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 Br.
Dominic David Maichrowicz, OP
I was born and raised in Southern California in the Pasadena area, the eldest of three. I went to
public school my whole life was very successful in science and mathematics and so for college I went to Cal
Poly State University in San Luis Obispo, California which is well known for its engineering, architecture,
and agriculture. When I entered college my faith
wasn't very important to me. I had been confirmed in High School and I went to Mass every Sunday and that
was really about it.
At the time, I was dating an evangelical protestant and she
was constantly pressuring to have personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I went to a Newman Catholic
Center Mass one week and after Mass they had sign-up sheets for bible studies. I figured it would make the
girlfriend happy so I signed up and I even picked Monday nights so I could get it over with at the beginning
of the week. Sometimes it's those seemingly innocent choices that completely change your life.
The Monday night Bible Study leader knew scripture like the
back of his hand... and he was Catholic. And not only did he know scripture but he could explain and defend
all of Catholic Doctrine through scripture. For the first time in my life I had Mary, the Eucharist, the
Saints, the Papacy, Purgatory, you name it, all explained and defended. I began to realize the Church wasn't
just some organization or tradition I was born into but was actually founded and maintained in Truth and
reality. And of course I wasn't the only one, everyone else in the group was also discovering their faith
for the first time which brought us into this deep community of faith and friendship that grew and
flourished (We have already had three weddings from within the group and three more engagements... ).
The relationship with the evangelical protestant fell apart
(but not before I made her realize it was possible to have deep relation with Christ and be Catholic) and by
the middle of my second year I reach a point where I said to God, “whatever You want for my life, I'll do,
Your will”... You have to be careful what you ask for. The next thing I know everyone just starts telling I
should become a priest, the idea just keeps popping up in my head and I can't get it out and this goes on
for two weeks strait. And you do know what I did? I panicked, I freaked out, and I got angry with God. I had
said “whatever You want” but this was not part of the deal. It all finally stopped and I pushed it to the
back of my mind with no intention of ever thinking about it again but it was too late: the seed had been
planted and slowly the idea grew on me. About a year later at a Eucharistic Conference God asked again and I
said “if this is what You want we'll give it a shot.” I still had my reservations and I think all of them
had to do with celibacy, but I was willing to go one step at a time. I was also completely willing for God
to change His mind.
So I felt called but I didn't know where. I managed through
a friend to get permission to spend a summer in a monastery so I could pray about it. While I was there I
fell in love the contemplative prayer life and simultaneously realized that without some kind of active
outlet I was going to go crazy. I loved the monastery but it was not quite my calling. I also started
reading the saints like St. Thomas Aquinas who wore the Dominican habit and is one of the greatest
philosophers in all of history. I was drawn to his thinking; it made sense unlike the stuff I was learning
at school.
So I had this love of study and a desire to teach, I wanted
a life both very contemplative and very active, and I knew the joy of a good faith community. Come to find
out those are the four pillars of Dominican life: Study, prayer, ministry, and community. On top of that, I
had always had a love of the rosary and a growing love for a number of Dominican Saints. It was all God's
subtle way of pointing toward Dominican life.
In the meantime I
got a Spiritual Director; I did a study and gave some presentations on Pope John Paul II's Theology of the
Body which cleared up all of my reservations regarding celibacy (and even fostered a desire to live it!); I
graduated with my degree in Computer Engineering, of all things; I worked for a few months and then did a
semester at Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio; and then I made contact and visited the Dominicans
and I found not a perfect community, but a group of men struggling for the kind of life I wanted to live.
I would still love to teach in the Order but more and more
I think reflecting on my college experience draws me to work in Newman Centers. To really help students who
like myself really discover the faith and discover it as Truth for the first time when they enter college.
To help them realize that all of us have a vocation. God calls all of to something: married, single,
religious, priestly... He calls all of us to life and relationship with Him.
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