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Chris Yeager '12 Explores Priesthood

After Commencement in May, Chris

Yeager ’12, will move from Moreau House, the on-campus community where students live with Brothers and Holy Cross religious candidates, to Austin’s historic St. Mary’s Cathedral, the spiritual home of the Diocese. The move represents Chris’ first big step toward diocesan priesthood, a vocation he has chosen through prayer and the encouragement of the St. Edward’s community.

 

"People kept asking me if I’d considered a religious vocation. I figured that if people kept asking me to consider it, maybe I really should. I prayed about it for a long time and last summer was when I really decided to take that next step,” says Chris.

 

His decision has received support from his neighbors within 

Moreau House, most notably from Br. Larry Atkinson, CSC,Director of the Moreau House Collegiate Program and Assistant Director of Campus Ministry. Chris says, “The Brothers kind of took me under their wing, especially Br. Larry. He asked me good, serious questions.  He asked me directly, ‘Why do you want to do this?’ He really helped me to articulate my intentions and solidify my decision.”

 

Indeed, Chris’ goal is succinct: “I want to help people understand their faith and live it.”

 

His lifelong commitment will require humility and productivity, characteristics he has often encountered at St. Edward’s and especially as a resident in Moreau House. “The Brothers are very active and have lived full lives, but unless you ask them directly, you might not learn all that they’ve done because they are so humble.”

 

Living in Moreau House has often given Chris opportunities to witness such virtues first-hand, yet he also admits that the residence has provided him with a surprisingly seamless extension of campus life. “You might think that living with older Brothers would be really quiet and low-key, but it doesn’t feel that way. Living in Moreau House is kind of like living in an apartment with a lot of guys. We have dinner every night and act like fools sometimes.  We’ll also have more serious conversations.”

 

Residents of Moreau House, which began at St. Edward’s in 2001, not only benefit from the program’s emphasis on community, service and prayer—they help sustain it. Br. Larry plays a vital role in ensuring this reciprocity. As Director, he personally speaks with students who express interest in the program and invites their application. After an interview, if the program is a good match, the student is accepted.

 

Br. Larry’s individualized approach is characteristic of the university’s Holy Cross mission to provide personalized, meaningful experiences to students like Chris, whom he has known since 2008. He reflects,

 

"[Chris] has always exhibited a maturity and seriousness mixed with a good sense of humor. I was very happy when he decided to become a member of Moreau House for his senior year. I knew that he would add a good perspective to the program, and I also believe we provided a nurturing environment for his community and spiritual life.”

 

Chris acknowledges that St. Edward’s University has helped him grow personally and spiritually, in addition to academically. “I’ve grown so much since my freshman year.  I’ve learned a lot about how ‘I work’. For example, I’ve discovered that I’m actually a morning person. At

St. Edward’s, I started running in the morning because you cannot run in the middle of the day in Texas!  So I would run, have breakfast, then I’d have all this time to get stuff done. Of course, I go to bed every night at 10:00. <laughing.> But it’s worth it because productivity is so

important to me.”

 

He has also experienced a deepening of his faith. “My mother took me to Adoration from when I was very young.  I was always sincere about it, but I was less mature. I use to think of it as just talking to God, but now when I do it, I’m really trying to understand Jesus Christ.  I’m trying to understand the Gospels and what I can learn from them.”

 

Chris’ strong Catholic faith has been shaped by Holy Cross ideals for many years. Before he arrived at St. Edward’s, he attended the Congregation-sponsored Archbishop Hoban High School in Akron, Ohio. Through Hoban’s classes and extracurricular activities, namely the Men’s Basketball team, Chris experienced Holy Cross values.

 

Now he is preparing to carry those values forward as he lives and works at St. Mary’s Cathedral in downtown Austin during the summer months between his graduation from St. Edward’s and his matriculation to Seminary School. In his role at the Cathedral and as a candidate for priesthood, Chris recognizes the importance of ‘meeting people where they are,’ a primary directive of Father Moreau’s vision for the Holy Cross tradition, and a concept that was especially impressed upon him during his year in Moreau House and his journey at St. Edward’s University.

 

 

 

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