By PAUL WIRTH
Diocesan Communications Staff
The path to become a priest is a long one, filled with years of seminary training and personal discernment. Much has been written about that journey, leading up to the joyous day a new priest is ordained by Bishop Alfred Schlert in front of his brother priests, proud family members and hundreds of well-wishers.
But what happens next? What is it like to make the transition from years of preparation for the priesthood to actually living it, every day, in a new parish assignment?
To find out, The A.D. Times paid a visit to the three newest priests of the Diocese of Allentown – Fathers Giuseppe Esposito, Zachary Wehr and John Maria – to check in with them after their first four months on the job. They were ordained June 1.
As with any new position, they said, being a new priest comes with a little trepidation, and with the need for some on-the-job training. And there have been a few pleasant surprises.
Father Giuseppe Esposito
First assignment: Assistant pastor, St. Anne, Bethlehem
Sitting in his modest office, Father Esposito joked that he sometimes thought becoming a priest would mean a “complete transformation, in which God’s grace would come flooding in and I would no longer be who I was before.”
That didn’t happen. “It turns out I’m still me,” he laughed, which seems to be fine with the people of his new parish, who have gone out of their way to make him feel welcome. “I really feel like this is part of my family now.
“Being a priest in a new place requires an adjustment, a learning curve. I’m learning by doing, and I can tell you, God is giving me some divine help.”
In addition to his duties at St. Anne, Father Esposito also is assigned to celebrate Masses at Lehigh University, Bethlehem, and that’s where he ran across a pleasant surprise.
“It’s absolutely inspiring to see how many college students attend Sunday Masses. It’s obvious that they really want to be there,” he said.
At a time when the Catholic Church is struggling to attract young adults, and when many people have fallen away from the faith, the Lehigh University Masses offer a beacon of hope.
“I think the key is to establish a rapport first,” said Father Esposito. After you have that relationship, he said, it’s easier to talk about the benefits of a life-long personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Father Zachary Wehr
First Assignment: Assistant pastor, St. Catharine of Siena, Reading.
Sixth-graders have a lot of questions about their faith, judging from the number of hands popping up in Father Zachary Wehr’s Monday afternoon religion class at St. Catharine of Siena School, Reading.
Before he decided to enter the seminary, Father Wehr was studying to become a teacher. It turns out, he said, that being a priest requires a lot of teaching, too – in the classroom, from the pulpit and in everyday life.
“Priests serve as teachers by their words, and also by their actions,” he said. “People watch and notice what a priest does wherever he is.”
His first few months as a priest have been humbling and rewarding, Father Wehr said, and he is extremely thankful for the warm welcome he has received.
“Sometimes I ask the school students what they think my number one job is,” he said, and you never know what they are going to answer, including unlocking the church for Mass.
“I tell them, ‘My number one job is to help everyone get to heaven.’”
Father John Maria
First Assignment: Assistant pastor, St. Thomas More, Allentown
On one recent Sunday, Father Maria celebrated four sacraments in four hours: the Eucharist, Baptism, Confession and Anointing of the Sick.
“I was with people in all the stages of life over the course of a few hours,” he said. It was a reminder of the great joy, and the great responsibility, of being a priest.
“I knew there would be days like that in theory,” he said, “but to experience it in real life was absolutely amazing.”
While a large parish like St. Thomas More can be a bit overwhelming for a new priest, he said, he was pleasantly surprised at the large number of people volunteering with liturgy, school and other parish activities.
“There are a lot of Catholics here who are really committed, and fully invested in parish life,” he said.
