ArchdioceseOne Monthly Update

Your Gift in Action

This month's focus: Seminarian Education
- In this issue:
  
  Responding to the Call - Fr. Martin Coolidge Interview
  
  About Fr. Martin
- Links
  
  Seminarian Education
  
  FAQs - Seminary Education
- Responding to the Call - Fr. Martin Coolidge
  
  Fr. Martin Coolidge is one of the newest priests in the Archdiocese of Dubuque. He was ordained a priest on May 29, 2021 at the Cathedral of Raphael in Dubuque. Fr. Martin was a beneficiary of the seminary education fund, and thanks to your generous support the fund will continue to provide for future seminarians for years to come. Below is an interview with Fr. Martin about responding to the call and his current ministry. He is now the Associate Pastor at the Cathedral of St. Raphael and St. Patrick's Church in Dubuque, and is Co-Chaplain of Holy Family Catholic Schools Central Campus.
- What has been one of the most rewarding elements of your new ministry?
  I think it's the surprise, when you see the Holy Spirit at work, when you see a new face that comes to pray during Adoration and realize, "that sure wasn't me but there God worked." Or maybe our retreats, we do several retreats for Teens Encounter Christ (TEC), Kairos Retreat, different renewal days for freshmen and sophomores. You see that spark, or maybe they share something like, "Wow, I'm really thankful to God," or "God showed this great mercy to me," and I think it's that surprise that brings me a lot of joy, when you see the Holy Spirit at work.
  
  What does a typical week look like for you since you've been ordained?
  I've learned as a new priest that there's really no typical week; there's definitely not a boring day. It's a great gift. We have the basics, celebrating Mass every day, preaching every day, pastoral visits, visiting the sick in the hospital, visiting the homebound, whether that's the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick or bringing them Communion, or just the presence of a priest and bringing the presence of Christ to them. Teaching religious education, Confirmation, or RCIA, forming disciples of Jesus, is also really important and that happens every week.
  
  I'm at St. Patrick's, and here at the Cathedral as well. We have a meal every Wednesday for those in need, for the poor, and going down there to assist the great people who serve the poor, and being present with those who come, is another kind of great thing that's every week.
  
  What comprises your ministry in the Holy Family Catholic Schools?
  The core of our ministry, Fr. Andy Upah and myself, is celebrating Mass for all the students and faculty every week for each of the three schools. Wednesday mornings we have Mass at Mazzuchelli Middle School, Thursday mornings it's Wahlert High School, and then Friday we have a double hitter, we have two Masses, 7am before school starts, for any student or teacher who wants to wake up early and go to Mass before the day starts, and then we have Mass over at Our Lady of Guadalupe Elementary School later that morning.
  
  That's the core of our ministry, centered on the Eucharist, but we also try to be as present as we can to the students, teachers, and classrooms when we can, hanging out around lunch just to talk to the kids, going to their different events whether it's football, volleyball, the play, or whatever it might be - it's a lot of relationship building with the kids, building up that trust between us so they know we care and we're not someone that just shows up at Mass every week, but someone that truly cares about them on the deepest level and wants them to know, love and serve God.
  
  How have you relied on God in your new ministry?
  As a new priest there's so much that's new, everything is new, a lot of unknown territory, and you come up against your own weaknesses. You have to pray and ask God for strength and help, really depend on Him on a whole new level. I cannot do this on my own and muscle through it, I have to go to prayer, immerse myself in the life of Jesus, and see that it's a life of joy but that there's also suffering, the cross in our life, and those are moments where, "Oh, this is sharing in Christ's life," and I have to depend that he'll help me and strengthen me through it in my ministry.
  
  How do your ministries allow you to share the light and love of the Lord?
  It's really evident in the sacrament of Reconciliation, helping people to have that encounter with Jesus and His forgiveness and His mercy, to transform their life. Honestly, it transforms my life too. It humbles me to know that this is a great responsibility that I share in, to be that instrument for Christ in the world. For myself too, that a greater call to faithfulness, a greater call to holiness for myself as a priest, that I too need to share in that life and love, and in the sacrament of Reconciliation, but it's a gift because it's something that I don't deserve but yet I still get to share with people for His forgiveness and His mercy.
  
  See the previous interview below with Fr. Martin, filmed while he was still in the seminary.
- About Fr. Martin
  
  Photo courtesy of Holy Family Catholic Schools
  
  Fr. Martin gew up in Ft. Wayne, IN, before his family moved to Elyria, OH, near Cleveland. He has two brothers, and is the middle child. Fr. Martin attended Catholic Schools growing up, before attending Iowa State University. After a serious illness during his early college years, he experienced a spiritual renewal that ignited a desire to serve God further. When he was attending graduate school at Iowa State a few years later, he heard the call to be a priest interiorly after receiving Holy Communion at Sunday Mass, accompanied by a sense of peace which made it clear to him that this was the work of God.
  
  Fr. Martin applied for seminary in Iowa, and after two years of seminary at Loras College, followed by four more years at Mundelein Seminary, he was ordained a priest of Jesus Christ on May 29, 2021 at the Cathedral of St. Raphael.