Seminarian Spotlight: Tristan Frisk

BY TRISTAN FRISK

It was seven years ago when I heard the Call to the Priesthood. It was in September of 2015 and I was in my freshman year at Haughton High School. Now it is September 2022 and I am in my senior year at St. Joseph Seminary and Abbey College. What an incredible walk it has been down this path from meeting all types of new people like different parishioners, seminarians, priests, and bishops. Truly, all these people have helped me in my continuation to persevere in seminary. They have taught me how to not only look forward to my vocation in the future as a priest but to look and appreciate my vocation now even as a seminarian because of the great blessings God has given me in light of the people he has put into my life.

As I look back at and remember God’s Call in my life, I also wonder how it is that I was able to hear His voice. I believe that there were two ways that I had cultivated in my life that opened the ear of my heart to hearing God’s Call for me. The first and most important way was prayer. I prayed to the Lord, like we all do, because of the struggles with people that were close to me and struggles inside of me that I did not know how to handle. These problems weighed heavy on my mind and heart, and so I prayed fervently and consistently for God’s help, His Goodness, His Love, Himself. I prayed to God saying, “I know you love me but why do I still go through this suffering? I know you are good but why do I see more evil than good in my life? Help me God to be better, that I may be good and love as you love, please! Show me your goodness, Oh Lord”! The Lord gave answer and because of my cultivated listening, I heard Him. This had only happened because I grew into listening more and more from being obedient to my parents, school teachers, family members, martial arts teachers, and through my conversations with friends who listened to me just as much as I had ever listened to them. This is how I came to hear the Lord speak to me: through our relationship deepened by my prayer, asking for His help, and listening to hear Him tell me “I am with you always,” that He loves me more than I might ever know, and watch how He revealed his vocation to me through His priests.

I was able to continue my growth in my vocation this past summer. I was assigned to my home parish St. Jude in Benton, LA. I was put under the guidance of Father Karl Daigle, who has been a priest for 25 years this year, to learn his pastoral and spiritual knowledge and with that to pray and think about it and hopefully use such knowledge going forward in ministry. This summer I worked about every week at the parish office and served all Sunday Masses. In June, I was able to go a few times to visit the sick at the hospital, sit in on meetings with parishioners about to get married, hear those who need spiritual advice in dealing with the end of their life, and leading a rosary at a visitation for the repose of a man’s eternal life. In July, though I got to serve two weddings, I was greeted with many more invitations to come eat and visit with people at their homes. This was an incredible gift to me, as many seminarians and priests know, because it brings joy to us who can come to know more and spend time with our people and their families and sometimes become a part of their family. I was blessed to meet the Gonzales family (pictured above), a bright and fun family, in July 1 and was invited and went to their house four times before going back to school. They are a family of six with ages from three years old to eighteen years old. I was also able to assist in two Vacation Bible Schools with one at St. Jude and the other at St. Joseph in Zwolle, LA. At St. Joseph’s in Zwolle, I also took part in a Discernment Retreat for Young Men as they thought about having a vocation to the Priesthood as well as learning more about how to pray and live out their faith with other men their age. This was an exciting opportunity to talk to and learn about younger men, their hopes and struggles, and their questions about how to live out their faith through their humanity.

As I enter into my Fourth Year at St. Joseph Seminary and Abbey College, I look forward to many things and here are just a few. This year, I have been elected Hospitality Committee Head which means that I will be in charge of taking care of all seminarian guests and their visit, including their lodging accommodations, and hope to keep the Benedictan hospitality for all guests to be “received as Christ.”

I am very interested in all my philosophy classes as I go deeper into the study of knowledge and words which complement one another. One cannot come to greater knowledge without using words and words are better understood through expansion of knowledge. And one of the greatest things I will look forward to is a deepening of existing relationships with seminarian friends, from my diocese and other dioceses, and Benedictan monks, as well as new relationships with incoming seminarians. Thank you, the good people of Shreveport, for your support and know I look forward to coming back as one of your priests, God willing!