Photos by James A. McBride
Above left, seminarian Peter Gallagher, center, speaks with young men after Mass at St. Agnes Church, Our Lady of Hope Parish, Blackwood, on Nov. 3, Vocations to the Diocesan Priesthood Sunday. Right, senior priest Father John A DelDuca speaks at the Mass about his decision to become a priest.
Last weekend priests of the Diocese of Camden and seven diocesan seminarians shared their vocation story with the faithful all over South Jersey, telling their stories of how God chose them, and asking for all to pray that more young men hear God’s call in their hearts to enter the priesthood.
Their stories were a part of Vocations to the Diocesan Priesthood Sunday, declared by Bishop Dennis Sullivan, to raise awareness of vocations in the Camden Diocese.
In addition to the experiences shared last Saturday and Sunday, students in Catholic schools and religious education programs also learned during the week about the importance of vocations and the need to listen for God’s voice in their lives.
“Do not fear about becoming a priest,” urged Father Vincent Orum, parochial vicar at St. Charles Borromeo, Sicklerville, during Mass.
Rather, the priesthood brings not fear, but joy, he continued.
“I am a happy priest because the priesthood is a source of joy. I feel a sense of belonging and acceptance.”
He sees through his own vocation, how he can be a “source of joy” for others through the sacraments, especially penance, when he senses the peace the faithful feel when the deep burdens of sin are lifted off their shoulders.
Father Raymond Gormley, pastor of Incarnation, Mantua, recalled the day’s Gospel reading that tells of Jesus visiting the home of the tax collector, Zacchaeus.
“Just as Zacchaeus was called, so may young people consider their own call,” he said
Father Gormley remembered how he found his own call to the priesthood, starting as early as second grade, when he was about to receive holy Communion. He recalled the words of his teacher, Sister Augustine: “Remember that you are going to receive the greatest treasure – Jesus himself, truly present and alive in the Eucharist.”
He also echoed the words of St. Paul: “Pray that you may be made worthy.”
Father Gormley urged mothers, fathers, aunts, uncles and grandparents, “If you see that spark (of the priesthood), encourage them, so that you can say you did your part in continuing the greatness of the priesthood.”
Diocesan seminarians also shared their stories of finding their call, and their joy in following God’s will.
“To discern the priesthood, one needs silence, to pray and hear God speaking in our hearts,” said Peter Gallagher, a second year seminarian studying at the College Seminary of the Immaculate Conception at St. Andrew’s Hall, on the campus of Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.
Speaking all weekend at Our Lady of Hope Parish in Blackwood, Gallagher remarked that priests play an important function in the life of the church, as they “administer the sacraments, the greatest signs of God’s love for us. As St. Padre Pio said, ‘It is easier for the earth to exist without the sun than without the holy sacrifice of the Mass.”
Gallagher also spoke about how the secular society and temptation “seeks to dissuade men discerning this vocation.”
“We need to trust in the Holy Spirit to foster a culture of life and love, obeying all that God wants,” he said. “I am certainly not worthy of this calling to serve God as a holy priest, and others may feel the same way. But as we hear in today’s second reading, God makes us worthy. He does not call the qualified, he qualifies the called.”
Carlo Santa Teresa, a first-year student at the College Seminary of the Immaculate Conception, spoke during all Masses at Incarnation and recalled running from God’s calling for five years, until almost two years ago, when while crossing a New York City street. He was hit by a taxi cab running a red light and fractured his left tibia and fibula.
During his time in recovery, asking “why me” and why the accident wasn’t worse, he heard God “speak to me not on my terms, but his. He spoke to me, not through my ears, or even my mind, but through the very depths of my heart.”
Santa Teresa urged those in the congregation to “pray for more men to answer God’s call to serve him as a priest. And to any men here that feel the call to serve God as a priest, say yes!”
“Take my word for it, you will feel God’s grace working in a special way each day,” he said. “It really is more than you think you could ever have and more blessings than you think you can ever receive.”
at the bottom and then tap “Add to Home Screen”
