b'MARYS SERVICEAT New Marianist priests embrace pastoral roles in a pandemic-shaped world. By John SchroederT heir seminary days may be behind them, butPHOTO: MIKE BIZELLIthe learning process is still ramping up forMarianist Fathers Michael Chiuri and BrandonPaluch. Ordained together last August, the two menhave found their initial priestly assignments bothheartwarming and eye-opening.Brandon and I often talk about it, says Father Mike,referring to the daunting landscape they are navigat-ing due to COVID-19. Any future assignment willseem like a walk in the park, he says. Although Father Mike serves in pastoral roles pri-marily at Our Lady of the Pillar Parish, ChaminadeCollege Preparatory School and St. John Vianney HighSchool in St. Louis, he also gets occasional chances tominister at other Catholic high schools and a majormedical center in the area. Among students andparishioners, he has been heartily welcomed andsometimes coachedparticularly among the dailyMass crowd. They let me know how well I did, hesays, both in reference to homily content and voiceprojection. Im usually soft-spoken, so I sometimesneed reminders to keep my volume up!Father Brandon has an equally challenging assign-ment in San Antonio, balancing ministerial responsi-bilities at Holy Rosary Parish, St. Marys Universityand Central Catholic High School. In all these com-munities, people have been very kind and patientwith the new priest who doesnt know very much,he says lightheartedly.Its an encouraging start to their priestly ministriesand the latest chapter in a Marianist journey theyvebeen pursuing together for more than 15 years. AlthoughFather Mike hails from Nairobi, Kenya, and FatherBrandon grew up in suburban Chicago, the two firstmet in Los Angeles where each had begun a post-collegecareerMike, in business management, and Brandon,teaching in a Catholic grade school.Left: Father Michael Chiuri, SM18 Call 1.800.348.4732'