Seven seminarians of the Diocese of Trenton will mark another step on their journey toward the priesthood when they are ordained to the transitional diaconate by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, May 18 at 10 a.m.

Ordination as a transitional deacon generally occurs after a seminarian has completed at least three years of study in theology and takes place usually one year prior to priestly ordination. As deacons, they will be ordinary ministers of Baptism, and will be able to preside at weddings, assist the priest at Mass, proclaim the Gospel and preach, as well as preside at wakes and funeral services.

As men who are committed to becoming priests, transitional deacons make a promise of celibacy.

This year’s class of transitional deacons includes: John K. Butler, Carlo James Calisin, Rafael Enrique Esquen, Jean Renald Felicien, Augusto Lorenzo Gamalo, Jerome J. Guld and Mark Ronald Nillo.

Following are brief profiles of each candidate for ordination:

John K. Butler

John Butler encountered a few detours on his road to the priesthood, one of which was a 25year career as an attorney. But now the 54-year-old is very focused on responding to the call to a vocation he received many years ago.

“I want to serve the Church and use any skills that I have been blessed with to help people get closer to God,” Butler said, looking ahead to his transitional diaconate ordination on May 18 and priestly ordination next spring.

Butler, who is the oldest of eight children born to Dr. John K. (now deceased) and Claire Garvey Butler, credited many “good and dedicated” priests that he encountered as being sources of inspiration for his own vocation. The priests included those who served in his home parish, Our Lady of the Valley, Orange, where as a youngster he was an altar server and graduated from the parish grammar school, as well as in high school in Seton Hall Preparatory School, South Orange.

While growing up, Butler admitted to having fleeting thoughts of the priesthood, along with other career choices, including a physician, like his father. When it was time for college, he decided to pursue his “great interest,” U.S. history, in Columbia University, N.Y., from where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in 1981. After Columbia, Butler attended Fordham University Law School, N.Y., then mentioned that “there’s lawyers’ blood in my veins” with both of his grandfathers having been attorneys.

From the time he graduated from Fordham where he was awarded a juris doctorate in 1985, until he entered Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University, South Orange, in 2009, Butler worked three law jobs. It was the third job that he accepted in Princeton in 1993 which brought him to the Trenton Diocese.

Eager to meet people in the community, the “Newark transplant” joined organizations such as McCarter Theater and the YMCA and became involved in St. Paul Parish with the Knights of Columbus and as an extraordinary minister of the Eucharist. One priest he met through the parish, and who Butler regards as being the “clincher” for his wanting to make a life change from attorney to priesthood, was Father Neil Saller, a member of the Third Order Regular of St. Francis, who assisted with parish Masses.

“His homilies always struck a chord with me as to what the Gospel message was or what the lesson for life was,” Butler said of Father Saller.

“He had a very priestly way about him. He is a good man. He is the image of what a priest is.”

With guidance from Msgr. Anthony Kulig, a longtime friend who serves on the faculty and is director of liturgy in Immaculate Conception Seminary, as well as direction from the Trenton Diocesan Ministry of Vocations, Butler entered Immaculate Conception in 2009.

Butler, who is expected to receive a master of divinity and master’s degree in Church history next spring, said he has enjoyed the opportunity to deepen his knowledge of Scripture while in the seminary and had high praise for his two summer parish assignments in Our Lady of Good Counsel, Moorestown, and St. Benedict, Holmdel, where he encountered a welcoming and supportive community with clergy who were “deeply spiritual” and good mentors. His diaconate summer assignment will be in St. Catharine Parish, Spring Lake.

With his transitional diaconate ordination nearing, Butler thanked his mother and seven siblings for their unwavering support of his vocation.

He also recognized Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., as an “outstanding shepherd and leader” and extended appreciation to Bishop Emeritus John M. Smith for “saying yes and allowing a 50-year-old lawyer to become a priest.”

Butler has asked Msgr. James C. Turro, professor emeritus of New Testament studies in Immaculate Conception Seminary, to serve as his vesting priest at ordination.

Carlo James Calisin

As a youngster, Carlo James Calisin dreamed of a career in basketball, but the call of the hardwood just couldn’t compete with a louder, more fervent call to serve his fellow man in a life of service as a priest. This May 18, he’ll take another step in his priestly formation when he is ordained a transitional deacon for the Diocese of Trenton.

Calisin is the son of James and Cecilia Cyril Calisin and brother of Carla, Jamela, Zen Ken II, and Kiara Victoria. He was born May 14, 1986, in Tabaco City, Philippines, and attended Holy Family School and St. Gregory the Great Minor Seminary there. “I entered the seminary at age 12,” Calisin remembered. “Half of my life has been spent pursuing the priesthood.” His father (a former seminarian) and mother encouraged his vocation. “They are very happy about my decision. They are devout Catholics,” he stated.

The road to the priesthood nearly took a fateful detour…. courtesy of a black-and-orange inflated sphere. “In high school, I wanted to become a basketball player,” Calisin remembered. “That was my motivation.” But the budding sportsman answered a stronger call than the one of the hardwood. “In college, my motivation matured. My motivation was not sports any more, but the priesthood.”

Calisin earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from Christ the King Seminary, Quezon City, Philippines, and decided to move to the United States in 2009. “I looked for a multi-cultural place,” he remembered. “In the Philippines, all you see are people from the Philippines.” After working for a short time in an American call center, he entered St. Mary Seminary and University, Baltimore, where he is anticipated to earn a master’s degree in divinity and a bachelor of sacred theology degree in May, 2014.

His summer assignments included Epiphany Parish, Brick (2010); St. William the Abbot Parish, Howell (2011), and Holy Eucharist Parish, Tabernacle (2012).

Upon his May 18 ordination, Calisin will be assigned as a transitional deacon to St. Robert Bellarmine Parish, Freehold.

Calisin’s favorite pastimes include football, swimming, watching movies and photography. While as an undergraduate in the Philippines, he placed fifth in a national photojournalism contest, capturing the expression of a mentally challenged man eating a pineapple for the first time. His competitive basketball days are behind him; “I don’t play so much since I broke my leg a few years ago,” he admitted.

The future priest most anticipates “being with the people and serving them. I want to be a doctor for their souls,” he stated firmly.

He especially loves to work with children and just might play a few rounds of hoops with his younger parishioners. Ever the optimist, Calisin was hard-pressed to think of his potentially greatest challenge. “Not being off on weekends?” he queried lightheartedly.

Calisin has chosen fellow Philippine native Father Oscar Sumanga, pastor of St. William the Abbot Parish, to vest him at his May 18 ordination. “He taught in the seminary when I was in high school,” the future priest said. “Also, his brother is my godfather.”

The former basketball player’s advice to a man considering the priesthood is for him to listen to the greatest coach of all, a coach not promising more playing time, but instead the promise of everlasting life. “Follow his will, offer yourself to him, and be open to it through prayer.”

Rafael Enrique Esquen

A young Peruvian learning his third language is nearing his destination to priesthood. Rafael Enrique Esquen, whose enthusiasm outshines any language barriers, is eager to share his love of the Lord with his future congregants. Esquen, who will be ordained a transitional deacon May 18, is the son of Maximo Teodoro Esquen Pejerrey and Carmen Amelia Odar Aldana and the brother of Roger Alberto, Percy Maximo and Sonia Ruth. He was born June 28, 1982, in Piura, Peru, and attended Seminara de Varona Elementary School and Enrique Lopez Albujar High School there.

Esquen began considering the priesthood at age 18, but the road wasn’t easy. “My parents were not really supportive in the beginning,” he admitted, “but when I passed my first year of philosophy, they were.” The young man began studies in economics but quit the university to enter the seminary.

Esquen earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy from El Seminario San Carlos y San Marcelo, Trujillo, Peru, and studied theology in St. John Neumann Seminary and Seminario Conciliar, both in Bogota, Colombia. He arrived in the United States in 2008 at the urging of his missionary order “with no warning,” or at least without a lot of planning. He entered Immaculate Conception Seminary, South Orange, and is anticipated to earn a master’s of divinity degree in May, 2014.

His summer assignments included Sacred Heart Parish, Trenton, (2010), and Christ the King Parish, Long Branch, for a 2011-2012 pastoral year. Upon his ordination, Esquen will serve as a transitional deacon in St. Catherine Parish, Middletown.

Esquen’s list of hobbies is expansive: reading, photography, cycling, running, soccer and working with model aircrafts. “I love to exercise, box and go to the gym, too,” he added. Though he loves his new country, he admits he misses his parents… and his native Peruvian food. He will enjoy both later this May: his parents plan to attend his ordination, “and my mother will cook while she is here,” he said happily.

The future priest most anticipates serving his congregation through preaching and ministering the sacraments. “I want to always be obedient to God, the bishop and the Church,” he said. Though he speaks both Spanish and Portuguese, Esquen considers the language barrier to be one of the greatest challenges in his upcoming priesthood. “I’m still working on my English,” he admitted.

Esquen has chosen Father Daniel Peirano, pastor of Christ the King Parish, as his vesting priest. “He is from my country, Peru. I really appreciate him,” the future priest said. The young Peruvian’s advice to a prospective priest is to listen to God in whatever language you speak. “God is calling us in this beautiful experience to be his ministers in the priesthood,” he said. “If you feel God’s call, please learn to listen to [it].”

Jean Renald Felicien

Jean Renald Felicien was about eight years old when he first thought about being a priest. Although the youngster was neither familiar with words such as “vocation,” nor did he have a handle on what it actually meant to be a priest, he was inspired every time he went to church in the Cathedral of St. Charles Borromeo in his native Haiti and witnessed the compassionate, gentle way in which the cathedral priests interacted with the parishioners.

“That was something I wanted to emulate. From that time on, being a priest was an idea that came often in my heart,” said the 32-year-old Felicien, who was one of three children born in Haiti to Wilson and Bertha Felicien. His siblings are Jacqueline, and Jacques.

Having grown up in a loving and devout Catholic home, Felicien spoke of how his vocation to the priesthood was nurtured by his family, the experience he gained serving his parish as an altar boy and receiving a Catholic education.

Felicien began studies for the priesthood in The Grand Seminaire Notre Dame d’Haiti where he earned a degree in philosophy, followed by a year of theology studies in the Central Institute for Religious Formation. He moved to the United States with his mother, who is now deceased, and sister, where they lived in Georgia. His introduction to the Trenton Diocese came by way of a friend from Haiti who had relocated to New Jersey.

Felicien’s friend had invited him for a visit, but after a short time, he realized that New Jersey was the place he wanted to call home. Felicien spent a year working as a busboy in the Nassau Inn Hotel in Princeton and attended Mercer County Community College to learn English before he inquired about the possibility of preparing for the priesthood for the Trenton Diocese.

In addition to his studies, Felicien has enjoyed two parish assignments that provided him with well-rounded opportunities to learn about parish life. In the summer of 2011, he served in Corpus Christi Parish, Willingboro, which is a multicultural community with parishioners hailing from all corners of the world including Africa, Asia, Central and South America and Eastern European countries. Felicien acknowledged the late Father Daniel Ryan, who was pastor of Corpus Christi at the time, for his guidance and as someone he will always regard as being “one of my best priest friends.”

Felician had similar sentiments about his summer assignment in Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish which was also very “welcoming and friendly;” he enjoyed bike riding and developing a friendship with Msgr. Richard Tofani, the pastor of the Hainesport parish, who will be Felicien’s vesting priest at ordination.

As he anticipates his May 18 ordination as a transitional deacon and his priestly ordination next year, Felicien said he looks forward to “serving the great mission of the Church. It is my deep desire to serve God and his people.”

Felicien will serve his transitional diaconate year assignment in Christ the King Parish, Long Branch.

Augusto Lorenzo Gamalo

The way Augusto Lorenzo Gamalo sees it, to serve as a priest is about serving in a ministry of presence.

Evangelizing and being present to people in all phases of their faith lives, and reaching out to them through sharing stories, offering meaningful homilies and administering the sacraments is at the heart of the priesthood, said the 25-year-old Gamalo. And that is the ministry he looks forward to embracing once he is ordained a transitional deacon and eventually a priest.

Born June 18, 1987, in Tacloban City, Philippines, Gamalo is the son of Castor A. and Fara Diva C. Gamalo and brother of Lourdes Ann, 18, and Castor, 16. After completing grammar school in Sto. Nino SPED Center, Tacloban, Gamalo was 13 years old when he was inspired by a friend to enroll in a high school seminary, Sacred Heart in Palo Leyte, and first considered the priesthood. After two years, Gamalo left Sacred Heart and completed his high school education in Eastern Visayas College Prepartory School, Tacloban City.

When it came time for college, Gamalo had considered other areas of study and passed entrance examinations for fields in nursing, physical therapy, engineering and accounting. But his desire to become a priest prevailed and he enrolled in St. Mary’s College of Borongan, living and receiving seminary formation in nearby Nativity of Our Lady College Seminary.

After graduating in 2009 with a bachelor’s degree in philosophy, Gamalo intended to pursue theological studies in Santo Tomas University in Manila, which also includes a seminary on its campus, but was told that the student enrollment was full and that he would have to wait another year before beginning his studies. A change of plans came his way when he received an email from a close family friend and Filipino priest serving in the Trenton Diocese, Father Nilo Apura, pastor of St. Martha Parish, Point Pleasant. Father Apura asked Gamalo if he would consider continuing his theology studies in the United States and becoming a priest for the Trenton Diocese.

Gamalo admitted that while he really had no intention of leaving his native Philippines, he continued his conversation with Father Apura and fellow Filipino priest, Father Oscar Sumanga, pastor of St. William the Abbot Parish, Howell, and began the application process for the Trenton Diocese.

When he was finally accepted by the diocese, Gamalo, said he was “nervous and scared” about leaving home, but after spending much time in prayer and reflection, he finally said “yes.”

“And that was it,” he said. “Now here I am four years later.”

Gamalo is currently attending St. Mary Seminary and University, Baltimore, where he expects to receive master of divinity and bachelor of sacred theology degrees next May. As a seminarian, he has served parish assignments in St. Charles Borromeo Parish, Cinnaminson (2010); St. Catherine Laboure Parish, Middletown (2011), and is currently serving a pastoral year assignment in Nativity Parish, Fair Haven, where he will continue to serve as a transitional deacon.

In his time in the Trenton Diocese, Gamalo acknowledged a host of priests and lay people, including Father Peter James Alindogan, pastor of St. Charles Borromeo, and Father Robert Schecker, pastor of Nativity Parish, both of whom emphasized what it means to “serve in a ministry of presence.” He also acknowledged Father Dennis Apoldite, pastor of Sacred Heart Parish, Trenton, and coordinator of Sacred Heart House of Priestly Formation, for the many kindnesses he showed all seminarians, but especially those who emigrated to the diocese from other countries, during the time they lived in the house of formation.

Father Apoldite will serve as Gamalo’s vesting priest at ordination.

Jerome J. Guld

The path towards the transitional diaconate for Jerome J. Guld has been very much like the making of a hearty broth, using good ingredients and time to simmer. Though nearly a generation older than others in his diaconate class, now is just the right time for him to enter into this vocation and complete the recipe.

Guld is the son of the late Jerome and Wanda Guld and brother of John. He was born Dec. 16, 1964 in Philadelphia. Within a year, his family relocated to New Jersey where he attended St. Joseph School (now St. Mary of the Lakes), Medford, and Bishop Eustace Preparatory School, Pennsauken.

Guld earned an associate’s degree in liberal arts from Christendom College, Front Royal, Va., and completed his college career at Drexel University, Philadelphia, where he graduated summa cum laude, earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration, and was a member of the Pi Lambda National Honor Society.

Following graduation, he enjoyed a successful career as a computer programmer at ADP, but left the company in time to fulfill another vocation, one that had been simmering since childhood: to care for his parents.

“Religious life has co-opted the word ‘vocation’,” Guld declared. “Any Christian calling is a vocation. Both [my parents] were sick for a long time before their deaths; I’m glad I was there.” Guld was grateful to care for his dying mother for the last year of her life.

A five-year stint as a consultant was next; Guld laughed wryly, “Yeah, I was raking in the big bucks, flying around everywhere. It was fun yet unfulfilling.” In 2008, Guld’s second major vocation bubbled to the surface: to serve the Lord as a priest.

“I was pretty sure I was on the right track. It happened at Mass one day,” he remembered. “I heard the Scriptures, ‘Feed my sheep’ and ‘O Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of everlasting life.’ I had heard those lines a million times, but this time it was really different.”

Guld’s summer assignments included Our Lady Queen of Peace Parish, Hainesport (2011), and St. Theresa Parish, Little Egg Harbor (2012). Upon his ordination, he will be ministering in Our Lady of Good Counsel, Moorestown. His hobbies include running, bicycling, riding motorcycles, watching movies and reading science fiction.

Guld said he most anticipated bringing Christ’s mercy and forgiveness to his congregations, citing a successful forgiveness workshop he conducted while in Hainesport. Then, he amended, “No, actu­ally, I want to bring the people to Christ’s mercy. It is always there, we forget that. We must reopen the channel.” He has chosen Deacon Ken Motylinski, who ministers at St. Mary of the Lakes Parish, to vest him at ordination.

The future priest disclosed humility might be his greatest challenge, and once again spoke as a cook nurturing a successful recipe to completion. “I am so flaw-filled, no one weakness bubbles up like something in a soup pot,” he said. “I have learned trust, I feel no anxiety about becoming a priest.”

His advice to a man considering the priesthood is simple. “Pray. You need to be open to Jesus’ call. Listen.”

Mark Ronald Nillo

Caring for a family business is a time-honored decision for many young men. When the “family business” is the Lord’s own work, priestly service, it takes on even greater value and significance. On May 18, Mark Ronald Nillo will join with other members of his family as he takes the next step to become a servant of the Lord as one of his priests.

Nillo, who will be ordained a transitional deacon May 18, is the son of Jaime Carnat and Marilyn Directo-Nillo and brother of Michael and Maru. He was born Jan. 15, 1984, in Pasay City, Manila, Philippines, and attended Manresa Elementary and High Schools in Parañaque City, Manila.

“I began considering the priesthood as early as seven years old,” Nillo remembered. “Priesthood runs in the family.” With the example and encouragement of devout parents and two blood relatives who serve as priests in the Philippines, he entered Christ the King Seminary, Quezon City, Philippines, where he earned a bachelor’s degree and magna cum laude designation in philosophy.

Nillo taught philosophy to students in his former seminary for two years before coming to the United States. He entered St. Mary Seminary and University, Baltimore, where he is anticipated to earn master of divinity and bachelor of sacred theology degrees in May, 2014.

During the summer of 2012, Nillo was assigned to St. William the Abbot Parish, Howell, and upon his ordination, he will serve his transitional diaconate year assignment in St. Rose Parish, Belmar.

His hobbies include photography, music, travel and food.

Nillo most anticipates administering the sacraments to his congregation, but admits the thought of preparing daily homilies gives him pause. He has chosen Father Neiser Cardenas as his vesting priest. “I consider [him] as more than [that]. To me he’s been one of my closest buddies in the seminary,” he said.

Nillo’s succinct response to a man considering the priesthood can be found on vocation promotion materials he designed for the Divine Word Missionaries years before: “Never doubt your calling. Never delay your response.” He urged, “Call the chancery at 609-406-7400 and look for Msgr. [Gregory D.] Vaughan. There’s no harm in trying.

You can invite other men to join.”

Compiled by Mary Stadnyk, News Editor and Christina Leslie, Correspondent