A quarter century has passed since Father Shay Auerbach was ordained a Jesuit priest. The pull towards the priesthood was there since he was a child, but it wasn’t until graduate school that he truly felt it could be his calling. Many of his Georgetown professors were Jesuit priests, and learning about how they brought the universal Church to the most remote parts of the world fascinated him.
“I saw that the priest occupied that privileged role of bringing God and people together,” he noted. In time, he would fill that role himself.
Father Auerbach was ordained in 1999 as a member of the Society of Jesus, also known as the Order of the Jesuits, after 11 years of intense study, mission work, and prayer. His journey has sent him across the country and around the globe.
“It is amazing, and I am humbled by it,” he said of this milestone. “The privilege to celebrate the sacraments; to preach and help people encounter God in their lives; in the confessional helping people experience God’s love, mercy, and liberation.”
“At baptisms and the entrusting of the new Christian to their journey with God,” he continued. “At the side of the deathbed, helping the dying person and his or her family at the end of their journey … helping facilitate hope in the experience of sometimes tragic loss.”
Fortitude and flexibility
Committing to become a Jesuit priest is not a small or swift task. Ordination requires extensive academic and mission work.
“Believe it or not, those 11 years went very quickly. I was always kept very busy,” Father Auerbach said.
He was attracted to the Jesuits because of their focus on cultural appreciation for the communities they serve, as well as the importance of intellectual pursuits for priests.
Father Auerbach was born and raised in Hawaii and is of Native Hawaiian and Chinese ancestry. He saw firsthand how the Hawaiian language was all but erased over time. He was impressed with the way the Jesuits worked to keep cultural traditions and languages alive in places like Paraguay and China while still spreading the Gospel.
“Jesuit formation aims to develop the potential of the whole person – body, mind and spirit – for the universal mission of the Society and at the service of the Church,” explained Father Auerbach. “Ideally, a formed Jesuit is available to be sent on any mission anywhere, and the length of formation is to prepare for this flexibility.”
To this end, the formation program requires dedication to ministry, intellectual and personal development, cultural sensitivity, and knowledge of the developing world, among other subjects. Long periods of time are also spent in prayer, including silent retreats that span 30 days.
“The retreat helped me to understand better how God is present in my life and how he daily calls me to deeper freedom to be a better disciple,” said Father Auerbach. “I began to see, experience, and reflect on the beauty, brokenness, and the hope of the human condition.”
He also made lasting friendships with brother priests, such as Father Steve Planning, whom he met on his very first day of entering the Novitiate of St. Isaac Jogues, now known as the Jesuit Center for Spiritual Growth, in 1988.
“He’s been a dear friend and a real support as a fellow priest,” Father Planning said. “It’s wonderful to have a friend who’s a good solid priest and understands the joys and struggles of what it means to be a priest. I consider myself extremely blessed to have him in my life.”
Father Auerbach’s Jesuit journey has taken him from an AIDS hospice in Manhattan to an Indigenous community in Mexico. He taught simultaneously at a mostly Black grammar school and a mostly white preparatory school, and organized events to bring students from both schools together.
He studied in Pennsylvania, California, and Guatemala. He received degrees from Fordham University and University of California, Berkeley. And then he ended up at Sacred Heart, Richmond, where he has remained for 17 years.
Missionary heart
First built in 1901, Sacred Heart has served as a sanctuary for a number of communities for more than a century. After segregation ended, smaller Black churches were closed, and parishioners of all races were integrated there.
Over the past three decades, there has been an influx of Latino parishioners, and Masses in Spanish have been offered there since 1992. Father Auerbach’s diverse cultural background, fluency in Spanish, and missionary heart made him well-suited for this parish.
Patricia Rollston is a longtime parishioner and has known Father Auerbach since he joined the community. “Father Shay is a wonderful individual with skills, talents, and other God-given abilities that are instrumental to the salvation of countless souls,” she said.
She noted that he takes time to welcome each new parishioner and learn their individual story. He has traveled to Central America and immersed himself in the culture there to learn more about some of his parishioners. He has even accompanied parishioners to visit their families in Mexico, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala.
The parish has flourished under Father Auerbach, and now consists of nearly 7,500 parishioners.
“As a person, I find Father Shay delightful. As a priest, Father Shay is exceptional,” said Rollston. “His words give solace and hope. He lives a life of service to God. We are blessed and thankful that God sent him to us.”
Deacon Michael Carlucci noted that he became a deacon at Sacred Heart in part due to Father Auerbach’s encouragement. “I believe he was meant for the priesthood … and the right person at the right time to be pastor of Sacred Heart,” he said.
Deacon Carlucci is impressed with Father Auerbach’s personal, yet instructive, homilies. Much like his Georgetown professors before him, Father Auerbach has a knack for making Church history and doctrine interesting, and connecting it to modern day life.
“Father Shay has a tremendous heart for the entire community and works tirelessly to meet its needs,” he said. “He lives out the call of St. Ignatius, which is to offer God everything of himself, and with the strength he receives, to spend himself for the benefit of others.”
Credibility in the community
The parish’s Sacred Heart Center works to help the most vulnerable in the community. Families can get help from the food bank, learn English, receive medical care from its clinic, and connect with immigration and other services. It also provides youth programs such as summer day camp, tutoring and mental health assistance.
“I think our work is so important because it gives the church a real credibility in the community we serve. We help people with what they need most,” said Father Auerbach. “We also try our best to help people experience welcome and dignity, because in their daily lives, this doesn’t always happen.”
Father Planning said his brother priest is “unique in his dedication to the people he serves. He is constantly available to them. It’s a big community with a tremendous amount of needs.”
Father Auerbach says the priesthood has changed him, too.
“I hope I have become more humble and caring and understanding,” he said. “Having been present for so many years in those experiences and spaces where God encounters his people, it is profoundly humbling. I just want to be a good priest.”
To learn more about the Sacred Heart Center, visit shcrichmond.org.