I have wanted to be a priest since I was about seven years old. This desire and dream of being a priest began because I wanted to be like my uncle, Father Jim Worth, who is my godfather and a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark.
My uncle’s example of the joy of the priesthood was what first appealed to me, even at that young age of seven. This desire to be like my uncle led me to become an altar server at my home parish, and this quickly became the source of my growing love for the priesthood and for ministry in the Church. By the time I was in high school, I was put in charge of the altar servers at my parish, and I also took on other ministerial roles such as serving as the sacristan and as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion.
With all of this responsibility, I began serving at almost, if not every Mass at my parish, which many of my friends couldn’t understand. For me, this service in the Church was what made me truly happy and sustained the initial call that I encountered through the example of my uncle. When I approached senior year of high school, the next logical step for me seemed to be entering the seminary, which I did the August after graduating. I moved into the college seminary at Saint Andrew’s Hall, Seton Hall University in South Orange.
In my first semester, I faced difficulties that I did not expect, the most important of which was realizing that I hadn’t truly been discerning my vocation. Up to this point, my vocation had been very superficial, rooted in my childlike dream of being a priest and those external joys that I found in serving at my parish. I quickly realized that I needed to discern my vocation in prayer and focus more on what God was calling me to rather than simply considering what I wanted to be. That first semester was eye-opening in recognizing how much I needed to grow, especially in the spiritual life and my life of prayer. It was in that developing prayer life that I was able to begin truly discerning my vocation.
We hear in the Psalm Sunday (Nov. 3) that the Lord is our refuge and our strength. This points us toward the importance of a life of prayer. It is only in prayer that we can truly come to discover or discern what God has planned for us in our own life. That initial struggle in seminary that turned me to deeper prayer was essential in establishing my spiritual life on new and firmer foundation, that is trusting in Him who is my refuge and my strength.
As a part of your daily prayer, I ask that you please pray for an increase in vocations to the priesthood so that we might have many more holy and good priests in the Diocese of Camden. I encourage you to approach young men who you might encounter and extend an invitation for them to consider discerning a priestly vocation. You can plant the seed of a vocation in the life of a young man by a simple question or statement, and then water that seed by your prayers and support.
Editor’s Note: The Diocese of Camden’s seminarians visited parishes across South Jersey on Nov. 2-3 to speak about their vocations. This is part of the story that Nickolas Naticchione shared at Holy Cross Parish in Bridgeton.
Prayer For Vocations
God our Father, we thank you for calling men and women to serve in your Son’s Kingdom as priests, deacons, and consecrated persons.
Send your Holy Spirit to help others to respond generously and courageously to your call.
May our community of faith support vocations of sacrificial love in our youth and young adults.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen
~ USCCB
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