From her youngest years, Erin Holmes had a deep curiosity about the word of God. She made a habit of venerating the giant, ivory-colored Bible her family kept in their living room.
“It had a giant picture of Jesus on the front,” Erin remembers, “And I remember I would go in and kiss it.” It was a peculiar devotion for a young girl whose family no longer regularly went to church—her father was an atheist, and her mother’s work schedule made it extremely difficult to get to Mass—but she hungered for the sacraments nonetheless.
“I remember being young, wanting to go to church and asking my parents, ‘Hey, can we go to church?’ But it was very difficult for my mom to finish all her work and still make time for Mass.” Erin eventually found a ride by joining her school’s folk band that played at Mass.
Erin went on to study philosophy and public policy at Albion College and, years later, continued her education at Sacred Heart Major Seminary, where she earned a Basic Diploma in Pastoral Ministry in 2010 and a Master of Arts in Theology in 2024.
While Erin felt confident God was calling her back to school, it didn’t make the choice any less daunting. In the years since her philosophy studies, she met her husband, had two daughters, stayed home to raise them, and later worked as a teacher. She wasn’t sure she could assume the responsibilities as a “student” on top of all these other roles she now had. But she was soon affirmed that she was in the right place.
Before enrolling at Sacred Heart, she had an interview with the Dean of Studies, Msgr. John Lajiness. “I’ll never forget, he said, "You have a philosophy degree! That’s great, we love philosophy degrees!’ And for the first time in a long time, I heard somebody compliment that or say you can do something with this philosophy degree.” It was that desire that kept her moving forward.
“There were a lot of people praying for and encouraging me,” says Erin, “When I first went back to school, I would be late to class because I had to drop off my kids at school, and I would call my best friend from the car crying to tell her I just couldn’t do it. She just kept telling me I could.” There were many others telling Erin, “she could do it.”
“I could make an Oscar-sized list of the people who helped me finish my degree,” reflects Erin. She remembers the encouragement she received from everyone at Sacred Heart, “from the ladies in the cafeteria, the guards, the cleaning people, the financial aid office, to my advisors, my professors, and Father Laboe, who granted me extensions to continue working on my degree beyond the usual timeframe.”
Upon receiving her Diploma in Pastoral Ministry in 2010, she took a job as the part-time director of Faith Formation at St. Joseph and St. Martha in Dearborn. She continued her education at Sacred Heart, working towards ministerial certification, which enabled her to work as the RCIA coordinator and pastoral catechetical leader. In 2013, an opening appeared for a theology teacher at Gabriel Richard High School in Riverview that required a BA in religion or a BA in philosophy with ministerial certifications; it was the type of job she had always hoped for.
“You see how God was really leading me on this path,” reflects Erin, “I had really always wanted that type of position and was always looking for jobs like that, but until I got the ministerial certification and much more education and a deeper understanding of our faith, it wasn’t going to happen.”
Her appetite for understanding her faith had been wet; she was interested in getting her Master’s degree. In 2014, she started taking classes. “It certainly wasn’t easy. As a lay person who works full time, it was difficult to take some courses because they were offered during the day.” explains Erin, who took numerous night classes as well as supplemented with Sacred Heart’s asynchronous lectures, “It was a very challenging semester. My husband had to work out of town a lot. There were a lot of family challenges. My father-in-law ended up passing away as well. So I was feeling very pulled as a mom and wife, as well as a daughter-in-law and somebody who was working as well.”
Erin met all the challenges with finesse and grace and the strength she found in her most cherished place in the Seminary. “Probably my absolute favorite place at the Seminary is the chapel. I spent many hours in prayer before the tabernacle,” says Erin.
This past April, Erin graduated with her Master’s degree. She was offered a position teaching theology at St. Frances Cabrini High School and Academy in Allen Park. After the graduation ceremony, she stole a moment to go back and visit her favorite place at the seminary.
“I was overjoyed to return to the chapel and pray in silence. I know Jesus is present in every tabernacle, but the Seminary’s chapel has a special place in my heart. It is so good to sit and pray to the Lord there.”