Father Paul Stein, pastor of St. Sylvester Parish, answers questions during a talk August 2009 at the Diocesan Pro-Life Leadership Conference in Chicago. (Karen Callaway / Catholic New World)
He is: Father Paul Stein, ordained in 2001 at age 26 at Mundelein Seminary. He has been pastor of St. Sylvester Parish in Humboldt Park since 2007. First Catholic school he attended was St. Mary of the Lake University/Mundelein Seminary. Youth: “My home parish was St. Hubert’s in Hoffman Estates. Dad was a sales rep and Mom went to work later to help us through college.” He has an older sister and a younger brother, both married. Long-term plans: “I attended the University of Illinois at Champaign studying computer engineering.” He was also alternating one semester of school and one of work at an engineering company. “My idea was to continue this way until graduation. They’d offer me a full time job or I’d go to grad school, MBA eventually, big house, wife, kids, three cars, the good life.” Something happened: “It was fall of my sophomore year. One night I was lying in bed, and my mind was wandering, but I was clearly awake. I had an image pass through my mind. I could see myself dressed as a priest, with the Roman collar and everything.” Catholic but not “crazy”: “I promptly dismissed it as the goofiest idea I’d ever had. I was at Mass every Sunday, but I never wanted to be a priest. “About three or four nights a week for a month I had the image of myself as a priest, when I was clearly awake. It was getting a little eerie. I had the notion that if I became a priest my life would be over!” Charismatic spirituality: “Having grown up in Charismatic Renewal, I’d heard about ‘discernment,’ but I never spent time asking, ‘How do you know what God wants you to do?’ “Then the image in my head stopped, but the idea still haunted me at home, at work, wherever I was.” Listening and hearing: That April he attended a Charismatic Renewal Conference. “The speaker was Father Rich Simon, a family friend. Father Rich can sometimes go off on a tangent, and suddenly he started preaching about priestly vocations. It was not the topic slated. “For me, listening to him was like the Road to Emmaus story, ‘Were not our hearts burning inside us?’ “I fought it for a while during his talk, but then I had an instantaneous understanding, ‘Oh, it’s not me. God is calling. OK, I will go.’ I accepted it perfectly. I was ready to go right then and there.” Wisdom of parents: “When I told my parents, they said ‘That’s good. A little sudden. First time you mentioned it. We’d like you to take time to pray and discern.’” They advised him to get his college degree first and if he still wanted the priesthood they were with him 100 percent. “After six months I called Father Rich, we talked and I contacted the seminary.” Being pastor: After ordination and two assignments as associate pastor, he is pastor of St. Sylvester, a bilingual and at least tri-cultural parish. He speaks Spanish. What he’s passionate about: “Priestly vocations. We need priests! It’s important to encourage men to ask what God wants of them in their life. A personal invitation is a powerful way to encourage a person to ponder a vocation to the priesthood. The influence of my parents was big. I saw my father read his Bible every day. “Liturgy is another passion of mine. We’ve done a lot to beautify the liturgy at St. Sylvester’s. The church believes the earthly liturgy is our encounter with the heavenly liturgy, which is going on forever. It will always be a work in progress, but my people are very happy with our liturgy.” Leisure: “I visit with my parents and other family members. Monday nights some priests from the area get together. We talk about everything under the sun. “I just started re-reading St. Teresa of Avila’s autobiography, and I read stuff for fun as well.” Like father like son: “I like car magazines. I’m into cars. My father subscribes to four automobile magazines and there’s a stack of them next to my chair. “That’s how I wound up in computer engineering, microchip design and hardware design. Then God decided he had better things for me to do. “My favorite car is the one I own now, a 2009 Pontiac G8, GT. I’m a big bargain hunter.” Prayer life: “There are two dimensions — the public liturgical form includes weekday adoration with a bilingual rosary before Mass, and hearing confessions for two hours on Thursday nights. Personal time for prayer can mean leaving the rectory office and sitting in church — time for me and Jesus. The liturgy of the hours each day — I wouldn’t survive without it.” Favorite saint: “St. Paul of course. I actually have a collection of favorites — St. Charles Borromeo, St. Gabriel, St. Teresa of Avila and Little Therese of Lisieux.”