Our son, a priest

Before anyone calls them “Father,” priests are brothers, cousins, friends, sometimes even uncles or godfathers. But always, their first title is: son.

What’s it like to have a Father as a son?

For Keith and Hope Marotti, parents of Father Francis Marotti, pastor, St. Ann Parish, Augusta, it seemed destined to be.

For it was at Father Francis’ (then Frank’s) baptism that the thought first struck Keith.

“I was sitting next to Hope and Father [James] Barrett was holding Francis and I just all of a sudden had this overwhelming feeling come over me,” he said. “And I turned to Hope and said, ‘I have the strangest feeling this one will be a priest.’”

“If Keith hadn’t told me that on the day of the baptism I probably wouldn’t have believed him,” she said, “but it’s true.”

And that feeling obviously stuck for Father Marotti, who started talking about being a priest when he was only five years old.

“When he was just five years old, Francis drew a picture where he is a priest and is celebrating Mass at St. Monica’s,” said Hope. The drawing shows nine children lined up in the front pews.

Interestingly, it was at his son’s first Mass the Sunday after his ordination in 2012 that Keith happened to notice something striking. He looked over and there in the front row were nine people — Father Marotti’s family including his siblings and their spouses — the exact same number depicted in his childhood drawing from more than 20 years earlier.

For some that may seem like a coincidence, but the Marottis believe there’s something more divine at play in those moments.

“When people tell me what a great job we’ve done, I just really believe we had very little to do with his calling,” said Hope, “It’s all God.

“We didn’t do anything different with the other three children,” she added. “It was just meant to be.”

But once you take a closer look at the Marottis, both as a couple and as parents (and now grandparents), it’s easy to parcel out some credit to them for Father’s vocation. For the Holy Spirit may have been the one calling, but oftentimes it’s the family that make it possible for men and women to hear the call to religious life.

Hope and Keith both grew up in the Pittsburgh area; Hope in the city and Keith in a small steel town northwest of the Pennsylvania city.

The two first met at a function sponsored by the Catholic Alumni Club of St. Paul Cathedral. Keith was a graduate student at the University of Pittsburgh and was looking for something to do. He volunteered with the group to paint a local children’s home. Hope, who was also a member of the club, was there.

“I was painting a dorm room when she walked in the room. I knew right away that I was going to marry her,” recalls Keith.

That was in August of 1977. By November, they had gone on their first official date; by February of 1978, they were engaged. They married on Oct. 28 of the same year.

“My mom had embarked on a novena to St. Jude,” laughed Hope, who noted that since she was at the “ripe old age of 26” her mom thought her singleness needed some saintly intervention.

Little did they know the significance of the saint, known for his work in righting lost causes, would come back to them. When they were planning their wedding, the only date available at the Church was Oct. 28 — which at the time they didn’t know was the feast day of St. Jude.

It’s not hard to tell that both Keith and Hope were brought up in a strong Catholic faith. Keith took a job with UpJohn in 1982, which brought the young couple to Kalamazoo. They were blessed with four children and raised them here until 2003 when Keith was transferred to Ann Arbor. They returned to the area in 2007.

The first three Marotti children, Richard, Rosemarie and Francis, were St. Monica and Hackett graduates, while the youngest, Marie, graduated from a high school in Ann Arbor.

The Marotti family life was centered around their faith. The family prayed the Rosary every night. “It was Francis that was the cut-up,” said Keith,” he was always trying to get everyone to laugh.

” In addition to family prayer time at home, the Marotti family went to Stations of the Cross together, participated in their parish’s familycentered activities and made many trips back “home” to Pittsburgh.

The Marottis made friends with a number of priests along the way — many of them assigned to their parish. Today, these priests have become close friends, including Msgr. Michael Osborn, Father Robert Consani, Father Peter Gregor, Father Brian Stanley and Father Archilles Van Hoof.

“We had priests over for dinner or they’d just stop by,” said Hope. “The kids grew up interacting with priests and seeing them as normal people.”

And the Marotti children also grew up with parents who were and remain active in their faith. Keith and Hope taught natural family planning for more than 10 years for the diocese; worked with engaged couples; and recently helped facilitate the diocese’s marriage enrichment course “Discovering Your Deepest Desires.”

And they didn’t fret when as a teenager Father Marotti turned his attention away from the priesthood and thought of pursuing different careers.

“Francis talked about being a priest until he got to high school,” said Keith. “Then he turned his attention to the theater and football.”

Father Marotti then left for college, attending the same one as his siblings, Thomas Aquinas College in Santa Paula, Calif. After his college graduation, Father Marotti returned to the Kalamazoo area and was teaching at St. Philip High School, Battle Creek, when he seriously began to discern his vocation to the priesthood.

So while they might not take any credit for his vocation, when asked, the Marottis do have advice for Catholic families.

“Pray together, eat together, worship together,” Hope said, adding “and send your children to Catholic schools.”

The Marottis are proud of their son, the Father, and enjoy listening to his homilies online. However, for them, he’ll always be that mischievous boy.

“We can hardly believe it’s him sometimes,” they both laughed.

“He was just such a goof-off in high school — sometimes it’s hard to imagine he is the same person giving such wonderful homilies.”