially.
My journey to belief in the Eucharist was very rational. It was not about a personal or emotional encounter but a reason-based discovery. Bishop (Robert) Barron introduced me to this way of thinking through his podcast “The Word on Fire Show.” It was there that I rediscovered St. Thomas Aquinas. Aquinas was willing to explain theological revelation through logical reasoning. This approach bridged my reason-based education to faith-based religion.
What excites me about the priesthood is that the priest truly performs a miracle every day. Every day, Christ’s priests collapse time and re-present Him to his faithful. The more I continue to learn about this, the more the Eucharistic Prayer sings!