This picture encapsulates the event that brought three friends together to celebrate the life and ministry of a great man by the name of Fr. Dennis Miller. A priest at St. Thomas Aquinas Catholic Student Center since the beginning of my own time there, he has been a support and an inspiration for the family and student communities alike that together comprise the parish population. My time at Iowa State University was challenging as I was forced to confront the realities of life to which I was rarely exposed during the greater part of my life up to that point. I vaguely recall visiting St. Thomas and feeling somewhat comfortable there during one of my first campus visits to Iowa State, but of course it was also quite different from my very conservative and traditional home parish in Rockford, Illinois. Nonetheless, despite the somewhat more scarce periods of kneeling during mass, and the sung Alleluia after the Gospel reading, I adapted and came to enjoy my new experience of Catholicism. Many good friends were an invaluable support during this time, not the least of which being my high school buddy and one of my best friends of all time, Andy May. Other men and women supported me and helped me to see that despite the imperfection of the human elements of Catholicism and the issues with St. Thomas Aquinas as a parish specifically, at the heart lay the reality of an encounter with Christ, and the need to share that with every single person encountered in our lives. This is what Fr. Dennis continually communicated to me, and was one of the reasons that I stuck by the Church, and ultimately served as a leader within it, a peer minister over the course of my junior year at Iowa State.
During this time, Fr. Dennis was the voice of reason and truth, explaining the intricacies of what it takes to become a Catholic priest, and constantly sharing his experience of the faith through discussion, and his wisdom and knowledge through conversation and the passing on of books and catechisms and any resources or materials that he saw fitting to my spiritual needs at that point in time. Fr. Dennis, was, and as I realized upon seeing him this past week, still is a figure that I look up to as a friend, and as a role model. There is a sense about him that inspires some measure of awe in my heart and soul, and I think it is the beauty of his devotion to his vocation. He still never hesitates to offer a smile, and truly carries a deep sense of joy with him that proves contagious to everyone that he meets. He is both a leader and a man of the people. He has left an indelible mark on the students that he has taught and pastored at St. Thomas Aquinas, and I know will continue to do so in the six parishes of his future assignment. I pray that God bless and continue to inspire him, and that the Holy Spirit remain constantly with him that he will possess the strength of faith and passion for people to continue to provide the spiritual sustenance and intellectual challenge that the world needs.
God bless and keep you Father, and thank you for all the ways in which you have impacted my life. I would not be the man I am today without your support and teaching.
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