Monday night: Are you ready for Adoration?
By CHRISTIE L. CHICOINE
CS&T Staff Writer
That four young men from Chester County have answered a call to discern a vocation to the priesthood at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood is not unique in and of itself.
What is unique is that each young man heard the call at some point while spending time before the Blessed Sacrament at a weekly holy hour for teenagers at the chapel of SS. Philip and James Church in Exton.
The four — John Stokely and Mike Field, both 18; John Masson, 20, and James Bond, 34 — are also all alums of Bishop Shanahan High School in Downingtown.
All four went to the holy hour, known to Chester County faithful as “Monday Nights,” as a follow-up to a Shanahan-sponsored spiritual retreat.
The “Monday nights” 7:30 p.m. holy hour includes a Gospel reading, a brief teaching, praise and worship music, prayer and adoration before the Blessed Sacrament.
High school students from Chester County, most of whom are students at Bishop Shanahan, typically pack the chapel.
“In terms of the holy hour being instrumental in the vocation, what struck me the most was seeing everyday people like my friends, especially, affected so greatly by it,” said Stokely, whose home parish is St. Agnes in West Chester.
“Monday Nights” proved to be a productive way to foster friendships forged on the retreat and to strengthen his spiritual life, Stokely said.
Although Stokely first heard the call to the priesthood as a young boy at St. Aloysius Academy in Bryn Mawr, it was during a December 2004 retreat that he began to seriously consider a vocation to the priesthood.
Stokely, now a first-college seminarian, continues his holy hours at St. Charles. “Prayer life is important,” he said. “It’s amazing how important it is just to stay close to God and to pray your way through the vocation and discerning.”
The holy hour for teens began in the spring of 2004. Father James C. Otto, then a faculty member at Shanahan who was in residence at SS. Philip and James, led the holy hour. When he was transferred in the summer of 2004 to another parish, Father Christopher B. Rogers, a parochial vicar at SS. Philip and James, took up the reins.
Masson, a seminarian in second college, said he was most moved by “the whole attitude of the place — it was a chance to praise God with other people in a fun environment. The music was good, but the center was always the Eucharist.”
He happily bypassed other activities, such as going to the movies with friends — to make the holy hour. “I did get it into my routine and made sure my friends knew,” Masson said.
He said the call to discern a vocation to the priesthood became most evident during his junior year. The Shanahan-sponsored retreat re-enforced for him that “the most important thing was a relationship with God.”
He went to “Monday Nights” to build upon that relationship. As a result, “I’ve discerned that this is where I should be.”
To those who find themselves growing impatient while spending time before the Blessed Sacrament, Masson says, “Stick with it, be open.
“My prayer life changed when I sat in silence and listened. It’s not all about feelings — it’s about knowing that God is there and you’re in His presence.”
Just as one spends time talking with and listening to a friend in order to develop the relationship, spending time before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament requires the same, Masson said.
The fact that the four men would all eventually enroll at St. Charles was a pleasant surprise.
Field, a seminarian in first college, who hails from St. Peter Parish in Honey Brook, was a high school sophomore when the seeds of a vocation were first planted by his theology instructor, a priest, who emphasized the Church’s role in evangelization.
He later attended a retreat at St. Charles Seminary and, after that, the Shanahan retreat. Then came the holy hour at SS. Philip and James.
He remembers going before the Blessed Sacrament and asking where he should go to college. “There were clear signs,” Field said, “that I was led to the Seminary. I’m taking it day by day, month by month, a year at a time.”
Today, Field’s prayers continue in the form of: “If You want me to become a priest, please grant me Your grace and strength to continue on to do Your will.”
To those who are unsure of how to spend time before the Blessed Sacrament, Field says, “Relax and show up. God works in mysterious ways every time....
“If you show up for a holy hour, God’s love will be there. Keep praying. It’s Jesus who leads.”
It was James Bond, now a first-college seminarian, who was asked to chaperone the Shanahan-sponsored retreat and, subsequently, be a presence at the “Monday Nights” at SS. Philip and James.
“Through Adoration, God knows you more than you know yourself,” Bond said. “I felt a calling to be more holy.”
In addition to SS. Philip and James, Bond soon found himself making holy hours at his parish, SS. Simon and Jude in West Chester, as well as at other neighboring churches.
“I wanted to be able to help kids on future retreats... . God sort of made me look at my path,” he said.
It was there, in prayer before the Eucharist, that Bond felt a “general love in the Sacrament.”
He said he first felt called to the priesthood in the early 2000s. Prior to enrolling at St. Charles, Bond was a security coordinator in the loss prevention department at QVC.
Today, at St. Charles Seminary, Bond continues to spend time before the Blessed Sacrament.
“The more you pray and the more you’re with Him, the more you realize everything points to Him,” he said.
In times of certainty and uncertainty alike, any time is a good time to spend time before the Blessed Sacrament, according to Bond.
“If you have questions about life, if you don’t like the way your life is going, who’s going to know more about it than the One who created you and knows you even better than yourself?”
Just what is one to do before the Blessed Sacrament?
“If there are any problems, ask for help about those problems. Sometimes, you might stay there for an hour, and you might not feel anything. It takes time, just like it does with any relationship.”
Regardless, “go there and be you,” Bond said. “If you’re mad, or frustrated or just want a friend, you need to say that — not necessarily yell it at the top of your lungs, but you can say it out loud. To hear yourself ... helps you work through the whole relationship.”
Remember to go to Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament during the good times as well, Bond said. “You feel good when something good happens; when you can share it with Christ, it’s amplified. There’s your joy, and then there’s sharing your joy.”
The four are happy to see another familiar face on the Seminary grounds — that of Father Rogers, whom Cardinal Justin Rigali appointed director of the Vocation Office for Diocesan Priesthood this past June. Father Rogers’ office is located on St. Charles’ campus.
SS. Philip and James Parish was the first assigment for Father Rogers, who was ordained in 2000.
“Those days were the best gift of my priesthood,” Father Rogers said of “Monday Nights” at SS. Philip and James. “There, I saw what God can do in the hearts of young people. What I didn’t realize was, in those days, God was preparing me for this work now, so that I would know the recipe for vocations.”
Regardless of who goes to a holy hour, or why or how how they get there, “it’s all about Jesus,” Stokely said. “It’s amazing,” he added. “Big things can happen from it.”
The men of Chester County call on their fellow Catholics to spend time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament.
“Come out to Adoration,” Bond said. “Here, you have a chance to meet [Jesus] on your own terms. He is truly present. If you want that relationship, He’s waiting for you.”
For more information on the “Monday Nights” holy hour at SS. Philip and James Parish in Exton, call (610) 363-6536.
For more information about vocations to the diocesean priesthood, including upcoming discernment retreats, call the Vocation Office for Diocesan Priesthood at (610) 667-5778, or e-mail the director, Father Christopher. Rogers, at frcrogers@adphila.org.
CS&T Staff Writer Christie L. Chicoine can be reached at (215) 587-2468 or cchicoin@adphila.org.