When I was in the seventh grade at Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) School, Kensington, I told my parish priest, Msgr. Gerry Langelier: “I want to be like you.”
Like many of the boys at IHM, I admired him – he was a positive, prayerful and joyful priest who generously served the families of our neighborhood.
Great Impression
Being one of his altar boys (he was the moderator) I had the privilege of seeing him “up close.” His reverence and love for the Eucharist as well as his attentiveness to the people of the parish made a great impression on me, so much so that I heard in and through his priesthood the voice of Jesus say to me: “Joseph, Come and Follow Me.”
Taking my early interest in the priesthood seriously, he told me about Cathedral Prep Seminary, then located in Brooklyn. Eager to visit, he brought me to an Open House a few weeks later, and I enrolled the following year.
While I would do it all over again, entering a formation program at a young age was no easier path to the altar. I still had to grow and develop.
Facing the challenges and difficulties of adolescence is never easy – handling them as a seminarian brought me added pressure. Cathedral Prep taught me the importance and power of prayer. I also learned during my time of youthful formation how to openly and honestly share my feelings and experiences in life with a spiritual director. My happiness and success in the seminary and in the priesthood has been because of prayer and spiritual direction.
A ‘Village’ of Support
I owe a great deal of debt to those who encouraged my vocation at a young age: my parents (especially the faith witness of my mother) and siblings, my friends who never made me feel awkward about wanting to be a priest and my parish, which spiritually adopted me from day one.
It has been said, “It takes a village.” I am a firm believer that for men to be formed as healthy, happy and holy priests, “It takes a parish.”
Living the priesthood has been like having “box seats” in the stadium of life.
Father Fonti is the rector of Cathedral Prep and Seminary High School and the director of the diocese’s Priestly Ministry Program.
