Program Primes Future Priests, Religious Leaders

This summer, five men preparing to become priests and religious leaders have been participating in Harris County Hospital District’s 2002 pastoral education internship program at Ben Taub Hospital. Marimon Barrera, Karl Davis, Rafael Garcia, John Miller, and Omomoro Okekaro are undergoing 450 hours of extensive training, including bedside rounds, direct interfaith prayer, and grand rounds in the trauma center as part of their pastoral education.

The hospital district has offered clinical pastoral education since 1960, and in 2000 the program partnered with the University of St. Thomas School of Theology and St. Mary’s Seminary.

"By studying pastoral cases, these men are benefiting from a solid educational foundation," said Chaplain Mary Agnes Joy, the hospital district’s director of chaplain services.

Barrera, from the University of Houston-Clear Lake, applied for the program to gain experience preparing for the priesthood.

"The patients here at Ben Taub are teaching me a great deal," he said.

Okekaro’s talent for working with people brought him from Aquinas Institute of Theology in St. Louis, Mo. to Houston.

"I applied for the program because of its richness in pastoral ministry," he said. "I have a passion for listening and sharing experiences with people, and offering my time to talk."

Miller’s focus isn’t on ministering, but on teaching. He said the program gives him insight into people and life.

"I want to spend my career as a person who spans both worlds, the theoretical and the practical," he said.

Born in Laredo, Texas, Garcia received a bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s Seminary in Houston, as well as a master’s degree in philosophy from St. Charles Seminary. The hospital district’s program, he felt, would provide him with "firsthand knowledge of what it means to do God’s work."

Davis’ experiences as a student at Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio prompted him to apply for the program. He believes this experience will change his life and also that of his fellow interns.

"We all have one similar passion, which is to be on the frontline of life, regardless of the danger," he said.

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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