By Nickolas Naticchione
I have had the unique opportunity these past two summers of being assigned twice to the Parish of Saint Monica in Atlantic City. These two summers have been great experiences of priestly ministry, which continue to affirm and strengthen me in discerning my vocation to the priesthood.
The Parish of Saint Monica is a very diverse parish that serves parishioners of many different cultures and backgrounds, which provides ample opportunities for a seminarian to grow in priestly ministry. During my first summer in Atlantic City, I engaged in these opportunities as more of an observer. In returning for the second assignment, I was able to be much more involved and active in the life of the parish. Combined with my pre-established familiarity with the parish, I felt that the pastor, Father Kevin Mohan, trusted me and treated me as a brother priest in some ways.
Father Mohan and I worked well together. His trust and guidance allowed me to experience more independence in ministry. At first, this independence was challenging, but it ended up being one of the greatest gifts of my assignments. Because of this responsibility, I learned more concretely how important self-accountability is in a priest’s life. It would have been easy for me to simply sit behind a desk or even in my room at the rectory and surf social media or binge-watch TV, but that wasn’t even a temptation throughout my two summers in the Parish of Saint Monica. I was drawn to do things in the parish. I did not feel merely obliged to be active in ministry because I was told to do something. Rather, I desired to be active in ministry, to be with the people of the parish, and to experience every foretaste of priestly ministry that I could.
Sometimes, life in the seminary can distract me from the end goal of serving the people of God in helping them in their journeys heaven. However, my assignments in the Parish of Saint Monica were a true gift for me to focus in on and to experience first-hand that end goal, as I had true experiences of priestly life and ministry. While the life of the priest – especially in a busy parish like Saint Monica – is busy and often hectic, my experiences in my assignments have continually solidified my discernment that the priesthood is God’s plan for my life. This life of the priest is what makes me truly happy. It is God’s path for me to become holy and to hopefully enter eternal life with Him as I work to help His people do the same.
Nickolas Naticchione is second theology at Saint Joseph’s Seminary, Yonkers, N.Y.
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