Annual softball game supports vocational joy, camaraderie among players
By Tami S. Scott
Being a priest isn’t all about sacrifice. Nor is it about living a solo life. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. And the annual Men in Black softball game proves just how joyful priesthood can be should you hear that call from God.
The Syracuse Padres beat the Southern Tier Angels by one run July 28 — the Padres comprised of diocesan priests and seminarians, and the Angels a group of “amazing, Catholic faith-filled youth from area parishes” in Binghamton, as introduced to the spectators by event emcee Tori Reynolds, director of Faith Formation at Our Lady of Sorrows Church, Vestal. The camaraderie between the players on both teams was palpable, as the crowd witnessed cheers, shouts and high fives among the Angels and the MiB brothers in Christ.
“This event is so beautiful because it helps us show the joy of the priest and the joy of consecrated life and that when a young person gives their ‘yes’ to God, it’s only going to result in more joy and happiness in their life,” said Father Jason Hage, director of Vocation Promotion and pastor at Mary, Mother of Our Savior Parish, Utica.
Seminarian Cornelius Deep attested to the truth of that statement by sharing his own story with the crowd. He recalled how the Men in Black, who at the time played basketball, helped ignite his vocational calling, first in elementary school and then at Notre Dame High School.
“I actually remember Fr. Jason Hage. He was a very young seminarian at the time. Father [Joseph] O’Connor was a young priest. Father [Christopher] Ballard was a seminarian. And I remember vividly watching them play in their basketball game, like ‘Wow, these guys are just normal human beings doing normal human things,’” he said.
Years later, Cornelius would find himself on the softball field playing on the youth team against the Men in Black. Next, he played with the Padres as a “rookie seminarian.”
“It was after my first year of the seminary,” he explained. “And to be honest, I didn’t really know all the guys, they didn’t know me. I was just like this little kid, and it was cool to be a part of it on the other side of the field.” (Continued below photos)
This time, Cornelius was part of the core team in helping to lead and organize the game, and perhaps most vitally, to offer his vocational testimony, which he encapsulated as a “love story.”
“In this love story with the Lord, I’ve been able to hear his voice pulling me to want to be a priest,” he said. “And because I’m in love with the Lord, I would do anything for him.”
Cornelius addressed the misperception that you must become a priest if you attend seminary school, “like you sign on a dotted line, which is definitely not true,” he affirmed. “Guys discern in a healthy way each year, and so over the course of your time at the seminary, it’s healthy to discern in a real way, like, ‘Lord, am I called to this?’”
Cornelius admitted that he himself endured a low point early on in his pastoral year when he questioned his own calling. He turned to God for guidance and with continued discernment, confirmed his desire to be a priest out of his love for the Lord.
“I wanted to do this for him and for his Holy Mother Church — all of you,” Cornelius said.
As to how significant this annual event is for the Syracuse Diocese, director of Seminarian Formation Father Joe O’Connor summed it up well: “It’ll be fun to see which person on the Southern Tier Angels will be playing with us someday.”
