“I’m going to listen to my heart”

Deacon Will Banowsky took a deep breath, wiped his sweating palms, then called his dad to tell him he wanted to be priest.
 
It was Good Friday 2013. David Banowsky hadn’t given his oldest son any reason to be weary of the call, but Will knew it was a big decision that would affect the rest of his life.
 
“I said ‘I’m done listening to my head; I’m going to listen to my heart.’”
 
He waited a few anxious seconds, then heard his dad’s response.
 
“Well, I could have told you that son.”
 
“He knew before I did! He said he knew from the 5 ^th grade when I started altar serving and I was having so much fun up there. This has been exactly where I needed to be.”
 
Deacon Banowsky is one of five transitional deacons who will be ordained priests on June 29 at Saint Mark in Norman.
 
Banowsky’s journey began as a child, living overseas in Mexico and Honduras where he gained proficiency in Spanish and valuable experience with families facing poverty. His family moved back to his native Dallas in 1999 where Banowsky graduated high school in 2004. He chose to attend the “family school” – The University of Oklahoma – where his dad and uncles graduated, and his grandfather served as president until 1985.
 
It was at OU where he first thought about the priesthood.
 
“During a mission trip to Mexico, I was praying in a chapel. I was focused on what God’s call was for me. I left knowing my calling was to teach and hand on the faith to the next generation. At that point, I thought it was as a husband and father,” Banowsky said.
 
Five years later, he had earned a degree in international business and management and entered OU law school. After ending a long-term relationship, he began “processing” again where God was leading him.
 
“I got to my last year of law school with a feeling that practicing law just was not what I was meant to do. There was something I was being called to do, being asked to do, but I wasn’t quite aware of what that was. I started discerning around that time. I would send 20 texts to my friends asking, ‘Do you see me as a father or a priest?’ I was so confused.”
 
Banowsky considered university administration and then found a job at Catholic Charities.
 
“Working for the Church and being around priests of the diocese, I found the nagging question intensifying. The more I got to know the priests, the more I realized they’re real people. I think that’s something a lot of guys don’t understand. It was a realization of their humanity. I thought, ‘Maybe I can do this.’”
 
In 2012, he began meeting with Father Shane Tharp as his spiritual director. They both enjoyed science fiction, comic books, video games and he was “one of the most intelligent people” Banowsky had met. Banowsky applied for seminary, but still wasn’t completely convinced.
 
Five days before Easter 2013, Banowsky attended the Chrism Mass where the oils for sacraments are blessed and priests recommit to their vows.
 
“I saw the seminarians process in and all of the priests process in and it just sort of hit me. All of these men had the same fears and doubts that I have been having – and not just them, all priests back to the original 12 apostles. When I realized I wasn’t alone, something changed. That’s when I knew I needed to go to seminary and discern my call further.”
 
He entered Saint Meinrad Seminary in Indiana in 2013 where he earned a master’s degree in Catholic philosophical studies. In 2015, he began his studies in Rome, earning a bachelor’s degree in Sacred Theology from Gregorian University. In 2018, he started his first year of licentiate program in Canon Law, also at the Gregorian University in Rome.
 
His message to young men and women is to follow their heart and embrace their own journey.
 
“Some guys know straight out of high school. When I was a teen, I only cared about girls, football and video games. I wasn’t mature enough at the time to think about the seminary and the priesthood. God gave me the experiences I needed to be ready. You don’t have to figure everything out right away. Give yourself the resources you need to make that decision. Get a spiritual director, talk to family, talk to friends. Don’t be discouraged that after a year or two you are still on the fence. Even for guys and young women who are older, just because you are a little bit older when you start to discern, it doesn’t mean you missed your window. Don’t be afraid.”
 
After ordination, then Father Banowsky will spend the summer in an Oklahoma parish before returning to Rome.
 
“As a priest, I look forward to being with the people and being part of their lives and bringing them the sacraments. Journeying with them and getting closer to God. It’s great to know how powerful the sacraments are and how important they are to people, and to be a part of that is exciting,” he said.
 
“It’s hard to focus on anything right now especially after getting the Call to Orders. It’s almost here! I don’t want to hit the fast forward button, but it is very tempting. … What I’m looking forward to most during the ordination is being in the moment and embracing the moment for all that it offers.”
 
Diane Clay is editor of the Sooner Catholic.
 
Photo: Will Banowsky shakes hands with Pope Francis at the Episcopal Ordination of Archbishop Peter Wells. Photo provided.