One of the great blessings at Franciscan is the numerous liturgies that take place on campus. Not only are there several Masses in Christ the King each day, but there are Holy Hours, Festivals of Praise, and larger liturgies in the fieldhouse for special events. I sat down with the Student Head of Liturgy, Paul Vehige for an interview to uncover his story, his love for the liturgy and his possible plans for religious life. 

Paul Vehige was born in Dallas, the third out of four siblings in a practicing Catholic family. His parents had a strong connection to the liturgy, especially his father, who serves the Church as a permanent deacon. The importance of the liturgy was instilled in their children from an early age, and it affected Vehige almost immediately. He became an altar server at his parish when he was a boy, which he credits with beginning his love for the liturgy.

“Some of my core memories from my childhood were on Saturdays, when I would go to morning Mass with my dad,” Vehige said. “I would serve the Mass, and oftentimes was the only server. Serving really made me fall in love with the Mass and everything around it.” 

“I continued serving throughout high school, and the more I got to do, the more I got to learn,” he said. “My faith grew exponentially in high school–I was just totally in love with the Lord through the liturgy, and it was through that love that I started thinking about being a priest. It was from that call that I came to Franciscan. I was originally going to go to Benedictine, but the summer after my senior year, right before college, I heard about Franciscan and the Priestly Discernment Program. My parents suggested that I look at Franciscan and the PDP, so I did, and the rest is history–I made the decision to switch last minute to Franciscan. I came to Franciscan and joined the PDP in my freshman year.”

During Vehige’s freshman year, he was invited by campus chaplain Rev. Shawn Roberson, TOR, to serve on the Liturgy Committee, as co-head of altar servers. From there he worked his way up to Student Head. “I started on May 9th of 2025,” he reminisced. “I remember that date because Pope Leo was elected the day before, so it was already a time of great celebration for me and for the Church!” 

As Student Head of Liturgy, Vehige has a variety of roles. When asked to describe his job, Vehige replied: “The way I put it is that I’m in charge of all liturgical ministry on campus. A lot of what I do is coordinating liturgies and working on logistics, especially any special liturgy, for example, the Triduum liturgies. I’m in charge of planning and organizing all that… Also, any time there are special liturgies, I’m involved in some way. If there’s a Mass with a bishop or in the fieldhouse, I’m usually emcee for it, making sure everything’s going smoothly. My role can be an invisible one, but it is a very important one.”

“And the committee itself is awesome,” he continued. “I think a lot of people on LitComm would say that. We kind of call ourselves the co-head household, with our Lord’s Day as the Lord’s Day! The community is great, and very household-like. There’s a lot of bonding that takes place, it’s so exciting.”

After Franciscan, Vehige plans to pursue a vocation with the TOR friars. Vehige submitted his application to the order in February. “My plan is to continue the application process and discern with the Lord what the next steps are, as the community continues to discern me,” he said.  “And I pray–I can’t emphasize that enough. If you’re discerning in any way, whether that be marriage, priesthood, or in my case religious life, it’s crucial to remember that a vocation comes from God, and we’re all called to live out holiness.”