Rev. Mr. Alan Bridges may not know what God has up his sleeve per his call to the priesthood, but he trusts there is a higher plan.
“I don’t really know why,” he said of God’s inspiring him to his life path, “but he did. There’s nothing terribly exceptional about me, I’m just a regular guy. It’s all in God’s plan, I’m just trying to respond the best I can.”
His journey to become a priest for the Diocese of Trenton will culminate May 31 when he is ordained by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., at a 10 a.m. Ordination Mass in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton. The ordination will be livestreamed on the diocesan YouTube channel www.youtube.com/trentondiocese. But the journey began with the help of inspiring family members and clergy, who encouraged a young Alan to explore the possibilities of a priestly ministry.
Greatest Influences
Rev. Mr. Alan Bridges
Rev. Mr. Bridges said his parents and grandparents were among the influential faith forces in his life, “and especially my Uncle Francesco ‘Frank’ Rossi, who helped me to begin to take faith more seriously as a teenager.” Uncle Frank also introduced him to “amazing priests, such as Msgr. Joseph Ambrosio, whose humble example had the biggest impact on my discernment to the priesthood.” Msgr. Ambrosio, who died in 2020, was pastor of the Bridges’ family parish, Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Newark.
Born Aug. 27, 1996, in Rahway to Jack and Barbara Bridges, Alan and his family attended St. John Vianney Parish, Colonia, and later Our Lady of Mount Carmel. Rev. Mr. Bridges and his older brother, John, attended St. John Vianney (Elementary) School and Bishop George Ahr High School, Edison (formerly St. Thomas Aquinas).
Following graduation in 2014, Rev. Mr. Bridges joined the U.S. Navy, earning the rank of Fire Controlman 2nd Class. Serving briefly on the U.S.S. Gunston Hall (LSD-44), he continued to anti-submarine warfare in Norfolk, Va.; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii; and Naples, Italy. It was in the Navy that he first began to contemplate the priesthood.
“I knew some good chaplains who opened me up to the idea, but I didn’t start seriously discerning until I was in my early 20s and began attending and serving at daily Mass,” he said.
He said his 2014-2021 military service helped him realize that the self-sacrifice, discipline and fraternity he found there were also central to the ministry of the priesthood. While still a member of the U.S. Navy Reserve, Bridges entered Seton Hall University, South Orange, in 2017, earning a bachelor’s degree in theology. He attended St. Andrew’s Hall College Seminary, 2019-2021, then in 2022 transferred to Mount St. Mary’s Seminary, Emmitsburg, Md., from where he will graduate May 2 with a Master of Divinity degree.
Rev. Mr. Bridges has served summer assignments in Visitation Parish, Brick, in 2022, and St. Mary Parish, Middletown, in 2023. As a transitional deacon this year, he ministered in Our Lady of Sorrows-St. Anthony Parish, Hamilton.
Hobbies and Sacraments
Rev. Mr. Bridges, left, stands with other ministers and altar servers at an event in St. Catherine Laboure Parish, Middletown. Second from right is Father Richard M. Osborn, pastor. Courtesy photos
Drawn to both the outdoors and the kitchen, he enjoys hiking, hunting, fishing and cooking. When asked about his hobbies, Rev. Mr. Bridges reflected fondly on his early childhood experiences.
“My dad and grandfather always took us fishing, and we still enjoy going out fishing in summer out of Point Pleasant or when on vacation,” he said. “I always loved the outdoors but especially began to love long hikes and camping while doing immersive Revolutionary War reenacting while working at Fort Ticonderoga in upstate New York. I was introduced to hunting by my friend Chris while in the seminary. Both fishing and hunting pair perfectly with my love for cooking! … An all-time favorite is making a good pot of tomato sauce with braciole.”
At ordination, Rev. Mr. Bridges will be vested by Father Michael Roach, a retired priest from Maryland who lives and works at Mount St. Mary Seminary as a professor of Church history, and who has been “a great mentor” to the soon-to-be priest. He will celebrate his first Mass as a priest at 2 p.m. June 1 in St. Catherine Laboure Church, Middletown, which he now regards as his home parish.
In his new ministry, Rev. Mr. Bridges is most looking forward to “celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and bringing people to God’s infinite mercy in Confession.” His particular focus, he believes, is “certainly through sacramental ministry first and foremost. I am also looking forward to hopefully working with youth and young adults, and in catechesis, helping them to grow to know, and love Jesus Christ, and appreciate the great gift that is his Church.”
In his new parish assignment of St. Joseph, Toms River, Rev. Mr. Bridges looks forward to working with students in St. Joseph School and Donovan Catholic High School. He prays that he can serve the people of God “through sound preaching, reverent and loving celebration of the Sacraments, and generally through being an approachable and caring father. I hope I can be a mirror to reflect the sacred heart of Jesus, our high priest and loving Lord.”
‘Gift and Mystery’: Alan Bridges ordained a priest for the Diocese of Trenton