Father Ben Weber

The road to town led to his vocation

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Father Ben Weber grew up in a remote country town in Nova Scotia, Canada. He and his family rarely traveled into the nearest major town—that is, except to attend Sunday Mass.

“Where I grew up, you couldn’t see your neighbors—there’s trees, woods. You were lucky if you saw a person in a day,” said Father Weber of his hometown of Scotsburn. “It was very secluded,” he said.

Their parish church, Stella Maris, was in the town of Pictou, a 25-minute drive away.

“Winter time was really bad,” he said, remarking that the commute into town was not often made for things other than Mass.

“My parents never missed Mass. If we could, we’d go a couple times a week,” said Father Weber, who credited his parents, James and Lori, for the support they gave him as he pursued his vocation. His mother, he said, converted to Catholicism after his parents married.

Although the Catholic population was small where he grew up, his vocation did not waver. “I started serving when I was about 7. I liked being up in the sanctuary,” he said.

He joyfully reported that and his twin brother Luke—who is now a Carmelite brother in Wyoming—often served at Mass together. As they pursued their vocations, they found the separate paths difficult at first, but said, “We came to the conclusion we have to accept what God wants,” Father Weber said. “I just always knew I wanted to be working in a parish.”

At St. Joseph’s Seminary, he found another type of brotherhood with his fellow seminarians. “They’re like my brothers. It never fills the gap but it’s definitely important to have someone you can lean on. They help you and you help them,” he said.

He will be ordained a priest of the Diocese of St. Catherines, Ontario.

As for being a priest, he said, “I can’t wait to administer the sacraments, and with God’s help, to be another Christ to the people.”

Father Ben Weber will celebrate his first Mass at St. Michael the Archangel Church in Dunnville, Ontario, Sunday, May 27, at 10:30 a.m. Father Michael Andrysiak, pastor, will be the homilist.