A recent graduate of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), Todd Duncan has been a practicing Catholic all his life. College is a time when some young people drift away from their faith, but it had the opposite effect on Todd, and in an unexpected way. It all began freshman year, when Todd realized that his Protestant friends had a much better grasp than he did on matters of faith, the Bible, and even theology. God’s grace led Todd to true fellowship, to the St. Irenaeus Center, and to a profound love of the Catholic Church.

Todd was born into a loving family in small town Pennsylvania. His mother was Roman Catholic and his father a Methodist. While his father continued to attend Methodist church, Todd’s mother was responsible for raising Todd and his older sister in the Catholic Church. Todd’s mother ensured they attended Mass, learned their prayers, received the sacraments, and attended CCD. She even taught in the CCD program at the small-town parish that they attended. Todd has fond memories of this church, “I have a lot more appreciation for it [now]. It was a good place to be because you got a sense of community there; and the community and the parish was not that differentiated. Everyone knew everyone and there was a real concern for each other.” Todd describes himself as “One of the kids who paid more attention in CCD. For example, if we played Bible trivia, I was the kid that everyone wanted on their team.”

In 10^th grade, Todd began to serve regularly in church as a lector and an usher. People thought him to be a model young parishioner who had a marked maturity in his faith.

By 11^th grade confirmation, Todd continued to be one of the outstanding students in his CCD class, which had dwindled to about seven or eight teenagers. Before confirmation, a former CCD teacher asked him, “Do you think you are ready?” Todd confidently said “Yes.” His former teacher assured him: “We all think you are ready too”. Todd remembers, “I nodded, because I was impressed with how much I knew. Coming out of that parish I thought, ‘Well, I am doing pretty well for myself!’” However, Todd now has a different perspective, “In reality, I was well on his way to becoming the typical Catholic teen male: going to Mass when convenient, not doing anything else, but feeling good about my state of religion”.

Upon graduation, Todd went on to attend RIT. At the beginning of freshman year, an orientation assistant invited him to a Bible study for his dorm. “I figured that I might as well have something to do on a Thursday night, so I agreed,” he said. He was surprised when he saw 15 students from his small honors dorm packed into the room. “I was impressed [with the turnout]. And I wanted to impress them with my extraordinary knowledge! ” he says tongue in cheek.

Most of the students in the group were Protestant; Todd was one of only two Catholics. Being around a group of Protestant students was definitely a new experience for him. He was soon in awe of the other students’ level of knowledge regarding scripture. He remembers a time during the first few weeks of the Bible study when the leader announced they were going to study the book of Hebrews. While the other students were busy turning pages in their Bibles, she kindly leaned over to Todd to help him find it. Todd thought, “Is it that obvious that I don’t know what I’m talking about?”

This was Todd’s first real encounter with mainstream Protestantism. While his father was a Methodist, he and his dad had never really engaged in deep theological discussion about the differences between Protestants and Catholics. “I was blown away [by the other students],” Todd says. “Here were people who were my own age and they had me beaten in every single category. They had more zeal, more biblical knowledge, and some had better theological know-how. And I didn’t really know how to handle that”. However, it did inspire him to increase his own understanding of his Christian faith.

In addition to participating regularly in his dorm Bible study, Todd joined a Baptist- Campus Ministry. This group provided lunchtime discussions on the Bible, retreats, and other events. Todd was less impressed with the Catholic groups that he encountered on campus, and spending freshman year with Baptist Campus Ministries provided a more desirable alternative. These activities influenced Todd to increase and deepen his understanding of Christianity and what it means to be a Christian. He began to learn more about Scripture.

However, as a Catholic, he was usually in the minority. “For the first time, I actually had to defend my theology,” he said. Todd continued going to Mass every week with the exception of one weekend when he attended a Baptist service.

He made friends through these groups, one of which made a particular impact on Todd. This young man was also in his freshman year at RIT. He and Todd were in a lot of the same classes and switched majors early freshman year. This provided a common ground for friendship. The young man was a Methodist, and he and Todd debated from time to time about Catholic versus Protestant theology. Todd’s friend also attended Bible study sessions at the St Irenaeus Center in Rochester. He shared some of the things he was learning with Todd, and encouraged Todd to attend.

The students then went home for the summer. In August, Todd received a call from his friend, with the surprising news that he had been doing a lot of praying and was planning to convert to Catholicism. Todd couldn’t help but wonder, “Why does he want to become Catholic? While I still considered myself a Catholic, I had been impressed by the knowledge and zeal that Protestants have.” It made little sense at the time, and Todd knew he had to find the out the reason for his friend’s decision.

His friend had been attending Mass, and talked about his awe of the Eucharist (though he was not able yet to receive it). Todd remembered the Baptist service that he had attended the prior school year. While Todd found the sermon inspiring and full of substance, he definitely felt the lack of the Eucharistic presence. “Despite my underdevelopment I knew something was missing.” A few years later, his friend went on to study for the Catholic priesthood.

Sophomore year, Todd began to attend Bible studies at the St. Irenaeus Ministry and met the director, David Higbee. “I was really impressed with the way David was able to present Scripture and theological topics in a way that combined Protestant zeal with a historical, Catholic perspective.”

Todd also became involved with the St. Titus fellowship at the St. Irenaeus Center, a group for young people that seeks to serve the cause of orthodox discipleship, approaching issues from the perspective of the Church’s historic understanding

Todd began meeting more and more young Catholics in the Rochester area. Through the year he was attending three Bible studies a week at St. Irenaeus. He enjoyed learning more about the various topics that were explored by the group. They discussed everything from theological subjects, to Scripture, to interesting articles. The topics were interesting and the discussion lively.

As he studied Scripture in greater detail, Todd started to realize what he had been missing, David Higbee’s sessions and clear conviction about Catholicism made a significant impact on Todd. For example, gaining a better understanding of how the prophets pointed to Jesus Christ in Scripture made him see Catholicism in whole a new light

Todd describes his sophomore year as an important step in figuring out how the Catholic faith fit into his life. “St Irenaeus and St. Titus got me to think and pray about this faith that I supposedly had. It got me to a point where I wasn’t content with just going to Mass when it was convenient, or saying a few prayers before going to bed. These young people I met [at St. Irenaeus], they weren’t my usual conception of the zealous Christian. They were real people with a strong Christian faith who happened to be Catholic. Other than the Protestants that I had met in college, I had never seen anyone with that kind of zeal.”

Todd again went home that summer. This time, “Something wasn’t the same because I was lacking the friends that I had made in Rochester. In high school I had some very good friends; friends who I would do anything for. But [at that time] I had not realized how much we were missing in that bond. There was something about this newly-discovered Catholic fellowship that I missed.”

Junior year began and Todd returned to Rochester. He remembers this as a very good year. “I really started to feel a sense of community, especially among the people at St. Irenaeus. To me the faith community had always been my parents and people I’d meet once or twice at church, but there was never a real core purpose to anything I’d been in before. But at St. Irenaeus, [I met] people with drive and people with vision. It wasn’t always directed to an immediate goal, but I could tell they were striving. That really roused something in me.”

Todd was also happy that his junior year roommate started coming to St. Titus with him. “That was probably one of the best things for me”, Todd says. He describes his roommate as, “A good man, a good Christian. [He had] a decent amount of theological savvy, so I could discuss things with him and debate a little. He was not Catholic, but we still had a great sense of common brotherhood. If there is one thing that really impressed me in college, it was the number of good, steady Protestants out there. We might not agree on everything, and I certainly hope one day we can unite under one Church. But I respect their amount of zeal and devotion.”

However, he became less enchanted with some of his other Protestant friends. “I’m not categorically blown away like I used to be” he says. “As I started to develop in this Catholic faith, I began to see a bunch of things that surprised me. They had this amazing devotion freshman year, but I haven’t seen much development. It is kind of frustrating to look at them and see the stagnation there. This was something I had always associated with myself, with young Catholics: just getting to a point and settling in. I [now] see this in a lot of my friends from college.” He still has a lot of respect for Protestants. While he is much more solid in his Catholic faith, he acknowledges, “You can’t deny the life in other denominations.”

Todd spent a good part of the next summer working in Rochester. “That summer was the most blessed time in my life. I talked about the development of my faith and development of my community. For the first time, I also started to develop an honest sense of family, in the sense of a Christian family.” As to the people he has met at St. Irenaeus, “These are men who I actually look at like brothers.” In some ways, Todd feels that he and his friends are similar to the early Christians in that they have a strong faith and a “oneness of worship”.

“Of course there are the older men that frequent the Irenaeus center. Something that really helps my sense of community is seeing their involvement. I think people in my age group have a lot of idealism, and that is very good but can also crumble into cynicism when nothing seems to go right. In a lot of the older men at St. Irenaeus, I see a steady pragmatism that only comes with age and experience and that I think every young man can benefit from.”

Todd graduated college in the spring of 2008 and is beginning a new chapter in his life. This is the start of his fifth year in Rochester. He calls the fact that he has grown more in understanding of his Catholic faith, a “tremendous understatement”. His life has changed in several ways.

For one, Todd approaches the sacraments a lot more seriously. “There comes a point where it suddenly becomes a part of who you are. When you make that realization it makes you encounter the sacraments differently.” For example, receiving Communion as the full Divinity has become truly awe inspiring. And before, he had gone to Confession just once or twice a year. “I now have more of a realization about just how affected I am by sin, but not in a depressed or despairing way. One of the things I heard over and over early in college was the need to have a ‘personal relationship with Jess Christ’. I used to push that off as ‘Protestant talk’. But now, sin means offending a God who is a truly part of me had made it much more serious, much more personal.” These days, Todd attends Confession much more frequently.

He also evangelizes to others. For the past few years, Todd and a friend have run a Bible study at St. John Fisher College. Their group welcomes all denominations, but provides a Catholic perspective. Todd continues to hope for future reconciliation of all Christians under one Church.

Learning to run a Bible study requires him to continue learning and growing spiritually. He has found that being a leader in such a group is a lot different than being a student. “It made me want to look at the scripture in greater detail once I had to teach someone else about it. This forces you to understand and look at things in depth.” He often finds himself doing research in the St. Irenaeus library in an attempt to understand certain biblical passages and be able to explain them to others.

He is also learning the ropes of working with a student population where both attendance and attention can fluctuate. Often, Todd is very enthusiastic and well-prepared about a particular topic, but must figure out how to convey his knowledge in a meaningful way that captures and holds others’ attention.

He has realized that the achievement of material wealth no longer holds the same attraction for him as it did before college. He wants to focus his efforts on renewing the faith in Rochester, and bring others back to the traditional Catholic faith. Todd also sees himself getting married someday.

Todd’s parents are supportive of their son. “They can definitely see the change in who I am.” He is grateful to them. “My parents laid the foundation,” he explains. “If they hadn’t brought me up as a Christian I wouldn’t be where I am today.”

In speaking at a Men’s Prayer Breakfast a few years ago, Todd described how he was struck by the Gospel of Luke, where Jesus says:

Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes; truly, I say to you, he will gird himself and have them sit at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or in the third, and finds them so, blessed are those servants” (Luke 12:37-38).

Todd explains, “There are a lot of stories/allegories like this in the Bible. Before it had seemed to me to be kind of sneaky on Jesus’ part that if people are supposed to be waiting for you on the first watch, why not only come then? Now I thank God He didn’t come on the first watch because I would have been asleep.”

Todd also quotes Psalm. 93:17:

Were not the Lord my help, my soul would be dwelling in a silent grave‘.

“Wow. That pretty much summarizes what I would have been if it had not been for the community I found here.”

God bless Todd in his future endeavors.