Five men to be ordained as transitional deacons reflect on their calling to the priesthood

Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski will ordain five men — John Paul Angeli, Alex Cammarata, Mark Koenemann, Curtis Prize and Benjamin Wolf — as transitional deacons at 10 a.m. Saturday, May 9, at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Louis.

The men now enter their final year of formation before ordination to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of St. Louis. They also enter into the clerical state, and with that comes three promises that are made for the first time: obedience to the bishop, celibacy for the sake of God’s kingdom and an obligation to pray daily the Liturgy of the Hours.

Upon ordination, the transitional deacons will be assigned to assist at parishes in the archdiocese. As deacons, they will be given faculties to preach, so writing homilies during the week will become a new part of the routine. Transitional deacons also become more involved in sacramental-related activities, including marriage prep, Christian initiation formation, burials and baptisms.

John Paul Angeli

Age at ordination: 26

First Mass preaching as a transitional deacon: 9 a.m. Sunday, May 10, at Assumption in Mattese

Family: parents, Bart and Marilyn; siblings, Matthew, Mary, Ruth, Isaiah, Theresa, Mary Grace, Regina and Connie

Home parish: Assumption in Mattese

Education: Homeschool, Cardinal Glennon College, Kenrick School of Theology

The call: John Paul grew up in a large Catholic household, one of nine siblings. During confirmation preparation, he learned how Christ had a plan for his life and that his life could be for the Lord. Around that time, a friend was suffering with anxiety. Through that, he realized humans are searching for “real meaning and we can’t just find that based on things we have here on earth alone,” he said. He understood that the Gospel is the real answer to that emptiness and felt drawn to be part of that mission of salvation, even before he clearly identified it as priesthood.

In high school, John Paul attended a Come and See weekend at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary. On his second time attending the retreat, he participated in an imaginative prayer exercise while he imagined himself in various states of life: as a monk, a husband and father and a priest. The last one came the easiest to him.

“I could see myself doing baptisms, hearing confessions, saying Mass,” he said. “I could see those very clearly. And I thought, that’s it, that’s the way I want to live my life.”

In recognizing the gifts of God’s love and mercy, John Paul said of his future priesthood, “I realized God wants to save us … all of us. Name your politician, name your famous star, name the people who’ve hurt you most, name whomever — God wants them to be saved. And so I knew that I wanted to be part of that mission.”

Alex Cammarata

Age at ordination: 26

First Mass preaching as a transitional deacon: 10:15 a.m. Sunday, May 10, at Immaculate Conception in Dardenne Prairie

Family: parents, Brian and Tonya; sibling, Max

Home parish: Immaculate Conception in Dardenne Prairie

Education: St. Dominic High School, Cardinal Glennon College, Kenrick School of Theology

The call: The seeds of Alex’s vocation were planted in eighth grade, when confirmation preparation helped him realize that his faith was something he wanted to claim as his own.

At St. Dominic High School and in his home parish of Immaculate Conception in Dardenne Prairie, he found a vibrant community of friends, teachers and priests who lived their faith openly.

Alex said he often speaks of his vocation as a steady “growth in holiness. First, it was coming to know that Jesus Christ was born into this world, died for our sins and rose from the dead,” he said, and “I’m called to give my life to Him.”

Come and See weekends and Kenrick-Glennon Days introduced him to a sense of normalcy at the seminary — men who played sports, spent time with friends and loved music. An invitation from Father Ryan Weber to serve daily Mass before school drew him into daily Mass, adoration and more frequent confession.

“Just continuing throughout high school and continuing to go on retreats with youth group and retreats at the seminary, I know it was just very clear to me that this is where the Lord is calling me at this point,” he said. “Jesus, you place this desire on my heart, and I was like, why not?”

Mark Koenemann

Age at ordination: 26

First Mass preaching as a transitional deacon: 11:30 a.m. Sunday, May 10, at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in St. Charles

Family: parents, John and Gina; siblings, Andrea, Eric, Jason and Sarah

Home parish: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in St. Charles

Education: CBC High School, Cardinal Glennon College, Kenrick School of Theology

The call: Mark’s desire to become a priest started in childhood, around the time of his first Communion. “I was on the way back home from first Communion, and supposedly I turned to my mom and was like, ‘Mom, I want to be a priest when I grow up,’” he said. He also drew inspiration from his pastor at the time, Msgr. Robert Jovanovic, in how he celebrated the Mass.

As he grew, Mark helped serve at Mass and noticed the witness of young priests at his parish whose joy and holiness made the priesthood look attainable. A key moment in his discernment came when Father David Skillman invited him to Kenrick-Glennon Days.

“I had a lot of really phenomenal young priests come through when I was in middle school, and seeing the way in which they lived lives of holiness and joy, it was very much like, I want that,” he said. Kenrick-Glennon Days “was a huge experience for me to see these men are real people and normal and fun — but then also prayerful.”

During a Come and See weekend in high school, Mark was invited to participate in a prayer exercise in which he imagined his wedding day and his ordination day. “I remember imagining what my wedding would be like, and it was like, this is really good and really great,” he said. He then imagined himself at ordination, lying prostrate on the floor of the cathedral basilica. “There was a deep sense of peace and joy that I knew didn’t come from me — like I couldn’t make up this peace and joy. And it was very clear that’s where the Lord wanted me, and also to see I wanted to give myself totally to the Church.”

Curtis Prize

Age at ordination: 25

First Mass preaching as a transitional deacon: 9 a.m. Sunday, May 10, at St. Theodore in Flint Hill

Family: parents, Marty and Joanne; siblings, Daniel, Meagan, Lauren, Ellen, Erin, Brother Michael Marie, OP, Thomas, Emily, David and Christopher

Home parish: St. Theodore in Flint Hill

Education: Homeschool, Cardinal Glennon College, Kenrick School of Theology

The call: Curtis was 9 years old when his older brother, Dan, entered the seminary. His brother discerned that the seminary wasn’t his calling, but it still left Curtis inspired.

“I thought, that’s what I want to do,” he said. “And honestly, like every day since then, I’ve been wanting to be a priest.”

Curtis attended daily Mass with his family. They prayed the Rosary together and sometimes the kids would play Mass at home, complete with vestments their grandmother made. He also helped serve at Mass and grew up around young priests, including Fathers Tony Ritter, Ryan Truss and Jacob Wessel, all of whom inspired him to think more about the priesthood.

Curtis said that the priesthood also has a unique ability to bring Christ into the most critical moments of people’s lives. He was especially moved by the idea that priests can be present where no one else can fully stand in their place. “Just that desire to serve and really bring Jesus to situations where only priests could,” he said. “There was something about that — that priests can come in and help people when they’re dying.”

The final nudge to enter the seminary came from his pastor at St. Theodore, Father Anthony Gerber. When Curtis told his family he was applying, none of them were surprised: “It was like, ‘How did you know about this?’” he recalled telling them. “‘I just knew about it. But yeah, I didn’t tell you!’”

As he looks ahead to the transitional diaconate, Curtis is most excited about belonging entirely to God. “Preaching, for sure, is growing on me,” he said, adding that “I also think there’s (something) a little more abstract, in just being consecrated. It’s really belonging to the Lord, and He can do with me as He wishes.”

Benjamin Wolf

Age at ordination: 29

First Mass preaching as a transitional deacon: 8:30 a.m. Sunday, May 10, at Holy Infant in Ballwin

Family: parents, Luke and Carrie; siblings, Jessica, Melissa, Veronica, Mark and Laura

Home parish: Holy Infant in Ballwin

Education: Marquette High School, Truman State University, entered as a pre-theology student at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary, Kenrick School of Theology

The call: Ben first encountered the Lord in a personal way through his parish youth group, where his friends played a pivotal role in drawing him closer to the faith. His personal encounter with Christ also opened the door to processing the grief of losing his sister Jessica when he was very young. He remembers the confusion and difficult emotions that followed her death.

“Going to prayer, that was the first time where I felt like I was not alone in this situation, alone in these feelings, alone in the sadness,” he said. “And I was like, I want to keep having that.”

As his prayer life deepened, others began to notice something more. During his junior and senior years of high school, his associate pastor, Father Tom Vordtriede, raised the question of priesthood. “He said, ‘Ben your prayer life is getting very deep. Have you ever thought about being a priest?’ I said, ‘No, I like girls too much.’”

But the thought of priesthood didn’t go away. Ben went on to Truman State University, where he earned an accounting degree and built a strong Catholic community centered around the Newman Center. Those college years were pivotal in taking charge of his faith and making it his own.

By the end of college, he realized that even though everything in his life looked good on paper — a definite career path, a serious girlfriend and plenty of friends who shared the same faith values — something was still missing. “I thought, I can live a beautiful Catholic life,” he said. “But it’s like, there’s something that wasn’t quite there yet, you know? … I thought, there’s nothing else that I can orchestrate to get away from this.”

As he looks back, Ben recognizes that his restlessness was really an invitation to the priesthood. “I’ve had a good life, but this is how the Lord wanted me to take this next step. And I’m obviously really glad He did,” he said.