Latest / Beyond The Beacon / 7: An interview with two of our newest priests about vocations

Transcript

7: An interview with two of our newest priests about vocations · Beyond The Beacon

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to Beyond the Beacon with Bishop Kevin Sweeney, a podcast of the Diocese of Patterson.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_01: I'm Jay Agnish, Communications Director for the Diocese and editor of the Beacon newspaper.
• 0:17
  SPEAKER_01: With me is Bishop Kevin Sweeney.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_01: Bishop, how you doing?
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: I'm good, Jay.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: How are you?
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_01: I'm doing good, thanks.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm excited.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: We have we have two, not one guest, but two guests this time.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_01: Figure it's either going to be a disaster or we're going to go viral.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: No, it'll be good.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: It'll be good.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, okay.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: Well, uh, well, great.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: So with me uh to my to my left here is Father Jose Zaninga.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: He's the parochial vicar at St.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: Anthony of Padua in uh in Passaic.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: And across the way from me here, Caddy Corner is Father Stephen, is it Del Delia?
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_01: Delia.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Delia.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: And it's junior.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: Do you go go with the junior?
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, there's no junior priest because I didn't have a dad who was a priest, so they usually dropped the junior, but uh, you know, it's either way, it can go either way.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, and you're a parochial vicar at St.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Mary Church in Denville, and you're both two of our newest priests from the ordination class of 2022.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: So welcome.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks so much for being with us.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: And Bishop, can you open us up with a prayer?
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: Sure.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: We'll place ourselves in God's presence in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_00: In these days of Easter, as we celebrate the joy of our Lord's resurrection from the dead, and together with the church, look forward to the celebration of the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: We also look forward this Sunday to celebrate the fourth Sunday of Easter, known as Good Shepherd Sunday.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: We reflect on the words of the 23rd Psalm, The Lord is my shepherd, there is nothing I shall want.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: And we also ask the Lord to continue to give Good Shepherds to His church.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: This coming Sunday will also be World Day of Prayer for vocations.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: And we pray for an increase in vocations to consecrated religious life and priesthood, to holiness in the single life, to those who live the vocation of marriage and family life.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: And we ask the help of the Holy Spirit to guide us, especially in our discernment, as we respond to the Lord's call day by day.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: And so we pray, come, O Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of the faithful, enkindle in them the fire of your love, send forth your spirit, and we shall be recreated.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: Now shall renew the face of the earth.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_00: O God, it was taught the hearts of the faithful by the light of the Holy Spirit.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Grant us in that same spirit to be truly wise and always rejoice in your consolation through Christ our Lord.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Amen.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: Our Lady, seed of wisdom, mother of the church, mother of priests, pray.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: Pray for us for us.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: Amen.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks, Bishop.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, I was hoping you can introduce us to today's topic and tell us why you invited these uh young priests here on the podcast today.
• 2:57
  SPEAKER_00: I thank uh Father Jose and Father Stephen for being with us.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so as I mentioned in the prayer, the fourth Sunday of Easter each year is known as Good Shepherd Sunday.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: The readings uh focus on Jesus as the Good Shepherd uh who gives his life for the sheep.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: And um for 60 years now, I think uh this fourth Sunday of Easter is also world day of prayer for vocation.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: So certainly that connection between the Good Shepherds that we need uh in the um image of Jesus, the Good Shepherd, especially who serve us, who discern the call to priesthood and respond to that call and are ordained as priests.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so um, as we want to invite all those who listen and throughout the diocese and our parishes, that prayer for yes, vocations to priesthood, but again, as I mentioned in the prayer, uh vocations for women and men uh to live consecrated life as religious sisters and brothers, religious priests as well, um those called to the single life, and we pray certainly for those um called to the vocation of marriage.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um but uh as we will be praying in a special way um for vocations to priesthood in this coming uh weekend on this uh Good Shepherd Sunday, thought it'd be good to hear from some of our new priests, two of our new priests uh who I had the privilege of ordaining um this past May.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, right.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and to hear a little bit what it's like to be a new priest, and uh hopefully in in hearing that uh might encourage some of our young people to consider the call and also parents and grandparents and families and parishes and catechists to uh help to extend that that call.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: Um so uh I think hearing a little bit about their experience both in the seminary, thinking about priesthood, and now as new priests could could help us all.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: Great.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, thanks for that introduction.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: So, yeah, why don't why don't we get into it?
• 4:44
  SPEAKER_01: Um who who wants to go first?
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_04: Okay.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_01: Um you've been nominated, Father Jose.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: Um yeah, I why don't you tell us what it's been like for your first uh nine nine or so months of priesthood?
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh any surprises?
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_01: Um how is it different from seminary life or what you maybe envisioned uh the priesthood would be like?
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so the parish life is way different from seminary life, to be honest.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: It's been an incredible journey so far, and it's been nothing but pure joy and excitement for me with everything that's been going on.
• 5:17
  SPEAKER_02: The parish that I'm in, St.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_02: Anthony's is extremely busy, and the people are so welcoming and so loving.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: And I love being with them, I love serving them, I love talking to them, I love making fun of them too.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: There's always that aspect.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_01: But um and they get to make fun of you, yeah.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: They make fun of me too.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: So it's you know, about par for the course.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: But yeah, I just, you know, there there's a real hunger, there's a real need for holiness, there's a real need for love of our Lord Jesus Christ and for them to be fed by us.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: And so being able to be a shepherd and doing that, it fills me with great joy.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, being able to provide them with that nourishment through the Eucharist.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: And so it's like a huge contrast between the seminary, because at the seminary, you're just like very passive.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: You're passive, you're receiving information, you're doing what you can to learn as much as you can so that you can better feed the people.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_02: All of that comes into play once you get into the parish.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_02: But then because it's so passive, like a lot oftentimes like I find myself just like wondering what to do next at the seminary.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: And I was just like, man, I can't wait for ordination.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: I can't wait for ordination, just so I could finally start working, you know.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_02: And it felt like forever.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_02: And now that I'm here, now it feels like forever because I I still have like a long way to go until you know my death, my possible death or my death.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_02: Um yeah, it's just like there's these two contrasts between the seminary and the parochial life, and I I love it to be honest.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's not so much worry about what to do next, right?
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_02: I'm always thinking what's next on my end agenda, what's uh on my day, because it gets packed very quickly.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, has it been the fastest year of your life?
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_02: Or what yeah, it really has.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_02: I we're coming up uh a year in in May now, and it's just like kind of mind-blowing.
• 7:05
  unknown: Yeah.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: So, Father Stephen, I'll pose the same question to you.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: Any any surprises or how things have been going?
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, th things have been going really well.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um I think the Father Jose was right on.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_03: I mean, it's it's vastly different from the experience of seminary.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I think one of the things that I miss the most about seminary is the fact that is the fraternity that we had.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_03: Um, I used to have so much time with guys that I knew and loved.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_03: And so that that's definitely one struggle there.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_03: Uh, but but as I'm readjusting to the differences and how we're we're situated or living situations, and you you you have to you have to be intentional about that time.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and now, and now when I do meet up with uh especially my brother priests, especially those from my class, it's a really a joyous experience.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_03: And so just the fraternity of experience with priests has been even has has actually kind of deepened um from the fraternity that experienced as a seminarian.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_03: And uh I can I can I can echo a lot of what Father Jose said.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_03: It's been a beautiful year.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_03: Uh certainly, you know, there there are challenges, um, and and but there's so much there's so much new right now.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and and the challenges are beautiful.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_03: There's a lot of really incredible opportunities, challenges, things that you know we've we've looked forward to for um many years, if not most of our lives, in in my case, certainly.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_03: And to now be able to do them is in some ways surreal.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_03: But I guess one of the things I was most surprised about was actually how natural the priesthood is.
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_03: Um and and that that's not to say that's not to say it's easy, that's not to say there's no downs and there's no hard parts.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um, certainly there's all of that, but that the priesthood feels right.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_03: It doesn't, it it's not like something foreign to me.
• 8:51
  SPEAKER_03: It's not something that feels weird, that I I I a lot of people say that they wake up and say, Oh, how am I doing this?
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_03: And sometimes I have those thoughts in a in a certain sense, but I've I've been really blown away by how much it just feels like, it feels like it's something natural to me.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_03: If it's like I am a priest, if you imagine it fits like a glove, it truly does.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_03: And that's not to make some kind of a fairy tale idea of like this was my destiny, but that you know, the the the sacrament does conform our soul to Christ the high priest, yeah, yeah, to Christ the priest in in a certain way, right?
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_03: And and so the sacrament actually does something, and it's beautiful to see the ways in which the sacraments worked in this time.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_03: Uh is really incredible.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: So um looking forward to uh Good Shepherd Sunday and World Day of Prayer for Vocations, two things I would ask that you could each comment on.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: One is um as you first thought about priesthood and entered the seminary and through your time in the seminary, up to ordination, even now as priests, um, how you experience the support of the church.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: So um those prayers for vocations we know um spiritually is hard to quantify, but um, we can experience that that export that support um and encouragement in in many different ways.
• 10:06
  SPEAKER_00: And then um thinking about those out there who might be discerning a call or or feeling that maybe God could be calling the priesthood or parents or families or or catechists or parishes that um what would you recommend in terms of uh uh how we can support vocations or or maybe what you can say to someone who might be considering that call?
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's three questions that I asked in one, but uh but uh how you experience the support of the church, um what how we can support vocations and what you would say maybe to a young person, you can answer one or two or three of those questions, uh which whichever way you like.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_00: We can feather them back and forth.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, yeah.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_03: I'll if we we can just take one at a time and go back and forth.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_03: So I I mean to begin with the experience of the prayers of the church, I think we can't underestimate uh and we can't write off the the the holy ladies, uh old ladies in the church.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and and I think uh a lot of times we just assume that when they they say, Oh, I'm praying that you'll be a priest.
• 11:05
  SPEAKER_03: Oh, you what do you know, old lady?
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_03: Uh but but I mean these women, I think we can forget that they're women of profound holiness.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_03: And uh and I I think sometimes we can underestimate what they see in in us.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_03: And so I think I think I definitely saw the support of the people that saw me around the parish and encouraged that.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_03: Uh not not not even just in the sense of putting it in my mind, but but making it uh seem like a good option, you know?
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_03: Um so that that's what I'd say as far as the prayers.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know what you think.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_02: I think on my part, it comes more.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_02: I think the prayers have been helping my parents more than they've been helping me.
• 11:43
  SPEAKER_02: Because there was a number of times where I just I was like, man, this is taking too long.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_02: I just want to get on with my life, right?
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_02: And so without my parents' encouragement and the prayers of the people, I think, like I said, I think those prayers went more for my parents so that they could encourage me and keep pushing forward.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_02: And so I really felt those prayers through them and through my friends, through the youth ministry, the cathedral.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_02: And that's been a huge push for my life to or for myself to want to keep moving forward and not to look back, but to keep looking at our good Lord that eventually this is gonna come to pass and the priesthood is gonna be, you know, worth it.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_00: Just gonna interrupt as you're answering those three questions, because uh part of that experience of the support we receive is the um experiences of of growing up and and again being in the seminary and discerning and uh support from the parish.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: Father Jose, you mentioned that uh you grew up in the cathedral parish, I believe, St.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: John the Baptist in Patterson, and Father Steve, uh you grew up in um St.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: Vincent's in Sterling.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Uh maybe so maybe just a quick word about uh how the parish supported you or being how being part of the parish helped you in your discernment.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, I I I was one of the things I was always blown away, especially in my formation, but even before that, was how many people would tell me they prayed for me daily was super humbling.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_03: Just and and and it it spoke to the fact that this is it's not about me and it's bigger than me.
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_03: Um it's something, you know, the priesthood is an immense responsibility and honor to be called to.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_03: And the fact that all of these people were dedicating, they could be praying for anybody, but they were praying for me and for my formation and my growth in holiness uh was was something that that showed me the profundity of the priesthood, but also the uh the importance of the responsibility that we had to form ourselves well in those years of seminary life that uh we we couldn't just let them go to waste with all those prayers on the line.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_03: You know, we we had the responsibility of living up to that.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_03: And so it was always uh it kind of held me accountable in a certain sense.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: On my part at the cathedral, I remember when Monsignor Mark when I told him, and he was so excited about it.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_02: And so I remember serving him.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_02: I I used to go to daily mass um as often as I could in high school.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_02: And so whenever I would serve with him, he would say, This young man wants to be a priest.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_02: And so the parish lit up and it was amazing.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: I saw their support and I saw their excitement and the amount of respect that they had for me, like it grew.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_02: And I saw that they they offered holy hours, they offered rosaries for me, they offered masses for me.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: And I was just like, even now, I'm still very much grateful for all of that because they have continually supported me throughout my journey and like all throughout seminary, all throughout high school, they they've just been praying for me and praying for me.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_02: And and to be here now and to say all of this, like it fill it fills me with great joy because it's all because of them, I think.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_00: I know that Jay probably has a couple more questions.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: So just maybe quickly uh a word on um uh what you might say to a young person who is uh considering thinking maybe this is what God is calling me to.
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_02: I honestly I think just go for it.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_02: Uh if you're thinking about it, there's no better way to find out than actually going through seminary and finding out if it's your vocation.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_02: Uh I I don't like being passive at all.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_02: I like being very active.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_02: And so when the when the dream And practically, how can somebody go for it?
• 15:54
  SPEAKER_02: They can talk to a priest, they can talk to a priest, go um ask uh for the vocations office, talk to the bishop.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_02: Those are good.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_02: Go to the vocations website.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, exactly.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_02: There's a lot of practical ways, and I think we have many beautiful resources to help through that.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_02: And so if if you just go for it, you're never gonna find out unless you take that leap of faith, you know?
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_03: You always wonder if you don't.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: Exactly.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_03: Always wonder.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: So I just want to throw out the the website, it's patterson diocese.org/slash vocations.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: Father Steve, some what was your little young guy uh considering the call?
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_03: Well, the first the first thing I would say is something from my experience, but not just mine, but that of the whole church.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_03: And that's uh that's uh foster devotion to the Holy Eucharist.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_03: Uh the the priesthood, Christ gave us the priesthood in the context of the Holy Eucharist.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_03: Obviously, the priest uh is is is he who gives us the Holy Eucharist.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_03: And uh and so so the the Eucharist is gonna be where you find that.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_03: If that was certainly very literally uh the case in my uh my hearing of of the Lord's call to me, uh just simply that I I started like Jose Father Jose going to Holy Mass every day, and and it was from that that I that I received a calling.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_03: So you you'll you'll see the calling in the Holy Eucharist, uh, and and and that calling will grow uh according to your devotion to the Holy Eucharist.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_03: And I think the other thing too is I I think I just maybe not as much a recommendation, but an obstacle to warn against is I think today in our day and age we are we're all egoists, uh especially as younger generations.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's kind of a plague of our generations.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_03: And I often think back to uh the the church fathers, John Chrysostom and Gregory of Nyssa, um Gregory of Nazianzon.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_03: Nigga Gregory of Nazianzan he he was ordained a priest uh and then he fled to the desert uh and and lived as a monk for a couple years until he came back.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_03: And when he came back, he he started preaching and he noticed that his congregation was quite quite angry with him uh for leaving them.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_03: And so in his second orations, we have uh a whole slew of orations by him.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_03: And the first oration is just a regular homily, and the second oration is basically him saying, So I noticed, guys, that I noticed that you're kind of angry with me, and you probably deserve an explanation.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_03: And he goes on to say why he left was uh was very different from the reasons we would have today.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_03: The reason he left was because he saw the immensity of the priesthood and the magnificence, and he said, I can't touch this.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_03: I'm not worthy of this.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_03: Um, this is too much that I could live up to.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and the same was with John Chrysostom, basically warned about how difficult the task is.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_03: And and Gregory of Nezianzen said uh basically through most of this oration that the priest is pretty much impossible to live up to.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_03: Uh but then at the end he asked the question, why did I come back?
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_03: Because God ordained it and God will see it through.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_03: So I think I think often the some of the the the bad spirits of this age will will have us thinking about will this make me happy?
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_03: Will this make me happy?
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_03: Can I be satisfied with it?
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_03: Um and if we're asking that question, I think it's time that we we pause and reorient our mind to is this how God is asking me to give of myself?
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_03: Because as long as we're asking the question is of is this gonna make me happy?
• 19:36
  SPEAKER_03: Am I gonna be fulfilled?
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_03: The question is no.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_03: Because if we're looking for our own, or if we're looking for self-gratification, not that fulfillment is a bad thing, but if we're looking for self-gratification, we're not gonna find it in anything.
• 19:48
  SPEAKER_03: Um so we have to, I think, first pause and address that and and orient ourselves, our our minds outside of ourselves to Christ and keep our eyes on Christ and what is Christ asking of me and ask, maybe ask the question can I do this for Christ?
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_03: Am I enough for for Christ?
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_03: And of course, the answer he'll give us is yes, because not because of any merit of our our own, but because of what what he has designed and what he has planned and given to us in our lives.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_03: And it's only because of any of that that we can stand here and even remotely live up to the the massive honor and demand of the priesthood.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: But the one who wants to save his own life will lose it, but the one who's willing to lose his life for others will will find it.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh yeah.
• 20:33
  SPEAKER_00: And the good shepherd lays down his life.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: So, yes, that that gift of oneself, um, not what I want, but but what God wants.
• 20:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: And and one of the things, uh, Bishop Kevin that you often uh write about in your columns and in the beacon is is that moment where you know we as Catholics, we we can walk up, you know, we can go up to someone and say, hey, you know, have you ever thought about the priesthood?
• 21:00
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: Have you thought ever thought about that calling?
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: I I wonder if for either of you, was there a person in your life who who said that to you?
• 21:07
  SPEAKER_01: Hey, you know, like you would make a great priest, or have you thought about the priesthood, or did or or was it a different sort of calling for you?
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_01: And and and I also want to know what what how old were you guys when when you first sensed the calling?
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_03: I can't I can't remember.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_03: I was 15.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_03: I was okay.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_03: I was pretty young.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_03: My I I owe all credit to my mother.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_03: Um my mother invited me to come to Holy Mass every day with her.
• 21:33
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and I remember, it's one of my earliest memories, but I remember saying no for a couple weeks.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_03: Uh but eventually she kept offering, and she didn't make me.
• 21:44
  SPEAKER_03: Um, not that I'm against making kids go to mass.
• 21:46
  SPEAKER_03: I think sometimes we're weak and we need parents to help us to do the right thing.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_03: But but she didn't.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_03: She she offered it to me, and eventually I said yes, and I said yes, and then I said yes, and then I was hooked.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_03: And um so I I owe it to her.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_03: Um in my case, I always I often found people uh suggesting it, and that was definitely an encouragement and a confirmation to me.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_03: Um for my case it was just it was mostly just our Lord in the Eucharist.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_03: I don't know.
• 22:19
  SPEAKER_03: I there just there appeared in my mind.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_03: Uh I'm I'm skeptical of these things always, and it wasn't like some vision from above, but there was this desire in my heart that said, I'm gonna be a priest.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_03: I I couldn't tell you scientifically where it came from, but do we need to, you know?
• 22:35
  SPEAKER_03: Right because it's it's grace.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 22:37
  unknown: Yeah.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_02: On my part, um actually Nobody saw me being a priest because I was so mischievous as a kid.
• 22:43
  SPEAKER_02: And I still I I like if you ask the secretaries, I I scare them every once in a while.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_02: Oh yeah You gotta mess with the secretary.
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_02: It keeps their job interesting.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: It does.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_02: And so it wasn't so much that people were telling me, you should be a priest, you should be a priest.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_02: I think it was it was very much directly from God and just my desire to want to grow in holiness, to love him and to serve him in whatever way he's calling me.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_02: And so he told me, I want you to be my priest.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_02: And I was like, okay, sure, let's go for it.
• 23:09
  SPEAKER_02: And so that's where my journey kind of started.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_02: And yeah, like I said, not a lot of people were telling me, hey, you should be a priest.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: So this all came naturally from the good Lord himself.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_03: And I think that that that that kind of reminds me of another another thing that people struggle with, I think, in their discernment is our our day and age is so locked onto this idea of destiny that there's one thing that I can do and that will make me perfectly happy and everything else will not.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_03: And I think we have to under we have to, if we if we're gonna approach the priesthood or marriage, um, both, and and religious life as well, then we we can't do it with a sort of sort of destiny, I an idea of destiny, because uh we won't we won't have the freedom to choose because when we when we want to take on something, we have to understand that there's risk involved.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and we have to understand that we're you know at least one imperfect person is gonna be involved.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_03: So it's not gonna it's not gonna be perfect, it's not gonna be all a bed of roses.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_03: And and we have the freedom to say, I choose this or I choose this.
• 24:13
  SPEAKER_03: And and the matter of fact is the Lord the Lord gave me the freedom to choose the priesthood.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_03: He didn't say you have to become a priest.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_03: I could have gotten married if I'd wanted to.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_03: But he offered me something more beautiful in it.
• 24:23
  SPEAKER_03: And a man when I when I was in my at my discernment, I was kind of at the end, I was in college, and I was like 98% sure I should be a priest.
• 24:33
  SPEAKER_03: But there was this one, there's this one girl I saw that I really liked.
• 24:36
  SPEAKER_03: I didn't even know her, but you know, in your mind, in your mind, like I could have married her tomorrow, right?
• 24:41
  SPEAKER_03: That's like how your mind works.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_03: And and I'm I went to this this holy man, he was uh he's a new a numerate member of Opus Day, so he's a he's a man that lives celibacy, but he's not a priest.
• 24:51
  SPEAKER_03: Okay, and uh, but uh but a man who I I respect and admired so greatly, and I said to him, Listen, Bobby, I'm pretty sure I uh God's calling me a priest.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_03: I'm like 90, 90, 98%.
• 25:02
  SPEAKER_03: But there's this one girl I really like and she's really beautiful.
• 25:05
  SPEAKER_03: And again, I had no relationship.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_03: Like I she knew my name, that was it, and I know hers.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_03: But uh but there were there was kind of a spiritual battle there of the what if.
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_03: It wasn't about her, it was about what if there's a better option?
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_03: Um what if what if I'm wrong?
• 25:19
  SPEAKER_03: What if I could be happy with this person?
• 25:21
  SPEAKER_03: And and he says, Yeah, you know, you know, Stevie, you you could uh you could you could marry her if you wanted.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_03: I guess again, presuming that I you know formed some relationship with it.
• 25:31
  SPEAKER_03: But you you could marry her if you wanted, but um if God's calling you a priest, you'll never be as happy as you would um if you became a priest.
• 25:41
  SPEAKER_03: So uh and and and so that that to me was was really freeing to know that there it wasn't some destiny that I had to take.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_03: There's a freedom and there's an adventure there too.
• 25:54
  SPEAKER_03: Because because with any adventure, there has to be the possibility of failure and peril.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_03: And if there's no peril, there is no adventure.
• 26:02
  SPEAKER_03: And there's it's boring, it's all utterly banal.
• 26:05
  SPEAKER_03: But when we enter into something saying, you know, that there's gonna be ups and downs in this, then then there's something gritty about it.
• 26:12
  SPEAKER_03: It's it's it's no longer flat, but there's it it's truly like a mountain that we go up and down and crazy things happen on the mountain, but would we have it any other way?
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: And we see that from the beginning in from the scriptures and the gospels of the call of the first apostles, uh come follow me.
• 26:29
  SPEAKER_00: That um didn't explain, just said take that risk.
• 26:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, right, that's right, that's right.
• 26:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and uh see in the Acts of the Apostles how after all their ups and downs, and what we could say is the seminary, right?
• 26:42
  SPEAKER_00: And then the Last Supper and the crucifixion there, except for John there.
• 26:47
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but uh the the the they see the risen Lord, and uh as we heard with Thomas, he tells them go ahead, put your finger in my hand and hand beside.
• 26:55
  SPEAKER_00: And and you know, he he loved them and and and and worked with their weaknesses.
• 26:58
  SPEAKER_00: They were far from perfect, and then they had the Holy Spirit, and as we hear in the Acts of the Apostles, uh um they they went out and and did what he has to do, teach the baptize and teach and and know that he was with them to the end of the age.
• 27:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so uh yes, there's definitely something to that um uh free choice of he makes the call and and we it's up to us to respond.
• 27:18
  SPEAKER_02: Father Jose, I think you were gonna say Yeah, there are two things that come to my mind.
• 27:22
  SPEAKER_02: Um there's a vocation within the vocation, and I can think of like many priests who and and nuns really who have a background in so many different things.
• 27:31
  SPEAKER_02: Musicians, engineers, engineering.
• 27:33
  SPEAKER_02: He's an engineering.
• 27:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, he was an engineer.
• 27:38
  SPEAKER_02: I'm having a million year and so like there are different um professions even within the vocation of the priesthood itself.
• 27:44
  SPEAKER_02: It's not just like, okay, you're gonna be a priest and you're gonna do this.
• 27:48
  SPEAKER_02: There's like a whole slew of things that we can do that within the vocation.
• 27:53
  SPEAKER_02: And the priesthood and the marriage life, there's it's just two different ways of serving God and serving the people, you know?
• 28:00
  SPEAKER_02: And so it doesn't just come from celebr.
• 28:03
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, for us, it's very key that we celebrate Mass, but it's not just our service to the people is through what we're good at as well.
• 28:13
  SPEAKER_00: That allows us to share a little news.
• 28:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh if those haven't heard one of our priests, and again, you could if you get to know priests, uh, you know that the the it can be a very exciting call.
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: And as Father Jose is just saying, you never know within that vocation uh what might happen.
• 28:27
  SPEAKER_00: And uh you mentioned Father Jose, your first pastor, I think, Monsignor Um Mark Giordani, who we trust is now with the Lord.
• 28:34
  SPEAKER_00: And um, but uh your second pastor, then Monsignor Gino Silva, um the rector of our cathedral, uh, was just named um to a uh a Vatican um uh committee on on new evangelization.
• 28:48
  SPEAKER_00: He had spent some a few years working in Rome.
• 28:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh JD wanted to share a little bit about that uh news that we got about Monsignor Silva?
• 28:55
  SPEAKER_00: That was a perfect transition, Bishop.
• 28:56
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
• 28:59
  SPEAKER_01: And uh Yeah, so so Monsignor Gino was was just named uh the other day to the section of the newly created Decastre for Evangelization, the section for fundamental questions regarding evangelization in the world, uh which will be headed by Archbishop Reno Fischelli.
• 29:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um Physicella.
• 29:17
  SPEAKER_01: Fizzichella, thank you.
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: Sorry, Archbishop.
• 29:22
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 29:23
  SPEAKER_01: So uh anyway, yeah, it's I guess it's a long way of saying that Monsignor Gino has a gift when it comes to evangelization, and the Vatican is recognizing it and and they want him on board to assist with uh and he's getting a little more work.
• 29:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yes.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_01: So glad you explained that because I didn't understand what that meant.
• 29:43
  SPEAKER_01: But uh but yeah, so um we have a statement from the bishop out on that on our website, and uh we have um I guess Monsignor Gino gave an interview yesterday to the press, so uh there's plenty out there and on our social media.
• 29:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um so it's uh yeah, we're grateful that Monsignor Gino um is also gonna be sticking around.
• 30:02
  SPEAKER_01: It doesn't mean he's leaving us, which is which is great because uh he brings uh so much as do all of our priests to to the diocese.
• 30:10
  SPEAKER_01: And I just I want to thank you both for being a part of the podcast.
• 30:13
  SPEAKER_01: What a what a wonderful conversation this was, and I'm looking forward to seeing how you how you grow in the years to come.
• 30:19
  SPEAKER_00: And and um and as we have um Father Jose and Father Stephen with us, uh they're two of seven, and as I said often last year, and being able to ordain seven men to the priesthood, um thank God and thank Bishop Saratelli, uh our Bishop Emeritus, uh Bishop Saratelli, who throughout his years as Bishop of the Diocese uh worked so hard to promote vocations.
• 30:41
  SPEAKER_00: Um and uh as they say, where some sowed, others have reaped.
• 30:45
  SPEAKER_00: And um, in my short time as as bishop, uh as I came in 2020, uh there were five men who were going to be ordained that previous May, but had to be postponed like everything else uh because of COVID.
• 30:56
  SPEAKER_00: And uh I was ordained myself as a bishop on July 1st, and a month later on August 1st, ordained five men uh to the priesthood, and then the following May, two more, and then the seven of the class of 22 last year.
• 31:10
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so I think that's 14 new priests um in the last uh in these three years, and God willing, two more in the coming year, and I think two more the year after that.
• 31:19
  SPEAKER_00: So, but um we uh we need to uh replenish the ranks.
• 31:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so uh get to know Father Ed Rama and go to the vocations website uh if you're um to share some information with a young person that you know or if there's young people out there.
• 31:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um there's a lot of vocation events, a quo Vatis retreat that's coming up that would be a great opportunity for young men.
• 31:40
  SPEAKER_00: Did either of you uh attend or work on the Quo Vatis retreat?
• 31:43
  SPEAKER_00: You were enrolled.
• 31:44
  SPEAKER_00: I helped out right, right, right.
• 31:45
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 31:46
  SPEAKER_00: I when I was in high school, I did just a quick word about how that might be a good experience for a young guy in high school.
• 31:50
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so there was there was a lot of activities and a lot of prayer to that that was done.
• 31:57
  SPEAKER_02: I remember going with two other friends from the cathedral.
• 32:00
  SPEAKER_02: Um I think both are in relationships.
• 32:02
  SPEAKER_02: One is engaged to be married, actually.
• 32:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and um, yeah, it was a very beautiful experience.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_02: It was very prayerful.
• 32:10
  SPEAKER_02: It it got us, it helped us to get to know a lot of seminarians and a lot of priests, and it got us to converse with them and to see what the life is like, you know, in kind of in a superficial sense, but also in a deep sense.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_02: Um because they explained a lot of their their own struggles and they explained that you know they're human just like anybody else, but this is something that they they chose for themselves, that God chose for them.
• 32:36
  SPEAKER_02: And that most of them, I think, that I've met from that first Kool Vodis retreat, most of them are priests now, so it's pretty cool.
• 32:44
  SPEAKER_00: Camp Shiloh, I think, right?
• 32:45
  SPEAKER_00: Rope climbing and soccer and uh and prayer, a good balance.
• 32:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and I think the Knights of Columbus do a great barbecue.
• 32:51
  SPEAKER_00: So uh please uh consider uh signing up for that or encourage young men to sign up for that.
• 32:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's in West Milford in the my hometown where I grew up, actually.
• 32:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 33:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um All right, good.
• 33:02
  SPEAKER_01: So um I think we're kind of nearing the end here.
• 33:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um do you is there anything else you wanna you want to add, Bishop, on anything coming up or any thoughts on the Trevor Burrus, uh well, maybe actually just to um ask uh our brothers here, Father Steve and Father Jose, to say one more word about um uh the parish communities where you are now serving, because uh just by coincidence, I think I was at Father Steve's Parish for confirmation on this past Saturday, big crowd, full church, and uh with Father Jose this past um Monday evening, I think, as uh we blessed a new uh adoration chapel.
• 33:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so just a word about the parish community and and again that day-to-day life of uh um uh uh a parish priest in that particular community or parish.
• 33:46
  unknown: Yeah.
• 33:47
  SPEAKER_03: Danville is a it's a great place.
• 33:50
  SPEAKER_03: The people are easy to please, somewhat to the point where it can be a danger to me.
• 33:57
  SPEAKER_00: Father Martin Glynn, right?
• 33:58
  SPEAKER_03: Uh Father Martin Glynn, super lucky to be with him, such a good man, and he he he's been nothing but good to me, so I I'm really grateful.
• 34:07
  SPEAKER_03: And the people have been nothing but good to me.
• 34:09
  SPEAKER_03: I I'm really I'm super super blessed.
• 34:12
  SPEAKER_03: Uh thank you for for uh such a good assignment.
• 34:14
  SPEAKER_03: Uh powers is God's family, right?
• 34:17
  SPEAKER_03: Yeah, and and they they've really taken me in as their own family.
• 34:20
  SPEAKER_03: Uh the the first day I moved in, the bookkeeper says, Hey, welcome home.
• 34:23
  SPEAKER_03: Uh and and they meant it.
• 34:25
  SPEAKER_03: And uh yeah, yeah, it's a it's it's a really beautiful community.
• 34:28
  SPEAKER_03: I'm super super blessed to be there.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_03: And honored.
• 34:31
  SPEAKER_02: St.
• 34:32
  SPEAKER_02: Anthony is for me.
• 34:33
  SPEAKER_02: Oh my gosh, I love them so much.
• 34:34
  SPEAKER_02: It's so much fun to be with them.
• 34:36
  SPEAKER_02: And they have been so warm and welcoming to me as well.
• 34:39
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I remember when I first got there, they celebrated me getting there and also my birthday because it was in two days.
• 34:46
  SPEAKER_02: And so I've never I I I wasn't expecting that.
• 34:49
  SPEAKER_02: I was blown away by that.
• 34:52
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe a word, quick word about bilingual ministry being in a parish with two uh two languages, right?
• 34:57
  SPEAKER_00: Oh yeah.
• 34:58
  SPEAKER_02: Um it could be a challenge, to be honest.
• 35:00
  SPEAKER_02: But over the past year, uh I came in with a little bit more broken Spanish, but they told me that uh my Spanish has improved incredibly.
• 35:07
  SPEAKER_02: And so is that a little bit of a blow to your heart as well again?
• 35:13
  SPEAKER_02: No, not really.
• 35:14
  SPEAKER_02: Even my parents make fun of my Spanish.
• 35:17
  SPEAKER_02: Um but yeah, working with them, they they've helped me improve my Spanish a lot.
• 35:22
  SPEAKER_02: They've helped me uh see the day-to-day life.
• 35:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um I grew up basically almost in the same conditions as all of them.
• 35:29
  SPEAKER_02: And so it was nothing new to me.
• 35:31
  SPEAKER_02: And being able to step in there, it felt right at home.
• 35:34
  SPEAKER_02: And so being able to eat with the families, being able to hang out with the families, communicate with the families in different ways, it's it's just been such a huge blessing.
• 35:43
  SPEAKER_02: You know, the Filipinos are amazing.
• 35:44
  SPEAKER_02: They they know.
• 35:45
  SPEAKER_02: Father Hart Nancelli, right, is doing a great job as person.
• 35:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 35:49
  SPEAKER_02: So it, yeah, it's just it's just wonderful.
• 35:51
  SPEAKER_00: Great, great.
• 35:53
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you guys very much.
• 35:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, thank you so much.
• 35:56
  SPEAKER_00: Pleasure to chat with you all.
• 35:57
  SPEAKER_00: And please continue to pray for vocations, right?
• 36:00
  SPEAKER_00: Especially this coming weekend on World Day of Prayer.
• 36:02
  SPEAKER_02: We shall.
• 36:03
  unknown: We shall.
• 36:04
  SPEAKER_01: All right, well, let's let's wrap this up.
• 36:06
  SPEAKER_01: So thank you everyone for spending time with us.
• 36:09
  SPEAKER_01: Join us again for the next episode of Beyond the Beacon.
• 36:12
  SPEAKER_01: Please subscribe to this podcast wherever you're listening.
• 36:15
  SPEAKER_01: If you're watching this episode on Bishop Kevin Sweeney's YouTube channel, be sure to like the episode, follow the channel, and ring the bell for notifications.
• 36:23
  SPEAKER_01: Please email questions and topic ideas for the bishop to beyond at patternsondioces.org.
• 36:29
  SPEAKER_01: Thank you for listening to Beyond the Beacon.
• 36:32
  SPEAKER_01: God bless.