Jon Zabick loves to learn. That passion for knowledge — and for theology in particular — led him to places he never imagined 20 years ago, including to Sacred Heart Major Seminary and back to the Catholic Church.
Zabick graduated last spring with a Certificate in Catholic Theology (CCT) from Sacred Heart.
His first degree, a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice, launched a 30-year career in law enforcement. As a patrolman, he worked the 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. shift and sometimes parked his car in the parking lot of St. James Catholic Church in Novi to write reports or take his lunch break.
“I felt a peace and a safety there,” Zabick said. “I don’t want to overly mystify it, but when I’d park at other churches, it didn’t feel the same. There wasn’t that peaceful presence. The Catholic church’s parking lot was a safe harbor in my topsy-turvy shift.”
Born into a Catholic family, Zabick was in middle school when his parents joined an evangelical church, ending his much-loved position as an altar server. He became involved in the Assemblies of God church as an adult, where he valued the friendships and the leadership he found there.
“Catholicism was something I had thought of as my distant past at that point,” Zabick said.
Aiming to delve deeper into his spiritual life in the context of his evangelical church, Zabick began to pursue theological studies through Liberty University’s online programs. The classes brought up questions for him about what the Church is, and what Jesus meant it to be.
He completed an Master of Arts in Biblical Studies in 2015, a Master of Religious Education in 2017, and a Master of Theology in 2019. In 2020, he began to pursue a Doctor of Theology (Th.D.) in Historical Theology and Church History from the Evangelical Theological Seminary in Myerstown, Pennsylvania, now part of Kairos University. Throughout his studies, he continued to work in law enforcement.
Late in 2020, Zabick attended a Catholic wedding at Sweetest Heart of Mary Church in Detroit. There, he felt God’s presence before the Mass even began, along with a strong call to return to the Catholic Church. He spent the following year reading Catholic writings and discerning his next step.
The COVID-19 pandemic delayed his return to the Church, but with the help of Fr. Joseph Mallia at St. Kieran Parish in Shelby Township, Zabick was finally confirmed in October 2023.
“Fr. Joe identified the fact that I wanted to find something that would help me develop a Catholic lens for all of the substantial theological education I’ve had,” Zabick said. “I was hungry for Catholic reading and was taking in everything I could on my own at that point.”
As Zabick prepared for confirmation, Fr. Mallia suggested he consider the CCT program at Sacred Heart. Zabick enrolled in the fall of 2022.
Zabick says the CCT program was a perfect fit for him. He took classes close to his home at St. John Vianney Parish in Shelby Township, one of the seminary’s satellite locations. The program allowed him to learn alongside Catholic students, while the instructors helped him dive into Catholic reading and coursework with the support and structure he needed.
“Even though I wasn’t in the hallowed halls of the seminary, I was being taught by Sacred Heart professors and by Catholic clergy,” Zabick said. “I’d had ecclesiology and biblical studies before, but with this, I learned from a priest how Catholics approach Scripture. I learned from a Catholic professor how Catholics approach the framework of theology, and the methodology in terms of revelation, sacred Scripture and tradition. I wanted to know what Catholic spirituality is all about.”
Zabick retired from the Novi Police Department in 2023 and stepped into a new career later that year. After being a lifelong student, he now stands at the front of the classroom as a theology teacher at Detroit Catholic Central High School in Novi.
“I hope I’m a witness to my students. I want them to know that a commitment to lifelong intellectual formation is a vital part of one’s spiritual formation,” Zabick said. “There is a bond in the human person between spirit and intellect, between mind and heart and soul; they nourish one another. I hope they see that, because that’s what personhood is: pursuing our ultimate telos in Christ.”