On June 6, Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., will ordain five men of the Diocese of Trenton to the priesthood during a 10 a.m. Mass in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton.

The ordination will be live streamed beginning at 10 a.m. on June 6 at www.dioceseoftrenton.org and  TrentonMonitor.com

Blessings bestowed by family as Deacon James J. Grogan answers call to priesthood

Ask Deacon James J. Grogan what draws him to the priesthood in the middle of a life blessed with joy and brushed with sorrow, and he doesn’t hesitate to answer.

“It’s the voice of God,” he responds, coupled with the ability to listen for it “whispering at different times” throughout his life. The small, still voice had called him first to share “25 years of a wonderful marriage” with his late wife, Eleanor, in which they were “blessed to raise three wonderful sons.”

It beckoned him to active service in a parish that was and remains the family’s spiritual home and where he will begin his priesthood. It led him to the permanent diaconate and then, following much discernment after Ellie’s death in 2007, to the seminary to study for the priesthood.

In a recent interview, he reflected on his upcoming priestly ordination by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral June 6, sharing that the long journey to this momentous occasion has always had God at its center “It’s all about God,” said Deacon Grogan, who spoke of the gifts of faith bestowed upon his family over the generations.

All told, including ancestors in Ireland going back 100 years and the immediate family here, between 12 and 15 priests and religious from the Grogan family have devoted their lives to the Church, he shared. “Just going back within three generations, there have been eight of us,” he said, including his brother, Father William E. Grogan, Jr., who will be his vesting priest, and his two cousins.

The son of William E. Grogan Sr. and Nora M. Grogan, he was born in Baltimore, Jan. 15, 1957, and grew up alongside his brothers, William and Thomas F. Grogan, and sisters Maryanne Porter; Patricia Byrnes, and Jean Marie Blaisse.

He attended St. Theresa of Avila School, Valley Forge, Pa.; Our Lady of Charity School, Brookhaven, Pa., and St. Joseph Preparatory High School, Philadelphia, after which, he earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from St. Joseph University, Philadelphia, in 1978. He received a master’s degree in computer science from Villanova University, Villanova, Pa., in 1980.

While he and Ellie raised their young sons, Will, now 25, associate director of alumni relations in Arcadia University, Philadelphia; James, 24, who works in the sales technology industry, and Thomas, 22, who graduated from La Salle University, Philadelphia, May 17, Deacon Grogan worked in the technology field.

“We were blessed to raise our boys throughout 25 years of a wonderful marriage,” he said. “We were very proud of them… they are good, typical kids.”

The family was active in parish life in Our Lady of Good Counsel Church, Moorestown, where he served as a permanent deacon after his ordination in 2004 until entering Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University, South Orange, in 2013. He will return to Our Lady of Good Counsel upon ordination as a parochial vicar.

He talked about how his sons, his parents, siblings and kin journeyed with him through his discernment, his seminary studies and his time in parish life. The boys were all in various stages of school themselves – Will had just started college; James was in high school, and Tom was beginning high school – when their mother died in 2007 after fighting ovarian cancer for 22 months.

Sure and certain that Ellie continues to “guide and bless my life and our sons’ lives through the communion of saints,” he related that with the boys’ understanding, a year after her death, he began a period of “actively discerning whether I was called to the priesthood.”

He took his time during this initial period of introspection, seeing his sons through their school years and pursuing a degree in pastoral theology in La Salle University, Philadelphia. The studies “helped me to focus on the prayerful, spiritual side of life,” he said, mentioning that he appreciated the encouragement he received from St. Joseph Sister Marcella Springer, the director of Francis House of Prayer, Rancocas, where he served as a retreat leader from 2005-13.

With his sons’ blessing and the support of the rest of his family, Deacon Grogan embarked on the journey that would take him to the seminary. Since he already held a master’s degree in theology, a customized, one-year program enabled him to complete a second master’s degree, this one in systematic theology.

Along with his seminary studies, his experiences in parish life in Our Lady of Good Counsel, as well as Our Lady of Perpetual Help-St. Agnes Parish, Atlantic Highlands and St. Robert Bellarmine Parish, Freehold,have deepened his desire for parish life. He called his time in the Highlands and his pastoral year in St. Robert Bellarmine “phenomenal experiences,” which added to his spiritual growth.

“I am grateful for the substantial amount of time for personal prayer, for being allowed to become immersed in the spiritual life of the people of the parishes.” All generations have “invited me in,” he said. “I have spent time with sick children, dying parents. I have been there for Communions and marriages. I’ve been able to participate in the newness of life and the end of life where I have felt the presence of God.”

“It has been truly remarkable.”

Deacon John Large wants to share in daily life of the parish

Though his path toward priesthood was put on hiatus for a few years, New York native Deacon John Large is now ready for his ordination day.

“I’m looking forward to being involved in the day-to-day parish life,” Deacon Large said. “As a seminarian you get glimpses of it with summer assignments. But just being able to immerse myself in parish life, celebrating the Sacraments with and for the people – that’s where we get to put into practice everything we’ve learned.”

Born Dec. 27, 1977, in Brooklyn, to William and Virginia Large, he attended Catholic elementary school in the New York City borough before the family moved to Middletown, where he attended Thompson Middle School and Middletown High School North. While reared with six siblings in the Catholic faith, Deacon Large did not immediately feel the calling God had planned for him.

“I never really embraced (my faith) as a young man,” Deacon Large said. But in the year leading up to his acceptance into Franciscan University of Steubenville’s philosophy program in 2000, “I really rediscovered my faith,” he confirmed.

For four years, Deacon Large contemplated the vocation of priesthood, feeling the tug of the Holy Spirit.

“Really it was through prayer, I began to have a sense that God was calling me,” Deacon Large said.

He entered the Franciscan University’s Pre-Theologate Program, and received encouragement from its program director, Redemptorist Father John Cody, who has since become a close friend, and instrumental in his formation. They have stayed in contact ever since; Father Cody even lived in residence in Long Branch for a time, and Deacon Large was able to visit him more often.

Deacon Large continued his studies at Immaculate Conception Seminary, Seton Hall University, South Orange, from 2005-06. Then he took a break from formation, working various jobs that included teaching for four years – one in St. Rose High School, Belmar, and three in St. Gabriel School, Elmhurst, N.Y.

His formation resumed in September 2012, when Deacon Large enrolled in the Theological College of The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. He served in St. John the Evangelist, Severna Park, Md., while in school; on holidays and summer breaks, he helped at various parishes in the Diocese: St. Raphael-Holy Angels, Hamilton; St. Dominic, Brick, and St. Joan of Arc, Marlton.

But his home parish – St. Mary, Middletown – has a special hold on him. With a few weeks off between graduation and ordination, Deacon Large can reconnect with longtime friend and St. Mary pastor, Father Jeffrey Kegley, who vested him during his ordination to the transitional diaconate last year.

While Deacon Large credits the Holy Spirit as the main source of his vocational call, he considers Father Kegley an influential force in his priestly journey.

“He came to St. Mary’s as a newly-ordained priest, as an associate in 1996, and I got to know him,” Deacon Large said. “He definitely guided me. We established a close friendship; he’s been in my corner ever since.”

Deacon Large will be assigned to St. Thomas More Parish, Manalapan, as parochial vicar. His parents, he says, have been incredibly supportive.

“They’re very excited, possibly even more than I am sometimes,” he said, “but I guess that’s to be expected.” His six brothers and sisters – William, Kevin, Gena, Ann, Catherine and Mary – have all been “very supportive, as well.”

Deacon Large credits Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., with encouraging the seminarians to share their education with their future parishioners.

The Bishop has expressed to seminarians that “all we learn in seminary is meant to be given to the people we will serve,” Deacon Large said.

Deacon Large is looking forward to using his educational and formation experience to connect with people in a region he considers home. “This is the place where I spent most of my life – I’m a homegrown boy, in a sense,” he said. “I enjoy the educational side of the faith, (and I plan to) apply myself to bring that to the people.”

Deacon Jason Martin Parzynski views priesthood as being present to others, celebrating  Sacraments

The way Deacon Jason Martin Parzynski sees it, the priesthood is about being present to people in various stages of their lives and helping them to become closer to Jesus through the celebration of the Sacraments.

Though he’s had thoughts of the priesthood ever since he was a “little kid,” the 34-year-old Michigan native regards several life experiences, including having grown up in a devout Catholic household, as fostering his decision to pursue a vocation and giving him a better appreciation of what the priesthood is all about.

One such experience that prompted Deacon Parzynski, who prefers to be called “Deacon Jason,” to look at the priesthood more closely occurred during his college days in Michigan State University where he was active in campus ministry. While accompanying a group of young people on a Youth 2000 retreat, he recalled when one of the teenagers became very emotional about some hardships he was facing. Deacon Jason listened, and it was through their conversations that he encouraged the teenager to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation as a way to begin a process of healing.

“That was one time I realized my desire for wanting to help someone grow in their faith,” said Deacon Jason. “I wanted to be that Simon of Cyrene and help that person carry their cross.”

“That stuck with me,” he said, “and that’s what a priest does. I felt drawn to being a conduit of God’s grace” by being present to someone else.

With God’s grace, Deacon Jason will be able not only to encourage others to receive the Sacraments, but to celebrate them, as well, namely Reconciliation and the Eucharist, once he is ordained a priest.

Deacon Jason is the son of Paul Parzynski and Kathleen Parzynski. He has two sisters, Cheryl and Rachel, and a brother, James. While growing up, he was educated in the public school system in Shelby Township, Mich., and he holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration and pre-law from Michigan State University.  

His formation for the priesthood has included studies in Mundeleine Seminary in Illinois, where he was awarded master’s of divinity and bachelor’s of sacred theology degrees, the Pontifical North American College in Rome and the time he discerned with and entered the novitiate for a Cistercian community in Texas.

While discerning his vocation, he gained parish experience working in St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Orland Park, where he was a pastoral associate, youth minister, and served on information technology and liturgy committees. While studying in Rome, he learned about the Diocese of Trenton through fellow seminarian, now Father Michael McClane, pastor of St. Gregory the Great Parish, Hamilton Square. It was through their friendship that Deacon Jason accepted a position as a youth minister in St. David the King Parish, West Windsor, and was also hired in the Diocesan Chancery as associate director in the Ministry of Catechesis and Evangelization. He worked in the two positions for about a year before he was asked to serve in his current role as secretary to Bishop O’Connell and master of episcopal ceremonies.

Since his ordination as a transitional deacon last year, he has served his diaconate year assignment in St. David the King Parish, West Windsor, where, he said it was a joy for him to have baptized 12 babies and have a part in their faith lives, as well as their families. He was also happy for the chance to assist at Mass and hone his preaching skills.

On another level, it continues to be Deacon Jason’s hope and prayer that beyond fulfilling his responsibilities as Bishop O’Connell’s secretary, that he, in some way, has been a source of presence and encouragement to the Bishop throughout his illness and recovery from surgery last December.

“That was probably the hardest thing for me … when he was sick … I was one of a handful of people who knew how very sick he was before the surgery, ” Deacon Jason said. Then, as a smile formed on his face, he said, “the Bishop’s doing great now.”

He noted how meaningful it will be for him not only to have Bishop O’Connell ordain him a priest, but to have the Bishop be his vesting priest during the ordination rite.

Once ordained, Father Parzynski will continue to serve in the Diocesan Chancery as Bishop O’Connell’s secretary and master of ceremonies, and he is also eager to help out his brother priests in their parishes when called upon. He looks forward to meeting and being present to the people of those faith communities through the celebration of the Sacraments. 

Deacon Quinn looks forward to celebrating Mass     

Deacon Jarlath William David Quinn always had a feeling he was being called to the priesthood from a young age.

“I felt that calling of the Lord within me, within my heart,” he said. And after a long period of discernment, that call will be fulfilled June 6 when he is ordained a priest by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M.

Deacon Quinn, born June 19, 1967, in Ballina, County Mayo, Ireland, was raised in Middletown Township. He has long attended St. Agnes Parish, Atlantic Highlands, (now part of Our Lady of Perpetual Help-St. Agnes Parish, Atlantic Highlands) which he considers his home parish. He is the son of Gerard and Sheila Quinn, and the brother of Gerard, Edel, Kenneth, Siobhan, and the late David and Brendan.

He graduated from St. Agnes Grammar School, Atlantic Highlands, and Christian Brothers Academy, Lincroft, before being accepted to the Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio, where he attended classes from 1990 to 1994. He studied at St. Mary Seminary and University, Baltimore, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in humanities.

Beginning in 2010, he pursued his studies in Immaculate Conception Seminary, Seton Hall University, South Orange, and Holy Apostles College and Seminary, Cromwell, Conn., where he completed his master of divinity degree in preparation for his ordination.

During a recent interview, he admitted that the call to the priesthood was more or less a consistent presence in his life. That extended to the time he spent in construction, he said.

“We are all called to something,” he said. “I did feel that strong call, even when I was not in seminary.”

He added that he believes not that he chose his vocation, but that, in a sense, he was chosen for it. Growing up he was inspired by his pastor in St. Agnes, Msgr. Michael Lease, and his uncles and aunts in religious life: Father Peter Quinn, Father Desmond Quinn, Sister Mary Assumpta Quinn and Sister Josephine Quinn. 

A member of the Knights of Columbus since 1990, Deacon Quinn has spent time in various parishes throughout the Diocese of Trenton and the state.  As a seminarian, his assignments included Sacred Heart Parish, Trenton (2004); St. Leo Parish, Irvington (2010-11); St. Dominic Parish, Brick (2011); St. Pio of Pietrelcina Parish, Lavallette (2012); Our Lady of Mount Virgin Parish, Garfield (2012-13), and St. Ann Parish, Keansburg (2013). He spent his pastoral year serving in St. Catharine Parish, Holmdel, where he has continued to assist during the completion of his seminarian studies and after his ordination to the transitional diaconate last May.

While in the construction field he worked on the building of four of the newer churches in the Diocese belonging to the parishes of: St. Mary, Middletown; St. Aloysius, Jackson; St. Robert Bellarmine, Freehold, and St. Pius X, Forked River.

Deacon Quinn will be ordained in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton.

“I am very happy, very delighted,” he said when reflecting on his upcoming ordination. “I am looking forward to everything that it brings, to sharing in the priesthood of Jesus Christ and serving at his altar.”

In particular, he said that he looks forward to celebrating Mass.

“That is the source and summit of our Christian life,” he said.

His hobbies include hiking and kayaking, and he enjoys literature, travel and spending time with family and friends.

Upon his ordination, Bishop O’Connell has named him parochial vicar of St. James Parish, Pennington, where he will live in residence, as well as St. George Parish, Titusville, and St. Alphonsus Parish, Hopewell.

“My heart is filled with gratitude for all that the Lord has done for me, and continues to do for me in my life,” he said. “I look forward to serving as a priest of Jesus Christ, wherever I am called to serve.”

Deacon Wharff has waited 17 years for ordination day

When he is ordained a priest in St. Mary of the Assumption Cathedral, Trenton, June 6, Deacon Arian Hernando Wharff Galvis will fulfill a dream that has been a long time in the making.

“I am excited for the great day of my life,” he said in the days leading up to his ordination. “I have been waiting for this moment for 17 years.”

Deacon Wharff was born Dec. 26, 1977, in Puerto, Colombia, and grew up in Nuestra Senora del Carmen Parish in his hometown. He is the son of Enrique and the late Adelida, and brother to Herman, 46, Alexis, 44, Mauro, 40 and Silvana, 30.

He attended elementary school in Escuela San Pablo, Puerto, and high school in Seminario Menor Apostolica Padre Vicentinos, Santa Rosa de Cabal, Risaralda. He then received a philosophy degree from Seminario La Milagrosa Padres Vicentinos, also in Colombia.

Deacon Wharff arrived in the Diocese of Trenton in 2010, and continued his studies for the priesthood in St. Mary Seminary and University, Baltimore, where he recently received a master of divinity degree.

The road to his arrival in the Diocese of Trenton began, he said, in his hometown in Colombia – which is shared by Father Javier Diaz, recently assigned as pastor in Christ the King Parish, Long Branch.

“My family knows his family, and they were friends,” he said, adding that his father, brothers and uncles are friends with the Diaz family. “The process (of coming to the Trenton Diocese) started because (Father Diaz) was the one who helped me to make the right contact.”

His tenure in the Diocese of Trenton has included service in Sacred Heart House of Priestly Formation and Sacred Heart Parish, both in Trenton, as well as Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish, West Trenton, and Precious Blood Parish, Monmouth Beach. His hobbies include hiking, cooking and bicycle riding.

Upon his ordination, Deacon Wharff will serve in St. Theresa Parish, Little Egg Harbor.

He said that he is especially looking forward to becoming part of his new parish community, and “to be involved in the parish, to know how the parish works, to know the staff (and) be with the people of the parish.”

He said that he also looks forward to celebrating the Sacraments with parishioners in his new role.

Deacon Wharff admitted to having  a range of emotions as his ordination nears.

“There are many feelings,” he said, “(but) behind that is a sense of confidence.”

He added that his time in the Diocese of Trenton thus far has given him the chance to meet many people who have been supportive in his priestly formation and preparation.

“I am thankful for all of the people I have met in the past years,” he said, adding that he has experienced a very welcoming culture in the Diocese. “I have received the support of many people.”