“I’m ready to work for the salvation of souls”

Every October in high school, Robert Miller’s family drove to Panama Beach, Fla., for vacation, a special treat that gave the teenager access to cable. The station he chose to watch? EWTN.

“Everybody was mad because I was watching Mother Angelica and they wanted to watch something else!” 

The young Robert couldn’t get enough information about Christianity, religion, Catholicism, even though his family hadn’t always been active in a church. His only experience with church was Vacation Bible School at his grandmother’s Baptist church and a brief stint with his family at a Methodist church.   

In grade school, he asked him mom about baptism and communion, and began his inquiries about the Catholic Church. No one could answer his questions to his satisfaction, so he kept digging. 

“It’s kind of embarrassing, but my first exposure to the Catholic Church was “Sister Act,” the movie. As a little protestant boy in Oklahoma, I saw a nun for the first time, I saw a priest for the first time, I saw the inside of a Catholic church for the first time. It piqued my curiosity,” he said. 

“Then, once I found EWTN, I got a lot more substance to go with that. Then, it became a history thing for me. Any time we talked about Christianity in history class there was a lot of history about the Catholic Church. I wanted to be part of the Church that Jesus started and that led me to learn more about Catholicism.”

Once Miller was able to drive, he began attending Mass at Saint Charles Catholic Church in Oklahoma City and entered RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation) at 16. The night before Easter Vigil, he met with Father Paul Gallatin, who asked him what he wanted to be.

“I told him I was kind of thinking about becoming a priest.”

At Father Gallatin’s suggestion, Miller signed up for Emmaus Days, a vocations awareness program for young men, with Father Rick Stansberry and Father Ed Weisenburger, now bishop of Tucson. 

“Emmaus Days put more substance to the thought, the feeling, but it also was at the height of the abuse scandal,” he said. 

So, after graduating from Putnam City North High School in Oklahoma City, he met with Archbishop Beltran who asked him – as he did many potential seminarians – to give seminary at least one year. Miller entered Conception Seminary in Missouri and for the first two weeks “hated it.” But soon, with routine and new friendships, he began to enjoy it. 

He also learned while at seminary that his mom, Regina, had entered RCIA. She joined the Catholic Church in 2010. 

Miller, 35, earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy at Conception, a bachelor’s degree in classical languages from the University of Oklahoma, a master’s degree in historical theology from Boston College and a master’s degree in divinity at Pope Saint John the XXIII Seminary in Massachusetts. He is working on a canon law degree from Catholic University of America. His home parish is Saint Damien of Molokai in Edmond.

“My family is very supportive, and they want me to be happy. I finally feel that moment of fulfillment and content.”

Miller is scheduled to be ordained to the transitional diaconate at 10 a.m. April 9 at The Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Oklahoma City. The ordination is open to the public and will be live-streamed on the archdiocesan YouTube channel, Facebook page and at archokc.org/live.

Miller said other young men considering the priesthood should pray and listen to what God wants for their lives and their happiness with priests serving as good examples.

“Don’t be afraid. Some guys think ‘How can God possibly want me to be a priest because of things in my past or there are holier people?’ So, they don’t entertain it. The linchpin in all of that is if you aren’t praying about it you won’t come to an understanding. Prayer is an essential component,” he said.

“Another thing that plays into a guy responding to a vocation is the witness of priests, holy priests. I’m ready for the priesthood, to serve others. I’m ready to work for the salvation of souls. That’s what priesthood is all about.”  

Diane Clay is editor of the Sooner Catholic.