Bishop's, seminarians' Christmas gathering a much-loved tradition
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
By Mary Stadnyk | Associate Editor
With 27 men pursuing studies for the priesthood in four different seminaries, every opportunity to bring them together as a unit during the course of the year is very important because it helps them to develop fraternal bonds that are meant to deepen and grow after ordination.
One annual occasion when Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., and his seminarians get together is at Christmas time.
The Christmas tradition for 2014 was upheld Dec. 20 when the seminarians joined Bishop O’Connell for the 5:15 p.m. Vigil Mass in Sacred Heart Church, Trenton, then gathered in the parish rectory for a festive dinner, complete with good food, lots of laughter and conversation and shared camaraderie.
“This is an opportunity for us to center on the fraternity that exists among seminarians,” said Msgr. Thomas J. Mullelly, diocesan vicar for clergy and consecrated life and director of seminarians.
“For the seminarians, the semester has ended, and now this is a time of great fellowship for the Bishop, priests and deacons to join as a community and celebrate with the seminarians, those who with God’s grace, will one day be ordained priests.”
Along with Msgr. Mullelly, other priests who concelebrated the Mass with Bishop O’Connell were Msgr. Thomas Gervasio, diocesan vicar general and moderator of the curia; Father Dennis Apoldite, diocesan director of vocation recruitment and the House of Discernment and pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, and priests who serve as assistant vocation directors throughout the four-county Diocese – Father Christopher Picollo, Burlington County; Father Thomas Vala, Mercer County, and Father Daniel Kirk, Monmouth County. Father Garry Koch of Ocean County was not able to be present.
Bishop O’Connell centered his homily on the Fourth Sunday of Advent with the First and Second Readings focusing on the circumstances leading up to the first coming of Jesus at Christmas, and the Gospel of St. Luke stressing the “central importance and role of Mary in the work of our salvation.”
“This time of the year presents to us, as Christians, with a great opportunity and a great realization; from the beginning to human history the God who has created us has continued to surprise us as he reaches out in love,” said Bishop O’Connell. “From our vantage point now, 2,000 years after Christ, the surprises we encounter take on a different tone. The events of Christmas don’t surprise us…but the effect they still have on people can surprise…the Christmas story can melt the hardest of hearts, can bring people together, can inspire people to be more generous, more kind, more thoughtful…”
The reasoning behind the Christmas story, the Bishop continued, “is not the jingle bells and evergreen wreaths…it is the Christ behind it all. That God has reached out; that God gave us his Only Son, born of Mary; raised by Joseph; that his Only Son, gave up his life for us; that his Holy Spirit fills us; that our Baptism and life in Christ and the Church makes us different. The ways that happens still surprise…and that is the magic of this season and time of year.”
In remarks at the end of Mass, the Bishop acknowledged the presence of the seminarians and exhorted the congregation of Sacred Heart Parish to continue to pray for vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and religious life. At the dinner, he addressed the seminarians and thanked them for responding to God’s call to service as future priests and congratulated them on their accomplishments in their seminary formation.
As the 27 seminarians – who are preparing for the priesthood in Immaculate Conception Seminary on the campus of Seton Hall University, South Orange; St. Mary Seminary and University, Baltimore; Theological College on the campus of The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Wynnewood, Pa. – mingled about at the dinner, words of appreciation for the gift of a priestly vocation and for the bonds of brotherhood were expressed.
After emphasizing that his wanting to become a priest was “the best decision I ever made,” seminarian Michael DeSaye shared the positive experiences he’s had in Theological College, where he is a second year pre-theology student.
“I love the seminary,” said DeSaye, as he acknowledged the faculty and his brother seminarians, all of whom are facing similar challenges in their studies. “But it’s good to be home from school and here where we can enjoy the company of other seminarians of the Diocese and to be with our Bishop.”
Traveling from Colombia, a very happy Maria Victoria Roa was overjoyed to spend Christmas with her seminarian son, Juan Carlos Munoz, and have an opportunity to greet Bishop O’Connell at the dinner.
Noting that Juan Carlos, a second year theologian in Immaculate Conception Seminary, had thoughts of becoming a doctor before he decided on the priesthood, Maria Victoria smiled as she reflected on how God is working in her son’s life.
“Ultimately, he wants to save lives. He wants to take care of people,” she said. “It’s a blessing.”
At first, Rev. Mr. John Large, a transitional deacon currently assigned to St. Joan of Arc Parish, Marlton, sounded a bit wistful when he realized that 2014 would be the last year he would attend the Christmas Mass with Bishop O’Connell and fellow seminarians.
But a smile quickly followed when he said, “tonight’s special to me on a personal level because – I’m in the homestretch! Six months from now, I’ll be ordained a priest!”
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By Mary Stadnyk | Associate Editor
With 27 men pursuing studies for the priesthood in four different seminaries, every opportunity to bring them together as a unit during the course of the year is very important because it helps them to develop fraternal bonds that are meant to deepen and grow after ordination.
One annual occasion when Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., and his seminarians get together is at Christmas time.
The Christmas tradition for 2014 was upheld Dec. 20 when the seminarians joined Bishop O’Connell for the 5:15 p.m. Vigil Mass in Sacred Heart Church, Trenton, then gathered in the parish rectory for a festive dinner, complete with good food, lots of laughter and conversation and shared camaraderie.
“This is an opportunity for us to center on the fraternity that exists among seminarians,” said Msgr. Thomas J. Mullelly, diocesan vicar for clergy and consecrated life and director of seminarians.
“For the seminarians, the semester has ended, and now this is a time of great fellowship for the Bishop, priests and deacons to join as a community and celebrate with the seminarians, those who with God’s grace, will one day be ordained priests.”
Along with Msgr. Mullelly, other priests who concelebrated the Mass with Bishop O’Connell were Msgr. Thomas Gervasio, diocesan vicar general and moderator of the curia; Father Dennis Apoldite, diocesan director of vocation recruitment and the House of Discernment and pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, and priests who serve as assistant vocation directors throughout the four-county Diocese – Father Christopher Picollo, Burlington County; Father Thomas Vala, Mercer County, and Father Daniel Kirk, Monmouth County. Father Garry Koch of Ocean County was not able to be present.
Bishop O’Connell centered his homily on the Fourth Sunday of Advent with the First and Second Readings focusing on the circumstances leading up to the first coming of Jesus at Christmas, and the Gospel of St. Luke stressing the “central importance and role of Mary in the work of our salvation.”
“This time of the year presents to us, as Christians, with a great opportunity and a great realization; from the beginning to human history the God who has created us has continued to surprise us as he reaches out in love,” said Bishop O’Connell. “From our vantage point now, 2,000 years after Christ, the surprises we encounter take on a different tone. The events of Christmas don’t surprise us…but the effect they still have on people can surprise…the Christmas story can melt the hardest of hearts, can bring people together, can inspire people to be more generous, more kind, more thoughtful…”
The reasoning behind the Christmas story, the Bishop continued, “is not the jingle bells and evergreen wreaths…it is the Christ behind it all. That God has reached out; that God gave us his Only Son, born of Mary; raised by Joseph; that his Only Son, gave up his life for us; that his Holy Spirit fills us; that our Baptism and life in Christ and the Church makes us different. The ways that happens still surprise…and that is the magic of this season and time of year.”
In remarks at the end of Mass, the Bishop acknowledged the presence of the seminarians and exhorted the congregation of Sacred Heart Parish to continue to pray for vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and religious life. At the dinner, he addressed the seminarians and thanked them for responding to God’s call to service as future priests and congratulated them on their accomplishments in their seminary formation.
As the 27 seminarians – who are preparing for the priesthood in Immaculate Conception Seminary on the campus of Seton Hall University, South Orange; St. Mary Seminary and University, Baltimore; Theological College on the campus of The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., and St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Wynnewood, Pa. – mingled about at the dinner, words of appreciation for the gift of a priestly vocation and for the bonds of brotherhood were expressed.
After emphasizing that his wanting to become a priest was “the best decision I ever made,” seminarian Michael DeSaye shared the positive experiences he’s had in Theological College, where he is a second year pre-theology student.
“I love the seminary,” said DeSaye, as he acknowledged the faculty and his brother seminarians, all of whom are facing similar challenges in their studies. “But it’s good to be home from school and here where we can enjoy the company of other seminarians of the Diocese and to be with our Bishop.”
Traveling from Colombia, a very happy Maria Victoria Roa was overjoyed to spend Christmas with her seminarian son, Juan Carlos Munoz, and have an opportunity to greet Bishop O’Connell at the dinner.
Noting that Juan Carlos, a second year theologian in Immaculate Conception Seminary, had thoughts of becoming a doctor before he decided on the priesthood, Maria Victoria smiled as she reflected on how God is working in her son’s life.
“Ultimately, he wants to save lives. He wants to take care of people,” she said. “It’s a blessing.”
At first, Rev. Mr. John Large, a transitional deacon currently assigned to St. Joan of Arc Parish, Marlton, sounded a bit wistful when he realized that 2014 would be the last year he would attend the Christmas Mass with Bishop O’Connell and fellow seminarians.
But a smile quickly followed when he said, “tonight’s special to me on a personal level because – I’m in the homestretch! Six months from now, I’ll be ordained a priest!”
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