"What God wants is
not your ability,
but your availability."

Of the many testimonies of the Miles Jesu seminarians, Tom Cahill’s stands out as a witness not only to God’s love, but to the excellence of Miles Jesu formation. It is for this reason we’ve selected Tom’s story to illustrate our seminary’s rare quality of imparting hand-tailored formation. Through Tom’s life experience, you’ll see how our seminary takes a person where he’s at and gives him exactly what he needs to be a good priest and, although this applies to all our seminarians, Tom Cahill is a case in point. But to demonstrate this we’ll need to take a close look at the detail’s of Tom’s life.

In his own words, here’s Tom’s story:

“God gave me to parents of Irish stock. I was the only boy of 6 children. My father was a hardworking businessman in the wedding dress industry of Beverly Hills, California. My father became a millionaire in this business. In fact, our family used to live up the street from Lucille Ball.”

“As a youth, i had 2 great loves - baseball, from which i received the nickname ‘Tommy Baseball’, and serving Mass, from which I received the desire to be a priest.”

“I was a typical 60’s kid but received a vocation to the priesthood. Years later my Aunt Rita used to tell the family how fortunate i was to be in Miles Jesu and not to have continued in the diocesan seminary. She said that if i had been ordained in my home diocese of Los Angeles, i would have disgraced myself, the family, and the Catholic priesthood. To this very day i totally agree with her.”

“While in the diocesan seminary this was my attitude: ‘Priesthood, yes! But my way! I love nature, the outdoors, surfing, the simple and rugged live. I despise the establishment, riches, authority, the artificial, the soft life.”

“I went to the high school seminary of the Los Angeles diocese and fit right in. Here were 300 guys with the same ideal. It was a great brotherhood in Christ. I loved the friendship, the spiritual life, and the sports too. In my senior year, i was elected president of the student body, and advocated a ‘get tough’ policy, which restored the discipline, for there was a decline in discipline the year before and its effect seemed to weaken the seminary spirit.”

“After high school came college seminary life. My attitude had become more carefree. Life was ‘exciting’. I was overwhelmed by the beauty of nature and received great pleasure in hiking, running, surfing and observing God’s creation. Then came the added thrill of finding a girlfriend. I went bonkers over a girl named Carmen.”

“With this internal conflict, you can imagine why i didn’t come back to the third year of college seminary. I could find no other answer than to escape. A seminarian friend and i had planned to go to Europe for the summer. Quite a timely trip because of my dilemma - i was in love with a girl yet still wanted to become a priest. I hit the road for 4 years - London, Israel, Istanbul, Afghanistan, Calcutta, Nepal, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Mexico, Canada, and many places in between - hitchhiking, searching, working odd jobs, and waiting, searching for an answer.”

“I guessed that i might solve my dilemma by stretching that summer vacation into 4 years of adventure. The first year was spent with my buddy. We got right into the adventure of traveling, meeting people, seeing sights, sleeping in parks from Israel to Greece through Europe up to the Scandinavian countries. Then later i decided to hitchhike to India on my own to work with Mother Teresa and the Missionaries of Charity.”

“After thumbing my way through Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan, i finally got to Calcutta, India. I worked for 5 months with the Missionary Brothers of Charity, taking care of the poor people. But my visa expired and i had to leave. From India i went overland (mostly) to Australia, through Thailand, Malaysia, and the Indonesian islands. What an adventure - the friendly natives, the jungles, fruits, and culture. But what a loss! I was beginning to lose my faith.”

“Having been so engrossed in the Asiatic environment, i was quite shocked on arriving in Australia with its western culture. I banded with hippie-types there and fell into their lifestyles and ideas, e.g., the ‘natural life’, the use of drugs and the pursuit of truth.”

“After a long time abroad, i visited home and realized how disoriented i was. After staying with my family for a bit, i hit the road again to trust in some sort of Divine Providence, and the magic of traveling picked me off my feet again - camping in the forests of California, Oregon, and picking apples in Washington, going across country, living in Montreal, working at a beach resort in Florida. What a life!”

“Then in Florida the tide started to turn. I realized that my quest was an illusion and that i was lost. I was desperate and begged Jesus to help me. The next day i received a call from a friend who had also worked in Calcutta with the Missionaries of Charity. This friend’s mother had died that day (the feast of St. Joseph) and he was terribly grieved. So i hitched up to Schenectady, NY, to see what i could do for him, considering this a clear enough answer to my prayer. I arrived a day later on Palm Sunday and went to all the Holy Week services with the family. I would have certainly missed Holy Week services otherwise. Not finding that i could cheer up my friend, I found that our only consolation was going to Mass. We talked a lot about the Church, Jesus, Mary, and the saints and, in doing, so my faith was gradually restored.”

“With this boost i went back to California where i learned a few more good lessons. One night i went out with some friends, among whom was my favorite cousin and his girlfriend. After a little drinking and fun time, everyone headed out to the beach. The moon was full, it was a warm night, and the waves were crashing on the shore. By this time my cousin and the others were asleep and only the girlfriend and i were awake. Well, i didn’t think it much to show the girl a little affection. But when my cousin awakened and saw us together, i realized how mistaken i was. It was a terrible betrayal to a very good friend. What a painful trip home from the beach! This even inspired me to make a very sincere confession, something i had not done for many years.”

“With one foot in the world and one in religion, I next moved to Berkeley, CA, where i became more worldly, yet still with religious inclinations. I had to settle somewhere, so i moved into a large house with other people. Everything imaginable went on there. Fortunately, a job kept me out of most of the mischief, but my lifestyle was still certainly not compatible with religion. I was trying to attend daily Mass, say the Rosary, and make frequent confessions, but the contrast became unbearable. My life was divided.”
“So again, searching for the way to solve this problem, i hit the road, only this time as a pilgrim. I was desperate to find anyone who could give some good spiritual direction. I needed some recollection in my life. I was hungry for a lifestyle that would help me be close to God, for nothing mattered more to me than that.”

“Convinced that God was now leading me, after leaving Berkeley i spent one week in a Trappist Monastery in Utah. There i got a deep taste of what God was calling me to and i did not want to lose it this time. God was with me the whole way. I kept praying ‘Lord Jesus have mercy on me, a sinner’ and saying many rosaries. I trusted that Our Lady would lead me to where she wanted me.”

“At that same monastery i met a Vietnam veteran with a great devotion to Mary. This man encouraged me very much to trust in Mary and she would guide me. This was very consoling because throughout the adventure of my life Mary had helped me in many ways. Now i began recalling all the times Mary had been near to me and helped me during my years of travels. These memories surprised me but also greatly encouraged me.”

“I remembered then, as a flashback, that at Lourdes Mary helped me see the great faith of the people. In Asia, after praying a Rosary, i recovered $500 that had been stolen from my hotel room. In Guadalupe, Mexico, again the faith of the people brought me to tears. On my way, to Berkeley a total stranger and i finished our train ride by saying the Rosary together. The Trappist monastery in Oregon was named after Our Lady of Guadalupe. The monastery in Utah was named after Our Lady of the Holy Trinity. And there were many more recollections than these.”

“After leaving Utah, more intent than ever, i traveled to Phoenix and stayed with another friend i had once known in the seminary. This friend’s father was the Arizona representative of the Blue Army and it was he who introduced me to Miles Jesu. Once at the community i immediately felt at home when i observed the community’s great devotion to Mary. From the first moment i entered the front door i somehow knew that ‘God wants me here’. The first thing i encountered at the front door was an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe welcoming me.”

“When i was first introduced to the Father General of Miles Jesu and told him about my adventures, the director said, ‘Fine! And is this just one more stop on your merry way or are you serious about serving Christ?’ I instantly knew that this man meant business and i was pleasantly surprised at that. So i responded, ‘No, i’m serious, i want to serve Christ.’ The director therefore said, ‘Then we will help you.’ Of course, i had no idea what this would entail and to what great extent the director’s patience would be exercised and his charity would abound toward me. No one knew what accepting me would entail. Like a wild stallion, i would have to be broken of my hippie habits and become a hard working gentleman. Only after this could the Lord use me for greater things. But i was finally ready and willing for the training to begin. Every other course in my life had come to a dead end.”

“I stayed in Miles Jesu because it seemed clear enough that God had led me there. It was a good Catholic community with a very dedicated spiritual director. I learned much about my faith and the situation of the Church. Furthermore, i grew closer to God daily by living an orderly life. The many good examples of the others in the community were a great help. Many of the others had similar experiences in their own lives, and were now responsible lay professionals in the world bringing Christ to others. It gave me a great joy just to be bound together with them in following Christ. It was also clear that this group was seriously living the Gospel spirit, that is, poverty, chastity and obedience.”

“After some hard work in the Phoenix orange grove, i was sent to live in the Miles Jesu community in Erlanger, Kentucky. Here i got a job and worked for several years in a tool and die shop. Here i learned not only how to be a dependable worker, but also how to bring Christ to my fellow workers. On one occasion i complained to the Father General that the work was boring. Father General told me, ‘Stick it out. Now you know what the average man goes through to support his family. Never forget it.’ This was an irreplaceable lesson i had to learn.”

“After Kentucky, i next worked in the Kimble Piano factory in Jasper, Indiana, and after this job, i was invited to the Miles Jesu seminary in Rome and to one of the best pontifical universities. What an education it was living in Rome for five and a half years in the Eternal City packed with history and culture, living so close to the Holy Father. I had the opportunity many times to listen to the Pope in person and shake his hand. What a formative experience to live at the heart of the Church, studying with others from all parts of the world.”

“On one occasion my archaeology class was visiting what was once the home of a wealthy Roman citizen, now beneath the present basilica of St. Clement. The professor, a Dominican priest from Czechoslovakia, told the class to kneel while we said the ‘Our Father’. When we stood up, the professor explained that this was one of the places where Saints Peter and Paul used to say Mass. It was one of the most memorable experiences i had in Rome because it was as if i went back in time and received a blessing from God through them.”

“The classes at the university were demanding and even more so because they were taught in Italian. I never studied so hard in my entire life. Often i studied in the chapel on my knees begging for the Lord’s help. I had to learn how to study all over again. It’s amazing that a guy who had always preferred sports, friends, and fun to studies, and who was even anti-intellectual, graduated from a Pontifical University with 2 bachelor degrees and a masters in sacred theology, all magna cum laude.”

“Although i did receive a good education at the University, the most enduring effects, the ones which now serve me the best as a priest, came from Father General on his regular trips to Rome. After classes at the University, the Miles Jesu seminarians discussed different topics of theology with Father, and our discussions went way beyond what we learned in the University. You couldn’t bluff your way with Father General.”
“It was Father General who taught the seminarians how to hear confessions too. Taking the role of a penitent, he’d come up with the most difficult cases. Father General trained the seminarians how to be generous in being available to hear confessions, firm in upholding the moral teachings of Christ, and merciful like Our Lord. It was Father too who instructed each of the seminarians how to say Mass with reverence and respect for the Blessed Sacrament.”

“After my studies were completed and i was ready for ordination, the directors of the Miles Jesu seminary decided that i’d better wait, that there was something still lacking in me. I needed first to acquire a greater sense of responsibility. It was suggested that i work in a bank so that i could learn to be more practical and accountable for my work. This is an example of Miles Jesu formation at its best. I accepted the challenge with peace. It was my classmates at the University who were shaken up. ‘Unfair! You deserve better. You’re one of the best.’ They had no idea of the depth and quality of the Miles Jesu training for seminarians. They went on to ordination and, a year later and a lot better prepared after working at Horizon Federal Bank in Chicago, i was ordained too.”

“It’s now been over 13 years since my ordination in 1988. Since then i have served as a retreat master in the United States, a missionary in India, chaplain of the Pontifical Catholic University of Puerto Rico, and am presently the pastor of one of the more prestigious parishes in Ponce, Puerto Rico, and the director of the Academia Santa Maria which has a thousand students.”

“I am grateful to God for my profound formation in Miles Jesu and in the Miles Jesu seminary. In the years while i was on the road, i was searching desperately for ‘self-fulfillment.’ Now in serving Our Lord and giving my life to others as a priest, my life is very fulfilling. My ideal is to grow in the ideal that has been taught repeatedly - be humble, be fervent, be zealous for the salvation of souls, and be the best for the glory of God.”

Tom’s story demonstrates the hand-tailored Miles Jesu seminary formation. Tom’s whole life in Miles Jesu contributed to making him a good priest, not just his five and a half academic years in a university.