Transitional deacons discuss their calling and excitement for May 28 priestly ordination

When “Practicing Catholic” radio show host Patrick Conley asked transitional Deacon Joseph Nguyen who would be most surprised that he is about to be ordained a priest, Deacon Nguyen replied candidly, “Everyone that I’ve ever met, probably.”

Deacon Nguyen said when he entered the seminary as a young, idealistic 18-year-old, he was impressed with his classmates’ prayer habits, recalling one who prayed three rosaries a day. Yet Deacon Nguyen was not yet familiar with Liturgy of the Hours or a Holy Hour. At that moment, he said, he probably would have voted himself as “number one to not be a priest.”

“I never thought I’d get this far, but here I am,” he said.

Through seminary education and formation, and hands-on experiences with parishioners and priests at three parishes, Deacon Nguyen said he built the confidence that God was calling him to the priesthood, and experienced a love for working with people at parishes and in ministry, confirming that he will be happy and fulfilled living a priestly life.

“I’m not living for myself anymore,” Deacon Nguyen said. “I’m living for other people. And there is a reason for me to be there, and I need to live by that reason.”

Deacon Nguyen and four other transitional deacons will be ordained priests for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis May 28. Deacons Nguyen, Connor McGinnis and John Utecht recently joined Conley to give the faithful a chance to get to know them. The other two men being ordained are Deacons Samuel Gilbertson and Michael Selenski.

When asked who had a significant impact on his vocation, Deacon Utecht cited Msgr. John Richter, a priest of the Diocese of New Ulm. Deacon Utecht said he spent some time at the Cathedral of the Holy Trinity in New Ulm, where the monsignor served as rector, including the year Msgr. Richter celebrated his 50^th year of priesthood. Deacon Utecht recalled the day the monsignor did some quick math on the number of Masses he had celebrated and the number of confessions he had heard.

“It was in the tens of thousands for both of those,” Deacon Utecht said, “and probably even the hundreds of thousands for confessions. And just hearing that, I remember the first time just being in awe of the impact that one priest can have on so many people.”

Conley asked Deacon McGinnis who in his life might be happiest about his ordination, besides immediate family. The deacon said he has received many comments from gracious friends he’s had since elementary and middle school. “Just the fact that I’ll be able to continue being part of their life as a priest and just … trying to bring Christ to them in just those more daily, routine ways, and then even on the bigger events of their lives, as well,” including marriages, Deacon McGinnis said. “That’s where a lot of gracious comments have come from,” he said, “talking about their excitement for my being a priest in my future ministry.”

To learn more about the seminarians, listen to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which debuts at 9 p.m. May 20 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. May 21 and 2 p.m. May 22. Deacon Nguyen was interviewed separately from Deacons McGinnis and Utecht, but both interviews are available.

To see photos of all five ordinands and details about their upcoming ordination, visit 10000vocations.org/ordinations.

Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes an interview with Father Joseph Taphorn, rector of the St. Paul Seminary in St Paul, who discusses formation for seminarians.