When people think of priests, all they consider is their spirituality and role as spiritual leaders within the Church community, failing to realize that priests, too, have personal lives and hobbies. On March 27th, two priests, Fr. Robert Murphy and Fr. Edwin Leonard, a Jesuit and a diocesan respectively, spoke to students about their own paths to the priesthood and the humanity of its members.
A native of New Orleans, Fr. Murphy attended Jesuit High School of New Orleans and the University of South Alabama, majoring in physical therapy. Out of college, he moved to Laurel, Mississippi and worked at a hospital, but, because of his love of working with athletes, Fr. Murphy went back to school part time to earn a degree as an athletic trainer. Although he saw himself as living the “American Dream,” as he called it, Fr. Murphy knew God was calling him for something else. Deciding to give the priesthood a shot, Fr. Murphy entered the training to become a Jesuit in 2003. After two years of training, he had to decide if he wanted to fully commit to becoming a Jesuit, and, after making that commitment, he “finally felt that peace and contentment [he] had been searching for.” Continuing his training for nine more years, three of which included teaching Spanish, here, at Jesuit Dallas, Fr. Murphy was finally ordained on June 6, 2014. He is currently the pastor of a bilingual church in San Antonio.
Fr. Leonard grew up in the Dallas area, graduating from high school in Coppell. He then enrolled at Texas Tech University and later transferred to 
Texas A&M University. Much like Fr. Murphy, Fr. Leonard knew God was calling him to make a change in his life. It was at Texas A&M that he discerned the call to join a mission group known as National Evangelization Team (NET) Ministries. Fr. Leonard served with NET for two years before he attended the Franciscan University of Stuebenville, earning a degree in theology. Then, he made the decision to enter pre-theologate program in order to help him prepare for the priesthood. After that, he went to Houston to attend Major Seminary at St. Mary’s and was ordained a priest on June 2, 2012. On the topic of committing fully to to becoming a priest, Fr. Leonard explained, “There’s a moment as you’re journeying toward the priesthood in which you make the switch from God pushing you to taking your own initiative.” He is now the Director of Vocations for the whole of the Diocese of Dallas and resides at St. Monica.
In addition to their priestly duties of celebrating mass and hearing confession, both Fr. Leonard and Fr. Murphy have interests outside the Church. Fr. Murphy, who actually helped coach the freshman soccer team while at Jesuit, still enjoys sports. Fr. Leonard is a huge fan of Crossfit, working out regularly at Crossfit Strong in Dallas. However, he also even admitted to “watch[ing] a few episodes of Netflix” before bed some nights.
When asked about the goal of the talks, Fr. Leonard remarked, “I want guys to know that priests are normal people,” a theme he and Fr. Murphy instilled in their listeners throughout the day. Contrary to popular belief, neither Fr. Leonard nor Fr. Murphy wear their clerical clothing all the time, only dawning them when required to by their priestly duties.
“Even though I can’t have a traditional family with a wife or children, I am still able to have a family of Jesuit brothers,” Fr. Murphy commented, when asked how his vows affected his day-to-day life. Fr. Leonard echoed this idea, remarking that he is still able to have close relationships with people because of his role in the Church.
Because of his duty as the vocations director in the Diocese of Dallas, Fr. Leonard has to stay up to date on popular movies and music and attends both the Austin City Music Festival and the AMC Movie Festival, an event that shows all the movies nominated for best picture at The Oscars in a twenty-four hour timespan.
Fr. Murphy and Fr. Leonard included all these details about their interests and lives before joining the priesthood in their discussions with Jesuit students to stress that they are simply normal people with a love of God and the Church.
For anyone interested in joining the priesthood, either as a Jesuit or diocesan priest, contact Fr. Leonard at [email protected] or any on-campus Jesuits.
