Utahn completes novitiate; enters Paulist seminary

Friday, Feb. 13, 2015

SALT LAKE CITY — Evan Cummings, CSP, made his first promise to follow the Constitution of the Paulist Fathers: gospel simplicity, chastity and obedience as a first-year seminarian in the Paulist House of Formation in Washington, D.C. 

“I wake up sometimes and say, ‘Oh my goodness,’ with those three letters after my name,” said Cummings, a 2009 graduate of Saint Joseph Catholic High School who entered the Paulists in 2013. “It’s pretty exciting now to be a full member of the Society of Saint Paul the Apostle. It’s another step toward discerning and fulfilling my vocation of being called to the priesthood.”

Cummings’ excitement is evident, said Paulist Father Larry Rice, vocations director. “Having known Evan Cummings for a few years, I’ve been very impressed with his enthusiasm for the Paulist mission, for evangelizing, reconciling and building bridges of understanding between believers, but I’ve also been impressed by his own very deep faith and sincere spirituality; he is exactly the kind of man that we love to see enter our novitiate and our seminary program.”

As a novice last year, Cummings learned more about the Paulist community, deepened his prayer life, adjusted to the routines of religious life, and explored whether it was a good fit, Fr. Rice said.

Cummings said that during this time he also studied what it means to be a priest in the modern world. 

“A lot of it is being a servant of God for the people, making God’s presence alive and well known, living out our vocation, learning to grow in God’s grace and being an instrument for the people,” Cummings said.

On Mondays during the novitiate, the four novices in Cummings’ class were divided into pairs for service projects. Cummings and his partner went to a retirement home run by The Little Sisters of the Poor to visit with the residents and do activities, while the other team went to a drop-in homeless shelter for men. 

For a Lenten assignment last year,  Cummings went to Austin, Texas to Saint Austin’s Parish, where he saw the inner workings of a parish and helped with the Masses, he said. He also taught the class The Spirituality of Food and Cooking. 

“Cooking is an act of service and love,” he said. “God has invited us to be co-creators with him, so we use our creative abilities and let God’s love flow through us into the food to serve others to meet a basic need.” 

Food also is very symbolic, he said. “In the Bible many times, food is used as the central element of a story,” he said. “Through the transubstantiation of bread and wine, the Eucharist becomes the body and blood of God in the form of food.” 

During the summer, Cummings studied Latin and took a public speaking and acting course to better proclaim the Word of God, to preach and do public speaking in general, he said.

Primary in the Paulist charism is evangelization – bringing the gospel to those who have not heard it or don’t have a faith community, and to invite them into a deeper discipleship with Jesus Christ. The other areas are ministries of reconciliation and ecumenical and interfaith dialog.

Because of the Paulist charisms to use modern technology to evangelize, Cummings and the other students put together a YouTube video series called “Paulists InFormation,” which can be found on the Paulist Fathers YouTube channel. 

The first week of February, Cummings started as an intern at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Office of Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs. He also is studying patristics, theology and the foundations of liturgy and sacraments at The Catholic University of America.

“The whole process has helped me grow in prayer and faith and in my calling,” Cummings said.

Cummings’ parents, who are members of Saint Rose of Lima Parish, are proud that their son has chosen to become a Paulist priest, said his mother, Cathy Cummings.

“It seems to be a very good fit for him. He loves the electronics and communicating in modern ways,” she said. “His calling has caused quite a spiritual awakening for my husband and me. We’ve both become even more active than we were and have taken on additional roles in the parish; we have a deeper prayer life and it seems like his growth has increased our faith.” 

Not having other families in Utah to talk to about their experiences, the Cummings have started a blog, seminarianparents.wordpress.com. 

“We talk about Evan’s vocation journey, things like the video, and we answer questions that we get from people about our own faith journey, or explain terms,” said Kevin Cummings. “We are amazed at the sophisticated education that Evan is getting; he is really enjoying it.”