Called to Remember and Called to Serve

Called to Serve: Reflections from Our Seminarians

Each year, I invite our diocesan seminarians to share reflections on their formation and where they are in the discernment process. Their stories offer a meaningful glimpse into the prayer, study, and experiences that are helping them discern God’s call to the priesthood.

This week and next, the blog will feature reflections from three of our seminarians. This week:

• Nicholas Huegel, a parishioner of Corpus Christi Parish in East Sandwich, who is studying at St. John’s Seminary in Brighton, Massachusetts.
• Sean Kilty, also a parishioner of Corpus Christi Parish, who is studying at Our Lady of Providence Seminary in Providence.
• Noah Pollard, a parishioner of St. Francis Xavier Parish in Acushnet, who is studying at Our Lady of Providence Seminary.

I invite you to read their reflections and join me in praying for Nicholas, Sean, Noah, and all our seminarians as they continue to listen for God’s voice and discern where He is calling them to serve.

Sean Kilty

As the first week of my discipleship begins, I reflect on the central role community life plays in priestly formation. The Program for Priestly Formation states that priestly formation is a continuation of the Apostolic community and requires a community life that mirrors the life lived by the apostles. The longer I engage in formation and enjoy the fraternity, education, and prayer life with my brother seminarians, the more I realize how accurate this description is. Throughout the year, I look forward to cookouts, tennis tournaments, and brotherly competition in board games. But I also look forward to engaging in the challenging aspects of formation with a community of men who strive for holiness. Whether in prayer or play, we truly do resemble the Apostolic fraternity that Christ lovingly instituted 2000 years ago.

This year, I get to work more closely with Providence’s homeless population, bend my mind in philosophy classes that challenge my understanding of what it means to be human, and reach new depths of spirituality I could never reach without being here in seminary. It is a true privilege to be part of the communal work, prayer, and play that have been tailored to form men into good and holy priests. Knowing this, I look forward to engaging more intentionally in areas of my life that are weak and strengthening those that are strong. Most of all, I am grateful to continue this formation with my brother seminarians and the inspired formation team at Our Lady of Providence.

Nicholas Huegel

As we begin another year of studies at the seminary, one thing that struck me looking back was how much can happen in such a short time. One year ago, I would have just been entering Saint John’s Seminary as a new student, with little idea of what to expect, with a lot of questions, and with no small amount of anxiety about how things would turn out. What made it even more uncertain was that, for my first year, I would be entering a stage of formation that is still relatively new: the “Propaedeutic” stage. This additional year of seminary was added to the Program for Priestly Formation only a few years ago. It was designed to better equip seminarians living in today’s world to cultivate detachment, and to focus on spiritual and human growth, before diving into more intensive studies. I remember wondering: would this extra year of spiritual focus really

be helpful? Was it truly needed? Well, now that I’ve completed it, I can say that, in my experience, the Propaedeutic year has been a much-needed blessing. When you arrive at the seminary your first year, everything is so new it can seem overwhelming. You’ve got to make the acquaintance of many new men, adjust to a new way of life with all its attendant disciplines, and all while studying material that can at times be difficult. The benefit of adding this additional year is that it helps you adjust to living in a new community, to growing as a person, but most of all, to deepening your life of prayer and growing closer to God. In a busy and distracted world, this is a rare opportunity – to be given space to slow down and put down spiritual roots. But the Propaedeutic year is not just for the purpose of making the transition to becoming a seminarian a little easier. The program is built to challenge us, to stretch our capacities, to make us earnestly reflect on who we truly are. We’re also given the opportunity to engage in a variety of real-world ministries, and the experiences we receive there are valuable in helping us learn to love others as God does. At Saint John’s I truly believe we have a really great program with formators who are committed to making us the best priests we can be.

Because of my time adjusting to seminary life in my first year, I’ve come to see myself differently, to see prayer differently, and to see those whom we are to serve differently. These are meaningful internal changes I might not have thought were possible prior to last year. I’m thankful for the challenges now, because only after some time has passed do I see the difference it made in my personal and spiritual growth. I truly feel I can enter these next stages of formation with greater confidence, and a greater connection to the men I am blessed to study with. So upon entering this new year, I find that I’m filled with a greater sense of freedom to learn, a sincere gratitude to be here, and a deeper desire to continue the work of discerning this noble call from God.

Noah Pollard

As I begin my second year at Our Lady of Providence Seminary, I am grateful to God for the opportunity to continue discerning and preparing for the priesthood. Looking back on my first year, I am thankful for all that the Lord taught me through both the joys and challenges of seminary life. My first year gave me a better understanding of what priestly formation involves and helped me to grow not only academically, but also spiritually and personally.

As I begin this new academic year, I am looking forward to continuing to grow in my relationship with Christ and becoming more aware of what it means to give my life in service to Him and His Church. Seminary life requires a balance of prayer, study, community, and service, and each of these areas present their own opportunities to grow. While there is certainly a lot of work ahead, I am excited to see what this next year will bring and how God will continue to form me. I am especially grateful for the prayers and support of the people of the Diocese of Fall River. The encouragement I receive from family, friends, parishioners, priests, and others reminds me that a vocation to the priesthood is never lived out alone. I ask for your continued prayers that I may remain open to God’s will and faithful to His call. Please keep all of our seminarians in your prayers as we begin another year of formation and discernment.

“No day shall erase you from the memory of time”

Pope Francis pauses in front of a display at the National 9/11 Memorial and Museum in New York Sept. 25. The Virgil quotation on the wall reads, “No day shall erase you from the memory of time.” Pope Francis, formerly Argentine Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, died April 21, 2025, at age 88. (CNS photo/Paul Haring)

Once again, we will pause to remember the thousands of innocent lives lost 25 years ago on September 11, 2001. For many, the emotional wounds of that day remain: the families and friends who lost loved ones, the first responders who rushed toward unimaginable danger without hesitation, those who witnessed the horror firsthand, and all who continue to experience its lasting physical and emotional effects.

As you know, I was living in Newark, New Jersey, assigned to St. Michael Parish, about nine miles from the World Trade Center, and saw thick smoke rising from both buildings that morning. What I did not realize at that time was that one of my parishioners, a husband and father to two children, was among the many victims that day. As I shared in a blog years ago, it would not be until nearly a year later that his remains would be identified and a Funeral Mass could be held. Sadly, some remains have yet to be identified. In the lower level of the September 11 Museum in New York is a large wall inscribed with, No day shall erase you from the memory of time. Behind that wall are securely stored unidentified remains awaiting technology that can properly identify them. May we never forget those lost on September 11, 2001.

Please join me in praying for the souls of those lost 25 years ago this Friday and all impacted by the 2001 terrorist attacks.

The following prayer was prayed by both Pope Benedict XVI (on April 20, 2008) and by Pope Francis (on September 25, 2015) when each visited Ground Zero in New York City.

O God of love, compassion, and healing,

look on us, people of many different faiths and traditions,

who gather today at this site,

the scene of incredible violence and pain.

We ask you in your goodness

to give eternal light and peace

to all who died here—

the heroic first-responders:

our fire fighters, police officers,

emergency service workers, and Port Authority personnel,

along with all the innocent men and women

who were victims of this tragedy

simply because their work or service

brought them here on September 11, 2001.

We ask you, in your compassion

to bring healing to those

who, because of their presence here that day,

suffer from injuries and illness.

Heal, too, the pain of still-grieving families

and all who lost loved ones in this tragedy.

Give them strength to continue their lives with courage and hope.

We are mindful as well

of those who suffered death, injury, and loss

on the same day at the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Our hearts are one with theirs

as our prayer embraces their pain and suffering.

God of peace, bring your peace to our violent world:

peace in the hearts of all men and women

and peace among the nations of the earth.

Turn to your way of love

those whose hearts and minds

are consumed with hatred.

God of understanding,

overwhelmed by the magnitude of this tragedy,

we seek your light and guidance

as we confront such terrible events.

Grant that those whose lives were spared

may live so that the lives lost here

may not have been lost in vain.

Comfort and console us,

strengthen us in hope,

and give us the wisdom and courage

to work tirelessly for a world

where true peace and love reign

among nations and in the hearts of all.