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Portrait of a priest: Fr. John Petravicius

8/9/2021

9 Comments

 
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Fr. John at St. Mary's Church in Cluny, after a visit to the Blackfoot Crossing Historical Park.
​To celebrate St. John Vianney's feast day this month, I sat down with Fr. John Petravicius (retired from the Diocese of Calgary) to gain some insight into his call to the priesthood, and what it means to live a Christian life in his vocation. Here’s what he had to say.
 
How did you discern your vocation?
The Grace of God!  I was doing a commercial course at the old Mount Royal College downtown (Calgary).  Once a week, Fr. Greg McLellan, who was the associate at Sacred Heart, would come in to do something with the Catholics, who were a minority in the place.  On one occasion, he asked “Well, what can we deal with?”, and somebody came up with the idea to cover the religious communities in the diocese, what they were doing and so forth, and I think that triggered something that I’d been thinking of way back when.  I think the essence was there, it just needed to be triggered by something, and Fr. Greg’s presence was that trigger.
 
How have you seen your share in Christ’s priesthood change and shift through these years?
Basically, nothing has changed:  the priesthood is what it has always been.  How the priesthood has functioned, how a priest did things has changed, not what they did. The celebration of the Mass and the Sacraments is all the same, essentially. The rituals changed, not the realities.  You are given a task of service to people, and so you do what you can in a given situation, and hope it is somewhat adequate.
 
What spiritual practices have sustained you throughout your years as a priest?
One of the most important things in developing and maintaining the Christian life is spiritual reading.  One needs ideas and support, and one is going to get that from reading; it gives motivation to all the other things — the ministries, the liturgy of the hours, etc.  There are areas in which it’s important to read:  first of all, the Word of God is number one, then biographies — the lives of saints (these people lived out the Christian life in a special way), and then spiritual theology.  In reading, we need a variety of things.  We had an old English priest, supposedly teaching English in the seminary.  He had a quote he’d toss out quite often:  “Reading maketh a full man”.  That is particularly true of reading having to do with our relationship with God.
 
For a long time, there has been the promotion of prayer in the presence of the Eucharist.  That is probably a very, very good place to pray, perhaps the very best — the presence of Christ in the Holy Eucharist.
 
What advice would you give to a young man or woman discerning priesthood or religious life?
First of all, prayer is very important. Prayer for the grace to follow up this idea according to the will of God.  It is possible that the idea is mine and not God’s, and so if someone was to join a religious community, and no community will accept them, that says that they don’t have vocation to a religious community. So, things tend to work out in substance.
 
If there is one, what Sacrament do you love celebrating the most?
The greatest Sacrament is the Eucharist — the presence of Christ in the Eucharist. That is beyond everything!  It may not be particularly “satisfying” in the sense that you don’t see things happening — but that’s THE great sacrament — the presence of Christ!
 
Does St. John Vianney’s example play out in your life?
His life speaks very loudly to a lifestyle of simplicity. There’s a certain charm and effectiveness in simplicity:  energy and time are not wasted on peripheral things, and the things that need to be done get done, not only work-wise, but self-care-wise.  He spent a fair bit of time in prayer, a reminder that our relationship with God is the root source of effectiveness, otherwise we can wind up being very effective individuals in a service kind of way, getting a lot of things done, but not accomplishing very much. The result, in the case of St. John Marie Vianney, was that his effectiveness was what it was because of the quality of his life.  We see that in lesser ways: people who are serious about something are taken seriously. Someone who wants to do a good job of something is respected as a model, and encourages others to do the same — to do things that one needs to do, and try to do them well.
 
What are you up to now in your retirement?
There’s time for things like a little extra prayer, a little more time to read, to see people occasionally.  Time goes by, and it’s not very boring. Retirement gives the opportunity to be more aware of the Christian life, not doing a bunch of things and keeping so busy that you forget what you’re doing! All of us are called to live out the Christian life; the things that we do should fit into that mould — the motivation.  We don’t do it for prestige or money —  if that comes, that’s fine — but to do what we do because it seems to be the will of God to do it.
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Fr. John at St. Anthony's Church, Calgary
Fr. John's home parish:
​St. Cyril’s, Bellevue, Alberta

Year of ordination: 1959


​Pastoral assignment: 
  • Sacred Heart, Raymond (Missions at Magrath, Cardston and Whiskey Gap); 
  • St. Patrick’s, Medicine Hat; 
  • St. Michael’s, Bow Island; 
  • Corpus Christi, Calgary; 
  • St. John’s, Calgary;
  • St. Mary’s, Beiseker; 
  • St. Mary’s Cathedral, Calgary,
  • Retirement resident at St. Anthony’s, Calgary.

Interview and transcription: Solomon Ip.
​Photos courtesy of L. O'Hara & Solomon Ip.
9 Comments
Czarina ALINDAYO
8/12/2021 12:15:55 pm

I don't know him well but he does love to read with his magnifying glasses. His time spent at the Blessed Sacrament daily must be the most precious moment to be desired . Yes, I will keep in mind what he says " Try to go to confession at least every month so that I will not forget my offences".

Reply
Judy Lane
8/12/2021 01:45:55 pm

Hello to Fr John from the Hammels at Maleb. My mom taught catechism at the school and you were our dinner guest many times. So many good memories of your time with us at St Anthony’s.
Thinking of you…

Judy Hammel Lane

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Alice Matisz
8/12/2021 02:12:46 pm

What a pleasure to hear Fr Petravicius’ down-to-earth wisdom again. Thank you Solomon for capturing Fr. John’s spirit. But you missed his time in Lethbridge when listing his assignments. Don and I fondly remember Fr. John marrying us in 1990 and baptizing our daughter in 1993.

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Solomon Ip
8/18/2021 08:35:01 pm

Hi Alice! Oops... He didn't mention Lethbridge when he gave his list of placements... I'll do some digging and see if we can get this amended...

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Trudy Niggli
5/27/2022 11:25:28 am

He also was parish priest in Brooks. When he learned I was taking the Christopher leadership course, I was “encouraged” to start reading in church lol.

His love & respect of the Eucharist was so evident in the mass. I learned a great deal from him and he oversaw my marriage preparation while in Lethbridge at St. Patrick’s.

Lili
8/13/2021 06:42:49 am

God bless Fr. John. His homilies are always succinct, and to the point, containing pearls of wisdom for personal reflection. The summit truly is the liturgy of the Eucharist, and this is made evident by the loving, gentle and thoroughness of how he handles the Blessed Sacrament in his hands and cleans the vessels. Fr. John is a true witness to Jesus present in the Word and in the Eucharist.

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Trudy Niggli
9/25/2021 03:26:18 pm

Fr. John provided my husband & I with the required marriage counselling privately as we were of advanced age compared to other couples at that time in Lethbridge at St. Patrick's. I had the privilege of first meeting Fr. John in Brooks when he was the priest there. It was then that I discovered the true reverence to be shown to the Eucharist. Fr. John is a treasure for sure with his direct, simple answers to any question and his love for Jesus & His church.

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Pat Roberts
5/23/2022 10:04:07 am

I also went to Mount Royal with Father John. Father Greg would come every Friday afternoon for us catholic students as the school held assembly every morning and we did not have to participate. There was only a handful of us. Great memories.

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Chris Burkart
11/6/2022 11:56:16 pm

I was in grade nine when 'Father John' became our high school confessor. He had just been ordained, and always had a down-to-earth way of explaining all things Catholic to us. We could tell he loved and understood his faith. We were drawn to his compassion, his easy way of communicating and his acceptance of each of us just as we presented ourselves. He has left an indelible impression of loving and peaceful joy.

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