This week, Dcn. Josh Nehnevaj arrived on campus to begin his 8-week internship with us here at Assumption. (He is, however, gone this weekend, so his first weekend of Masses will be July 17/18.) Dcn. Josh is originally from Vancouver, WA and was ordained to the diaconate there on July 02. In case you did not realize it, all priests are first ordained as deacons, and spend their last year in seminary living out their diaconate ministry.
Having a summer seminarian is a blessing for any parish. We are tempted, as Catholics, to believe that priests grow on trees or hatch from eggs, but (I can personally assure you), that is absolutely not the case! Priests come from the same place as anyone else, living normal childhoods, having normal experiences. Having a seminarian on campus, with his fresh and still evolving story, reminds us that anyone who loves Jesus might be called to a religious vocation. I encourage you to ask Dcn. Josh about his vocation story – that is, how he came to know and love Jesus, how Jesus called him to the priesthood, and what it has been like struggling with that call through seminary.
Practically speaking, what will Dcn. Josh be doing here? Our parish responsibility is to provide him opportunities to exercise his new role as a deacon, which is traditionally spoken of as service of the Word, of the sacraments, and of charity. This means that Dcn. Josh will be preaching three weekends this summer, as well as two daily Masses each week. He will be assisting at the altar at almost every Mass he attends. He will probably celebrate a couple of baptisms. And he will involve himself with various ministries of the parish that continue over the summer.
I will also say, on a personal note, that Dcn. Josh is a friend of mine from my own time in seminary, and it has already been really lovely for me to have him sharing the rectory. There is only one bathroom in our parish rectory – so that requires some good communication skills – but it is edifying for me to have someone to chat with, pray with, and play board games with, even for a short couple of months. It makes me think about Assumption’s original rectory – now our office building – which was clearly built to house three full time priests plus guests. How wonderful it must have been during those few decades when all the rooms were actually filled! Celibacy is an important and beautiful aspect of the Catholic priesthood that I would not sacrifice for anything, but living in community from time to time does serve as an important reminder to us priests that we are not made to be robots, but human beings, in relationship with the rest of humanity.
Thank you for helping Dcn. Josh feel loved and welcomed!
Fr. Moore 