Fr. Michael Daniel Maciborski

I am one of eight children, neatly divided into four boys and four girls, and I came fourth in line. My mom and dad started our family in Detroit, Michigan, where my dad was a police officer. After he got injured on the job, we moved three hours north, to Lake City. The move provided an idyllic setting for my childhood. I grew up playing on the rolling hills, swimming in the lakes and rivers, and running through the lush, green forests of the northern, lower peninsula. Early on, I came to love a variety of sports like football, baseball, basketball and volleyball. I also played roller hockey and frequently rollerbladed. When things cooled down, I slapped on skis, either cross-country or downhill, and strapped on skates to play ice hockey. There was also appreciation for hunting, fishing, horseback riding, archery and target shooting. Life was a constant flow of activity, and I thrived on it. At the same time, God was at the center of all the hustle and bustle.

My parents made sure we attended Mass regularly. Mom would go to daily Mass, and almost always took me or one of my brothers to serve as the altar boy. That helped us to become well acquainted with the parish priest, Father Joe Reitz. He gave an excellent example of dedication to the Lord and to the flock, and was a model of hard work and prayer. When my family went through some hard times, Fr Joe was there. I have no doubt that God made himself present to our family through him.

The family also prayed together before meals and then a rosary in the evening. Mom also took the time to share with us some tidbits about the faith. They were brief but memorable moments. Once, when I was puzzling over an image on a holy card, she came to my aid. I could not make sense of the image. It was a very realistic portrait of a scourged man. She took the time to tell me that this was Christ who suffered and died for our sins. I was still too young to go to school, but I will never forget the emotional impact of that image and the message it transmitted. Redemption and my Catholic faith took on a personal meaning for me just then.

The vocation was easily nourished in this setting. I was about four years old when I first said that I wanted to be a priest. Of course, it was just a thought that may pass through a boy’s mind. However, the memory stuck and later strengthened my eventual decision to become a priest.

God Cultivates His Soil

Another moment came when I was about the age of twelve. A Maryknoll priest visited the parish and I served the Mass. Afterwards, we had a brief exchange in the sacristy. I was wearing an Air Force sweatshirt. He noticed and spoke of his experience in the Air Force. It was the first time I understood that priests can do other things than just celebrate the sacraments.

A few months passed, and I received a package from the priest. He sent information about the Maryknolls. I admired the priest, but as I read the information, there was a distinct feeling that I was not called to that group. And with no other groups to think about, the idea of the vocation slowly faded away.

As I went through middle school and entered high school, I began to identify a longing for spiritual growth. Yet, I acutely experienced the how my values conflicted against those I saw on television, at the cinema, or among my peers. I needed help to reinforce those values in the daily grind. That help came as I started high school.

The First Test

One fall evening, the phone rang and as I picked it up and was surprised to hear the voice of someone speaking with what seemed to be a British accent. It was a Legionary of Christ. His name was Peter and he was from New Zealand. Someone had informed the Legion that one of the boys in the family was interested in the priesthood. A few weeks later, he and an Irish priest, Fr Owen, were at our home dining with the family. They had phoned our parish priest, Fr Joe, who also joined us for dinner. I was impressed with a video of Legionaries being ordained by Pope John Paul II. I liked Brother Peter and I thought Fr Owen must be okay because he got on well with my dad and Fr Joe. They invited my brothers and I to visit the seminary in Cheshire, Connecticut during Christmas vacation, and so we went a month later. A new chapter opened in my life.

The Legion’s facility in Cheshire was impressive. It was a beautiful, spacious property, with a clean look. The red brick building was large and well-kept. But most impressive of all were dozens of young men in black cassocks. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had never seen anything like it in my life, not even in the movies. They were happy, friendly guys. Where did they come from, and how is it that I never heard of these guys before?

Later, we played basketball with some of them, as well as with some Legionary priests. At first I thought, ‘This won’t even be a real game’. I was soon disabused of that notion. They played a skillful, intense and competitive game. My first concept of the priesthood as a humdrum job for older men, fell to pieces. I recognized a formula that fit my personality: men who struck a fine balance between sports and spiritual life. I liked it, and I wanted it. But I wasn’t ready to pack my bags for the seminary just yet. I was only fourteen and far from making a major life decision. Still, while I was there, I distinctly remember thinking, “If I am going to be a priest, it would be here.”

The experience at the seminary in Cheshire was of paramount importance for my spiritual life. I felt renewed in my faith. The Christian life now looked dynamic and attractive. I would emulate the Legionaries’ example. This experience came none too late. I realized that I had been thrown a life-preserver for my faith and I clung to it greedily.

Strength to Witness to Christ

Despite my high esteem for the Legion, I was shocked when my brother David, who is just a year older than I am, told me that he was going to seminary. I was proud of him, but felt like I was losing my best friend. We had been inseparable until that moment. Now he was moving on. But the pain made me stronger and helped me understand what it means to put God ahead of other good things, even ahead of your closest relations.

David entered the minor seminary in 1993. Visiting him and speaking with other Legionaries, I learned about a group of lay Catholics who associated themselves with the Legion’s work of evangelization. This group was called the Regnum Christi Movement. For me, their ideal of living an authentic Christian life and actively spreading the Gospel spelled a recipe for right living. I was ripe for a challenge in living my faith and this was it.

At this time, my faith matured. Previously, I lived it defensively and with reserve. Now, I saw that faith must be lived in the full light of day. I became convinced that where Christians keep silence and take no action, evil thrives. This conviction polarized my thinking and played a decisive role in my vocational discernment. From now on, I fearlessly proclaimed my faith. I became a member of Regnum Christi in February, 1996. That same school year, I was voted co-MVP of the football team, homecoming king, and prom king. Things could not have been better for me.

At David’s urging, I attended a vocational retreat a few months earlier. During those days of prayer, I recognized that Jesus was calling me to follow him. I decided to try out the Legion’s discernment program sometime later.

The Delay

The next two years I attended the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, some forty minutes from Pittsburg, PA. Vibrant faith, a joyful atmosphere, and a general sense of welcome made the campus a sweet spot to live. The presence and company of the Franciscans formed an integral and positive part of my college life. Fr Larry Uhlman, T.O.R. generously mentored me for a year. Professor James Gaston engaged my mind like no one had before. He helped students appreciate our Western cultural inheritance and challenged us make it bear fruit once again in contemporary society. That complemented my spiritual awakening in Regnum Christi. I began to think, “If the initial spread of Christianity truly improved our world, then it could only reach its real potential through the new evangelization.” I wanted to take a part in making that happen.

Then something began to stir again in my soul. I began to think about who the true catalysts of evangelization are: God, certainly. But after him, who? Businessmen, teachers, police officers…who? “Religious and priests,” I thought. I had a shot at doing what they do, but would I? Should I? Could I? I was not sure about being a legionary. But I didn’t want to be any other kind of priest. I didn’t know what to do.

The Front Lines

Those same years at college I began dating a wonderful girl from California. All seemed right, but then the Lord began to speak to me through others. Out of the blue, a certain religious sister from Africa asked me if I thought about being a priest. Later, a close friend repeated the same idea. And one fine day, for no particular reason, a cafeteria employee startled me by asking me point blank about being a priest. Little things happened that reinforced the same idea, like a piece of paper blowing across campus that landed face up in front of me. In big bold letters I read an invitation to attend an evening of vocational discernment. I acutely experienced the tension between wanting to start a career and marry the girl I was dating on the one hand…on the other, the unsettling notion that God wanted something else for me.

Things came to a head the summer after I finished my sophomore year. I was set to attend Oxford in an exchange program that fall. I weighed the options regarding total dedication to the Lord or a career in the professional world. Given the clear objections in my mind against the former, I settled on pursuing a career in the world of academia. However, given the prior signs, I wanted to make sure the decision was the right one. So I prayed intensely for a month for the light to know God’s will and the strength to follow it. On July 5, 1998 the light and strength both came together in a single instance and struck me like lightening. In retrospect it is even strange how it all happened. When I came face to face with the founder of the Legion of Christ, the first thing he exclaimed was, “A vocation, a vocation!” Something inside me said, “Ok, this is it. This is my calling.” Then he asked me: “If Christ calls you, will you follow him?” For some reason, I didn’t feel that I should tell him what I had just decided in my heart, so I simply left the question open saying: “Yes, if He calls me.” But the die was already cast. I was going to join the seminary.

The Grace to Answer

I waited a few days before I told my parents or anyone else. I wanted to make sure the decision was secure before I brought it out into the open. I called up my spiritual director, Fr Michael, a Legionary priest. He had never mentioned anything about the priesthood to me in our two years of friendship. He was surprised but gave me his blessing. Then, I told my family and broke the news to my girlfriend. It was difficult, but a profound sense of peace reigned in my heart. The experience of leaving home and finally going to the seminary was bittersweet, yet I felt that I was going where God wanted me to be. The same peace has accompanied me these thirteen years of preparation for the priesthood. It has not abandoned me, not even as the waves of bad news rocked my congregation in recent years. For that peace, I give thanks and praise to God.

 

FR MICHAEL DANIEL MACIBORSKI was born in Detroit, Michigan, February 20, 1978. He graduated from Lake City High School and studied at the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio. He entered the seminary of the Legion of Christ in 1998, in Cheshire, Connecticut, where he did his novitiate and studied classical humanities. He did youth work for three years from the Legion’s house of apostolate in Potomac, Maryland. Later, he received his license in philosophy in 2008 and his bachelor’s degree in theology in 2011 from the Legion’s Pontifical Regina Apostolorum College, in Rome, Italy. He currently lives in Cracow, Poland, where he assists in the Legion’s work with youth.