‘I AM WITHOUT WORDS’

Diocesan faithful, through ingenious society, help local seminarian pay off college debt

Justin Hollingshead, (inset) a seminarian in the Diocese of Albany who is entering St. Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee, Wisc., at the end of August, could not have continued in formation without the help of The Labouré Society. The society is named after St. Catherine Labouré, who is best known for creating the Miraculous Medal after having visions from the Blessed Virgin Mary and whose body is housed in a reliquary (seen here) in the Chapel of the Miraculous Medal in Paris. (OSV News photo and photo provided)

Justin Hollingshead, after a winding formational journey, found himself in the Vocations Office at the Diocese of Albany.

After various people in his life had told him he would make a good priest, he was committed this time to accepting the vocational call to the priesthood.

“I just find such wonderful beauty in the sacrifice of the priesthood,” Hollingshead said. “The full dedication to the church, the bringing of sacraments to other people. I just don’t want to say ‘Hey, go talk to Father John.’ I want to have the knowledge and bring the sacraments to people. I feel the strong call to sanctity.”

On that day in the office with him were Father Brian Kelly, Vicar for Vocations, and Deacon Paul LeBlanc, Dean of Formation and Administration. As the discussion went on, the pair asked Hollingshead a variety of standard questions such as “Do you have a girlfriend?” Eventually, they asked him if he had any student loan debt? Hollingshead said yes from his days at Champlain College in Vermont.

“I never knew that student loan debt is an obstacle to ordination,” Hollingshead said. “I thought the Diocese writes a check.”

With average college student loan debt estimates running from $40,000 and up, this is not something that can easily be put aside. But Father Kelly told Hollingshead about The Labouré Society, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that helps eliminate student loan debt for individuals pursuing a vocation to religious life or the diocesan priesthood. 

It was formed in 2001 by Cy Laurent who met a young woman who was called to be a religious sister but could not pay off her college debt. Laurent did and soon realized this was a major obstacle, holding back perhaps thousands of men and women from religious life. Since then, The Labouré Society — named after St. Catherine Labouré who eventually joined the Daughters of Charity after receiving financial help from her brother and sister-in-law after her father refused and is best known for having visions of the Blessed Virgin Mary which inspired her to create the Miraculous Medal — has helped over 430 aspirants erase their debt, awarded them $15 million and 70 percent have gone to be ordained, profess final vows or are currently in formation.

And it seems the loquacious Hollingshead was made for The Labouré Society and its mission.

* * *

Born in Rensselaer with the gift of gab, Hollingshead was raised in Schodack by his grandparents. He went to Catholic High for two years, where his favorite class was theology with teacher Ann Pawlik, before finishing his schooling at Columbia High School. He had a discussion with a priest in the Diocese, who “was very kind to me and really it showed me that love that Christ has for each and every one of us.” And he added his grandmother, who had received all the sacraments but had fallen away from the church, told him out of the blue one day that “I think you would make a very good priest. You are kind and compassionate and you are very empathic and you are very good at talking with people.”

That comment particularly stuck with Hollingshead, who hadn’t received any of the sacraments, but he recalled thinking at the time “we don’t even go to church. How could I be a good priest?” 

After graduating from Columbia, he went to college to be a video game developer, didn’t like it, tried standup comedy, but at his grandmother’s urging did get a college degree, but it was in filmmaking. Throughout this time, he started to question his purpose in life.

“While I am doing that I am still having this spiritual struggle,” he said. “I am questioning why I am here on this earth. I bought a Bible thinking that maybe there is some information in there that will help lead me along. Maybe there is a God. I had some weird coincidences in life and started to think maybe there is a higher power. I just don’t know who he is.”

He was soon to find out. While working on a short film at the Vermont Catholic Center, he had a conversion experience. 

“Shortly thereafter I realized I want to be a light in the darkness,” said Hollingshead, who received the sacraments and entered the Catholic Church in 2021. “I want to lead other people to Jesus Christ and I am meeting with a lot of wonderful priests who are just fascinating and I am shocked by the fact that they can bring me peace and joy.”

After working at the Archdiocese of New York as a young adult communications coordinator, he returned to Albany to pursue the priesthood fulltime. But first there was that pesky debt.

* * *

Working with The Labouré Society, Hollingshead wrote down 100 names of people who he thought could help him. The society’s goal is to erase the debt completely or have a plan in place that continues to whittle it down while you are in formation. The key, he said, is one-on-one communication.

“You sit down with people one on one, you tell them your story, why you want to become a priest, talk about The Labouré Society and how it was founded,” he said. “(Then I would ask) ‘Could you prayerfully consider making a donation of ‘X’ amount of money so that I could enter into my vocation.’ 

“Many people have been very generous. I don’t touch any of that money, that gets sent to The Labouré Society. 100 percent of the donations goes to paying off not only my fund but those that are in my class.”

From one person, he met more, growing his network of donors, as well as making appeals at seven diocesan churches. 

One thing is for certain, and this is something that Hollingshead said many times during the interview, he could not have done this without the generosity of the faithful in the Diocese of Albany. 

“I am very blessed. With all of the stuff that is going on in our Diocese, so many negative things to focus on, the Catholic Community in Albany has stepped up and hit it out of the park,” said Hollingshead, who was assigned to Sacred Heart in Troy this summer where he taught Faith Formation and assisted Father John Yanas at Mass. “People have come out in droves. I have had people donate $5,000. I had somebody donate $10,000. I would say roughly 75-85 percent of my donors are right here in the Diocese of Albany. I am without words. I am so grateful how the people in the Catholic Community of the Diocese of Albany have stepped up to the plate to support me and my classmates. My class and I don’t want to do it without their help.”

* * *

The Diocese of Albany, like most in this country, has tried to increase vocations under the direction of Father Kelly. According to The Labouré Society, there may be as many as 10,000 people who hear a calling to religious life but can’t do it or won’t even attempt to because of college debt.

“The United States needs to alleviate that student loan debt and maybe it ends up being 1,000 (people entering religious life) but by spreading the message of Labouré we may be able to help men and women in Albany who won’t even mention a call to a religious vocation because they are too embarrassed by their student loans,” said Hollingshead, who is entering St. Francis de Sales Seminary in Milwaukee, Wisc., at the end of August.

“If they knew there was a solution. …. We need to spread this message: there is freedom from this student loan debt.”

To learn more about The Labouré Society, head to rescuevocations.org. To learn more about vocations in the Diocese of Albany, head to www.rcda.org/vocations.