Editor's note: Over the coming weeks Catholic Exchange will be sharing the vocation stories of several Miles Jesu priests.
Please note that the use of the lowercase “i” for the first-person pronoun is a custom of the Miles Jesu order, meant to indicate humility towards oneself.
Steve Drennan, from Toledo, Ohio, was the lead singer of a rock´n roll band when growing up. He was not much of a student because he spent most of his free time at parties and in bars playing music or just having a good time. Unfortunately this kind of life led him down the road to drug abuse and arrests. But ever since his conversion back to the Church and joining Miles Jesu in September of 1991, he has become a mighty apostle for the Lord.
During his first three and a half years in Miles Jesu Steve was heavily involved in youth activities, promoting and nurturing vocations. Although based in Chicago, this work took him to many different states. It was during this time Steve also had his first exposure to Eastern Europe. He was sent on an apostolic trip to Poland, Ukraine and Czech Republic to share the story of his conversion from the ´wild life´ back to God. Along with Tom Creen, another Miles Jesu member and former guitarist in a rock band, Steve traveled throughout the former Soviet Union urging teenagers to reject the anti-Christian values being promoted in the democratization of their home lands. His message was, “Don’t be dumb! Don’t blindly accept something just because it’s from the West. Be discerning. Reject the pornography, drugs, MTV, and disco clubs promoted from the West. If you want true freedom in your lands, and in the depths of your heart, return to prayer and return to God!”
In 1994 Steve’s life took a wild turn. He was sent to Russia where for two and a half years he would absorb the Russian language and culture. This assignment made a deep impact on Steve, giving him a crash-course education not found in books. He learned the music, prayers and customs of the Russian Orthodox-rite by a daily immersion in the Byzantine world. He discovered the complicated political underworld of Church and state by an unrelenting and nerve-racking exposure to it. As a matter of fact, Steve had adapted so well to the Russian language and culture that by the end of his assignment even native Russians thought he was Russian.
During the summer of 1996 Steve was asked to become the personal secretary of the General Director of Miles Jesu. This assignment literally took him all over the world, 22 countries to be exact. In each country he traveled with Father General and visited the communities of Miles Jesu. The purpose of these visits was to help the communities in whatever way needed. This in itself was a second crash-course education for Steve. Only this time he had Father General himself as his teacher. Steve learned countless things: how to exercise diplomacy toward hierarchy and nobility; how to help heal people of their physical and emotional illnesses; how to inspire and motivate individuals; how to pinpoint the real needs of a person or community; how to handle a crisis situation; how to explain the vision and mission of Miles Jesu. Above all, being around Father General, Steve learned about how to love others.
By the fall of 2000, Steve was invited to begin studying for the priesthood. He just finished his first year of academic studies with a 9.2 grade point average. This in itself is a testimony of how much Steve has developed during his years in Miles Jesu. Before joining Miles Jesu Steve used to pass his school classes by cheating. School had been nothing more than a joke or a place to pick up a girl. Thus, Steve entered the community lacking many of the basics in his education. To help him overcome this defect the local director required Steve to read a few pages of Catholic history everyday and explain what he read to the community during the evening meal. At first this was an annoying chore for Steve, but he gradually became interested in it.
During his first couple of months in the community Steve remembers being asked, “What would be the thing in life you least want to do?” Steve replied, “i would not want to study for the priesthood in Rome.”
He said this because he viewed such studies as intimidating. The fact that he passed his first year of philosophical studies (all in Italian) with flying colors speaks strongly for the excellence of his Miles Jesu formation.
To obtain more information on Miles Jesu and the Miles Jesu Seminary Program, please write to seminarian Dan Osborn.
