HEARTBURN...Were not our hearts burning within us?... Luke 24:32

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1 HEARTBURN...Were not our hearts burning within us?... Luke 24:32 Volume 1, Issue 1 Vocations Office The Archdiocese of Newark April / May 2011 Rev. John D. Gabriel Director of Vocations A letter from the Vocations Director The disciples on the Road to Emmaus that first Easter morning reflected on their experience of walking with the Risen Christ as He spoke with them: their hearts burned within them, and they invited Him to stay with them, and came to know him in the breaking of bread. The same Lord still walks with young men and women today, and if they have the courage to listen and invite Him into a deeper dialogue, He will reveal Himself to them in the deepest yearnings of their hearts. In that spirit, I d like to welcome you to the first edition of our Archdiocesan Vocations E Newsletter Heartburn. It is our hope that Heartburn will help the people of our Archdiocese come to know the work of the Vocations Office, that they too may recognize the call of Christ in their own lives, and that they may allow Christ to use them as a way to help our young people respond to their own vocation. In each edition of Heartburn we hope to introduce the wider Archdiocese to our seminarians so that we can support them in prayer. And, who knows, perhaps their vocation stories may help other young people to hear the Lord s call and respond with faith and courage. We also hope to feature pastors, priests and religious, principals and campus ministers, and youth and young adult ministers who have recognized their own responsibility to be vocation directors in their own parishes and institutions and among the young people they were sent to serve, and have responded in creative and fruitful ways. Perhaps as we share thoughts and ideas, we can together create a culture of vocations here within our local Church of Newark. It is my hope that this newsletter will reach as many people as possible. I encourage you to share it in your rectories, parishes, schools, youth groups, families, and among any young people you know who might benefit. And please remember to pray for the work of the Vocations Office each day. In this Easter season, may each of us experience a burning within our own hearts that will respond, not to antacids, but only to a deeper relationship with Christ. Dum Spiro Spero, Fr. John D. Gabriel Director of Vocations IN THIS ISSUE Letter from the Vocations Director.. 1 Letter from Pope Benedict XVI.. 2 Calling all Vocations Directors By Fr. Jim Weiner.. 3 Spotlight on Seminarians: Kevin Kilgore.. 4 Prayer Vigil for Pope John Paul II 5 Spotlight on Seminarians: Renato Esposito 6 SOS continued and Special thanks to Schools 7 On Mt. Tabor s Heights St. Theresia Maria 8 Emmaus Days Discernment Camp 9 Joy is the infallible sign of God s presence. David of Wales (feast March 1st)

2 MESSAGE FOR WORLD DAY OF PRAYER FOR VOCATIONS ****************************************************************** 15 MAY 2011 Proposing Vocations in the Local Church The work of carefully encouraging and supporting vocations finds a radiant source of inspiration in those places in the Gospel where Jesus calls his disciples to follow him and trains them with love and care. We should pay close attention to the way that Jesus called his closest associates to proclaim the Kingdom of God. In the first place, it is clear that the first thing he did was to pray for them: before calling them, Jesus spent the night alone in prayer, listing to the will of the Father in a spirit of interior detachment from mundane concerns. It is Jesus intimate conversation with the Father which results in the calling of his disciples. Vocations to the ministerial priesthood and to the consecrated life are first and foremost the fruit of constant contact with the living God and insistent prayer lifted up to the Lord of the harvest, whether in parish communities, in Christian families or in groups specifically devoted to prayer for vocations. Particularly in these times, when the voice of the Lord seems to be drowned out by other voices and his invitation to follow him by the gift of one s own life may seem too difficult, every Christian community, every member of the Church, needs consciously to feel responsibility for promoting vocations. It is important to encourage and support those who show clear signs of a call to priestly life and religious consecration, and to enable them to feel the warmth of the whole community as they respond yes to God and the Church. I encourage them, in the same words which I addressed to those who have already chosen the enter the seminary: You have done a good thing. Because people will always have need of God, even in an age marked by technical mastery of the world and globalization: they will always need the God who has revealed himself in Jesus Christ, the God who gathers us together in the universal Church in order to learn with him and through him life s true meaning and in order to uphold and apply the standards of true humanity. (Letter to Seminarians - 18 October, 2010) I address a particular word to you, my dear brother Bishops. Choose carefully those who work with the Diocesan Vocations Office, that valuable means for the promotion and organization of the pastoral care of vocations and the prayer which sustains it and guarantees its effectiveness, I would also remind you of the concern of the universal Church for an equitable distribution of priests in the world. Your openness to the needs of dioceses experiencing a dearth of vocations will become a blessing from God for your communities and a sign to the faithful of a priestly service that generously considers the needs of the entire Church. The ability to foster vocations is a hallmark of the vitality of a local Church. With trust and perseverance let us invoke the aid of the Virgin Mary, that by the example of her own acceptance of God s saving plan and her powerful intercession, every community will be more and more open to saying yes to the Lord who is constantly calling new laborers to his harvest. Pope Benedict XVI

3 Calling All Vocations Directors By Fr. James Weiner I am the third of four boys in my family. We all attended St. Vincent de Paul Grammar School in Bayonne NJ. St. Vincent's was the center of our lives. My two older brothers were both Altar boys and my younger brother and I were in the choir. It seemed we spent as much time there, if not more, than we did at home. My dad was the head of the sports organization as well as C.Y.O. baseball. He was also the cook for all of the Communion Breakfasts, as well as the Annual Carnival and even cooked a few times for the S isters in the Convent. My mom was a member of the Marian Group and helped organize the school bazaars as well as the autumn clothes drive. My brothers and I were all involved in the sports programs, they seemed to excel in sports while I became more involved with teaching music at CCD, becoming a leader of song by the time I was in the 5th grade. I worked in the office at the Rectory for many years. I always admired the work of our Parish priests and in some ways had a desire to be like them without knowing at the time that I might actually have a vocation to the priesthood. I can remember my pastor at the time, Msgr. Hogan, telling me one day that working at the rectory could do one of two things, either foster a vocation or destroy one, I must say he was a very wise man and in my case a vocation was fostered indeed. I remember one of the priests in my parish asking me all the time if I had ever thought about becoming a priest. As I got older and through high school and into college he would ask me when I was going to go the seminary. There were also people in my parish who would ask me if I was going to be a priest and openly encouraged me and said that they thought I would be a good priest. The nerve of them I thought, I don't want to be a priest! I don't know what I want to be, just leave me alone! But they never did and neither did my parish priest and I thought if I ever did become a priest I would never do that to a young person in my parish. Well, let me fill in a few details now that I have been ordained for 22 years as a priest of the Archdiocese of Newark. First of all, they were right! They were able to see something that took me a little longer to see and embrace, that God was actually calling me to the priesthood and for those many years they were the voice of God calling and challenging me to answer the call to priesthood. I am very grateful today for their willingness to give voice to what they saw and recognized in me and for challenging me to see it as well. I also need to come clean and tell you that for the past 22 years as a priest, as often as I can, I have asked young men in my parishes if they have ever thought of being a priest, after I swore I would never do so! I realize now just how important that was and the impact that it had on my life and my decision to actually go to the seminary. Fast forward to the Fourth Sunday of Easter 2010, Good Shepherd/Vocation Sunday. I am now the pastor of the Church of St. Luke in Ho-Ho-Kus and I am preaching at the masses that weekend about vocations and asking for young and not so young men and women to answer the call to follow the Good Shepherd by considering a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. I of course share my own story and journey to the priesthood and speak of the great influence of both my parish priest, who by the way is now a Bishop, and the good people of my parish who also encouraged me to pursue a vocation to the priesthood. How my parishioners have an incredible opportunity to invite or encourage someone in their lives to consider a vocation, to give voice to God calling someone in their lives to follow him. So then and there I asked them all to please stand and I extended my hand over them in prayer and commissioned my entire parish as Vocation Directors. I told them that it was up to them to provide for future vocations for our Church. It wasn't just up to the priest and religious, it wasn't just up to Fr. John Gabriel as the Vocation Director for the Archdiocese. I said that it was up to all of us together to encourage and to ask people who we thought might have a vocation, if they ever considered a vocation to the priesthood or religious life. I truly believe with all of my heart that this is key to seeing an increase of vocations coming from our parishes. Good, holy and happy priest and religious; good, holy and happy people of God joining together and inviting people by name, acknowledging their gifts and talents and not being afraid to say you know that God might be calling you to the priesthood or religious life...have you ever thought about being a priest, religious brother or sister...we have nothing to lose and possible vocations to be gained! So won't you be a Vocation Director too! Certainly we all must know at least one person who we think might have a vocation and perhaps your invitation might be the one that they hear and will give them the courage to respond yes!

4 SOS Spotlight on Seminarians: Father John Gabriel, the Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of Newark, handed out questionnaires to the Seminarians of our Archdiocese so that we might get to know them better. We would like to introduce you to two of them in this, our first issue. The first to shine under the spotlight is Kevin Kilgore, who is currently attending the Immaculate Conception Seminary, in South Orange, NJ. He will be entering First Year Theology in the fall. Kevin graduated from Seton Hall University in 2007 with a B.S. in International Relations. After graduation, he decided to pursue his lifelong desire of serving God s people as a Third Grade teacher at Newton Street School in Newark, NJ. It is through this experience that Kevin learned that there is no greater love than service. Consequently, he decided to give his life to the service of the Church by becoming a priest for God s people. While at the Seminary, Kevin has already taken two trips to El Salvador. While there, he has served in a orphanage teaching English and giving charlas (talks) on Faith. He has also given charlas for the Nuns who teach at the Orphanage on how to re-enforce positive behavior. Kevin s favorite Scripture passage is one that he holds dear to his heart and has helped to shape him for the Priesthood. Taken from the Gospel of John 6:48, 6:51 I am the Bread of Life the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world Jesus makes himself present to every Catholic in the world through the Eucharist. Kevin says I There are many factors at work in the discernment of the Priesthood. When asked who was one of the people who have influenced him on his journey to the Priesthood, Kevin wrote this: My favorite hero in the Church is Father Walter Ciszek. Fr. Ciszek was an American Jesuit who served God s people in Russia for over twenty years. He entered the Soviet Union shortly before the German invasion and chose to remain within the war zone in order to minister to God s people. He was eventually arrested by the Soviet army, charged with espionage, and lived in solitary confinement for four years. He was then sentenced to fifteen years of hard labor in the Siberian labor camps. Fr. Ciszek never despaired. Rather, he gave God thanks and glorified His name through administering the Sacraments to Soviet prisoners who otherwise would have died in darkness. Fr. Ciszek is a terrific example of a priest who served the Lord with gladness, obedience, and gratitude despite all hardship and persecution. Another influence in the life of Kevin Kilgore is the book Diary of a Country Priest by Georges Bernanos. Bernanos was not a priest, but considered one of the most original Catholic writers of his time. The book, from 1936 is the story of a young Catholic priest in his first assignment in the North of France. Kevin feels that the most difficult part of life in the Seminary, is striking a balance between spiritual, academic, physical and emotional needs; however, he feels that learning to find this balance is good training for future Parish life. His advise to anyone who feels they might be hearing a call to the Priesthood, is Do not be afraid. The Holy Spirit will place in your heart every desire the Lord holds for you. If He is asking you to serve Him as a priest, do it! God will always give us what we need in order to love Him, serve Him and work for our salvation and that of His flock. "The Lord called me to himself with a most tender love, and with an infinite charity he led and directed me along the path of my life." Blessed Ludovico of Casoria (March 29) ( )

5 An invitation.. to all youth and young adults of the Archdiocese of Newark JOIN US For a Prayer Vigil in Thanksgiving for the Beatification of Pope John Paul II Saturday, April 30th to Sunday, May 1st Church of the Nativity 315 Prospect Street Midland Park, NJ SCHEDULE Saturday, April 30th 9:00 p.m.. Mass 10:00 p.m. until 3:30 a.m... Eucharistic Adoration, music and fellowship Sunday, May 1st 3:30 a.m.benediction with the Blessed Sacrament 4:00 a.m. until 6:00 a.m.. Mass of Beatification celebrated by Pope Benedict XVI St. Peter s Basilica, Vatican City 6:00 a.m....breakfast 7:00 a.m..departure Please join us for this evening of faith and friendship as we celebrate the life of Blessed Pope John Paul II Registration is free Call the Vocations Office to register Are you not perhaps yearning for the Absolute and in search of something to give a meaning to your lives? Turn to Christ and you will not be let down. - Blessed Pope John Paul II

6 SOS Spotlight on Seminarians: The second Seminarian to be spotlighted is Renato Esposito. Renato is from Elizabeth, NJ. He began to feel God tugging at his heart strings at a early age while serving as an Altar Server. He was involved in many Parish activities, and as he got older, he still felt that God might be calling him. Then one day at Mass, he remembers hearing the Gospel of John 6:53 which reads: I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink of His blood, you cannot have eternal life within you. It was at that moment that Renato realized how important the Eucharist was in his life. After that experience, he started to go to adoration twice a week, but after a few months, his twice a week visits turned into daily visits to the Adoration Chapel and his vocation became clearer to him. It was through the Eucharist that God called him to follow the path to the Priesthood. Before entering the College Seminary, Renato attended Kean University, where he was pursuing a degree in Graphic Arts. He also attended a private Art School called du Cret School of Art where he studied drawing. He feels that the artistic gifts God has blessed him with will help him in his work for the Church. Some of the Saints and Heroes of the Church that have influenced Renato along the way are St. John Vianney, St. Louis- Marie Grignion de Montfort, The Blessed Mother, St. Joseph, and Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen. Renato s favorite books are True Devotion to Mary written by St. Louis- Marie Grignion de Montfort, and The Story of a Soul, the Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux. I am God s. He created me and He is my beginning and my end. - St. Theresa de Los Andes, Feast April 12th Renato is an avid fan of hockey and basketball, and enjoys going to the movies. His favorite movies are The Passion Of Christ, Beckett, and Karol: A man Who Became Pope. He enjoys listening to music, especially the music of Matt Maher. Something very interesting and exciting that Renato has done, is to walk over 800 miles for the Eucharist! He did this as part of a group called The Missionaries of the Eucharist They are a group of young adults that walk long distances and proclaim the beauty of the Catholic faith to everyone they meet. When asked about this remarkable journey, Renato writes: Joining the Missionaries of the Eucharist and walking from Vermont to Maine was a life changing experience. The walk I was on began in June and ended in August, so we were on the road for a total of six weeks. The total number of people on the walk was eleven and we were from different parts of the United States. Along the way friends, families and parishioners from different churches met up with us to walk a couple miles and give us support. We would walk 20 to 25 miles a day on foot and sleep in church basements and houses of generous people from local parishes of the towns we were walking through. Our goal was to proclaim the beauty of the Catholic faith to everyone we met, specifically through the Theology of the Body. Prayer is very important and at the heart of our ministry. Every day of the walk began with daily Mass. We believe that by receiving Christ in the Eucharist, we are given the grace to be the Love of Christ not only to those in our community but also to those we meet in the streets. We would walk throughout the day to be a witness of love. We are grounded in prayer; and would pray with our lips, our hearts, and our bodies. Walking long distances everyday can be tough. But we would offer our fatigue as a gift of love to Christ and to the people we met along the way. Our walking was both sacrifice and prayer. There were some days when I thought that I was not going to make it. But when I thought about what I was walking for and who I was walking for, I got the inner strength and motivation to pull through. Every day with the Missionaries was like a mini adventure and I enjoyed every second of it. There were also many close calls on the walk. We had a van that traveled with us and one day, the wheel came off of the van while we were in it and we ended up in a ditch. Another day our van got stuck in mud

7 and needed to be pulled out. The best part of the walk was getting to meet wonderful people and sharing the faith with them. I am so thankful to be a part of such a wonderful ministry and pray that the Lord continues to bless the Missionaries of the Eucharist. Renato s advise to anyone considering the priesthood is to pray. His favorite ways to pray are before the Blessed Sacrament. He feels this is a great opportunity to have a heart to heart talk with the Lord. During adoration, he keeps in mind the reality of the true presence of Christ in the Eucharist. He also loves praying the Rosary which helps him to meditate on the life, death and resurrection of Jesus, and the Liturgy of the Hours has also helped him to grow in love with the psalms, and the realization that he is praying in communion with many people all across the world. He recommends asking God to show you His will for you, and also to pray to the Blessed Mother, the Mother of all vocations, for the grace of perseverance. God bless you, Renato on your journey to the Priesthood. Archdiocese of Newark Office of Vocations 171 Clifton Avenue PO Box 9500 Newark, NJ Rev. John D. Gabriel, Director Sr. Theresia Maria Holtschlag, Associate Director Barbara Kelly, Secretary Rita Maggio, Vocations Assistant Rev. Matthew Dooley, Assistant Vocation Director Rev. Charles Kelly, Assistant Vocation Director Rev. James Worth, Assistant Vocation Director Rev. Juan Carlos Vargas, Assistant Vocation Director Phone: Fax: gabrieljo@rcan.org SPECIAL THANKS We would like to offer special THANKS to all those Parishes, Schools, and Youth Groups who have invited the Vocations Office (and those who assist us) to participate in their Vocation Programs: Little Flower, Berkeley Heights St. Joseph, Bogota St. Aloysius, Caldwell St. Mary, Dumont Ss. Peter and Paul, Hoboken St. Luke, HoHoKus St. Aloysius, Jersey City St. Stephen, Kearny St. Elizabeth, Linden St. Margaret of Cortona, Little Ferry St. Philomena, Livingston St. Raphael, Livingston Queen of Peace, Maywood Nativity, Midland Park Our Lady of Lourdes, Mountainside Immaculate Conception, Norwood Holy Family, Nutley St. Francis, Ridgefield Park Our Lady of Sorrows, South Orange St. James, Springfield St. Rocco, Union City Presentation, Upper Saddle River St. Helen, Westfield St. Joseph, West New York Our Lady of Lourdes, West Orange St. Joseph, West Orange St. Elizabeth, Wyckoff Seton Hall University, South Orange Felician College, Lodi Kean University, Union Rutgers University Newman Center, Newark Seton Hall Prep High School, West Orange Oratory Prep High School, Summit Oak Knoll High School, Summit Union Catholic High School, Scotch Plains Roselle Catholic High School, Roselle Paramus Catholic High School, Paramus Bergen Catholic High School, Oradell St. Benedicts Prep High School, Newark Immaculate Conception High School, Lodi St. Patrick s High School, Elizabeth Hudson Catholic High School, Jersey City Mother Seton High School, Clark Keep yourselves free from sin so that every day you may share in the mystical meal; by doing so, our bodies become the Body of Christ. St. Hesychius of Jerusalem (Feast day March 28)

8 On Mount Tabor s Heights Lord it is good for us to be here (Mt 17:4) Yes, indeed it is good to be where the Lord has called us! In the Gospel of Matthew we read how the disciples, Peter, James and John, were led up a high mountain by Jesus. There, they were witnesses of His Transfiguration and they entered into a new intimacy with Christ. This is what makes Peter say: Lord it is good for us to be here. (Mt 17:4) Religious life is often looked at in the light of the mystery of the Transfiguration. My name is Sr. Theresia Maria, and I am the Associate Director of Vocations for the Archdiocese of Newark. In this section of Heartburn, I would like to discover with you, little by little, what Religious Life is. To discover with you the beauty of the call to follow Jesus in Religious life. Come and follow me! (Lk 18:22) What then is Religious life? There is no special sacrament for Religious Life because the Church considers Religious Life to be a fruitful deepening of the Consecration received in Baptism. A call to Religious life is a call to leave everything behind and enter into a deeper and closer relationship with Jesus...Come follow me (Lk 18:22). This call is accompanied by a special gift of the Holy Spirit so that Religious can respond to this Vocation. A call to Religious life is a call to follow Christ with your whole heart, of loving Him more than anyone else and moreover, it s a call to become ever more conformed to Christ, ever more like Christ. Just like two friends, who spend much time in each other s company will tend to develop similar habits, so too, by spending much time with Christ in a Love friendship, a Religious will become more and more similar to Him. It is a call to a special intimacy with Jesus that demands the total gift of self, lived out through the Evangelical Councils, the Vows of Poverty, Chastity and Obedience. These vows help the Religious to make Christ the whole meaning of his or her life and also to reproduce in him or herself this same form of life that Christ accepted for Himself entering into this world. By imitating Jesus poverty, a Religious will show that, like Jesus, he or she receives everything from the Father and gives everything back to the Father in Love (Cf. Jn 17:7,10) and that God is his or her only treasure. Through the vow of chastity, a Religious will imitate Jesus, by keeping his or her heart free, undivided, only to love God. (Cf Jn 17) By the vow of obedience, a Religious accepts, like Jesus, to only search for the Will of the Father (Heb. 10:7) The Love and all the gifts that the Religious receive from Christ in the Love friendship with Him cannot, but be given to others. This Love and these gifts are like a perfume that needs to be spread to others. These others are, first of all, the brother or sisters that the Religious lives with in Community (this is true for Contemplative Life and Apostolic Life) Then, for those Religious who are also called to an apostolic ministry (we call this Apostolic Life) this Love and these gifts will be given to all those the Lord sends to them in their ministry. Each Religious Congregation has its own charism. This doesn t change the essence of what we just described as Religious life, but it s the special way that these Religious will live out their Religious life. The charism is that particular part of the mystery of Christ that is highlighted in the life of Religious. The charism is given by a founder under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit and is translated in the spirituality of the community, in the way in which the Religious live out their Religious life and in their ministry.

9 EMMAUS DAYS VOCATION DISCERNMENT CAMP AN INVITATION TO HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS AND SENIORS AND COLLEGE MEN TO JOIN US ON THE BEAUTIFUL SHORES OF LAKE HOPATCONG FOR THIS TIME OF FRIENDSHIP, FUN, AND PRAYERFUL REFLECTION ON CHRIST S CALL IN OUR LIVES. JULY 5-8, 2011 FELICIAN RETREAT HOUSE MT. ARLINGTON, NEW JERSEY EMMAUS DAYS INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: Eucharistic Adoration and Prayer Swimming and Sports Sharing with Seminarians of the Archdiocese of Newark Meals and Accommodations COST: $ PER PERSON (ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE) FOR MORE INFORMATION AND TO REGISTER CONTACT THE OFFICE OF VOCATIONS gabriejo@rcan.org