Toronto seminarians engage in intense missionary experience in northern Alberta

For the second summer in a row, a group of Toronto seminarians have been given a first-hand look at missionary life in northern Alberta.

Whether serving at Mass, organizing games for local youth or experiencing first-hand the daily challenges and joys of priesthood, it was an enriching experience that allowed them to plant seeds of faith wherever they went.

On June 20th, these four seminarians – Judel Villardo, Matthew Galli, Gabriel Nakonechny and Ashik Valookaran – returned home to the Archdiocese of Toronto. Though they kept a busy schedule in Grouard-McLennan – serving in High Prairie, McLennan, Grouard and elsewhere – they left with the sense that they have received much more than they gave.

“Even though the expectation is that we were there to serve, it feels like we received so much more, so I’m really grateful,” Gabriel reflected.

“Knowing how beautiful this archdiocese is and how welcoming the people are, if God willing we are to be priests, we know we have a second home in Grouard-McLennan, in our sister archdiocese,” Judel added.

This missionary trip is part of an initiative by Archbishop Frank Leo of the Archdiocese of Toronto, to offer his seminarians a pastoral experience with their partner missionary archdiocese – Grouard-McLennan. Toronto seminarians Alessandro Sousa and Andrew Wuebbolt were the first to take part in this initiative, working predominantly out of St. Paul’s Church in High Prairie last summer.

As this year’s seminarians prepared for their mission trip, joined by their chaplain Fr. Frederick Chung, their ambitions were rooted in evangelization. Above all, they hoped to be witnesses to their Catholic faith, and to take every opportunity they could to share that faith wherever they were assigned.

“As seminarians, as potential priests, one aspect of our vocation is to bring Christ to people and to bring people to Christ,” Matthew said. “So I was just looking forward to getting to know the people, to see what life is like in Alberta, to get a sense of what the needs of the people were, and to provide for that in whatever way God was calling us to.”

The seminarians arrived in Grande Prairie on May 17th and quickly set out to the former chancery building in McLennan, which became their home base for the rest of the trip.

When asked about their experiences of life in the archdiocese, the seminarians especially wanted to emphasize the many moments of hospitality and welcoming. The first experience of that welcoming came right away on their first Sunday in McLennan, when they were invited to the family farm of the Lepage family. They got to check out the farm equipment, see the crops, pigs and chickens, and play with the youth of the family.

“That was the right way to start – being embraced very warmly and generously gave us a lot of energy to push forward into the mission,” Gabriel said.

“It was wonderful to experience how close-knit the Catholic community in McLennan was,” Ashik reflected. “The village-like atmosphere of being taken care of by the community, in terms of being welcomed over for a meal or receiving care packages of food, it was their way of telling us we are welcome here.

“It puts into perspective how we as missionaries are not only meant to be giving and charitable to others, but also to receive and be thankful for the gift of fellowship and community.”

That hospitality also left a deep impression on Judel.

“For me, I’ve always had that ‘city boy’, individually-minded perspective of ‘You don’t talk to me, I don’t talk to you, and we just keep going with our lives.’ But coming here, it was a bit of a culture shock, where people were so happy to see us and to welcome us,” he said.

“They were always so eager to invite us into their homes, to feed us, to share the stories of their faith and their lives, and to just get to know us. It was very humbling and moving, to come from so far away and be so instantly welcomed into the community.”

During their mission, they assisted at liturgies in St. Paul’s Church in High Prairie, St. John the Baptist Cathedral in McLennan and St. Guy Church in Guy. They also joined Fr. Victor Ezenwanne, SMMM for one Sunday, tagging along as he offered Masses in the Indigenous and Metis communities of Grouard, Peavine, Gift Lake and Atikameg. Much of their time was also spent in outreach to Catholic schools, local senior care homes, as well as opportunities to visit with families.

They even managed to fit in one fishing trip, giving these potential clerics the opportunity to be both fishers of men and fishers of fish.

Gabriel was especially moved by their witness at St. Andrew’s Catholic School in High Prairie and Ecole Providence School in McLennan. Getting to share his vocation story with the students, detailing how his life was changed by his encounter with Christ, was deeply reaffirming for him.

“The opportunities to share my vocation story, whether in a one-on-one basis, in a parish or in the classroom – those were really life-giving opportunities for me: to see how it was able to inspire people or encourage them to continue looking into a life of faith for themselves and to grow their relationship with Christ,” Gabriel said. “Those opportunities were very fulfilling, in the sense that it reflected how the most important thing I can impart to people is Christ. That is what will make the most lasting impact.”

This is only an excerpt. Read the full story in the July-August 2025 edition of Northern Light