Brian Williams chooses God at Catholic High signing day

Student body cheers for CHS senior signing on as seminarian this fall

Published: May 14, 2016

By Aprille Hanson
Associate Editor

Brian Williams, 18, a senior at Catholic High School in Little Rock, signs a letter of intent to be a diocesan seminarian presented by Bishop Anthony B. Taylor during Catholic High’s traditional signing day ceremony May 3.

On May 3, senior Brian Williams walked to the podium in the Catholic High School gym amid cheers from his fellow students to sign a letter of intent to study at the House of Formation and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock for his journey to the seminary and ultimately the priesthood.

But it wasn’t the first time God asked Williams to take a walk of faith. That came in the summer of 2014 at the Steubenville Youth Conference at Missouri State University.

“In adoration I was sitting there and I heard this voice say, ‘I love you.’ I thought it was my friend talking to me. Then I realized it wasn’t and it was God. That really broke me down. The next day there was Mass,” which included an ‘altar call’ asking those who felt a call to religious life to come forward, Williams said. “ … I had this voice, the same as in adoration, in my head that said ‘Go, walk.’ I was frozen with fear and the next thing I know I’m up and walking.”

Signing day has been a tradition at Catholic High since 2009. The ceremony mirrors signing a student athlete to a college team, complete with a polo shirt, ball cap and diocesan pin. Bishop Anthony B. Taylor, vocations director Msgr. Scott Friend and several other priests, deacons and seminarians attended the ceremony.

Though Williams, 18, has been cheered plenty of times on the football field as an offensive lineman for the Rockets football team, the congratulatory nature of his signing day was more about his personal commitment to God.

“I think it was also for me, ‘Wow I’m doing this.’ I was happy at that moment,” Williams said. “The cheering was great, but it was more the signing my name, putting my name on the piece of paper. It solidified it.”

Williams is the oldest child of Edward and Shannon Williams, members of Immaculate Conception Church in North Little Rock. His brother Andrew is a sophomore at Catholic High and his sister Maggie is a freshman at Mount St. Mary Academy.

Growing up, Williams attended Immaculate Conception School from fifth to eighth grade. He was influenced by the “Boys in Black” program, organized by former pastor Father James West, in which boys would visit different religious spots and learn about vocations.

Williams said the activities with Father West gave him his “first inkling of a calling” to the priesthood. Father West said he is happy for Williams, the Church and the diocese.

“I can say that I told him that day there have been few times in my life I’ve been so happy,” Father West said, who is now pastor at St. John Church in Hot Springs. “It was an amazing moment for me to witness that and I was just very grateful to God.”

At Catholic High, the graduating senior helped start a Bible study, is a member of ROTC and started the Rockets of Faith Club.

“We meet in the mornings in the chapel to discuss various aspects of our faith or stuff we want to learn about. We hold a Divine Mercy Chaplet on Fridays,” Williams said.

Rather than the structure of a theology club, it’s been a place where “guys could kind of relax more and get something off your chest.”

After attending Steubenville, he attended diocesan Search retreat where he said his faith was “set on fire.” In January 2015, he attended a discernment retreat and a month later, spent a weekend with the seminarians.

Last summer, Williams volunteered with the Evangelization Team, helping seminarians assist churches with various summer programs.

“I spent a lot of time coming up to the House of Formation, hanging out with the guys; becoming friends, becoming brothers,” Williams said. “I had a feeling of comfort inside of me. All these guys have the same kind of eye on the prize and that prize is priesthood, serving God.”

After Williams turned down other college opportunities, including admittance into honor programs, Shannon Williams said she and her husband began talking more with the diocesan vocations department as well as the parents of other seminarians.

“My first thought was, ‘Oh my gosh, you know you really have to be sure of this.’ Because your initial reaction to this is you’re giving up so much and you’re so young,” Shannon said, adding it’s the same reaction she would have had if he told her he was going to get married. “ … It was a process over time. I would say he never wavered. His father and I would waver simply because we’re trying to trust the maturity of a child we have a hard time getting to take out the garbage.”

However, she said her son’s faith and belief in his calling has been “very consistent and persistent and strong.”