It's 'Pizza Night' With the Bishop

Bishop urges young men to cultivate relationship with God in discerning vocation

WAYNE  Right now, Sebastian Ruiz, a freshman at DePaul Catholic High School here and a parishioner of St. James of the Marches, Totowa, said that he remains “kind of in between,” when thinking about his eventual vocation: either the priesthood or married life.

“Knowing my pastor, [Father J. Patrick Ryan] and seeing how he lives, I can see that being a priest is a hard life but a rewarding life,” said 14-year-old Ruiz, a St. James’ altar server, who joined about 50 other young men — high-school age and older — in attending a “Pizza Night with the Bishop” vocations-awareness event at DePaul on the evening of Nov. 5.

Bishop Serratelli met with young men from the diocese, who are discerning their vocation — including some for the priesthood, such as Ruiz — and invited them to say “yes” to God during the gathering, sponsored by the diocesan Vocations Office. This event — the first of three such vocation-awareness gatherings with the Bishop Serratelli over the next few months — started with him helping nourish the young men’s souls with prayer, a reflection on vocations that focused on the story in the Gospel of Mark, when Jesus calls his first disciples, and Eucharistic adoration.

Afterward, the young people walked from DePaul’s chapel to the other side of the high school to the media center, where they nourished their appetites with pizza. There, they asked clergymen in attendance about priestly formation and about daily joys and struggles. Bishop Serratelli took time to meet many of them personally and answer their questions on a range of topics including his service as Bishop, his own priestly vocation and cultivating good relationship with people and God.

During his reflection in the chapel, Bishop Serratelli explored Mark 1, when Jesus passes by the Sea of Galilee and calls brothers Simon and Andrew, who had cast their nets into the sea for fish, and then brothers James and John, who quietly were mending their fishing nets in their boat. When they heard Christ’s call, “Come, follow me and I will make you fishers of men,” they all immediately got up and followed him, he said.

“This shows that, if you are going to be a follower of Jesus, you need to be engaged in two different activities. Sometimes, you have to stop to mediate and contemplate — a moment of silence to be in the presence of God, so that he can speak to you. And during other times, you need to be involved in aggressive activity for His sake,” said Bishop Serratelli, who also noted that Jesus’ word changed these disciples. “They felt the drawing power of Jesus and began their wonderful adventure as co-workers of Jesus. Our first call is to live out our lives as a disciples of Jesus. God chooses our vocation and then leaves us the freedom to discover it and accept it,” the Bishop said.

After the young people ate pizza in the media center, Bishop Serratelli answered their questions about priesthood and vocations, such as:

• What influenced you on your path [to priesthood]? Some men hear the call to priesthood in grade school; some in high school; some in college; and some, when they are working. He heard the call in grammar school. “I was attracted to the work that a priest does and wanted to get closer to the Lord. A vocation is an attraction that you can’t explain,” the Bishop said.

• What was your family’s reaction, when you told them that you wanted to become a priest? His father was not positive. He took him to their priest and told him, “Tell my son that he can’t become a priest, because he’s too young.” The priest told the boy, “It’s true that you are too young to enter the seminary,” but then told his father, “If God wants your son, he will become a priest. You can’t stop him.” His father eventually accepted his vocation, the Bishop said.

• What makes for a good relationship? In a good relationship, one person looks out for the other person and there is respect. Also, make time to develop your relationship with the Lord. “He will lead you to your vocation as a disciple of Jesus: marriage, priesthood or religious life,” he said.

That night, Pawel Halat, youth minister of St. Anthony of Padua Parish, Paterson, brought several young men to “Pizza Night with the Bishop,” which he called “important in getting more vocations.”

“Tonight, the young men feel uplifted to be hanging out with the pastor of the diocese [Bishop Serratelli],” Halat said.

Sitting with many of his fellow DePaul students at another table was D.J. Schuck, a senior and a parishioner of St. Mary’s, Pompton Lakes. There, he teaches Confirmation preparation classes, serves as an extraordinary minister of Holy Communion and a peer minister and leads freshman retreats.

“It’s great to see how the freshmen change from the beginning of the retreat to the end. They are more open to faith and hearing God,” Schuck said. “I came tonight, because I want to be closer to God. I like Bishop Serratelli because he can relate well to people and can play to my age group. I don’t know what my vocation is right now, but I know that I’m called to spread the Word of God,” he said.

Afterward, Father Jared Brogan, assistant diocesan vocation director and administrator of St. Catherine of Siena Parish, Mountain Lakes, called the “Pizza” participants “a good group,” who asked “good questions.”

“We asked them to pray about where God is in their lives and be open to where He is moving them,” Father Brogan said. “We [in the Vocations Office] are here to support them.”

The Vocations Office has scheduled two other “Pizza Night with the Bishop” events in 2016, which both 7 p.m.: Monday, Feb. 1 at Morris Catholic High School, Denville, and Thursday, March 17 at Pope John XXIII Regional High School, Sparta.

[Information: Diocesan Vocations Office, (973) 777-8818, ext. 711.]