Short bio

        Here is the bio I wrote up for the Diocese of Des Moines' website. I'll be on there soon! ;-)

My name is Ryan Welch and I’ve lived in Des Moines since 2011. I first came to Des Moines as a missionary with FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) and was on Drake University’s campus, so St. Catherine of Siena was my parish, and now I call St. Augustin my home parish. I’ve been discerning the priesthood in some way, shape, or form since my last year in college, 2011. I grew up Catholic, but never had much of a prayer life, and didn’t live a Catholic Christian lifestyle for a few years in late high school/early college. However, as the last year of my collegiate career drew to a close and my prayer life was just starting to open, I realized that God might be calling me to do something rather radical.

Now FOCUS had been a huge part of my life for the last two years of college, and I grew immensely in my love for the Lord during that time. I wanted to have the impact on young men and women like the missionaries had done for me while I was in college. But the idea of the priesthood came up my senior year, too. I was definitely unprepared for this, as it had been the first time I had ever given it a thought. I spent more time thinking and praying about what I would do after graduation, finally praying the prayer that had haunted me for days. The prayer that, if I said it, I knew meant I could no longer live a double life. I could no longer give some of my heart to the Lord and most of it to me in my own selfishness. The prayer was simple, but I feared it: “Lord, I want your will to be my will, and my will to be your will.” So, after much deliberation, I decided I wanted God to be king of my life, I prayed the prayer, and continued to try to trust Jesus; to try and love Him. I felt great peace and joy over the coming weeks about joining FOCUS. And this was radical enough, right? Being on a college campus as a missionary to try and share the Gospel of Christ with students? And then teach them to become teachers themselves? I thought  so.

As a part of FOCUS, my two years in Des Moines as a missionary were very difficult, life-giving, sacrificial, and most enjoyable. These words are seemingly contradictory, but it seems to me that very few things in life are worth doing unless they are difficult in some way. In these 2 years as a missionary, I never gave up on the idea of the priesthood, and I continued to develop my prayer life. I desired to do the Lord’s will for my life, and thought that my vocation would probably be marriage. I had dated in high school and college, and again after FOCUS I dated, but nothing ever came to fruition. But I kept praying and going to Mass, always wanting the Lord’s will done for my life. Finally, in the fall of 2013, I made the connection that I could be a father to many, many people. Of course, I’ve known since childhood that a priest is indeed a father, but often the longest distance in the world is between my head and my heart. This was the tipping point for me, and I realized that for me to be happy (I mean, I was happy with my life, my job, friends, etc.), for me to be fulfilled, I would need to quit my current job and go to the seminary. Thankfully, I was accepted by Bishop Pates to enter the seminary in the spring of 2014.

       Life is an adventure, and in this adventure we all have a mission to carry out our universal call to know, love, and serve God. Please pray for me as I discern in what way God is calling me to do this privileged and fulfilling task.