“The Work of Human Hands” | The Eucharistic Necessity of Your Royal Priesthood
The Evening Includes:
Pre-event Reception during Check-In 6:30PM-7:00PM.
Most of us learned to pray, receive the sacraments, and help out at the parish. And without ever quite deciding to, we can begin to act as if holiness, faithfully pursued, will overflow into mission on its own. Often it doesn't. Piety and devotion stay in one compartment; work, social life, even family life remain in another. And "helping the Church" stays a good intention, or worse, becomes a box already checked by tithing and volunteer hours.
Devotion helps keep us on the vine, and contemplation gives the Spirit room to work in us, teaching us to see with our Lord, to move with him, to rest in him. But the call does not stop there. By baptism you share in Christ's royal priesthood. Fr. Michael Sweeney, OP, and Sean Bryan, co-founders of the Lay Mission Institute, will show what that means in practice: how the work of your hands is carried to the altar and united to Christ's own offering, how your particular mission is actually discerned, and what the Church can accomplish in no other way than through you.
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Speaker(s):
Sean Bryan | Papal Ninja
Sean is co-founder and Executive Director of the Lay Mission Institute. He studied physics at UC Berkeley, where he competed on the men's gymnastics team, then spent four years in Salesian ministry while discerning where God was calling him. In 2015 he completed his Master of Arts in Theology at the Dominican School of Philosophy & Theology, with a thesis on how the worship of the Church is lived out in the whole of everyday life. It was his engagement with Fr. Michael Sweeney, OP, together with the questions that thesis opened, that grew into the Lay Mission Institute.
For the past decade Sean has also been a staple of NBC's American Ninja Warrior, competing as the "Papal Ninja" in more than fifty episodes, along with All-Stars specials and several appearances at the Sasuke World Cup in Japan. It is the lay vocation in practice: the laity are called "to make the Church present and operative in those places and circumstances where only through them can it become the salt of the earth" (Lumen Gentium 33). @PapalNinja
Father Michael Sweeney, OP
Fr. Michael has given his life as a Dominican to a single conviction: that the layperson is no spectator in the Church but an apostle, sent by baptism to carry the Church's mission to the world in the ordinary circumstances of daily life, in the places the Church can reach in no other way.
In 1997 he co-founded the Catherine of Siena Institute with Sherry Weddell to help parishes form the laity for that mission; the Institute has since worked with more than 100,000 lay, religious, and ordained Catholics in hundreds of parishes and over 150 dioceses across five continents. As President of the Dominican School of Philosophy and Theology in Berkeley from 2004 to 2015, he taught the theology of vocation and the role of the laity, and founded the College of Fellows: lay men and women distinguished in their secular fields, collaborating to evangelize the culture. It was also at the Dominican School that he served on the thesis committee of a graduate student named Sean Bryan, an encounter that led, providentially, to the founding of the Lay Mission Institute.
Panelist Discussion:
Randall Williams | @theironinquisitor
Randall is a Bay Area native and former software engineer who is currently in his second year of seminary for the Archdiocese of San Francisco, discerning a vocation to the Catholic priesthood. He is known for his online ministry, “The Iron Inquisitor,” his work in street evangelism, and his work as an award-winning filmmaker. He is the recipient of the Truth and Beauty Award.
Catherine Dombrowski
Catherine is a Bay Area native and commercial real estate professional specializing in managing transactions from valuation and marketing through due diligence and closing. Throughout her career, she has worked with clients and cross-functional stakeholders to execute successful transactions and deliver strategic real estate solutions.
Beyond her professional work, Catherine is actively involved in her community and passionate about helping others grow. She volunteers with Bella Primary Care and is committed to supporting the Pro-Life Ministry.
Her Catholic faith is her daily anchor, and she is a parishioner at St. Dominic’s in San Francisco.
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🥂 Networking Reception:
Wine and small bites will be provided.
Come learn more about upcoming events, service initiatives, leadership development, travel opportunities, and ways to become more deeply engaged in Catholic life in the Bay Area.
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About Catholic Leaders in Action
Catholic Leaders in Action is a community formed in partnership with the Archdiocese of San Francisco, dedicated to connecting and equipping Catholics who desire to lead with conviction, excellence, and faith in everyday life.
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Ages 21–40· Business casual encouraged
Luma registration is required for entry.