SPEAKER_05 0:07

Welcome to Beyond the Beacon with Bishop Kevin Sweeney, a podcast of the Diocese of Patterson, New Jersey. Join us for conversations about our Catholic faith, and together let's strive to live a life of faith, hope, and love. We're so glad you can join us. I'm Jay Agnish, Communications Director for the Diocese and editor of the Beacon, our news website. With me is Bishop Kevin Sweeney. Bishop, how are you? Good Jay, how are you doing? I'm doing well. So um we are where where are we? It's kind of a unique episode where this is part of Vocations Media Day, a first-time event our vocations office put together. And we're at On the Feast of St.

SPEAKER_03 0:44

Maximilian Maria Colby. Talk a little bit more about that. Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05 0:49

So uh as part of the Vocations Media Day, we uh are participating in a we're having a podcast with some of our seminarians. And uh yeah, looking forward to the conversation.

SPEAKER_03 0:59

Here at our evangelization center in St. Paul's Inside the Walls in Madison, and in a different part of the building. We've we have the studio upstairs that's used for coffee and cupkey in a Paul Street Journal, and we've used a few times. But uh uh we're here in uh what's uh this room I think is often used by the young adult community that meets uh one of our uh next guests, I think, can tell you a little bit more about that. Is he spent some time as part of that community.

SPEAKER_05 1:29

So um is there anything that you want to uh discuss? I know obviously the uh you had a statement you made on social media about the earthquake in Colombia.

SPEAKER_03 1:39

Yeah, so we as with Venezuela uh and other natural disasters and other places where um people are hurting in pain, we certainly are joined in prayer. And uh here in our own diocese, we're blessed with so many uh of our priests who come to us, have come to us from Colombia and many people as well throughout our parishes. Um many would have family members that um have been impacted. Uh it seems that the direct family members of our priests are all okay from what we've heard, and um but um I think it's over 200 that were killed, and um many that lost their homes and have been injured, and so um we uh we're trying to get more information over these. It's only been since Monday now, it's today's Friday, and uh so uh we continue to pray for um uh those impacted by the earthquake in uh Columbia.

SPEAKER_05 2:38

Okay. Well, why don't we uh find out who we're sitting next to here? So all the way at the end here is is Brian Collins, a seminarian, and Michael Cain is to his left. How are you guys doing? Doing well. How are you? I'm doing good, thanks. Yeah. Glad to be here. Good, yeah. Thanks for being a part of this. Um before we start our conversation, why don't we start with a prayer?

SPEAKER_03 3:02

So on this feast of Saint Maximilian Maria Colby, who um has a very interesting life and vocation story, a Franciscan priest and a missionary um in Nagasaki originally from Poland and uh did went as a missionary to um Japan and founded a community in Nagasaki, just outside and above the city. Uh the community there survived the dropping of the atomic bomb, and uh um Maximilian came back to Poland after a time in Japan uh during the time of the German occupation of Poland during the Second World War and uh eventually was arrested and put in a concentration camp. And so um many know the story that uh a prisoner had escaped from the camp, and when one prisoner escaped, they would take ten people and just uh put them in a starvation hut, as they called it, uh, and they chose the ten um prisoners who were gonna be starved to death, and one of them was a father of ten children, I believe. Uh, and St. Father Maximilian Colby stepped up and uh in in the Haloap. There's a great description that I shared with seminarians earlier. Um in the Daily Homily, um uh Father Bonavice Hicks tells a little bit of the story of his stepping up. He said the this commandant of the um concentration camp kind of took a step back because of Father Macmillion's uh presence, but um he said that he wanted to take the guy's place, and Commandant said, okay. Um and uh as I shared at Mass with the seminarians, uh when he was canonized by Saint, by now St. Pope John Paul II, 1982, I believe, the man who whose life he had exchanged for his own um was there present, I think he was 82 at the time. Um so uh a great example uh and uh a good day to have Media Day because uh he had a printing press and he was uh he started a group called the Knights of Mary Immaculate and uh was very in Poland, especially um interested in getting the news out through media, the media of the time being printed word on on newspapers and pamphlets. Uh so um a good good uh patron saint for for Media Day. Uh so uh we'll pray now um asking um the intercession of Saint Mar uh Saint Mary, Saint Uh Maximilian Maria Colby and uh and Mary our Blessed Mother. Uh we'll ask the um help and protection of uh St. Michael the Archangel. Uh I've shared on the Hallow app the last few years now, the something called St. Michael's Lent that uh that Hallow's doing right now. So if you're not familiar with it, you can check it out there. But um we'll ask uh we'll pray through the intercession and ask the help of uh St. Michael the Archangel, name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke and we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the divine power, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits that wander the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us. Saint Maximilian Maria Colby, pray for us. Mary, Mother of the Church, Mary Immaculate, pray for us. In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

SPEAKER_05 6:24

Okay, so we've been given some questions and we want to get to get to know you guys a little bit more. I guess, I guess the kind of the perspective we're coming from is um for people who might not have uh an idea of what actually goes on in seminary, um, you know, and also people who might be discerning um the priesthood or seminary. Um so that's kind of where we're coming from. But we have some fun, some fun questions, some serious questions. So where do we want to start?

SPEAKER_03 6:51

Maybe just before the questions, uh our seminarians can introduce themselves a little bit more than just uh what year you're in or where you're from, but uh maybe just tell us a little bit about yourself, where you grew up, when you first thought about priesthood, and maybe uh what it was like from that first thought to now being in the seminary. Brian, why don't you start us off?

SPEAKER_00 7:10

Right, yes. So I'm from St. Luke Parish in Long Valley, which is kind of way, way out there at the very edge of the diocese.

SPEAKER_03 7:16

Looks a little like Ireland out there.

SPEAKER_00 7:18

It does. I like it quite a bit for that reason. Um when I first started thinking about priesthood was really when I went through what was then called RCIA in my home parish because I was not raised a Catholic. But uh I went through the program at the parish, I received my sacraments at the Easter Vigil when I was a freshman in college, and from there it just became a logical thing of discerning priesthood. And it's funny that we're here in this room because in this room I did a lot of my discerning because the former vocation director, uh Father Ed Rama, we would have first Saturday days of discernment, and at that time they were held here, so we would sit in this room a lot and fraternize and discuss discernment. So it's fitting that I'm back in this building.

SPEAKER_03 7:56

You said um in your first year of college you received had you been baptized?

SPEAKER_00 8:01

I had been baptized as an infant, and then there was no follow-up.

SPEAKER_03 8:04

I was not raised in the So you received communion confirmation at the Easter Vigil, I imagine?

SPEAKER_00 8:08

Yes, and made uh first confession shortly beforehand.

SPEAKER_03 8:11

Right. Uh and uh and where were you studying in college at that time?

SPEAKER_00 8:15

So at that time I was actually studying locally at the County College of Morris, right in Randolph. And then after I did two years there, I transferred down to Loyola University in Maryland and got my bachelor's there.

SPEAKER_03 8:27

And uh did you do some missionary work?

SPEAKER_00 8:31

No, I did not do any missionary work. I did a lot of work with the Knights of Columbus down in Baltimore. However, I didn't do any missionary work per se.

SPEAKER_03 8:40

Um but uh you continued to nurture your faith while you were living away at college, and uh uh did you find a community of faith there that uh where you worshiped?

SPEAKER_00 8:50

I did. There was a very strong community of faith there, and funnily enough, one of the priests on campus, it's a Jesuit college, so we had Jesuit priests there. We had a discernment group of myself and five or six other young men who were studying at Loyola who were discerning, and we would meet once a month in the Jesuit residence, have dinner, and pray and just discuss and talk about what we were reading, how our discernment life was going. And I also got a spiritual director when I was down there, which was very good, and that helped me get to where I am now. So it's been a fun path.

SPEAKER_03 9:22

And then you connected with the vocation director, Father Rama at the time, and then little by little, next thing you know, you were in the seminary, right?

SPEAKER_00 9:28

Yes, I'd been in touch with um Father Ed and then Father Charlie when he was made the assistant vocation director. And yes, I got the application, spring of my senior year, and filled it out and was accepted. Thanks be to God.

SPEAKER_01 9:42

Great. Michael? Yeah, so I'm originally from Marstown, born and raised. Um grew up going to St. Virgil's, St. uh Resurrection Parish in Randolph for a little while, and then uh stent in uh Assumption of Marstown. Um when I grew up, grew up Catholic, kind of credo Catholic, um went to South Carolina. My parents moved down south and I moved with them to South Carolina. And uh when I moved down to South Carolina, I really started to discern like the road the priesthood and decided I think it's it's only best if I apply. So I applied originally to the Diocese of Charleston, South Carolina. Uh I was accepted by the Diocese of Charleston, and um during my time of discernment in seminary, during my year down there, I had some thoughts of you know, maybe uh what do I is this right for me? Do I is this uh really where I feel called at the time? Um I left seminary for uh about a two-year time period, um, was in a relationship and then decided to reapply to uh to the diocese of Patterson this time. And uh was in contact with Father. Come back home, exactly. Come back to where I'm born and raised. Uh was in contact with Father Rama and Father Charlie, and uh praise be to God again, was accepted back up to uh my home.

SPEAKER_03 11:04

So right, I think it's important for people to know that uh um each each there's similarities to a vocation story, uh uh and and things that would be the same classes and years that you have to go through. But for some, they enter the seminary and they go through and they get ordained. Uh from many others, uh they might go to the seminary, say, I'm not so sure. Yeah. Uh take some time away and find themselves back in the seminary, as was the case with yourself, right, Michael?

SPEAKER_01 11:32

Exactly. Yeah. It was uh it was a great, you know, time of discernment away, but I realized like I felt the Lord's calling me back, and um praise be to God, I'm back.

SPEAKER_03 11:39

So Jay's got some questions.

SPEAKER_05 11:41

Yeah, so Michael, maybe a good one for for you. Um so here's a question for maybe for a discerner. So, what if you have a girlfriend and you're thinking about the priesthood?

SPEAKER_01 12:32

Um that's a really good question. I think it's important just to pray um and to spend a lot of time with the Blessed Sacrament, um and really just discern what the Lord is calling you to do. Because both marriage and priesthood are beautiful vocations. Um, both are important vocations to the life of the church. Um but it's really important just to discern and see where the Lord is leading you. And if if the Lord leads you to priesthood, he'll make it clear to you like he did for me. The Lord made it very clear that this is where I was supposed to be. And um same thing with marriage. If it's if you know a young man is called to marriage, the Lord will make that clear as well.

SPEAKER_05 13:08

So great. And Brian, here's one for you. So what cool experiences do seminarians have?

SPEAKER_00 13:15

Cool experiences seminarians have. I think the opportunity to live in community with a lot of young men like yourself that are seeking out God's call and have said this initial yes and are at the seminary is great because it's a great support system. You're there with each other, living in community, and you know, these are your brothers that you live with, so you can talk to them about just about anything, and it's a very very good sense of community, I think. And also, you know, you pray together, which is nice because oftentimes when you're out in the world you don't have the opportunities to pray together. Oftentimes you pray more by yourself. So when you're with a group with a ha with a house of twenty some odd guys, it's nice praying in community for sure.

SPEAKER_05 13:57

Yeah, one of the questions is do you feel lonely?

SPEAKER_00 14:01

In the seminary, no, you don't feel lonely because you're living in a hallway with ten other guys that you all have the same hope in theory, which is you all won't be ordained priests one day, God willing. So the loneliness is not there, I would say, in the seminary, because you have that strong community life. Sure, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 14:20

Bishop, do you have anything?

SPEAKER_03 14:21

Uh well, uh to say that Brian, um, when you say cool experiences, and there's um many different types of experiences in the seminary as in life, uh, but you know, the church is always looking at um how are we doing with uh encouraging guys, um, supporting guys, forming guys who feel they may have a call, and from the start of the process to uh a decision about whether a guy's ready to be ordained a deacon and ordained a priest. Uh and the church has kind of added a wrinkle in the last uh few years. Uh they updated something called the program for priestly formation, kind of the document in Rome that um outlines the formation in a certain uh part of the uh world really, um, and uh so the United States. And uh in the most recent revision, the church said there's a need for guys to spend some time upon entering or applying to the seminary, being accepted for the seminary, before they start the formal classes, and uh there's a lot of formation in something that's now called the propodudic year, right? And uh, Brian, uh one of the uh highlights would be that uh because we live in such a world where we are often bombarded by technology, uh the church says maybe it would be good to take a fast or sometime away from being bombarded every day by technology. And so I think uh you had about six days a week where you didn't have a phone, right? Was it last year, right? Or the year before last year.

SPEAKER_00 15:59

So the structure was the s the basic structure of it was you would have your cell phone from Saturday morning to Sunday evening. Okay. Sunday evening after dinner, you had to turn in your phone and your laptop, and then Monday Monday through Saturday morning mass, you would not have technology, so you were kind of removed from the world. And it forces you to learn to be present in a way that we I think have lost a little bit. You know, we're so bombard with technology, we're so interconnected, which interconnectedness can sometimes be a good thing, but then it can also sometimes pull us away from the moment. So one of the goals of the Prop Dudic year was to make us more present in the moment. And when there's no technology between you and the guys that you're living with, your the connection with that with them then becomes different because you're all experiencing this kind of isolation from the world at the same time.

SPEAKER_03 16:48

And you know, thinking about it myself and talking to other bishops, uh, what there was a concern, okay, it's another year really, added on to that time of formation. Uh and you know, can how what would the reaction be to guys who have phones as many of us do all the time, uh being with and um I think to my surprise and the surprise of many, maybe the guys themselves, uh so many of the guys have said, oh, this is great. Would you say that that many of the guys felt that the the break from technology was a was a good thing and and something that they uh welcomed rather than than resisted. Would you say that?

SPEAKER_00 17:26

Yes, I would say that a great deal, and to the surprise of many, because I remember when we all first reported, when we all first arrived, there was a lot of anxiety around it. Oh, when do we have to turn our phones and when do we have to because it's it's foreign to a lot of us now living without the technology. And sometimes it's that fear of the unknown, sometimes it's that fear of not being able to call or text someone right then, right now when we want to. But you found after the first couple of weeks, after the first month, two months, that guys really adjusted to it in a very good way. And they enjoyed it quite a bit. Prior lives benefited, they benefited in growth of virtue and holiness just being in the moment, not being elsewhere mentally.

SPEAKER_05 18:05

Michael, how far along are you in seminary?

SPEAKER_01 18:07

I'm going to my uh first philosophy year. So technically my first year of formation.

SPEAKER_05 18:13

Okay, so you're through the propade year and okay.

SPEAKER_03 18:16

So when a guy has finished his undergraduate degree, um it it uh Michael was in the seminary previously, so he didn't have to do the propadeic year. Uh right now, as it stands, if a guy's never been in a seminary, they would do a propodudic year, then two years of philosophy and four years of theology, right? Okay. Uh so um uh you're just you're back now to start again. Um uh maybe talk a little bit about that time away, um, yes, in a relationship, but also working. And uh uh I believe you were in the um hospitality industry, no? Yes, yeah. Uh what would you say from uh having left the seminary now to go back to the seminary, that working experience uh taught you or helped you to appreciate in terms of your own faith life or even your discernment or making the decision to go back to the seminary?

SPEAKER_01 19:04

Yeah, I think um spending the time away and having kind of living in the real world as it is, um, was a beautiful thing. Uh having a job, having a career really. I was a manager at a hotel and and I could have certainly continued that job going forward in a very long-term way. Um, but I I think it was really beneficial for me to live on the uh outside of the seminary formation for a while and see how um the vast majority of people live their lives going forward, right? Uh having a job and um I love a boss and having a boss and sometimes also being the biggest.

SPEAKER_03 19:43

Right, right. And sometimes being the boss, right? Yeah, right.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

Uh but it was a beautiful experience for me. It taught me a lot of leadership qualities. Um taught me a lot of just how to um manage the everyday life of uh the normal population, everybody outside of formation and priesthood.

SPEAKER_03 20:02

So uh we got two of our other seminarians coming in, but maybe Jay, one question each uh for the guys uh one one for Brian, one for Michael.

SPEAKER_05 20:11

Here's a good one, Michael, for you. I hope for you. Uh what if parents don't encourage the priesthood because they want grandkids or want a successful career from their son?

SPEAKER_01 20:22

Yeah, I think um if the parents aren't super um I think it's common, right, where we live in a world um where parents want grandkids, and that's a beautiful thing, it's an important thing. Um but I think that as a as a man uh when you when you get to the point of discernment um you need to kind of take control of of your own direction and where you want to go in life. And um kind of saying, like, mom, dad, I I love you, um, but I love you so much that I want to do this for you. Like I I uh the the life of a seminary and the life of a priest is a beautiful life. Spending so much time with people and and ministering to people um that that a man kind of just needs to say, Mom, dad, I love you so much, but but this is where the Lord is leading me, and just following the Lord and where He's He's asking you to go uh is a really important thing to do.

SPEAKER_05 21:14

That's great, it's beautiful. Okay, so Brian, we're gonna have a little fun. So I'm gonna throw a couple at you and you you let me know which one you wanna answer. So can you play video games?

SPEAKER_00 21:24

Yes. Okay.

SPEAKER_05 21:26

Do you pay taxes? Do you pay taxes?

SPEAKER_00 21:32

Uh do I pay taxes?

SPEAKER_05 21:35

That's a question for Father Charlie.

SPEAKER_00 21:37

That's a question for the vocation director.

SPEAKER_05 21:39

Are you worried about making money?

SPEAKER_00 21:42

No, I'm not I'm not really worried about making money. Now, don't get me wrong, money could be a lot of fun. But um, when you're entering the seminary, God willing to be a priest, you know, you're not doing it for the lifestyle. You're doing it because you want to live in imitation of Christ. Now, do I have nice jackets, you know, nice shoes, all that kind of thing? Sure, but I'm not terribly interested in making that much money because in the priesthood it's just a giving of yourself fully to the church, to the Lord.

SPEAKER_03 22:08

And just before we uh each of you had the opportunity, I believe, to spend some time in a parish this summer and get a little experience of living in the rectory and working. Uh Brian, where were you?

SPEAKER_00 22:19

I was at Holy Spirit Parish in Pequanic with Father Caesar Haramillo. And uh a highlight from the summer, something that uh A highlight from the summer, um getting the chance to do stuff stuff with the school, with the vacation Bible school, which was really an interesting experience. And also just the privilege of living at a parish, getting to know people and Just the trust people place in you as a seminarian, I thought was a really beautiful thing. And Michael?

SPEAKER_01 22:43

I was at St. Catherine Usina and Mountain Lakes. Father Parisi. Father Parisi and uh and the dog scout. It was beautiful. It was an amazing experience. I think Vacation Bible school, like Brian said, was a beautiful experience. Uh spending some time with kids, but also for me, I had the opportunity to see the life of some baptisms and some weddings, which was really beautiful from the side of priesthood and seminarian life.

SPEAKER_05 23:08

So last question for both of you. Do you have friends outside of the seminary? Yes. Yes. Yes. You can have those.

SPEAKER_00 23:16

And thank God for that, right?

SPEAKER_03 23:17

It's uh uh we all need a day off and sometime uh to get some rest and relaxation, right? So well, Michael, Brian, thank you very much uh for being with us today and uh for your yes day by day to uh try to ask the Lord to show you his will, and if it be um priesthood, uh we'll be praying for you and ask everyone to pray for you and uh uh thanks for giving us the time today.

SPEAKER_01 23:41

Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 23:41

Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 23:42

Thank you. Okay, so we're gonna go to great job.

SPEAKER_03 23:45

Well done. Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 23:45

Two more guests. We'll be right back. Okay, and we're back with two of our other seminarians. Welcome.

SPEAKER_04 23:59

Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 24:00

So uh can you tell us who you are and and maybe uh what year in seminary you are?

SPEAKER_04 24:05

Absolutely. My name is Eric Hosenbein. I'm from Morristown, home parish of Notre Dame at Mount Carmel, Cedar Knowles, and I'm going into my second year of pre-theology at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University. Trying to remember all that.

SPEAKER_07 24:23

Originally from Nan Olive, grew up going to uh St. Jude's in Bud Lake. Uh now I live in uh Morristown after a little bit of traveling for college and work. Um, and my home parish now is the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. And I am entering my first year, the Propodudic Year at a St. Joseph Seminary. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 24:41

Well, welcome, thanks for being on. Bishop, where do you want to take the conversation?

SPEAKER_03 24:46

Um as we discussed with our uh two previous guests, uh uh Brian and Michael, uh, we talked a little bit about the Propodudic year and that process. Uh Eric mentioned pre-theology, that's another word for uh time of studying philosophy. So uh again, propodudic year first, then two years of philosophy, and then four years of theology. Uh please God, leading to um ordination as a deacon the year before you would be ordained as a priest. Uh so again, thank you, Sean and Eric, for your yes day by day, um, but also uh for being with us here today on Media Day and on our podcast. Um, as the other guys did, maybe just uh you told us where you were born and raised, uh, but maybe just tell us a little bit more about yourselves uh uh uh growing up uh and when maybe you first thought God could be calling me to be a priest and uh what it was like from that first thought to uh talking to a vocation director, application process and being in the seminary. Maybe right.

SPEAKER_04 25:46

Um so I grew up in Morristown, I grew up grew up in the public school system, but my parents sent us through the CCD faith formation program at Notre Dame, and we were just Christmas Easter, you know, mass family. Um so I didn't have that personal relationship with Christ yet, but I kind of knew, you know, the rhythm and the kind of the crater Catholic stuff. I went to an Operation Appalachian trip that so many parishes go to. I was kind of really introduced to other people who had, you know, I think just a bit more deeper personal relationships with Jesus. Um and then I started joining youth ministry, started going to Sunday Mass. Um, priesthood was not on my mind. Uh I go off to Virginia Tech to study engineering, and I think it was just the right place at the right time. And the Lord, I got introduced to many great friends and people and good chaplains and just good mentors.

SPEAKER_03 26:45

Where campus ministry programs?

SPEAKER_04 26:47

Campus ministry, Newman House. Um, it was just a good location. And I was introduced to daily mass, adoration, frequent confession, and building up the prayer life. And slowly but surely the Lord worked on my heart where a year or two go in, and I'm really thinking about the priesthood, thinking about what does God want for me in life, what is he asking me to do, what's his will, um, and what are the signs that he's telling me in prayer, through conversation, through friendship. Um, so after my freshman year, I came back home, contacted Father Ed, who was in Morstown at the time, first Saturdays here, and I said, What do I do? What is this whole thing? I have a lot of questions. I, you know, I'm getting these sauces, these feelings. Help me with this. And he helped me, he guided me, he answered my questions, he said, okay, now go back and pray, and we'll we'll catch up in six months and let's do these things. Um and it just turned out that I think the Lord was leading me, and we started building a relationship, and by the end of my four years of college, I knew I had to, I just had to apply, otherwise, I'd be regretting something for the rest of my life. Um, so I applied and I I got in and I went right from college to my property here at St. Joseph Seminary. Um, so you're you're building a relationship, hopefully. And and you hopefully make it flourish. And that ISCs, as I found with vocation directors and events and talking with the seminarians, it it helps you get a sense of the call and what's real and what's not real, and oh, this is this is authentic. And as Christ called the men on the the shores of Galilee, he's calling men today, and he's calling to serve here in in our home area of New Jersey, believe it or not. Um so it's it's beautiful, you get over the fear, and and you you appreciate and you love solely day by day the will of the Lord. So that's a bit of my story. Yeah.

SPEAKER_07 28:46

Yeah, as far as mine, yeah. I also grew up um Catholic. Um went to C C D at uh St. Jude's, and um my my family was a little similar where we would go every Sunday, and then I noticed kind of as I got a little older towards high school, we stopped going to mass as frequently, and I like I wasn't like very much practicing my faith um through like college and my um young adult career. And then I had um sorry, where'd you go to high school? I went to high school at uh Mount Olive High School, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 29:12

Mount Olive High School and and then college?

SPEAKER_07 29:14

Uh yeah, and then college was um University of North Carolina, Wilmington. Um and high school I was uh very involved in um our like TV production program. We had a very robust thing where like um every like um television production. Yeah, television production. So like uh we had our own TV channel, MO TV, Mount Olive Television. And um on like Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, we would some of us in the club would get to school early to actually run a live news show. It was like five minutes, but um, we would do like live cuts with like some commercials and like PSAs sometimes, and like I like really like that world of like you know crafting stories and going out, kind of like getting a scoop and like you know, just showcasing like people and maybe like uh the things they're doing, different like clubs or like initiatives. Um and so I was drawn to that, and so I went to uh film school to pursue that.

SPEAKER_03 30:01

University of North Carolina, Wilmington. Wilmington, yes. Right. And studying film. Yes. You were gonna be a filmmaker.

SPEAKER_07 30:08

Yeah, yeah. Uh yeah, I had uh when I uh came out of school, I had dreams of being a producer. Um I always like the logistics.

SPEAKER_03 30:14

And you worked in the field then after college, huh? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 30:17

For um six years I worked with a video production company right outside of uh Philadelphia. I moved there for the work.

SPEAKER_03 30:22

Do you remember the first time you thought that the Lord could be calling you to priesthood?

SPEAKER_07 30:28

Yeah, um, yeah, when I started um going back to mass and like um practicing my faith.

SPEAKER_03 30:34

When was that?

SPEAKER_07 30:35

That was uh April 2023. Oddly enough, um, my friend and his fiance now wife, um, they invited me to go to one of their Sunday services. They went to a church um in Philadelphia, and uh when I went there, I I saw you know people worshiping God, of course, as you do, uh, on a Sunday. And uh I I hadn't had that relationship with um with God and Christ in so long. And like uh it was a wake-up call, like, wow, like I I've been missing this. Like I I want to go back and actually, you know, talk to God. And so um, you know, I was raised Catholic, I knew that you know I had to go to confession before I could receive the Eucharist and Mass. And so I went to confession the next Saturday, and it was a really healing experience. Uh it really just um I I felt actually healed by like um confessing my sins after um so long, and it was um it made me realize that God's mercy is so great and that his love was there for me, and I was like, oh wow, like you're like real, and like I now like I owe you everything. Like, and so I I I went on this like rapid like journey of like self-catechesis and then uh uh joining all these uh young adult groups, like uh St. Paul's like the walls, whatever. Right, right, and uh uh just going to mass, praying, going to adoration, and you know, the vocation question you know inevitably came up. Yeah, it was actually um Monsignor John Hart at um Assumption, who was the first uh priest to ask me if I uh ever wanted to be a priest, and uh he asked me after a daily mass during Lent in 2024, and I was like, oh no.

SPEAKER_02 32:08

You got the wrong guy.

SPEAKER_03 32:11

But no, but um we don't choose him, he chooses us, right?

SPEAKER_07 32:14

So yeah, once he um he asked me like uh the question never really went away, and I had come to a few uh first Saturdays actually in this room with uh Father Charlie and Father Ed Rama, um discerned like kind of discerned like a little bit, and then I was like, eh, I don't think it's for me. And then you know, tried to like date here and there, and just nothing ever took off, and priesthood kind of kept calling. And uh a year later, um last year in 2025, I was at a more spiritually mature point where I saw the beauty of the vocation of the priesthood as well as like uh the married life, and uh I was like, okay, I can kind of see myself going either way. And then um once I had gone to a few discernment events, I read uh To Save a Thousand Souls, um, and then you know, ironically enough, I I had actually gone on a date with um a woman and I was I told her, I was like, Oh yeah, I'm uh discerning the priesthood, I just want to be open about that. And she's like, Oh, what's that like? And you know, I talked about it, and this is funny. Uh she ended up like kind of like pulling back like from our communication after that date. And I thought, like, oh, I must have done something wrong here. Did I do something stupid? Like, did I just make some mysterious words? Yeah, so like um I ended up talking to her on the phone like a week after, and I was like, Oh yeah, like uh it just feels like you pulled back a little bit. I had a good time, like just wanted to see if there's anything wrong. And she was like, Well, when you were talking about like uh you know the priesthood and everything, it seemed like your head and your heart weren't on the same page. And I was like, Oh, like and I was like, Yeah, I didn't even realize that. And then um Yeah, so like and it was like a f a week or so later I read The Save a Thousand Souls. I'm just reading about what priests do.

SPEAKER_03 33:48

Save a thousand souls, a book written by a vocation director about the life of priesthood, uh life of a priest, and uh it covers a lot of um uh ministry and uh prayer, and uh it's uh been a help to many who are um discerning. Jay had some questions.

SPEAKER_05 34:05

It's so great to hear the connection, how all of you have been involved with St. Paul and South of Walls here at the Young Adult Ministry. And now might be a good time just to push the vocations. Uh so uh check the show notes for information about the vocations uh office.

SPEAKER_03 34:20

And the first Saturday, especially for those interested in vocations and contacting the vocation office. Um, Father Charlie Lana, our vocation director, and um uh I'm not sure if the first Saturday still takes place here or it's someplace else now.

SPEAKER_04 34:34

Takes over in um Father Ed's Paris.

SPEAKER_03 34:36

Father Father Ed Rama was the previous vocation director. He's now uh pastor in Mount Hope, uh St. Bernard's, uh, and he uh hosts the first Saturday now. But uh but yes, Jay, as you're right. Uh that's um I want to share that.

SPEAKER_05 34:49

And uh yeah, give a call, email, reach out. Um so uh so we know you're allowed to have friends. We've established that from the other guys. So um what are what are some common questions that you get from your peers or friends or parents or whoever when when when you first enter the seminary or when you're thinking about it? Um Or when you're in seminary, like what's a common question you get?

SPEAKER_04 35:17

Yeah, you get a lot of questions, you know, just the practical, like, what do you study? What do you do? You know, it's yeah, it's a lot of philosophy, it's a lot of theology. But seminaries also uh allowed a formation in a good way. Uh you're not just do this, do that, don't do this, don't do that, you know. Um there's a lot of formation of the interior heart where you kind of you opened up yourself and you allow the Lord to transform you as he walked with the disciples for three years in ministry. They were transformed by the presence of Christ, and you walk in that path. You know, another title for we have many titles in the church. You can get very That's another thing. A lot of people are just kind of clarify pre-theology, philosophy, property, what vocabulary, oh yeah, yeah. So another term is discipleship and configuration. So discipleship is you're learning to disciple and follow the Lord. And then your last years of formation are configuration, configuring yourself to Christ, the high priest as a priest is. Um so that's a very that's a big thing. And then just people are open. So a lot of practicals of why not marriage? You know, Sean was talking about it. You have two beautiful vocations. You can live a life, you can have a career. Um is your priesthood a career? And the you know, the priesthood's a it's it's a supernatural calling, it's a supernatural fatherhood of laying down your life for your children. Um you know, the curator of always talks about this. Your your parents should be your family. And if you God willingly live out your vocation, whatever God is calling you to be, you will be fulfilled in every way uh possible. Um and it's especially most especially for religious life and the priesthood um and for parents, you know, even through you know the thick and thin of it, and the late nights and the you know the the diaper changes and everything, the pre-sacrifices in so many ways that he gives himself to the family. In seminary, you learn that a bit. You go to summer assignments, you know, you got your late night studies, you got your papers, whatever, but you learn to to pray, to form yourself, and to configure yourself, to give yourself to the church. And it's it's kind of there's nothing like it. You know, I sometimes say it's like the army, you know, there's a regiment schedule, you gotta wake up, breakfast is at 6:30, you know, 7 a.m., you gotta be here, you gotta do that, and we have another guy who's in the army. Um, but it's kind of more that where you're giving yourself in totality of I'm laying around my life. So it's a unique call and it can be challenging sometimes, but you know, guys, and they every guy says this. They look back at the year or they look back at the years and they say, Wow, how much the Lord has changed me. Same way in a marriage, in a relationship, having kids, how much the Lord has changed me. So seminary is a process of that, and it's a beautiful process.

SPEAKER_03 38:19

So Sean, uh, you've just recently, I think, had the experience as you described the conversation with the woman that you were dating, uh, but also um you've been breaking the news right over these last few months to uh parents or family members, family friends, everybody. What have been some of the reactions? As Jay said, some of the questions, uh seminary, what does that mean? Priesthood? Yeah, uh any uh anything that stood out in terms of telling somebody, people you worked with, what you're gonna do next and and what their reactions or questions were?

SPEAKER_07 38:50

Yeah, um a lot of it um did center on like marriage, like are you gonna be able to get married? And it's like, oh no.

SPEAKER_04 38:56

Like um marrying the church. Yeah, marrying the church.

SPEAKER_07 39:00

Yeah, actually, um I was thinking when you were uh you were talking to Eric about like uh this one line I read from like a vocational like discernment book, because I was trying to like discern how to discern when I was like going through the discernment process, and there were a lot of conflicting things.

SPEAKER_03 39:14

Figure out how to figure things out, yeah.

SPEAKER_07 39:17

Yeah, and one line was like uh if you if you um if you're like uh something along the lines, if you're going out with like a like a great woman and like or a great girl, and you're just like why would why would you like shift paths? Um and I kind of realized that um my woman, so to say, was kind of like the church. Like I started to fall in love with the church when I like was getting involved in all these ministries, teaching like confirmation classes, and I was like, oh okay, like this this path is like in front of me. Um and I feel more drawn to like serving in this capacity um as like you know a priest would. So that's kind of uh kind of where my heart went. Um but yeah, to go back to the question, yeah, um, a lot of it is around that, or just like you know, how are you gonna like, you know, what are you gonna do for money, where are you gonna live? And um, you know, uh every seminarian's like living situation is a little different.

SPEAKER_05 40:06

But um Who was the first person you told once you had a clear was it clear, like, okay, I'm gonna be a priest? Yeah, um or go to the seminary.

SPEAKER_07 40:14

I told my family, like um I told my dad actually when I was like discerning, and I I I wasn't like sure I wanted to be like go down like the path to like seminary, but um I remember him saying like I think that might be good for you, and that was like very encouraging um to hear. Um but yeah, I probably told my family first and then some of my uh my close friends that I keep in touch with.

SPEAKER_03 40:33

But and your family's been supportive?

SPEAKER_07 40:35

Yeah, they've been supportive, praise God. Yeah. Um yeah, I I haven't gotten any resistance. Um Eric, how about you with your own family?

SPEAKER_04 40:43

Uh there's a lot of questions at first. I remember I told a lot of my friends I was part of a discernment group where we read to save a thousand souls in college. So some of my closer friends knew and and were familiar with the journey, but but God bless my parents, uh, they they just didn't know a lot. What is seminary? Philosophy. And and you know, parents want the best for their children. And I was still in college at the time. I was going for engineering, and I was saying, I think I may want to leave this and go do this. And any good parent would say, Well, what if that doesn't work out? And it was very real. What is this philosophy? How is that gonna work out? Um, but over time, you know, as the seminarians formed, so are the parents. There's a formation process for the parents, and I see that with every seminarian, their parents, the Lord works on their hearts tremendously as the Lord works on the seminarians' hearts as well. And I could I've seen that in my parents over the past three, four years. So there's a lot of questions at first, a lot of what is this? What's going on?

SPEAKER_05 41:47

We know you're Catholic, but this is whoa, man, this is like you're crossing the line your way out there. Next level.

SPEAKER_04 41:53

But you know, God bless my you know, my parents, and I'll give a good example. Recently, they my dad and my brother went to the ordination of gender and Father Lucas. So he's at the cathedral for the first time, and it's a different mass. You know, there's a lot of different parts and different rituals than a normal Sunday. And I encourage any parent or seminarian or someone thinking to go to an ordination mass, go to cathedral, see what kind of happens, see what you know the bishop does, and the man who lays on the floor. So he has to have the mass. And afterwards, he said, I have a lot of questions. So I finally catch up with him, you know, a day or two later after the first mass ceremony at the parish, and he said, So this is like a wedding day. Yes, it is. It exactly is a wedding day. Good, good, good work. It's even a party. It literally was a party. And he said, So I should invite the family. I said, Yeah. And so, okay, I'll rent on a bus and we'll go to the cathedral. I said, Oh my gosh, look at this. I don't have to, you know, and and I was like, I would never have imagined that three years ago. Right.

SPEAKER_03 42:51

Um, enthusiasm.

SPEAKER_04 42:53

Yeah, you know, and just you know, enthusiasm and just the oh my god, it's like he can, you know, he sees it. And that's the type of, you know, if you give the Lord an opportunity and you give it out to him, he'll work. He'll he'll work. And it's it's beautiful to see that.

SPEAKER_03 43:09

Question was earlier about um what are some cool things that uh seminarians get to do. And uh uh one of the cool things I got to do as a seminarian in 1993, I believe, um, was go to World Youth Day in Denver, Colorado, with then St. Pope John Paul II. Uh and uh I met Eric. Uh you were still, I think you went, you traveled with the uh with the university, right? Uh I was with the university. We met uh we met, I think, in Fatima uh when uh but you got to be part of World Youth Day uh in in Lisbon with with Pope Francis three years ago now, I guess. And uh were you um did you were you at the Eucharistic Congress? Yes. So um uh and uh maybe talk a little bit about those experiences.

SPEAKER_04 43:54

Yeah, talk about cool experiences. Um I I remember preparing for that World Utah trip, and I was like, well, you know, I could, I'm in college, but the money and you know, there's other things I want to do in the summer. And then my chaplain was said, no, you're gone. Like, come on now, like no, no, no, no, no. This is for you. Ask your mom. I was like, my mom's not gonna say yes. Like, only two weeks and you're like, no, no, no, no. So I said, Fine, I'll ask her, you know, I'll be a good obedient, you know, uh student. And I asked her, he said, No, no, no, this will be good for you. You should go. In fact, here's my credit card, you're signing up. I was like, okay, here we go. So I had a blessed opportunity to go there. If you get, you know, you gotta give another an opportunity, and and I think you'll be surprised what he'll bring you and where he'll send you. So And that one year, I went with the Diocese of Richmond, World Youth Day, and we that one calendar year, so we started out in Lourdes. We did a week kind of in Lourdes going across Spain, and then we met up in Fatima, and sure enough, there's the Diocese of Patterson. I said, What are the odds? Um, and earlier that spring, I actually had another opportunity to go to Mexico and I went to our lady Guadalupe. And then that same summer, I ended up going to Ireland and seeing Our Lady of Not. Wow. So, you know, and I asked Mary that year, I said, I want to go closer to you. And she said, Alright, here we go. We got Lords, we got the whole tour together as a whole. So I was like, oh my goodness. Um, you know, not everyone has the same experience, and the Lord will send you places that, you know, it's different for everyone. Um, but asking you shall receive, and you know, it's just it's part of the process of you give yourself over to the Lord, you think of Matthew, follow me. I don't know if you had any idea of where he was going or where he'd be ended up and off to India and all these type of things and and stuff, but um and we're experienced hopefully a uh a Eucharistic revival uh here in the United States.

SPEAKER_03 45:58

Uh and um we saw that beautifully in uh Indianapolis, uh, where 70,000, 60 or 70,000 came together. Um uh anything stuck out from that experience?

SPEAKER_04 46:10

Um world you think was great for the Universal Church, but the Eucharist of Congress was, I think that was the spark for the guy in the turning of the American church. You know, you think about past recent decades, and I think we're building it up again. And I think Pope Leo has helped confirm that a lot of just the fact that he's an American Pope. That Eucharist Congress, I think, was very special because it kind of said we're back. The American Catholic Church is we're on the high roll again. I don't know why I keep snapping. Um we're we're we're upstream again. Um and you saw the beauty of many parts of the country, not only you'll physically come together, but many voices of the church coming together. That was very spiritualities and different voices. And you remember Mother Olga Olga, yeah. And just walks of life, different vocations coming together to speak about the beauty of the Eucharist, the importance of it, and how we love the church in the United States of America. So it's just a great experience for me to see all that, see different seminarians, see different priests, um, and it becomes like a little family in the Catholic world. You know, it's it quickly dwindles down and get to know people, hang out with them, um and and and you know, praise the Lord in Lucas Oil Stadium. It was a beautiful adoration, confession, mass, just it doesn't get much better than that.

SPEAKER_05 47:44

Sean, what inspires you in your either in your studies or as you look forward to the day, God willing you become a priest, what what gives you joy or what are you looking forward to?

SPEAKER_07 47:56

Um there was actually like a uh prayer card that our vocations director, uh Father Charlie, handed out to us maybe like a month or so ago. It's a litany for priests and seminarians, um where uh at the end of like the litany, it's like um kind of like uh going through all the things like a priest would do in a service, like for every confession I'll hear, um Jesus love them through me, you know, for every like um soul I'll reach out to, Jesus love them through me. And um when I when I've read through that at times, um I've gotten very excited for like the prospect of what everything a priest does to to be a shepherd, to be like a a fisher of men. Um so I would say that those things um when I think back to that and like what my ministry could look like if I'm a priest, God willing, um, that does motivate me for the path ahead.

SPEAKER_05 48:45

Beautiful.

SPEAKER_03 48:45

All right, so we have we have some maybe one more each, or final. Yeah, what do you think?

SPEAKER_05 48:50

Uh yeah, lightning round. Uh okay, here's a good one. Do you do you sit around and study and pray all day?

SPEAKER_04 48:58

Yeah, there is there is a good amount of prayer and study. There's also a lot of good community and recreation. Um it's a it's a you know, the everyone says this. The years go by quickly, but the days are long. The days are full. You're up pretty early, and sometimes you're up late at night, but they're very fulfilling days where you've accomplished a lot. And it's a good feeling sometimes when you look back and say, look at how much I studied, prayed, learned about the church, learned about myself, and ran around and did all these things and met all these people. Uh so a lot can go on in the seminary. You'll be surprised. And what what do you eat at the seminary?

SPEAKER_05 49:33

So what? What do you eat at the seminary? Oh. Um Do you have special seminary food or seminary?

SPEAKER_04 49:42

You'll um sometimes they like to do there's always taco Tuesdays like constant at St. Joseph's. Um we do a lot of, we have a lot of bagels. We're at we're at Seton Hall, so it's a Jersey seminary. So I tell all the other seminarians I know, I'm like, well, we got the we got the good bagels at my seminary. Do you cook at all? We do a little cooking. Um that's more of a fraternity thing. So, you know, both seminaries for us, there's the university, they have chefs.

SPEAKER_03 50:10

And that's but okay.

SPEAKER_04 50:10

The propodeudic program is is that part of the uh there's a little cooking part of that, but also we sometimes need a bit more of a homegrown meal. So some guys will just like, hey, I'm gonna I'm gonna do this dish. Oh, St. Joseph's Day. So we did all the St. Joseph Italian dishes and just had a good time. We'll go out to dinner um just for some good fraternity. Um, you know, some of the some of the best conversations happen over meals. Yeah. So you just kind of get down after prayer into the refectory, and you know, there's always like a salad bar, there's always options, whatever. So sometimes you gotta get creative of some guys will bring down an avocado, so I'm making like a breakfast avocado wrap or whatever. Um it's always the fun sometimes.

SPEAKER_05 50:52

Sean, any final thoughts on uh behind the curtain of seminary? What you're looking forward to, right?

SPEAKER_07 50:57

I haven't gone behind the curtain yet. I'm like looking forward to it. Um my first day of seminary is gonna be in less than two weeks. Um so I'll get to hear all the uh see whether it's somebody's really like for yourself, right? You'll enjoy it. Yeah, very much looking forward to it though.

SPEAKER_03 51:13

Well, thank you guys for uh being with us today again, and but your daily yes to the Lord. Uh you'll certainly be in our prayers uh yourselves, uh Michael and and Brian and all of our seminarians and uh Father Charlie for his work and uh thanks for for being with us today. Thank you.

SPEAKER_05 51:28

Thank you, Bishop. Thanks so much, and also shout out to Catalina for putting this day together. And uh all right, we'll leave it there. Okay. So, yeah, thanks again for joining us, and thank thank you all for joining us and being a part of this podcast. Please subscribe, comment, and leave a positive rating. Get to know us better by following Bishop Kevin's Instagram and beyond the beacon on social media. Read the bishop's weekly column on beaconnj.org and get in touch if you have a question for the bishop or a podcast topic idea, and discover our other podcasts. See you next time.

SPEAKER_03 52:00

Thanks, everybody. Thanks, guys. God bless you. Take care.