As his Dec. 20 priestly Ordination day nears, Rev. Brother Donald Ronning, C.O., has been practicing celebrating Mass, in which “I try not to become overwhelmed by the experience and thoughts of my unworthiness for such a grace-filled encounter.”
He served as a deacon for 19 years, but “felt it was the Lord’s call to equip me for even greater service among those in need.”
“Being able to administer the Sacraments, especially the Sacrament of Healing and of service, will open for me a new level of closeness between the people of God and our Lord, Jesus,” he said.
Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., will ordain the Oratorian brother a priest during a 10 a.m. Mass in the Oratory Church of St. Anthony of Padua, Red Bank.
At the time of his 2006 Ordination to the diaconate, Rev. Brother Ronning was widowed and working for the Superior Court of New Jersey for Essex County. He was assigned to St. Agnes Parish, Atlantic Highlands.
Fast forward 10 years: Rev. Brother Ronning was nearing retirement when he joined St. Anthony of Padua Parish as a deacon. At that time, Father Alberto Tamayo, C.O., pastor of St. Anthony of Padua Parish and Oratory provost, and Nicholas Dolan, C.O., a seminarian at the time, were in the process of forming an oratory: a community of secular priests and brothers who do not take vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.
“They told me of the joy of St. Philip, known as the Second Apostle of Rome and the Apostle of Joy,” Rev. Brother Ronning recalled.
When Father Tamayo asked him if he would be interested in joining them in the Oratory, Rev. Brother Ronning said, “It was an opportunity I often thought about but never imagined would happen. It became my newest and most important direction in life.”
“Living in a religious community appealed to me,” he said.
Though Rev. Brother Ronning had participated in the diocesan diaconate program, he is currently studying at Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University, South Orange, and taking in-house courses that are particular to Oratorian formation.
He said it’s been a constant source of joy and fulfillment in his 19 years as a deacon to see “the people in the parish as part of my extended family.”
“I like being needed, helping them grow closer to the Lord,” he said.
Reflecting on Brother Ronning’s upcoming Ordination, Father Tamayo said, “It’s such a joy to have our second priestly Ordination for the Oratory and our first here at home in the Oratory now that we are a pontifical congregation.”
“Brother Donald’s call first to the Oratory and now to the priesthood shows that, no matter what age we are, God is never done working on us.”
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