Panelists Tell Students of Surprising Twists and Turns Along the Way
Story by Shelley Wolf
BRISTOL – Five men and women who pursued vocations in the Catholic Church say they had different plans for their lives, but God surprised them with a call that eventually proved to be the right fit for them.
“My plan was to be a pharmacist and maybe run my own business, but the Lord wanted me to be a priest. And now I see it was meant to be,” says Auxiliary Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt, who now assists Archbishop Leonard P. Blair in the Archdiocese of Hartford. “The more we trust in the Lord, the more we will know what he wants from us.”
Bishop Betancourt was one of five panelists – including a bishop, a priest, two deacons and a sister – who shared their inspiring personal stories of how God summoned them to their current vocation, during a panel discussion on March 25 for Vocation Awareness Day at St. Gregory the Great Parish in Bristol.
Seniors and juniors from nearby St. Paul Catholic High School were invited to hear the presentation in two back-to-back sessions to ensure social distancing. Discerning a call to the priesthood or religious life can take years, the panelists revealed, and they wanted to share their stories to provide encouragement and advice. They also fielded questions from the students.
Auxiliary Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt tells students about the many surprises along his vocation journey from priest to professor to bishop during a Vocation Awareness Day presentation at St. Gregory the Great Parish in Bristol. (Photo by Aaron Joseph/Archdiocese of Hartford)
Auxiliary Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt, SEMV:
Trusting in the Lord
Auxiliary Bishop Juan Miguel Betancourt says he was “a smart kid always asking questions” as a youth in Puerto Rico but that he lacked self-discipline when it came to studying. So his parents sent him to a Catholic high school, where he gained academic self-discipline. There, he was also reintroduced to his Catholic faith, becoming active in his parish by helping with Masses and joining a youth group.
Not wanting to become a teacher like his sisters, he chose to study the natural sciences, setting his sights on becoming a pharmacist. But, he says, “College work was taking a lot of time away from church and youth group. I began to wonder, ‘Where is the Lord calling me? What does he want me to do?’”
After college, he decided to try the seminary. “There was something in my heart calling me, even though I had so much, was calling me to something more, to a relationship with Jesus that was reflected in the things that I was doing,” Bishop Betancourt says. He also realized he was “built to live in community,” so he joined a religious order known as the Society of the Servants of the Eucharist and Mary (SEMV).
Following his ordination to the priesthood, he was sent to Rome to study sacred Scripture, then eventually to St. Paul, Minn., to be pastor of a parish and to teach at a seminary, which struck him as odd, he says, because he thought he was “running from” teaching. “From the second I stepped in a classroom with students, I loved it,” he says.
“I discovered that many times it’s not what I think is good for me. What is good for me is what the Lord wants,” he says. “There I will find peace and happiness and I’m going to do things well.”
Twelve years later, he was appointed by Pope Francis to serve as an auxiliary bishop for the Archdiocese of Hartford, which was another big surprise to him, and necessitated a move from the Midwest to New England. “I was not expecting it,” he says.
Today, Bishop Betancourt visits parishes throughout the archdiocese and assists Archbishop Blair, celebrating special Masses and performing the sacraments, such as confirmations. “It’s like the Lord is helping me to help the archbishop to take care of all of you in the entire archdiocese,” he told the students. The bishop also serves as director of seminarians for the archdiocese.
Bishop Betancourt asked students to pray for his vocation and to consider their own vocations during their prayer time with God.
Father Anthony Federico:
From the Sidelines to Saying ‘Yes’
Father Anthony Federico, parochial vicar at St. Bridget of Sweden Parish in Cheshire, used to be a sports writer for ESPN. But when people thought he had it all, he felt he didn’t. “I wasn’t happy,” he says, even after several promotions.
A firing over a headline he wrote that inadvertently offended readers created the opportunity for Father Federico to pray and rethink his direction in life, eventually leading him to the priesthood. “I’ve never been happier in my whole life,” he says. “I discovered what it is to say ‘yes’ to God.
“Your vocation in life, whatever you are called to do, whether you’re called to be a husband, a father, a wife, a mother, a priest, a deacon, a religious sister, whatever you are called to do in life, the Lord has chosen you for something great,” Father Federico says. “Your vocation, whatever that might be, isn’t a puzzle that you have to figure out, it’s an adventure that you have to say ‘yes’ to.”
Sister Mariette Moan, vicar for religious for the archdiocese and a member of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, tells students about her vocation journey and her passion for her ministry as the archbishop’s liaison to religious brothers and sisters. (Photo by Aaron Joseph/Archdiocese of Hartford)
Sister Mariette Moan, ASCJ:
A Unique Mission for Each One of Us
Sister Mariette Moan, vicar for religious for the archdiocese and a member of the Apostles of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (ASCJ), is the archbishop’s representative to 32 religious institutes for women and 17 religious institutes for men. She also oversees two consecrated virgins and one religious hermit.
“My vocation began with my understanding from my parents that God loves me, and God loves each one of us so much that he has entrusted a mission to each one of us that he hasn’t entrusted to anyone else,” Sister Mariette says. “But that mission and that call from God has everything to do with our happiness.”
Sister Mariette considered the religious life as a young girl, she says, but couldn’t imagine measuring up to the religious sisters she knew. She also had a strong interest in becoming a lawyer. But while praying in front of a statue of Jesus during a retreat late one night, she heard Jesus say, “Come follow me.”
Like Mary, she says, who loved and trusted God, she gave her ‘yes.’ “That’s how it was for me,” Sister Mariette says. “At 17, I made my vows of poverty, chastity and obedience.”
Now serving as the vicar for religious in the archdiocese, she says, “I love my ministry. The most satisfying thing is when brothers and sisters say ‘You are our advocate.’ I see how I can help them and bring their concerns to the archbishop.” Through distance learning, she is also currently studying to be a canon lawyer within the Roman Catholic Church.
“Remember God loves you so much. You have a call,” Sister Mariette says. “Sometimes the questions become the answers.”
Transitional Deacon Joseph MacNeill, who is preparing to be ordained to the priesthood in June, addresses seniors and juniors from St. Paul Catholic High School in Bristol. (Photo by Aaron Joseph/Archdiocese of Hartford)
Deacon Joseph MacNeill:
Serving God in This World
Deacon Joseph MacNeill is one of two transitional deacons slated to be ordained a priest in June. At his confirmation, he began wondering whether he should pursue a call to the priesthood.
He decided, however, to go to College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass., to study Classical languages. In college, he finally realized that reading and thinking about it wasn’t enough. He had to enroll in seminary to see “if this is where I would find my fulfillment.”
Having completed his seminary studies in Rome, he has since been assisting as a deacon at St. Teresa of Calcutta Parish in Manchester for the past few months. “Every day I feel this sense of peace and belonging,” he says, as he moves closer to ordination.
“Every one of us is called to something in life,” Deacon MacNeill says. “We’re all called in a specific way to know, love and serve God in this world. So I encourage you to take that time in your lives to look into that, to see where God is leading you.”
Deacon John Thorpe:
Discerning More Than One Call
Deacon John Thorpe currently serves as a deacon at St. Aloysius and Immaculate Conception parishes in Plantsville. He was baptized Catholic but raised Episcopal, and loved going to church as a child. “I don’t know why, I just felt great helping the pastor,” he says.
When his parents divorced, he prayed the Our Father. As an adult, he got a job at The Hartford. It wasn’t until a friend invited him on a Catholic retreat that his faith blossomed. “I was overwhelmed with the cross, the Eucharist and the Blessed Mother,” he says. “The woman that brought me became my wife.”
After attending a Steubenville retreat, he says he could see how much young people needed God. He served as a lector and worked with parish youth. “My priest said, ‘You ought to be a deacon,’ and it all made sense,” Deacon Thorpe now says. He spent the next five years studying and became a deacon.
After 33 years of what he calls “beautiful” married life, his wife Kathy died in October 2020 from COVID-19. “I’m still mourning and grieving her, of course,” he says. When a deacon’s spouse passes away, he is not allowed to marry again. Deacon Thorpe says he is now wondering if he is being called to become a priest or if there “is something else I’m called to do in a different way.” He says he is discerning his next steps, “not sure where it’s going to go.”
Yet his advice to young people is clear. “I would ask that you pray for me,” Deacon Thorpe says, “and pay attention to yourselves – to those little stirs in your heart.”
Sponsored by the Office of Vocations, the panel discussion was organized by Father Glen Dmytryszyn, associate vocation director for the Archdiocese of Hartford, chaplain for St. Paul Catholic High School and parochial vicar for St. Gregory the Great Parish.