Getting to know Father John Mary
Father was born Robert Foster in Morgantown West Virginia in 1960. He is the fifth of six children. He has two sisters and three bothers. His older sister joined a Dominican Order. His father was an English Professor; his mother was a teacher and then became a home maker.
He was raised in a very Catholic family which was a big blessing in a state with a small Catholic population. He was also a child of the sixties, a time during which the Church was going through major changes.  He drifted away from God for a few years during Junior High. But the Lord gradually began calling him back during High School. While in High School he discovered a book on an Apparition of Our Blessed Mother at Garabandal which reawakened his faith. With other members of his family, he also became involved in the Charismatic Movement which he found  spiritually helpful.

He vocation started at a very young age. Having a religious upbringing with two uncles in the priesthood and an aunt who was a nun, it felt natural that he was called to be a priest. Father graduated from St. Francis High School in Morgantown and he went to  the University of Notre Dame, where his uncle taught, and his brother and sister also attended. His plan was to enjoy college before thinking about the seminary.  But some persistent invitations from fellow students who were members of Opus Dei led him to pray and ask, “Lord what do you want me to do?” The answer came not right away, but several months later. On Ash Wednesday night of his freshman year, as he returned from the library, he was especially struck by the beauty of the golden dome at Notre Dame upon which stands a statue of Our Blessed Mother. As he stared at Her he felt She was interceding for all the students there. The following night a friend gave him the book “To the Priests: Our Lady’s Beloved Sons” by the Marian Movement of Priests. Reading the book he felt an interior “visit” from Our Blessed Mother. This was a turning point in his life.

Called to the priesthood, he sensed that his vocation was to be a monk, rather than a diocesan priest. The Lord led him to France where he spent a year at L'Arche, a Community for serving the mentally handicapped. In 1981 he joined The Congregation of Saint John in France (CSJ), a young Community that started in 1975. It was there that he took the name John Mary and pursued his studies.  That exposed him to the rich Catholic heritage of France. For instance, he spent four months in a monastery begun 15 centuries earlier.   He also spent a year in a community of hermits in the Pre-Alps of southeastern France.

In the summer of 1986, responding to a request from the Bishop of Corpus Christi, he was sent with three brothers to open the house in Laredo, the CSJ’s first house in the Western Hemisphere. In June of 1987 he was ordained a Priest. During this time he learned to speak Spanish and fell in love with the Mexican people, their culture and their love for Our Lady of Guadalupe. He was involved in diverse ministries there. One was serving in the prison and detention centers.  Another was traveling to and ministering to the people in poor, isolated villages in northern Mexico. Still another was in Nuevo Laredo where he helped a youth group of 200 and more. He was also involved in a pro-life ministry, “Operation Rescue” which prayed in front of abortion clinics. Then the Bishop of the new Diocese of Nuevo Laredo asked his congregation to open a house in Nuevo Laredo. He and another CSJ brother served in a 30 X 30 ft plywood chapel. In 1992, he was sent to be part of another foundation, this time in Monterrey, Mexico, at the request of the Cardinal there. They were located in a poor, inner city colonia, at the Basilica of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.  It was there that he started what would become the Encounter with Jesus retreats, first for youth, then for adults. MDM is still offering these Encounters today at their retreat center here.

In the late 1990’s, having sensed for years that his place was no longer in the CSJ Congregation, he obtained permission for a sabbatical in 1997 to discern what the Lord was calling him to do next.  That led him to the “Catholic Solitudes” community, near Hebbronville, TX where he spent several years. Then in 2001, he reluctantly accepted what he felt was a call from the Lord that he had been resisting--- to start a new Community: The Mission of Divine Mercy. His sister, now known as Mother Magdalene, and four others joined him. A providential encounter with some members of the ACTS community at Sts. Peter and Paul led them to New Braunfels in the autumn of 2001. There they experienced the generous support of the pastor Monsignor O’Callaghan, and that of many people of the parish, who also became good friends.

The young Community has faced many challenges - Father describes it as “purgatory” - but they have also felt the Lord’s hand guiding them, such as when they found the property near Canyon Lake. MDM is a contemplative community of prayer, and plan to eventually build a monastery. Their apostolate is first that of prayer.   They also offer silent retreats and have developed the Mission as a “sanctuary”, or place of “pilgrimage” to help others listen to the Lord speaking to their hearts and to trust in His Mercy.  

Their charism or special call is to faith, so that God can act.  See more at their website, https://missionofdivinemercy.org/who-we-are/.

Now the Lord has called Fr. John Mary to help out also at St Thomas.  He has been impressed by the simplicity and the friendly, welcoming, homey spirit he has experienced here.  He regrets that his contemplative life and other duties don’t permit him to be more involved in the different parish activities.  But he prays that the Lord will send MDM more priests so they can be more present at St Thomas.

Father enjoys quiet time to walk and reflect, to read and write: leading a new community is quite demanding!  He is working on a book to tell the story of MDM, and the prophetic way the Lord has led it.  He also enjoys spending time with his community and friends, and games like tennis and basketball (well, he’s getting too old for basketball).

His advice to young people wondering about their vocation is to “Just seek God’s Will”. Their question should be, “Lord, what do you want me to do; what is your will for me Today”? and not get confused by the secondary decisions that will come later.

Jesus, we trust in You!