Who Becomes a Priest Today: In Their
Own Words
Fr. Bill Byrne, ordained in 1994
Fr. Jaime Hernandez, ordained
in 2003 (en Espanol)
Fr. Carter Griffin, ordained
in 2004
Fr. Mark Smith, ordained in 2005
Fr. Bill Hegedusich, ordained in 2006
Patrick Riffle, seminarian
Fr. Bill Byrne, ordained
in 1994
People often ask me when I decided to be a priest,
and I respond, "my third year of seminary."
They look surprised as if I should have known the
day I entered. It takes years of seminary to certify
the initial desire to be a priest. That’s why
seminaries exist.
I describe my parents as "professional Catholics"
– daily Mass, First Friday. They are professional
in that they take their faith very seriously, but
they do so with a great deal of humor and joy. It
is and was the perfect seed-bed for a vocation. Having
a priest in such a family would bring them much joy,
an answer to a Catholic mom-of-eight’s prayers.
Therein lay the problem. Although I had taught school
for three years after graduating from Holy Cross and
I had brought an apartment with my brother, I still
had to make sure that my decision to be a priest was
a mature one, a holy choice. I had to make sure that
I was not just saying yes because I knew it would
make my parents happy. I had many areas where I needed
to grow, but this was a definite area where I needed
clarity. Eventually, through many hours in front of
our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, theology classes
and seminary formation, I really began to hear the
Lord and know it was His voice calling me to serve
Him as a priest. The fact that my mom and dad were
happy was an added bonus. My vocation was mine, a
gift from Christ that I needed to cherish and guard
as the precious gift it is.
We all have questions to answer so that we can freely
answer yes to Jesus’ call to Holy Orders or
move on to follow Him in another vocation. I learned
how to embrace celibacy as a life-giving path to holiness.
I learned to pray. I learned the power of obediently
following my bishop and so finding true freedom in
letting God’s "will be done."
Each man who feels the urge, the call, the desire
for priesthood must take it seriously. However, he
must realize that the decision is not made the first
day. The Church in her wisdom gives you years of formation
so that when the Archbishop calls your name you can
step forward with a free and certain heart. You don’t
propose on a first date and the Church does not ordain
you unless you and those responsible feel that you
are certainly called by Christ.
Back to Top
Fr. Jaime Hernandez,
ordained 2003 (en Espanol)
Mi nombre es Jaime Hernández, fui ordenado
sacerdote para la arquidiócesis de Washington
el 24 de mayo del 2003 y mi primera asignación
sacerdotal es en el Santuario de San Judas, en Rockville,
Maryland.
Nací el 23 de agosto de 1973 en Santa Clara,
El Salvador. Tener que crecer en mi país durante
los años más difíciles de la
guerra civil fue todo un desafío. Los retos
y el dolor que me esperaban tendrían como apoyo
el ejemplo de esperanza, convicción y dedicación
a la fe católica de mi familia. El 19 de abril
de 1985, me convertí en víctima de la
guerra: al pararme en una mina perdí mi pierna
derecha. Mi accidente, a la edad de 11 años,
ha sido uno de los retos más difíciles
que he tenido que superar.
Después de que el hospital me dio de alta,
pasé dos años buscando diferentes centros
de rehabilitación en El Salvador. Estaba muy
seguro de que alguien me ayudaría a conseguir
una prótesis para tratar de rehacer mi vida.
No fue fácil quedar inválido con once
añitos de vida. Es la edad de socializar, de
buscar horizontes y crecer. Pero mi fe fue un cimiento
firme en medio de la violencia que me rodeaba y en
los instantes más difíciles del proceso
de rehabilitación sentí la ayuda misericordiosa
del Señor.
En junio de 1987, fui enviado a los Estados Unidos
por medio de un programa de ayuda del Senado Americano
y el proyecto HOPE. Vine al Hospital de Arlington,
en Virginia, donde tuve una operación para
que pudiera usar un pie artificial. Después
de tres meses de tratamiento regresé a El Salvador
con mi prótesis. Desde entonces, me propuse
crecer en la vida espiritual y empecé a asistir
a la Misa todos los días.
En 1989, vine a vivir a los Estados Unidos con toda
mi familia. Una de las dificultades que tuve era la
imposibilidad de asistir a la Misa todos los días
y creo que mi vida espiritual vino a menos. Me encontraba
en un país donde no podía practicar
la fe como lo hacía en El Salvador. Además
tenía un nuevo reto que enfrentar, el inglés.
Por ello dediqué más tiempo a aprenderlo
y practicarlo que a la vida espiritual. Unos años
después empecé a ver la Misa por televisión
que transmite el canal católico EWTN. La Misa
diaria y la vida de los Santos eran mis programas
favoritos y nunca me los perdía. Fue por medio
de este canal que pensé en acercarme más
a Dios, en regresar a la vida de fe, una experiencia
ya vivida en mi país de origen.
Meditando en el futuro, empecé a pensar lo
bonito que sería entregar mi vida al Señor
como lo hicieron los santos. Entonces apareció
la idea del sacerdocio. Reflexioné sobre ello
cierto tiempo pero no tenía valor de hablar
con el sacerdote de mi parroquia para decirle lo que
estaba pensando.
Después de sentir por algún tiempo el
llamado a la vocacion sacerdotal, a la entrega total
a Dios y a su pueblo, me di cuenta que no podía
seguir huyendo. Después decidí hablar
con mi párroco y decirle que deseaba ir al
seminario. Él me invitó a colaborar
en la vida litúrgica y pastoral de la parroquia
y fui su sacristán por algún tiempo.
El trabajo en la parroquia me ayudó a profundizar
más en la vocación sacerdotal.
Inicié mis estudios de filosofía en
agosto de 1996 en el seminario San Juan María
Vianney, en Miami. Estudié la teología
en el Monte Santa María en Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Disfruté mucho de mis estudios en el seminario
y disfruto mucho más de mi vida sacerdotal.
Estoy muy agradecido con Dios por haberme llamado
a su servicio. Si tú sientes que Dios te está
llamando al sacerdocio, yo te invito a responder con
un corazón generoso. En verdad me da mucha
alegría poder celebrar la Santa Misa, y poder
reconciliar al pueblo con Dios por medio del sacramento
de la confesión.
Back to Top
Fr. Carter Griffin, (ordained
in 2004)
My big mistake was attending a Catholic Mass. It began innocently enough, visiting a Catholic girlfriend who attended Washington and Lee University, wanting to impress her by my large-minded desire to go to church with her. But my life has never been the same since that April Sunday of 1992. The next day, returning to New Jersey where I attended college, I had eight hours to ponder the experience of that Mass. It had made an indelible impression, and upon returning to the dormitory I asked a Catholic friend of mine to take me to his parish priest. I had some questions that needed answering.
I grew up in a Presbyterian family, fairly consistent churchgoers, and I had always harbored an interest in religion. By the time I reached college, however, I suppose that I was a typical product of our age: ambitious for worldly gain and pleasures, friendly, noncommittal, nondogmatic, tolerant to a fault, ignorant of supernatural realities, numb to the movement of the Holy Spirit. I was, in other words, your average "nice guy." Then came that unforgettable experience of Mass.
After that initial impetus, there was nothing special or unusual in my path to conversion. My life continued as normal, but punctuated by gleams of illumination – "ah-ha" moments, if you like. Many of those moments were triggered by my reading – and I did a great deal of reading in Church history, doctrine and practice – and by people I encountered. I will never forget one of my talks with the priest who eventually brought me into the Church. As I was preparing to leave, he casually remarked that, after my conversion, God may ask still "more" of me. He may ask me to be a priest. I mumbled an answer, and left feeling a bit resentful that he had placed such a "burden" on me – before I was even a Catholic! It was not the sort of thing that tolerant, "nice" people like myself would ever dream of doing. How little I knew, how little I understood the depth of his charity for me. And how grateful I am today for that priest’s courage; every day I pray for him in thanksgiving. In fact, ten years after his unwelcome suggestion, he vested me as a deacon in St. Peter’s Basilica.
On the Easter Vigil of 1993, I was confirmed in the Catholic Church, and a year later I finished college, entered Officer Candidate School and began a four-year stint in the Navy, where I served on warships in the Atlantic Fleet. Nearing the end of my sailor days, I again reflected on that priest’s suggestion to consider a vocation to the priesthood.
I even began applying to the seminary through the Archdiocese of Washington. I had a serious girlfriend at the time, though, so I also took the LSAT and applied to law school, in case I opted for marriage instead. In hindsight, I realize that this was one final gasp of resistance to the priesthood. I was accepted to law school, but even as I heard the news I knew that I would never attend. I turned down the offer of admission, called up the vocation director in Washington, and embarked on the most exhilarating journey of my life.
More than any other feeling, my heart is filled with gratitude. Gratitude to God for my life, for the grace of conversion, for my faith. Gratitude to my family for their love, for my education, for their unfailing support and encouragement. Gratitude to the many priests and laypeople who have been such fine witnesses of the Catholic faith and who have supported me every step of the way. Most of all, however, I am grateful for the great gift and blessing of a call to the priesthood. What an amazing life – a life of intimate union with Christ, of acting as a powerful channel of God’s grace, of having a privileged role in the lives of His people. God gave me a choice, a real choice, and I was free to turn the vocation down. He does not want reluctant disciples. Not for a moment, however, have I regretted my answer. I have never been happier in my life, I have never looked back, and there is nothing I would rather do. I pray every day that Our Lord will bestow the privilege of a call to the priesthood on many generous, stouthearted men to be fathers of souls. Never before, I believe, was there a better time, a more noble cause, or a more abundant harvest of souls hungering for truth, for pure and unstained love, for genuine happiness and peace of heart.
That priest who asked me to consider a call to the priesthood understood. He knew that every man’s happiness, ultimately, is found in following God’s plan for his life. That is the great, open secret unknown to the modern world, in which so many people frenetically pursue "happiness" in all the wrong places. He wanted for me what every true Christian friend should want for us: the serenity and uncontainable joy of a generous disciple of Jesus Christ. I certainly have not achieved that height of generosity, but at least I now know the way. Thanks be to God!
Back to Top
Fr. Mark Smith
So much of life in the seminary was about developing a deeper spirituality through learning to pray. That is why it is always interesting for me to look back to the year I spent discerning my response to what I believed to be my call to the priesthood. I spent the year praying like there was no tomorrow.
I had just moved to a new parish and saw a young priest celebrating Mass very reverently. As I spoke to him after Mass, he asked me if I had considered becoming a priest. I laughed it off even though I had actually thought about it. I just couldn’t really imagine or picture myself doing it. This priest stepped in at key times over the next two years to guide me along the way.
During this time, I owned and operated a "bootcamp" fitness company and became more involved with the Church by helping start a young adult group. Through these interactions, I began to see such a big spiritual hunger in people of all ages from young adult to middle age. I realized that there is something deep and true that people are looking to experience. At the same time, I was going through a conversion and understanding my faith on a more mature level. After a trip to Rome, a Project Andrew dinner and a number of talks with different priests, I sold my business and gave myself a year to fully discern my vocation once and for all.
Daily Mass, more frequent Confession and a good spiritual director got me there, but it was deep prayer that allowed me to realize that my faith in God had taken care of me so far in my life so there was no reason to believe it wouldn’t continue to do the same. So I took the leap of faith and entered the seminary.
As I look back on that year now, I can see that my prayer was being answered all along. While I was asking, "Should I enter the seminary, yes or no?" I was hearing, "Trust me" and "Follow me." It did not come as a flash of lightning and it did not knock me off my horse, but it provided me with a great sense of peace and confidence in my call.
Back to Top
Fr. Bill Hegedusich,
"second vocation"
Some people call me a "delayed vocation" and others "late vocation," but while living in Korea a nun reminded me, we are all on God’s time and not ours. I prefer a "second vocation" priest. I attended Blessed John XXIII National Seminary in Weston, Massachusetts; a seminary established and dedicated for "second vocation" men. During my time there, the seminary average 65 men studying each year, ranging in age from their late 30s to early 60s and coming from all walks of life! These men represented over 30 dioceses, including men studying from Brunei, Guam, Puerto Rico, and Canada, and three religious orders.
Each vocation story is a unique story. In 1996, I was living in Texas and was talking to my brother one night when he asked me, out of blue, whether I was going to be a deacon or priest one day! A couple years later, I asked him why he asked me that. He said there was a lull in the conversation and thought it would pick it up. He quickly added, in 34 years you never did anything I asked or told you, why did you start now? Other than a passing a comment made 10 years earlier to a friend, I never thought about becoming a priest. You can say my brother planted the seed.
Between 1996 and June 2001, when the Archdiocese accepted me, I would live in two different countries, get engaged and almost married and have to delay starting my studies for a year because I was unable to retire from the Air Force. Breaking off the engagement was extremely difficult and yet was the turning point in my discernment. While I loved my fiancée and we had a wonderful relationship, I "felt" being called elsewhere. I met with a priest to discuss what I was feeling and continued to pray and be open to where God was leading me. In Korea, I attended a Discernment Retreat hosted by two Army Chaplains and when I left the retreat, all the pieces fell into place and I knew that God was calling me.
Do you know someone who might have a call to the priesthood? Be like my brother and ask him, plant the seed as he did and pray and encourage him. Has someone asked you, "Have you considered becoming a priest?" or "Do you have a feeling God is calling you to the priesthood?" Talk to a priest or the vocation director and pray. Do you think you are too old? I entered the seminary at 42. If God is calling you to the priesthood, he will not abandon you, but will provide abundantly for you.
Back to Top
Patrick Riffle, college
seminarian
In reflecting on what led me to enter the seminary to begin my studies for the priesthood, I would have to say it was the awareness of God’s loving presence in my life and how much I had to be thankful for. I knew that for me the only way I could respond to His many gifts was to give my life to Him, in loving service of the Church.
I grew up in a Catholic family, where our faith was important and formed who we were as a family, but it was your typical family with all its ups, downs and struggles. I was enrolled in the local public school and was involved in many activities, both after school and in other local organizations such as 4H. So when I think about it, I had a pretty normal life, but one thing sticks out in my life and it would have to be the first time I felt God calling me to the priesthood.
For me it came in a passing "what if" kind of thought when I was about 10 years old. I was an altar server at my home parish of Immaculate Conception in Mechanicsville, Maryland and I watched what my pastor Msgr. Paul Gozaloff did during Mass and how kind and loving he was to my family and me. This all got me thinking what it would be like to be a priest. While I entertained these thoughts off and on but once I started at the local junior high and got involved in different after-school commitments, filling my life with a lot of activity, the idea began to disappear. As I got older, the more involved I got in different activities, I began to put more emphasis on friends and trying to be a part of the "in crowd." All of this quickly caused me to worry about many other things and the idea priesthood very rarely came into the picture.
Luckily, one of the activities that I decided to add to my life was volunteering at my parish. My parents were volunteering for different things that need to be done around the parish so I took their example and joined in. It was okay, I was helping out and getting service hours that I needed for Confirmation and graduation, so I thought to myself if wasn’t too bad. But as I began to help out, I began to see the life of the parish, how the people came to the priest with all their joys, sorrows and concerns and how he became Christ for them and what a sense of peace he brought to their lives. I remember thinking what an amazing life it must be to be a priest and to be so much for so many people. And it was with that that the thoughts of priesthood came back. By this time I was around 14, I just had started high school and not to mention had my first girlfriend. I quickly tried to dismiss the thoughts but God had something else in mind.
The thoughts kept coming off and on and at times I could not think of anything else. It was like it consumed my thoughts. I wanted to talk to someone about it, but I thought that it was some crazy idea that would pass, much like it had done in the past. Besides, I thought my parents would not understand, and very few of my friends were Catholic and besides what would they think if I said I wanted to be a priest. I surely was not going to tell my girlfriend at the time and my pastor, a priest, was the last person I was going to tell that I was thinking about it. So I went on with life, ignoring the fact that God could possibly be calling me to the priesthood.
It was not until the end of my sophomore year of high school that my pastor came up to me after Mass and invited me to a Project Andrew dinners sponsored by the Archdiocese. At these dinners, young men who are invited by their parish priest are invited to consider the possibility of the priesthood. I was so relieved he had done it for me; he had opened the door for me to be able to talk to someone about it. So, I told my parents and they were supportive -- not pushy, but supportive -- and I told my pastor that I would go. It was a great experience; I got to meet other men my own age who were thinking of the priesthood and I got to meet seminarians that were studying for the priesthood. The whole evening just filled me with a great desire to know more. So I asked my pastor question after question, I attended the summer "Come and See" retreats and I asked a local priest near my high school to be my spiritual director.
I continued to pray and discern the possibility throughout my high school years, all the while staying involved in my school, living the normal high school life and continuing to date. Then at the end of my junior year I decided to quit dating and asked the vocation director to begin the application process and in March of 2000 I was accepted as a seminarian for the Archdiocese.
I began my seminary formation in the fall of 2000 at St. Pius X Seminary, located outside of Scranton, PA. At St. Pius, I prayed and lived in community together with other college age seminarians and studied at the nearby University of Scranton, a Catholic university run by the Jesuits. For me the college seminary experience was great, I was able to go to attend a great Catholic university, while having that great gift of seminary formation.
After completing degrees in philosophy and theology, I was sent by the Archbishop of Washington to complete my studies for the priesthood at the Pontifical North American College in Rome. My time in Rome has been truly a blessing. I have the unique opportunity to study with men and women from around the world and to experience the universal nature of the Church. Most importantly, I have the honor of being able to be close the Holy Father, the successor to St. Peter as he teaches and leads the Church. It is a great place to be formed as a Priest. My years in Seminary have been years of many blessings and has lead me in to a deeper relationship with the person of Christ. I have never regretted the decision to enter the seminary, and am thankful for the awesome life Christ is calling me to.
Back to Top
