Deacons Stephen Pullis (left) and Eric Fedewa (right) will be ordained June 11 at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit.
Please note: An informational box printed with this article in the June 3 edition of the newspaper listed the incorrect time of the ordination Mass. The Mass will be celebrated at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 11 at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral.
Detroit — The two men who this month will become Archdiocese of Detroit’s newest priests both heard God calling them to the priesthood as they were in college, preparing for secular careers.
Deacons Eric W. Fedewa and Stephen A. Pullis, who have been in formation at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, will be ordained to the priesthood at 10 a.m. on Saturday, June 11, at the Cathedral of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Detroit.
“I began to realize that God was calling me to the priesthood during my junior year in college,” said Deacon Pullis in an e-mail interview with The Michigan Catholic.
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Deacon Pullis was raised in Sterling Heights, where he attended SS. Cyril & Methodius Parish. Studying at St. Mary’s College of Madonna University in Orchard Lake, Deacon Pullis was on his way to obtaining a bachelors degree in political science.
“I was really interested in law at the time,” he said. “Meanwhile, I was going to Eucharistic Adoration each week on campus.”
One day during his senior year, he says he had a life-changing experience.
“I was praying with my eyes closed and suddenly I had an image of myself as a priest,” he said. “I had not thought much about the priesthood before this and I was very startled at this image.”
Talking with his campus minister, Miles Christi priest Fr. Xavier Ray, he furthered his discernment with prayer and retreats.
Looking forward to his ordination, Deacon Pullis says he is excited to strive to bring Christ’s presence to others.
“I have felt the presence of God in a special way when a priest is present at the most important moments of people’s lives, and I look forwards to bringing that presence to those whom I meet,” he said. “Without Jesus, our lives flounder for meaning. Therefore, I hope to bring His light and His love wherever I go.”
One of his strongest devotions, he adds, is to Our Lady of Guadelupe. He said, “I dedicate my priesthood to her maternal care.”
Deacon Fedewa, who grew up in Shelby Township — belonging to St. Lawrence Parish in Utica — and who currently serves his diaconal internship at St. Frances Cabrini Parish in Allen Park, earned a bachelors degree in marketing from Oakland University in Rochester Hills.
In the spring of 2004 in the year he graduated, he said he experienced “a re-conversion” in his faith.
“The leader of the Charismatic Prayer Group at St. Lawrence Parish asked me to pray a little every night and ask Jesus if He was calling me to be a priest,” he said. “After a month of reluctantly doing so, I started to strongly feel the call to the priesthood.”
He entered Sacred Heart in the fall of 2005.
Asked about what he looks forward to about the priesthood, Deacon Fedewa said he hopes to faithfully follow God’s will by serving His people.
“I look forward to living out my spiritual paternity by shepherding and nourishing the Lord’s people through the sacraments, and being an instrument for Christ in bringing souls to Him and home to the Father by the power of the Holy Spirit.”
“All the vocations to the priesthood we need are out there in the archdiocese,” he added, “but they need to be nurtured and encouraged in order to be discovered.”
