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(This is from a longer article providing priest’s personal testimonies, at https://diometuchen.org/assets/Uploads/Documents/Vocations/PriestsStories.html )
Msgr. Joseph Celano
Ordained May 30, 1987
I see the role of a priest as helping others get to heaven. I have a number of functions to carry out, but they are all meant to bear witness to Jesus Christ and bring people into a loving relationship with him. That’s why I love being a priest. I have found the passion that drives me. Anyone willing to commit to the life of a priest will find it to be a great life.
I tell men considering a vocation what I experienced growing up. I saw priests who lived lives of meaning and significance. They were warm, loving, giving men, so I felt no fear or intimidation around them. That’s why I began thinking about the priesthood as a small boy.
As I got older, I could see the possibility of doing other things, but there was always a gnawing inside, a gentle tug that kept bringing me back to the priesthood. I interpret that as a calling from God – the main reason I am a priest.
After high school, I worked and went to community college for two years. I used that as a time for discernment and joined a group of men in the diocese who were also discerning. I saw then that I wasn’t isolated and was not the only one experiencing a call. Those two years also showed me the importance of developing spiritually, that we all are called to faithful discipleship regardless of vocation…
I enjoy being a pastor, being responsible for a community. It’s fun watching kids grow up from baptism to confirmation; getting to know a family and allowing them to know me. On Sunday morning I look out at a group of people whom I know and wonder sometimes, with what they are going through, how they even got out of bed that morning. Knowing what they face enables me to find the right things to say in my homily. During confession and anointing of the sick, I feel most a priest. Being with somebody when they unburden their sins is humbling. I feel the nearness of God. I also feel this nearness with a person who is dying, and their family. They open their lives to you like they would to no other. Amidst suffering there is nothing I can say or do to take the pain away. But when the priest is there, they know they aren’t alone. The priest is a sign that the church cares, and that makes a difference in their lives.
Likewise, a priest is there throughout the whole spectrum of life for people, and we are there on behalf of Jesus Christ. There are plenty of emotions throughout the day in the life of a priest. I believe a priest has to be a man of prayer in order to handle the emotional ups and downs of his life; his priesthood would be diminished without this essential element. I think that a well-lived priesthood will inspire other men to become priests. I also talk regularly about how I love being a priest, and encourage others to consider it. Men want to know that this is not a life of mediocrity.
http://www.diometuchen.org/assets/Uploads/Images/VocationsImages/Priests/Fr-Celano1.jpg
Msgr. Joseph Celano
Ordained May 30, 1987
I see the role of a priest as helping others get to heaven. I have a number of functions to carry out, but they are all meant to bear witness to Jesus Christ and bring people into a loving relationship with him. That’s why I love being a priest. I have found the passion that drives me. Anyone willing to commit to the life of a priest will find it to be a great life.
I tell men considering a vocation what I experienced growing up. I saw priests who lived lives of meaning and significance. They were warm, loving, giving men, so I felt no fear or intimidation around them. That’s why I began thinking about the priesthood as a small boy.
As I got older, I could see the possibility of doing other things, but there was always a gnawing inside, a gentle tug that kept bringing me back to the priesthood. I interpret that as a calling from God – the main reason I am a priest.
After high school, I worked and went to community college for two years. I used that as a time for discernment and joined a group of men in the diocese who were also discerning. I saw then that I wasn’t isolated and was not the only one experiencing a call. Those two years also showed me the importance of developing spiritually, that we all are called to faithful discipleship regardless of vocation…
I enjoy being a pastor, being responsible for a community. It’s fun watching kids grow up from baptism to confirmation; getting to know a family and allowing them to know me. On Sunday morning I look out at a group of people whom I know and wonder sometimes, with what they are going through, how they even got out of bed that morning. Knowing what they face enables me to find the right things to say in my homily. During confession and anointing of the sick, I feel most a priest. Being with somebody when they unburden their sins is humbling. I feel the nearness of God. I also feel this nearness with a person who is dying, and their family. They open their lives to you like they would to no other. Amidst suffering there is nothing I can say or do to take the pain away. But when the priest is there, they know they aren’t alone. The priest is a sign that the church cares, and that makes a difference in their lives.
Likewise, a priest is there throughout the whole spectrum of life for people, and we are there on behalf of Jesus Christ. There are plenty of emotions throughout the day in the life of a priest. I believe a priest has to be a man of prayer in order to handle the emotional ups and downs of his life; his priesthood would be diminished without this essential element. I think that a well-lived priesthood will inspire other men to become priests. I also talk regularly about how I love being a priest, and encourage others to consider it. Men want to know that this is not a life of mediocrity.
http://www.diometuchen.org/assets/Uploads/Images/VocationsImages/Priests/Fr-Celano1.jpg
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