Working with a large number of people who have a variety of personalities will certainly make a man a better priest, P.J. Voegeli says in an interview recently recorded by the Catholic Advance.
Voegeli, who is in his second year of theology at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Md., described his two months of work at The Lord’s Diner in Wichita as “unique experience, fantastic actually.”
He said the work was backbreaking at times and sometimes emotionally draining. “You are having to talk to people who don’t have anyone else to talk to, and having to care for people who really don’t have anyone to care for them.”
Voegeli said it was difficult sometimes to engage others while he was busy and yet have them feel that they’ve talked to someone who cares about them.
Much of what he learned, he added, he learned from those who work daily at the Lord’s Diner.
Voegeli said he learned a lot about patience in accepting tasks that at the time didn’t seem to be fruitful, and patience in interacting with people who are irritated because they might have had a bad day.
The experience and the staff have helped him grow as a person, he said. “As far as the vocation I’m seeking now, the priesthood, I can’t predict what it’s going to do for me… but I know that it’s going to help.”