Bishop Kevin J. Sweeney and three seminarians of the Paterson Diocese in New Jersey encouraged nine young men to discern their vocations, including to the Catholic priesthood, during a Project Andrew event at Our Lady Star of the Sea Parish in the Lake Hopatcong neighborhood in Jefferson, N.J.
In Our Lady Star of the Sea Church, Bishop Sweeney led the congregation in praying the Liturgy of the Hours. The men, high-school age and older, and some of their parents listened to the bishop preach about how St. Andrew was the first Apostle to invite others to follow Jesus, including his brother, St. Peter, to meet the Messiah. The bishop then asked the men to identify their “Andrews”: people in their lives who have been leading them to Jesus or a vocation.
Afterward, those assembled had dinner with Bishop Sweeney. There, Eric D. Hasenbein, John Peter Zappe, and Jean-Baptiste Mollet spoke about their vocation journeys and their time as seminarians. Hasenbein is a second-year pre-theology student at Immaculate Conception Seminary in South Orange, N.J., and Zappe is a second-year theology student at Immaculate Conception. Mollet is in his first year of studies, called a Propaedeutic Year, at St. Joseph Seminary in Yonkers, N.Y.
Click here to subscribe to our weekly newsletter.
The diocesan Vocations Office sponsored the Project Andrew gathering, held monthly at various parishes. Priests, including Father Sean McDonnell, pastor of Our Lady Star of the Sea, attended the event.
“The Project Andrew helps young men learn more about vocations and the priesthood. They also get to hear from priests and seminarians about what led them to follow Jesus’ call to pursue a priestly vocation,” said Father Charles Lana Jr., diocesan vocations director.
The next Project Andrew event will be held on Friday, Feb. 6, at 6:30 p.m. at St. Mary Parish in Denville, N.J. To register, call the Vocations Office at 973-77-8818, ext. 711.
