Fr. Don Calloway, MIC, is the author of Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father and the current Vocations Director for the Congregation of Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception. His notable conversion story includes surviving a troubled youth before finding a book on Marian apparitions, which set him on a path to the Catholic priesthood.
The Torch: Most men on college campuses are not fathers yet, but how can St. Joseph still play a significant role in these students’ lives?
Fr. Don Calloway: Well, you need a model to look to. A lot of times we allow people in the secular world to fulfill that role, whether it’s a sports figure or an actor or a musician. I think that striving to have that pattern that you can look to that is the ultimate pattern, because as much as we want to look to a lot of the other ones, they’re all flawed. With looking to St. Joseph, you’re seeing the model man. He was good enough that God chose him to model manhood for his own son. Taking on human nature and growing is a tremendous task, and there is no greater model for that than St. Joseph, so why not look to him? No matter what our vocation is, why not pattern ourselves off of him?
T: Many college students are still trying to find out their vocations, how can St. Joseph, “Model of Workmen”, aid in this journey to figure out what we’re called to do?
DC: As guys are discerning their vocations, no matter what that is going to be, they’re going to need to be diligent workers. They’re going to need to be providers either for themselves or their future families. They’re going to need to act justly in their relationships with others in the workplace. If they end up becoming employers themselves with people under them, they need to make sure that they’re paying them a just wage, taking care of them, and respecting them. If you’re an employee, you don’t want to take advantage of your situation. You want to be a good worker and St. Joseph, again, is a model to look to in that aspect. Yes, one of his greatest titles is “St. Joseph the Worker”.
T: Why is praying all or at least part of the Rosary daily so vital especially to college students today?
DC: There’s so many distractions that can get us off focus, especially in this world of advanced technology where we can just spend hours putting images into our minds going from one Youtube video to the next. Replacing that with holy images as we meditate upon these sacred and saving mysteries can do a person a lot of good. I think it will actually make you a better student, because your mind will be more focused on holy things and not just mundane things. There’s nothing wrong with the things of the world, of course, but it’s good to get that holiness into your mind and into your heart. That’s only going to be beneficial to you and others around you.
T: What do you recommend to men and women on campus who are considering the call to marriage?
DC: One of the things I recommend is to pray about it. Prepare yourself for that self-giving love that is required of you in marriage and pray for your future spouse. You may not know them yet, but you can certainly be praying for them … and to their guardian angel to prepare them so that they are ready for this relationship and all that the future holds. To wrap the whole thing in prayer is just brilliant. It’s something wonderful to do for your future spouse.
T: Students will be in their dorms this semester a lot more than in previous semesters, so what are some good ways to show love to roommates during this time?
DC: If we’re spending more time with each other, we’re going to see each other’s idiosyncrasies and it might cause some irritation. But at the same time, it’s an occasion to overlook a person’s oddities and to practice love. To love a person in spite of those things that annoy you is going to cause you to stretch, but that’s okay. That’s how we’re going to learn how to hang around with people who are not just affirming us and also to be more Christ-like to those who we may not have the most stellar relationships with. That’s a call to holiness. That’s what the saints are all about.
Image courtesy of Fr. Don Calloway
Max Montana is a senior studying philosophy and theology. When not writing for The Torch, he enjoys reading more about the Catholic faith and philosophy, serving the unborn and mothers in need, and hanging out with friends. Max is honored to hail from the state with many gators and the bishop of the moon: Florida.
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