By EMMALEE ITALIA
Contributing Editor
With June 1 ordination to the priesthood on the horizon, Rev. Mr. Wynne Kerridge knows his calling has been one that will best help him to facilitate spiritual well-being in others.
He was not raised Catholic but, while a freshman at Princeton University, studying economics and medieval studies, he became convinced of the truth of the Catholic faith.
“My college friends were probably the most influential … a number were discerning the priesthood or religious life,” he said. “This made me realize that I needed to consider what vocation I should pursue.”
He came into full communion with the Church at St. John the Baptist Parish, Allentown, Dec. 8, 2013 – the one-year anniversary of the first Mass he attended.
After two years at Princeton, he entered a small religious order, the Fraternity of St. Joseph the Guardian, in southern France, where he remained for 18 months. He then transferred to the Diocese of Trenton in 2018 to Mount St. Mary Seminary, Emmitsburg, Md., where he will graduate this spring with a master of divinity degree and a master of arts degree in Church history.
How Best to Serve
Born Feb. 28, 1994, in Dallas, Texas, to parents David and Lisa Sinak, Wynne has three siblings – Cotty Hillman, Slade Sinak and Calder Sinak. He attended Providence Elementary School and Highland Park High School, both in Dallas, graduating in 2012.
Rev. Mr. Wynne Kerridge
He said he chose his vocation because he was looking for “how I can most effectively love God and neighbor … as a priest, I will most effectively help this at the point of history in which we live. If there were plenty of Catholic priests and such a shortage of married Catholic economists, so I could more effectively love God and neighbor as a married economist, I would have done so. But that is not the world in which we live.”
After being ordained to the diaconate last May, Rev. Mr. Kerridge served the past year in St. James Parish, Red Bank. During the school year he also assisted in St. James the Greater Parish, Charles Town, W.Va. His previous summer assignments included parish ministry in St. Michael, Long Branch; Our Lady of Good Counsel, Moorestown; Visitation Parish, Brick; and St. Charles Borromeo, Cinnaminson.
Fond memories thus far, he said, have included frying 1,600 pounds of frozen fries at the St. Charles Borromeo carnival, as well as baptizing and preaching.
“The passion and talents of the laity contribute to the proper functioning of the Church,” he observed. “Different people have different interests and skills … the pastor serves to keep a common vision … but lay initiative is also crucial.”
As far as his own faith journey, Rev. Mr. Kerridge said, “There has been a lot of continuity, and it has been marked mostly by slow, steady growth of elements already present. I have not had any flashy moments where things changed. Habits of prayer and living in the presence of God have become more consistent.”
Scripture Enriches his Faith
There is one particular area, however, in which his faith life changes – not in a straight line, but in a circle: “in the yearly cycle of the liturgical calendar where we consider the same mysteries year after year,” he explained. “The Church puts [certain] truths particularly before our eyes in different seasons and each year; when I consider some mystery of the faith again, some facet of our faith will strike me in a slightly richer way.”
Rev. Mr. Kerridge, left, walks with Fr. Richard Osborn, parochial vicar, during a Eucharistic procession for St. James Parish, Red Bank. Courtesy photo
Rev. Mr. Kerridge said he has found preparing homilies spiritually valuable.
“Often I will reflect on how Scripture and the words of the liturgy express the mysteries of our faith, and that will move me to love of God,” he noted. “In preparing to preach, I will reflect on how Scripture and the words of the liturgy express the mysteries of our faith and then attempt to write that down so I can express that in a way that edifies others. But as an unintentional side effect, I often find myself benefiting.”
He said that learning the rich thought and logic behind various Church practices, and how Catholic thought and life fit together, have been fruitful for him.
“It is also helpful in realizing what practices are merely 21st-century American customs and what are handed to us from the Apostles and what are anywhere in -between,” he continued. “Parish life is often messy, and knowing the logic behind things helps in making decisions.”
During ordination he will be vested by Father Richard Osborn, parochial vicar in St. James Parish, where Rev. Mr. Kerridge will be assigned.
As a priest, Rev. Mr. Kerridge hopes “to offer the people the Sacraments and faith of the Church … not the faith of Wynne. This is not my show. Rather I hope to be an instrument that Christ uses in his show.”