Father Jeremiah Myriam Shryock, C.F.R.

Introduction

My name is Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock. I am a Franciscan priest and a member of the Community of Franciscans of the Renewal (CFR). I was born and raised in Barto, Pennsylvania. By the time I was in fourth grade I knew God was calling me to be a priest. As a child, I would spend time alone in the woods behind my house contemplating, without realizing it then, the presence of God. When I was an altar boy, I felt a tremendous peace and joy being at the altar and participating so closely with the priest as he celebrated Mass. It was during those moments of prayer, solitude and in the mystery and beauty of the liturgy where my heart began to open to God and respond to his presence in my life.

However, during my teenage years, I got distracted from the things of God for a while until I spent a few months driving across the country after graduating High School. It was during that cross-country trip, that my soul was reawakened to the presence of God. Once I returned from traveling, I spent the next four years studying Philosophy and Professional Writing at Kutztown University in Pennsylvania where I graduated in 2002.

Religious Life and Ordination

Shortly after graduating from college, I entered the CFRs in September 2002 where I embraced a life of poverty, prayer, and service to the poor. I had discerned with several monastic communities while I was in college, and even though I was deeply attracted to the life of silence and prayer typical of monastic life, I felt called to work with the poor and to preach the Gospel. I knew I was not called to become a diocesan priest and was immediately attracted, after reading a book about St. Francis, to the Franciscan charism. Perhaps what drew me most to the Franciscan way of life was the balance between prayer and ministry. The CFRs despite their active apostolic lives, spend considerable time each day in prayer. If I was called to preach the Gospel, as I believed I was, I knew that prayer needed to be a priority.

After professing my final vows as a Franciscan in 2007, I entered the seminary, and I was ordained a priest in May 2011 by Cardinal Timothy Dolan at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York City.

Ministry as a Spiritual Director

While I was still in seminary, I began to prayerfully consider what kind of ministry God was calling me to, beside the ordinary ministry of a priest. Over time, I began to sense interiorly that God was calling me to be a spiritual director. I had always felt called, and still do, to help people grow in their spiritual lives.

Shortly after my ordination to the priesthood, I began spiritual direction formation at the Cenacle of Our Lady of Divine Providence School of Spiritual Direction in Clearwater, Florida. I completed spiritual direction training in January 2014 and since then, most of my priestly ministry has included spiritual direction, directed retreats, writing, preaching, and hands-on outreach to the poor.

Life as a Hermit

In the summer of 2021, after spending several years living a more contemplative life in a friary in upstate New York, I was given permission to become the chaplain at the Monastery of Bethlehem in Livingston Manor, New York.

While I was living at the monastery and serving the nuns there as their chaplain, I was able to live as a hermit for three years. After celebrating Mass for the nuns in the morning, I would return to my hermitage and spend most of the day in silence, prayer, and solitude.

Those three years of living in hermitage have been the most profound and formative of my life thus far. Having the space to simply be alone with God, rest in him, and give myself to him with so few exterior distractions, brought about tremendous growth in my heart and mind. I will forever be grateful to God for the grace he gave me to spend three years living as a hermit. Whether or not I will ever return to the hermitage full time is up to God.

Current Ministry

In May 2024, my religious community transferred me to San Juan Diego Friary in Albuquerque, New Mexico, where I currently reside.

Now fully immersed back in apostolic life, I minister with my community to the poor and homeless in Albuquerque, New Mexico. In addition to serving the poor, I preach parish missions and lead retreats with a special focus on the interior life and devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and I also serve as a spiritual director.

Published Work

I have written several books on the spiritual life:

Through my writing and preaching, I desire to awaken in souls a deeper hunger for God by introducing them to a more vibrant spiritual life. I do this by sharing personal examples and stories from my own journey with the Lord and by sharing the wisdom and teaching of many Christian saints and mystics in a way that is accessible for all people.

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