Many young people attend Bishop’s Annual Vocations Picnic on Aug. 4 at Immaculate Conception in Fayetteville
By Elizabeth Landry
Staff writer
The Diocese of Syracuse is blessed to have seven seminarians, currently in various stages of their formation, on the road to the priesthood. Many, if not most of them, have been inspired by an event that takes place every year within the Diocese — the Bishop’s Annual Vocations Picnic, also called The Tenth Hour.
Organized for all young people open to God’s call in their lives, the picnic, which took place at Immaculate Conception Church in Fayetteville on Aug. 4, is an evening of dinner, conversation, discernment, and prayer with fellow discerners. This year’s theme was “Called to be Saints!” and the evening’s events included a summer BBQ with guided discussion questions and an unlimited panel discussion with Bishop Douglas J. Lucia, priests, seminarians, and religious sisters and brothers.
In the weeks leading up to the picnic, The Catholic Sun spoke with a few seminarians to find out how this event has played a role in their discernment and on their vocation journeys.
For seminarian John Buttner, attending the picnic in years past served not only as a great opportunity to meet with clergy and religious in the Diocese, but also as a way to better understand the humanity we all share in common.
“For me, the picnic has been a great opportunity to meet various members of the clergy and other religious in our diocese. We get to know our own priests and religious really well, but that’s only a narrow slice of the greater presbyterate. Meeting and talking with other priests and religious helped to demystify the priesthood and showed me that they’re people just like you or me. I learned that I didn’t need to be this perfect, untarnished version of myself to enter the seminary, and I don’t need to stop being myself to serve as a priest in the future,” said Buttner.
Fellow seminarian Carlos Gonzalez, who has also attended the picnic several times, explained how the gathering of many discerners has impacted his own vocation journey.
“Looking back, I can honestly say the picnic has played a huge role in my discernment. It was there where I first met other discerners from around the Diocese. It was also the place where I heard powerful testimonies and vocation stories from priests, seminarians, and religious — all of which always left me inspired,” Gonzalez said.
From one discerner to another
This year, 125 individuals signed up for the vocations picnic, including eight discerners over the age of 18 who are contemplating priesthood, as well as discerners who were invited to attend through the Called By Name vocation initiative. This initiative, which asked parishioners and Catholic school faculty and staff members to submit the names of young people in their communities they felt would be fitting candidates for Holy Orders and/or consecrated life, took place in early June.
For those continuing their vocation journey, or attending the picnic for the first time this year, our seminarians offered some words of advice and encouragement.
Seminarian Jonathan Hoole’s advice is to “be open to where the Lord is calling you.”
“Putting yourself out there and not being afraid to meet people or do new things,” is also important, he said. “I didn’t want my shyness or my timidity to get in the way of [meeting new people]. And being open to hear both ‘yes’ and ‘no’… There’re many different ways to serve as a priest — in religious life, in chaplaincy, even as a cloistered monk. And I would say the same thing for the ladies; they can serve as sisters and be very active, or [they] can be contemplative nuns. So, I think just being open to the many different ways the Lord calls us [is important].”
Buttner’s advice similarly includes keeping one’s heart open to the call of the Lord, and he also emphasized maintaining an attitude of active discernment and an active prayer life.
“Like dating, just thinking about the other person never gets you anywhere — at some point, you need to take a step outside of yourself and take that risk of revealing your heart,” Buttner shared. “For a religious vocation, that step could be to get involved in youth ministry, to join your college Catholic community, or to call your parish and talk to your pastor about what the priesthood actually looks like on a daily basis. If we are truly open to the Lord, then any step we take will lead us closer to His plan for our life, even if the road turns out to have a lot of twists and turns.”
“To the young men and women at the picnic discerning the call, I would say there’s nothing in this life that can make us more happy than doing what God wants us to do with our lives. Whether it’s priesthood, religious life, or marriage, this is where true and authentic joy comes from,” said Gonzalez. “The Church needs you!”
‘Things are getting real’
At 6:30 p.m., directly following the vocations picnic, Bishop Lucia celebrated a special Mass for the Admission to Candidacy for Holy Orders at Immaculate Conception in Fayetteville, which included the Rite of Candidacy for five of our seminarians (Buttner, Gonzalez, Hoole, Douglas Villanella, and Gianni Verginio). An important step in their vocation journeys, the Rite of Candidacy marks the seminarians’ formal declaration of intention to pursue Holy Orders, involving a public expression of their commitment before the bishop and the Church.
“I get the overwhelming sense that things are getting real,” Gonzalez said, reflecting on his upcoming candidacy. “There’s a sense of peace. I’m very grateful to God for this journey, and also to my family who has shown their love and support every step of the way.”
“Seminary will still be a discernment process, but after candidacy, there is a greater sense of permanence and commitment to follow the path to the end,” said Buttner, also in anticipation of the special Mass. “I’m excited and a little nervous, but like I said, discernment requires active steps and this is the next one for me.”
Hoole also expressed a feeling of excitement as the Rite of Candidacy approached. “It’s funny, I’m entering my fifth year in seminary, and it’s felt like a long journey, but [the end] also feels so far away … Bishop will say these words, and I think he said them in my acceptance letter, too: ‘I pray that the Lord will continue the good work begun in you,’ and it’s just becoming very real that I’m almost there.”
