Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, OMI

Celebrating 60 Years of Religious Life

Some interviews leave you with pages of notes. Others leave you with something more. By the time my conversation with Fr. Ron Rolheiser, OMI, had ended, I wasn’t just thinking about his answers; I was thinking differently about the questions themselves.

When I spoke with Fr. Ron, I quickly realized this wouldn’t be a typical interview. Ask him about joy, and he gently shifts the conversation to meaning. Ask about vocation, and he reminds you that it isn’t something we choose for ourselves, but something we’re called to. Even the simplest questions became opportunities for reflection, and by the end of our conversation, I found myself looking at a few of life’s biggest questions in a new way.

This year, Fr. Ron celebrates 60 years as an Oblate.

Growing up in west-central Saskatchewan, religious life was always part of the conversation. Like many young Catholics of his generation, he was encouraged to consider whether God might be calling him to the priesthood or religious life. At the time, however, it wasn’t a path he envisioned for himself.

After graduating from high school, Fr. Ron planned to attend the University of Saskatchewan to study psychology. But while spending long days alone on a tractor working on a farm, he found himself unable to shake the feeling that God was calling him in another direction. Finally, at just 17, he told his parents he wanted to become an Oblate.

Looking back six decades later, he still describes it as “the most difficult, but clearest;  the most life-giving decision I ever made.” From the moment he entered religious life, he never questioned whether he had chosen the right path.

Throughout those sixty years, Fr. Ron has served in many different ministries: teaching at Newman Theological College, serving as Provincial, General Councillor in Rome, and eventually becoming president of the Oblate School of Theology in San Antonio, where he continues to teach today. Along the way, the Oblates also gave him extraordinary educational opportunities, allowing him to pursue advanced studies in San Francisco and Belgium, experiences for which he remains deeply grateful.

Yet when I asked him to reflect on the moments that have meant the most, his answer wasn’t about leadership positions, books, or academic accomplishments.

Instead, he spoke about accompanying families after the loss of a loved one. He spoke about mentoring doctoral students from countries like Vietnam and across Africa, knowing they would one day return home to teach others. He spoke with gratitude about the mentors who shaped his own life and the Oblates who invested in his formation.

For Fr. Ron, ministry has always been about people.

One moment from our conversation has stayed with me.

When I asked what had brought him the greatest joy in serving God’s people, he gently challenged the question itself.

“There is a difference,” he explained, “between happiness and meaning.”

Some days bring happiness, he said. Others bring struggle. But meaning remains. Looking back on sixty years of priesthood, he doesn’t measure his life by whether every day was easy or joyful. Instead, he is grateful for a life filled with purpose, a life spent serving others, growing in faith, and responding to the call God placed before him.

As someone who spends much of my time asking questions, I left our conversation appreciating that some of the best answers aren’t always the quickest ones. Fr. Ron has a remarkable ability to help people look beyond the surface, inviting them to see familiar questions from a new perspective. Perhaps that’s one of the reasons his writing, teaching, and ministry have touched so many people over the years.

When asked what advice he would offer young people discerning their vocation, his answer was both simple and profound.

“Have the courage to hear, to listen and answer the call.”

His own life is a testament to those words. The path he once resisted became the vocation that shaped him, carried him around the world, and gave his life enduring purpose.

As Fr. Ron celebrates 60 years as an Oblate, we give thanks for a ministry rooted in wisdom, service, and faith. His story reminds us that vocation is less about choosing our own path and more about having the courage to follow where God is leading.

Thank you, Fr. Ron, for 60 years of faithful ministry.