There are differences among the 16 men who began studying for the priesthood in the Diocese of Columbus this fall.
They come from parishes across the diocese and have a variety of backgrounds: Some were in the medical field, others studied engineering or business, and some planned to be teachers.
They all had different plans, but when it came to studying for the priesthood, the men said they entered seminary after receiving a call.
“This is something that the Lord has had on my heart for a while, and so, I’m excited to start this next step,” said Ray Duffy, a parishioner at Columbus St. Catharine Church who is studying for the priesthood at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Cincinnati, where half of the diocese’s newcomers will begin formation this year as changes in the vocational structure are implemented by the Church.
“It’s one of those situations where I don’t know what’s at the top of the staircase, but I know the next step the Lord has called me to, and so, I’m excited to step onto that staircase.”
Duffy graduated from Saint Vincent College in western Pennsylvania with a degree in history and planned to work in secondary education, but he discerned instead that he was being called to the seminary. He said he had a desire for the priesthood that “didn’t go away.”
Consistency in prayer and hearing the voice of God the Father, Duffy said, helped him to discern that seminary is where the Lord wanted him to be.
Jacob Wilson, a parishioner at Gahanna St. Matthew Church, said he first heard the Lord’s call to the priesthood while in elementary school. Years later, Wilson began seminary studies at Mount St. Mary’s this fall.
“I was about 8 years old when I first heard the call and actually ended up discerning that this was the call for me right out of high school, but I ended up finishing a business degree, and now, after college, going into pre-theology, it seems like the best way to go about things, and I was following the Lord’s call through it all,” he said.
Wilson graduated from Southern New Hampshire University. He is looking forward to being one of the first seminarians in recent years to study for the priesthood outside of the diocese in Cincinnati.
“Going to Mount St. Mary’s is going to be a really cool experience because the diocese hasn’t done it in a long time, so I think it’ll be new and exciting,” he said. “God is definitely working in these 16 young men. It’s going to be good to build brotherhood and start a new thing.
“It’s a good idea to have seminary in different places. You’re able to see different cultures and not spend seminary eight years in one place. You can break it up into different pieces. I think it’s a good thing. I think it’s a healthy thing, and I’m excited to get started on it.”
Nicholas Arnold, a parishioner at Granville St. Edward the Confessor Church, is also studying at Mount St. Mary’s this year. He said a call to the priesthood had been on his heart, too.
“There’s just some kind of depth I’m looking for that’s more than a career,” he said. “A lot of my engineering goals were more like, I’m going to get a nice job, nice house, nice car and then everything that comes with that, and I think I was looking for more of that solace with the Lord.
“I realize I’m probably only going to get that or get on that direction if I start out for the priesthood, and that’s been the call on my heart for a while.”
Arnold graduated from Ohio State University with an engineering degree. He realized while preparing for an interview, he said, that God was not calling him into engineering.
“It was a two-year process, in terms of (going) back and forth, and I was applying to jobs. I think what really did it, I was prepping for an interview I had, and it occurred to me that what I actually wanted was only going to be found in the seminary.”
Nick Love, who is a parishioner at Dennison Immaculate Conception Church, is studying at the Pontifical College Josephinum. He said he is looking forward to beginning studies for the priesthood.
“I am very excited, a little nervous because I delayed answering the call,” Love said. “I’m 24 right now. … First, I had the call in high school and said I wasn’t sure if it was for me, then went to college and then went into blue-collar work, did that for a couple of years.
“About a year ago, I finally made the decision to answer God’s call and enter. … I can finally feel a sense of relief over me making this decision, so I’m ready to get started.”
Love said he heard the Lord’s call by strengthening his prayer life.
“The more I did not answer God’s call the more I felt myself falling away from the Church. As I progressed in my career and what I was doing, always, in the back of mind, the priesthood was still there and never really went away, especially when I deepened my prayer life. That calling came back real strong, and I knew I had to go this route.”
Now that he is in seminary, Love said, his desire for his first year is to be “enveloped” in prayer and “not just go through the motions,” but to “actually be consumed, and all the distractions, just gone.”
Absalom Hall, a parishioner at Portsmouth Holy Redeemer Church, began his studies at the Josephinum this year. He is a convert to the Catholic faith and said he came into the Church 10 years ago.
Prior to entering seminary, Hall spent 12 years working with children and adolescents in the mental health field. He said he felt called to step away from that to “more deeply” serve God and His people.
Spending quiet time with the Lord and listening to His voice, Hall said, helped him to discern a calling to the priesthood.
“It was a long process, but I think taking part in Eucharistic Adoration every week helped,” he said.
Chad Walton, who is a parishioner at Lancaster St. Bernadette Church, will also be studying at the Josephinum this year. He said he first took an interest in the priesthood after becoming an altar server at his parish.
“I started altar serving last year – August, September – and I just fell in love with it,” he said. “Everything that you don’t see at Mass, I saw, and it really opened my eyes.
“Everything the priest says quietly, dead silent, you don’t hear it, and to this day, I still can’t hear most of it, but just the small things he says very quickly, the actions he does at the altar, you don’t see that, and it shows how reverent it truly is.”
Walton is one of seven children and attended Fisher Catholic High School in Lancaster. He spent a year and a half studying nursing at Capital University and then worked as an MRI safety technician at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Walton said he believes his nursing courses equipped him well for the priesthood.
“I started to recognize what I was doing with my major, taking care of people, couldn’t be possibly better suited in looking to my vocation to the priesthood,” he said.
Walton lived at St. Bernadette’s rectory for three days a week assisting Father Tyron Tomson, the pastor. He said he is looking forward to growing in prayer while studying at the Josephinum.
“It’s a good opportunity to get closer to God in prayer, which is something that not a lot of people get the opportunity to do, so I’m very excited about that."
