Pizza with the Bishop

SPARTA  What would you be willing to give up to follow Jesus?

Last week, Bishop Serratelli posed that provocative question to a group of young men of the Diocese — teenagers, who have just begun to think about their vocation — on Feb. 5 at a “Pizza with the Bishop” vocations-awareness evening at Pope John XXIII High School here. These young men from local Catholic parishes and high schools gathered at Pope John to listen to Bishop Serratelli give advice about how to listen for God’s call to them to a vocation in becoming a priest, religious or married person or pursuing a specific profession.

“What are you willing to give up? What’s most important to you — not only in the future, but also now — to follow him? The world is much more relativist today. It doesn’t value religion anymore. But faith matters intensely. God cares about truth and justice and anything that could cause harm to our eternal life. He cared about us so much that he sent his only Son to die for our sins,” said Bishop Serratelli in a reflection on the Gospel story of the rich young man that kicked off the “Pizza” event. He gave the talk in the chapel of the priests’ residence of Pope John, across the street from the high school. “Today, we need men of courage and faith to give their lives to do what God wants them to do,” the Bishop said.

Sponsored by the diocesan Vocations Office, the event started with the nourishing of the young men’s faith, as the Bishop delivered his reflection on Scripture and vocations, followed by Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament, led by Father Benjamin Williams, Pope John’s chaplain and a religion teacher here. Accompanying many of the young participants were their parents and priests from their parishes and Catholic schools and from the Vocations Office, which held an earlier “Pizza” event at DePaul Catholic High School, Wayne, last fall.

In the glow of the lights in the chapel, Bishop Serratelli reflected on the Gospel story of the rich young man, who has all of his basic needs met and keeps God’s commandments. He asks Jesus, “What must I do to earn eternal life?” Jesus replies, “Go and sell all that you have, give the money to the poor and come follow me.” Instead, the young man walks away disappointed, the Bishop said.

“We don’t know why the rich young man walks away. Maybe he did, because he loves money or pleasures,” said Bishop Serratelli, who also suggested that the man could have reconsidered and returned to Jesus. “Some would say that the man fails but I don’t think so. Jesus looks back at him in love. Later, Jesus says that it’s easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich person to inherit the kingdom of God but all things are possible,” he said.

Bishop Serratelli then spoke about Old Testament accounts of Nebuchadnezzar, who established himself king of Babylon in 620 B.C., during a period of captivity for the Jews. He had a gold idol created and forced everyone to worship before it. But three young Hebrew men refused and “faced the fire with faith, because they believed in God.” Today, people worship many false Gods with encouragement from the elite in the media and academia, such as “abortion, child manufacturing, the abandonment of old people and marriage without meaning,” he said.

“The three men could have rationalized worshipping the idol by saying, ‘I should go with the flow,’ ‘I will bow on the outside but not on the inside” or ‘I won’t let religion rule my public life.’ The men didn’t know if God would deliver them but they trusted God, no matter the outcome [which resulted in their deaths],” Bishop Serratelli said. “Today, we need courageous people, who will preach that Jesus is the one Savior for all,” the Bishop said.

After Adoration, those assembled walked across the street to Pope John, where they dined on pizza in the lunchroom, before they took the opportunity to ask Bishop Serratelli questions on a range of topics, including “What is your favorite thing about being Catholic?”

“I love the Mass. I love celebrating the liturgy — the center of our faith. It’s what makes us different,” the Bishop said.

Another participant asked Bishop Serratelli about the nature of a calling to the priesthood by God.

“I felt an attraction to the priesthood very young. I was an altar boy and would go with the priest to visit the sick. I would say, ‘I would love to do that,’ ” Bishop Serratelli said. “You can’t explain a calling. It’s like trying to explain why two people fall in love,” he said.

Then, another person asked Bishop Serratelli and the other priests in attendance if they heard voices in their minds, discouraging them in their pursuit of a priestly vocation. Just then, Msgr. John Hart, pastor of Assumption Parish, Morristown, and diocesan director of clergy personnel, told participants that, early on, some of his friends “didn’t understand what it was all about, because it was different.”

“But I stuck with it [his vocation] and they respected that. They understood it later. Later, I would perform many of their weddings,” Msgr. Hart said. “I just kept positive. Encouragement comes from God and discouragement comes from the devil,” he said.

At the end of the “Pizza” event, Bishop Serratelli told participants a story of a doctor — married with children — he had met years ago. The doctor admitted that he had always wanted to be a priest, but no one had ever asked him.

“So I’m asking you tonight — think about becoming a priest,” the Bishop said.

Before leaving Pope John for home, Nick Scelfo, 17, of Assumption Parish told The Beacon that he does not feel a call to priesthood but to a deeper faith in Christ. This sophomore at Morris Catholic High School, Denville, is an altar server at Assumption.

“I come from an active — and very holy — family. I want to continue that faith into the next generation,” said Scelfo, who noted that Bishop Serratelli “is welcoming and personable and connects with people.”

Scelfo’s mother, Theresa, suggested that Nick could follow many different ways of serving God, noting that a son of a friend had missioned in Africa.

“As a mom, I just want my child to be happy in whatever he does,” Theresa Scelfo said. “The journey will be revealed to him over time.”