RYAN ERLENBUSH
ST. PIUS X SEMINARIAN
Letter from Ryan Erlenbush, Seminarian
(added 8/16/04)
I spent the month of June in Wolf Point with Fr. Steve Zabrocki. In the northeast corner of our Diocese, Wolf Point has a pretty small parish named Immaculate Conception. Although it is a small town, the people are amazingly generous and I was instantly impressed with the hospitality shown to me by Fr. Steve, the Parish Staff and the parishioners.
My time spent in Wolf Point largely consisted in helping run the one-week Bible Schools in Wolf Point and Frazier (a mission of Wolf Point). Working with these kids, mostly between second and fifth graders was a rewarding experience. In Wolf Point we focused on the life of Jesus and each day we taught the kids about some aspect of Jesus’ ministry. In Frazier, we taught the kids about the Saints. I focused my classroom time on the Communion of Saints and told the kids about how we are not facing life alone, but have thousands of Saints in heaven praying for us. We also prayed for our loved ones who have died and asked them to pray for us.
I was able to attend a Pow-wow and I learned a great deal about Indian culture and ministry.
I am very grateful to the Diocese and, especially, to Fr. Zabrocki and the people of Immaculate Conception Parish for allowing me to spend this time in Wolf Point.
Since coming back from Wolf Point, I was able to go for a two week hiking trip with Fr. Steve Tokarski. We attempted to climb Mount Cowen, Mount Wood and Granite Peak. Because of weather conditions we were only able to summit Mount Wood, but we nearly summated Mount Cowen as well. All these climbs are in the Beartooth range between Red Lodge and Livingston. Fr. Steve and I had a lot of fun, even though all that hiking was pretty difficult.
I am now entering into the serious training period for the Twin Cities Marathon (October 3rd) and am feeling pretty well prepared. Currently, four men from Saint John Vianney Seminary are planning on running the marathon (including Mike Kessler, who is also from Billings.
It has been good to be back in my home parish for the summer and I have enjoyed every minute of it!
In Christ
Ryan Erlenbush
February, 2004:
Ryan Erlenbush, son of parishioners Wayne and Meg Erlenbush, is in his third year of College Seminary at St. John Vianney Seminary, on the campus of St. Thomas University, in St. Paul, Minnesota. He has one more year before beginning graduate studies in a Theologate Seminary. Major Seminary takes between four and five years to complete, after which he will be ordained.
At present Ryan's academics focus primarily on Philosophy and Languages along with the general curriculum of a Liberal Arts education. This semester he is enrolled in Greek II, the Catholic Vision, Latin II, The History of Religious Art, and a class where he teaches religious education to seventh grade students one day a week. Ryan says his favorite class is Catholic Vision and he likes it because it is a theology class that seeks to discover the way a Catholic looks at the world (and how this is a different vision than secular society). He states his least favorite class is probably the Art History course because he is not very good at art!
Ryan tells us there is a lot of time for exercise and recreation, except during finals week. He is an avid runner and usually runs about six days a week (although he recently completed almost 40 days without a single day off). He runs about 40 miles a week. The next marathon he is training for is the Twin Cities Marathon in October 2004. Ryan says he will begin serious training in mid June, but is already starting to focus his weekly running to include more long runs. Minnesota winters take a toll on running because of the abundance of snow but Ryan manages to work out on an exercise bike when he can't be outside.
