MARINE PARK — Robert Ruggiero, a transitional deacon soon to be ordained a priest in the Diocese of Brooklyn, can identify with Jonah’s time in the belly of a fish.

The Lord ordered Jonah, an Old Testament prophet, to sail east from Israel to the ancient city of Nineveh (present-day Iraq) to warn its people of calamity if they kept pursuing wickedness. Jonah didn’t like the Ninevites, so he went west instead, only to be tossed overboard during a fierce storm and swallowed by a fish.

God finally had his attention.

Three days later, the prophet got free and continued his mission to Nineveh.

Likewise, Deacon Ruggiero has long thought that God had a specific mission for him — possibly the priesthood. But his journey to obedience lasted far beyond three days — about 30 years.

“I felt a little bit like Jonah, being called by God, but I ran away,” he said. “I didn’t get swallowed by a fish, but I did get to the point where I was in an abyss.”

Still, Deacon Ruggiero found his way out, which will soon land him before God’s altar.

On June 28, he will join six other transitional deacons and be ordained as priests in the Diocese of Brooklyn at the Co-Cathedral of St. Joseph in Prospect Heights.

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Deacon Ruggiero, 55, is the oldest in his class of transitional deacons. He began this journey while growing up in Red Hook, the youngest of four children.

His parents, the late Ralph and Grace Ruggiero, raised the family in the Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen Parish in Carroll Gardens and Holy Rosary Parish in Staten Island.

Deacon Ruggiero attended public schools and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in English literature with minors in religious studies and philosophy from St. Francis College in 1997. He also earned a master’s degree in business administration, with an emphasis on technology management, from the University of Phoenix in 2004.

His hobbies include golf, running, watching classic movies, gardening, and cooking.

Deacon Ruggiero’s Catholic upbringing helped fuel his career trajectory. His resume includes two stints as a director of religious education — three years at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Flatlands, and two years at St. Francis de Sales Parish in Belle Harbor.

For 10 years, he served as a pastoral associate at his home parish of Sacred Hearts and St. Stephen. He later did the same job for five years at Good Shepherd-Resurrection Parish in Marine Park.

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In addition, Deacon Ruggiero worked as a pro bono business manager for three years at St. John the Evangelist-St. Rocco Parish in South Slope.

He also spent 17 years as assistant director at the Catholic Television Network — the precursor to DeSales Media Group, the ministry that operates The Tablet and Currents News — where he worked on the Prayer Channel.

Throughout Deacon Ruggiero’s childhood and as an adult, his family, friends, and co-workers saw his priestly potential, even if he didn’t acknowledge it to himself.

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Finally, about six years ago, he said he felt spurred to make a decision. He fled the noise of New York City for rural eastern Pennsylvania, where he spent a few days in prayer.

Deacon Ruggiero said facing his uncertainties was a very dark experience, which landed him in the aforementioned “abyss.”

“I was very anxious,” he said. “I thought, ‘Not me, Lord. Surely not I.’ ”

But Deacon Ruggiero found direction while reading “Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father” by Father Donald Calloway. He also participated in Father Calloway’s devotional program, “33 Days of Consecration to St. Joseph.”

This opened his eyes to how the world needs spiritual fathers like St. Joseph and like parish priests. Deacon Ruggiero, therefore, gained the confidence to enter St. Joseph Seminary and College in Dunwoodie, Yonkers.

His mentors included Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Raymond Chappetto and Father Thomas Doyle, pastor of Good Shepherd-Resurrection Parish, where Deacon Ruggiero resides in the rectory while awaiting his ordination and first pastoral assignment.

Father Doyle said he has been friends with Deacon Ruggiero since the 1990s when the younger man began his career. They worked together on many projects, said Father Doyle, who served on the board of the Prayer Channel while Ruggiero was the assistant director.

He noted that Deacon Ruggiero was the director of religious education at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish when he was its pastor.

“With Robert, there was the initial call, and he kind of backed off a little bit,” Father Doyle said. “But there was always something there for him to keep pursuing — his prayer life and constant involvement in ministry within the Church. “He just didn’t take a secular job.”

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Deacon Ruggiero said he will rely on his education and experience in management and technology to help lead a parish. However, he is most interested in the ministry of “healing” — helping people work through
the trauma of their lives, just as he did to clear his abyss.

He added that he will draw on the example of St. Joseph to be a spiritual father, and the Gospel of Christ to be a “spiritual physician.”

“After all this praying and discerning and all the people praying for me and journeying with me, this is now a reality,” Deacon Ruggiero said. “I’m going up to the altar of the Lord, and there’s no turning back.”