Laboure Society
“I want to serve God and His people through the various stages of their lives…”
Meet the rest of my class
My name is Harrison Otto. I am called to serve Christ and His Church as a priest with the Byzantine Catholic Metropolitan Archeparchy of Pittsburgh. This is my story.
I was born into a Roman Catholic family in Houston, Texas, but other than simple things like praying before meals, we did not practice the Faith much at home. I was a well-behaved kid, but not especially pious; most of my interests included baseball, Boy Scouts, and video games.
I went to college at Texas A&M to study aerospace engineering. I was fascinated by the idea of a career in space exploration. Towards the end of my freshman year, I had an epiphany that my lukewarm devotion was not enough to keep me from Hell. From then on, I began to practice my faith more intentionally. Through my university’s Catholic center, I began to study the great theologians and the Church’s rich intellectual tradition. I served at the altar, participated in various projects with the college Knights of Columbus Council, and was an officer in the Thomistic University chapter, hosting discussions and talks on philosophy and theology for college students. As my interest in spiritual things grew, my future plans changed. At a job fair my junior year, I was deeply disappointed to discover that most careers in the aerospace field involved weapons design and development, rather than space exploration. Upon reflection, I realized that I instead desired to do something directly in service to the Church, which led to my serious discernment of a religious vocation.
In my studies, I’d learned about the Eastern Catholic Churches in communion with Rome, and found that Byzantine practices such as icons and the Jesus prayer resonated with me. I’d begun to incorporate such practices into my spiritual life, so decided to visit some Byzantine monasteries. While the Byzantine spirituality and Divine Liturgy spoke to me, I discerned that I was not called to monasticism.
I applied and was accepted to the Byzantine Ruthenian seminary in Pittsburgh, where I’ve become heavily involved in parish life.
Serving at the altar, organizing prayer services and activities for the parish men’s group, catechizing, recruiting and overseeing young altar servers, organizing a parish evangelization workshop, building connections with people from Central and Eastern Europe – these are the things that excite me most in contemplating my vocation to the priesthood. I want to serve God and His people in many ways through the various stages of their lives: from baptism and chrismation to marriage to death. I long to build up the Church through the Byzantine Rite in the United States – and by so doing, to bring people closer to Christ.
Please pray for me and for my fellow Labouré classmates on our vocation journeys. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have at: harrison@rescuevocations.org
Download a PDF of my story
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