Interview with New Seminarian: Luke Bland

Could you tell us a little about your family, growing up, and your faith life?

I was raised in the United Methodist Church, and my family attended Boston Avenue United Methodist Church in downtown Tulsa. We went to church every Sunday, youth group every Wednesday, and did most of the summer camps. As for my own personal faith life, when I was a kid, I remember saying prayers before bed so that our house wouldn't burn down and burglars wouldn't break into my house, but that's the extent of how I prayed, if ever, outside of Church. I later abandoned the faith at a pretty young age, probably around 14 or so. I kept attending the youth group for the friends I had, but I stopped believing in God, which was the result of various causes, one of which was that Christianity appeared very much non-intellectual to me, and at times even anti-intellectual.
 
What specific intention would you like those who read this to pray for?
 
I would ask for prayers for all the young people in my generation who are lost and struggle with deep questions of identity and life's meaning. More specifically, that they may come to know that their deepest identity is revealed in the way the Father loves them. In our Father's great love for us, He has made us and gifted us with life, and wants to claim us all, through the sacrament of baptism, as His beloved sons or daughters. I would ask for people to pray that my entire generation would encounter this truth face to face.

Who are some of your favorite Catholic writers? Favorite saints?
 
Flannery O'Connor is a great Catholic novelist. St. Thomas More is one of my favorite saints, as well as Pope Saint John Paul II. St. Thomas More, because of his response to the call to martyrdom, which is an incredible witness to loving God above all things, even above legitimate goods in our life, such as our careers, our friends, and most shockingly, our families. As the culture becomes more secular, more devout Catholics will face this same predicament of being faced with the choice to love God above even things in our lives that are, technically, good things, like family, but never so good that they come before love of God. I love JPII because of his incredible holiness. I'm currently reading his biography, A Witness to Hope, and the love he had for his people emanates even off the pages as I read them. He truly accompanied his parishioners in their lives, lived their issues with them, and had incredible self-possession and an advancement in virtues like prudence and justice, but also affability, such that he was extremely successful at gaining his flock's respect and trust, counseling them, all while calling them higher to holiness.

 
When did you feel the call to discern the priesthood? Was there someone who nudged you toward the priesthood or was there a priest you looked up to?
 
I felt the call to discern the priesthood during the summer of 2019. I was working a summer job in northern California and I was pretty unhappy with what I thought was going to be a job that I would really love. One evening, I was talking with a co-worker and friend, who was one of the few people with whom I felt I could share my faith openly, and I asked her if she liked the job. She said that she loved it. She asked me, and I said not so much. Upon hearing my answer, she then asked what I would rather do. I sat there for a few seconds, and the words just came out of my mouth "I think I want to be a priest." I had not really thought of it prior, but over the course of the summer, as I shared my faith with her and a couple others, I had been realizing how much I loved it, how much I needed it, how much I came alive when I got to talk about it or share it. Of course, the next morning, I thought to myself, "Did I really say that? That's ridiculous." At that time, I had only been Catholic for just over a year, so I was still adjusting to seriously practicing the faith and developing a prayer life, and not at all expecting God to put this desire on my heart. But it was as if as soon as I said the words that I received the desire and the thought of priesthood became real to me deep in my heart.

Not being raised Catholic, I didn't have the experience of being around a priest that I looked up to while at a young age. That being said, some time after I converted, I had the privilege of getting involved with the Thomistic Institute, which at that time, the priest who happened to be in charge of student communications was Fr. Gregory Pine, OP, a dominican friar in the Eastern Province. I found him to be extremely inspiring. On a human level, he was charming, charismatic, funny, intelligent, well-spoken, well-read, athletic--he pretty much had it all going for him. On a spiritual level, he was holy, deep, prayerful, and clearly had a deep relationship with our Lord from his prayer. To put it simply, he was a guy I'd want to hang out with regardless if he was a priest. He was cool, and that was huge for me. He could have been doing so many other things, and doing them well, but instead he followed the Lord's call into a vocation of celibacy, poverty, and obedience to a superior. Instead of being "successful" to the world's eyes, he laid down his life for the sake of love for a Person. That really moved me.

What are some of your favorite hobbies?
 
Film photography, swing dancing, playing ultimate frisbee, playing trombone and guitar, reading, and of course sharing life with my brothers at seminary.
 
When is your favorite time of the day to pray? Favorite prayer?
 
I prefer to pray early in the morning or at night just before bed. Praying early in the morning is good because the day hasn't quite started yet, and so the daily tasks don't yet demand my time. The result is that I have the freedom to be with the Lord in prayer and receive what He wants to give. Praying at night comes with the same benefit--the day is done, so classes, meetings, homework, and social events are all over, so I'm free to spend time with the Lord as I wind down for bed without any obligation still nagging at me.

I don't have a favorite prayer so much as a favorite way of praying, which is just in silence before the Blessed Sacrament.

What characteristic do you most admire in a priest? In a dad? In a single man?
 
This connects to what I admired in Fr. Gregory Pine. He was relatable, mature, confident, masculine, but most importantly, he drew all of his strength from the Lord. That being said, what I admire in a priest has developed significantly since being around Fr. Pine. I now am most deeply moved when the priest has a father's heart for his people which reflects God the Father's love for His children. More specifically, I admire when a priest is not afraid to act from a place of deep communion with God that he receives in his prayer, and when a priest does not shy from relating intimately to his people as a father would to his children. God desires a deep relationship with us, so the priest should too, especially as his heart is conformed more to that of the Father's. I also admire when a priest loves sacrificially. This seems to me to be love acted out, or love put on display for the beloved.  Again, this is just as God loves us. He so labours to make His love known that it's put on display for us on the Cross, which communicates the simple but wonderful truth that the Father's love is not a mystery to His Children (at least, if they're paying attention). It is a great task for a priest to attempt to be an alter Christus (another Christ), and especially with the aim of communicating this profound reality. But it's the call, when you catch glimpses of it in a man, it's incredibly moving.

To some extent, I think my answer remains the same for what I appreciate in dads and single men too. I think manhood is most perfectly or maturely expressed in Fatherhood; that Fatherhood is the end to which all men are called, whether it be biological or spiritual. So, as the primary task of a good man, making God's love known to His children in the particularly masculine way of fatherhood, in essence, remains the same for all men. It just varies according to one's particular vocation of either spiritual or biological fatherhood.
 
What do you love about Tulsa? Favorite restaurant to go to in Tulsa?
 
I love that Tulsa is a city but also has a country feel to it, especially on its outskirts. I also love the way downtown has exploded in the last 5 years. There's a ton of great local restaurants and shops now, which gives a life to the city which is actually unique to Tulsa. I've got a few, and they change from time to time, but some of my favorites are: Tacos Don Francisco's on 11th and Delaware, Phil's Diner near 31st and Harvard, and East Village Bohemian Pizzeria in Downtown.
 
What are you most looking forward to in seminary?

One of my favorite things from my first year was the shared life with other men who love the Lord and want to serve Him with their lives. I'm very much excited to re-enter these relationships and the community for my second year to continue growing with the men God has placed in my class with me. They're genuinely good men. I'm also looking forward to continuing growing in my relationship with the Lord through the daily holy hours, mass, and spiritual direction, as well as growing as a man through my community and with my formator.