‘Not my will, but Thine be done’

Bishop Raica to ordain three men to the priesthood

The last time the Diocese of Birmingham ordained more than two men to the diocesan priesthood in the same year was close to two decades ago. On May 30, however, the diocese will rejoice as Bishop Raica confers the sacrament of Holy Orders by laying his hands on three men: Deacons Andrew Vickery, John Gardiner, and John Paul Stepnowski.
The three have journeyed together during their time in formation, and some aspects of their journeys have been similar, such as Deacons Stepnowski and Vickery coming to Alabama from out of state for college, or Deacons Gardiner and Vickery being drawn to the priesthood through the lens of spiritual fatherhood. But each has his own story of answering the Lord’s call.

Deacon Andrew Vickery

Deacon Andrew Vickery’s journey to the priesthood can, in a way, be attributed to Catholic education. As a youngster, he says he and his family were “lukewarm Methodists.” When seventh grade rolled around, though, Deacon Vickery’s mother enrolled him in a local K-12 Catholic school, Holy Spirit Preparatory School in his native Atlanta, Georgia. “By the time I got to the ninth grade, I was receiving good instruction in the religion classes,” remembers the deacon.

The positive exposure to the Catholic faith was not exclusive to the deacon. His mother taught younger students at the same school, and his younger brother was also enrolled at the school. During the future deacon’s 10th-grade year, he and his mother realized they both wanted the same thing: to become Catholic. Deacon Vickery, his mother, and his little brother all came into the Church that same year. From an intellectual standpoint, “I knew it was true,” asserts the deacon, but something was missing.

He confesses he felt as if his heart lacked the fullness of the faith. Longing for more, he began meeting with the school’s chaplains, religious priests of the Legionaries of Christ, and attending daily Mass. As his faith deepened, near the end of his 11th-grade year, the thought of priesthood creeped into his mind. By the time his senior year began, he attempted to push the thoughts aside, dating and planning for college.

Once he arrived at the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa with the goal of becoming a civil engineer, he found a spiritual home at St. Francis of Assisi University Parish. As with many college students, he also found fraternity life and began to struggle with what the secular world deemed “attractive.” Luckily, his parish supported a vibrant campus ministry program called Bama Catholic. Serving alongside the parish’s campus ministers were missionaries from FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students). The partnership allowed the group to travel to San Antonio, Texas,in 2017 for a FOCUS-sponsored SEEK Conference.

The trip provided the college student with a “profound grace.” What was appealing in the world before the conference could no longer overshadow the Lord. “Growing in prayer life and having people investing in me,” remarks the deacon, “was a really beautiful time.” A time, he attests, which propelled him on a different path.

As he journeyed down the path, he found himself at Mass one day. On this particular day, the Lord’s work had called Father Rick Chenault, then parochial vicar of St. Francis of Assisi, to the bedside of a dying parishioner, leaving the faithful in the pews waiting for Mass to begin: 5, 10, then over 15 minutes. When the announcement was made the priest was on his way back from the hospital, the college student was jolted. “It really touched my heart thinking of the priest being able to be with people as they’re dying, to walk with people in that difficult time, to bring them the sacraments, and to be able to prepare them to be with the Lord,” recalls the deacon. After Mass, he sat in the pew praying. He says he thought, “Maybe the Lord is calling me again to the priesthood.”

The thoughts of priesthood were insuppressible. When Bishop Emeritus Robert Baker arranged to have the incorrupt heart of St. John Vianney, the diocese’s co-patron, travel to the diocese in December of 2018, Deacon Vickery hopped in a friend’s car and studied for finals all the way to the Cathedral of St. Paul in Birmingham. He distinctly remembers the bishop praying for an increase in priestly vocations during his homily. The Lord seemed to keep calling the deacon, and he was listening.

Deacon John Gardiner

Deacon John Gardiner is the youngest of five children. The deacon’s first eight years of life equated to residences in three countries and a total of seven different houses. The Catholic faith, however, was ever-present and coursing through the day-to-day life of the family as they traveled from location to location. In 2008, the deacon’s father was stationed in Alabama. Three years later, when his father decided to retire from the Army, the family decided to “land” in Alabama. As with every step the family took, the prioritization of the faith did not faulter. “As a kid,” he remembers, “we would be annoyed by it, especially on vacation when we made sure to go to Mass on Sundays.” Childhood annoyances aside, a foundation was being laid.

From a “little nudge” from his father during Mass when a priest would mention vocations to the example of his pastor, Father Mike Mac Mahon, who would ask every altar boy about seminary, the idea of priesthood was never far from thought. Of course, he admits he didn’t consciously think of the priesthood as his vocation, but those close to him had already planted a seed. “It’s something that I knew in my mind was an option,” he explains.

Even with the vocation of priesthood as a possibility, the deacon maintains that up until his sophomore year of high school, he was rather “apathetic” about his faith. “If someone asked me, I would say that I was Catholic and that I believe,” he acknowledges. “I went to Mass and to youth group, but I was just going through the motions.” Living his faith on “autopilot” inadvertently led to an “ignition point.”

During summer months, his parish’s youth group would conduct a work camp, and several diocesan seminarians would take part. One morning during camp, an awkward moment of silence with a seminarian led the young Gardiner to try and start a conversation. He blurted out, “I’ve thought about priesthood!” He admits, “I hadn’t seriously thought about it, but it was sort of a conversation starter.” The conversation prompted the seminarian to offer a book: To Save a Thousand Souls by Father Brett Brannen.

One night and over 400 pages later, the 10th grader was unable to get the priesthood out of his mind. He started going to Reconciliation regularly, attending daily Mass, and making regular stops at his parish’s perpetual adoration chapel. Then, one Saturday evening as he exchanged the Sign of Peace during Mass, a young mother extended her hand not to shake but to present him with a note. He unfolded the piece of paper and read, “I think you’re called to be a priest.”

As he embarked on his freshman year of college at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio, he joined a student priestly discernment group. After only two months of college, unable to deny the notion of priesthood, he picked up the phone and called Father Rick Chenault, then diocesan vocations director.

Deacon John Paul Stepnowski

Growing up in Greensboro, North Carolina, Deacon John Paul Stepnowski was raised in a practicing Catholic family. Grace before meals, attendance in Catholic schools, and praying the Rosary before long road trips were irrefutable, but he remembers the faith never being presented “too strongly.” Even still, the idea of priesthood first entered the young deacon’s mind in second grade during his parish school’s annual career day.

One after the other, the fathers of fellow classmates described their professions: doctors, firefighters, lawyers. After all the dads had given their presentation, the parish priest walked in the classroom. For Deacon Stepnowski, the moment marks the first time he viewed the priesthood as a legitimate vocation. The seed had been planted.

The seed lay dormant until it was time for the sacrament of Confirmation. When deciding on a Confirmation saint, the deacon recalled the career day from his second-grade year and a story he had heard about St. Padre Pio. When the saint was only six years old, he was asked what he wanted to do when he grew up. The future saint’s reply was simple and direct: “I want to be a monk with a beard.” Jokingly, the deacon remarks he doesn’t have much luck with growing beards, but St. Pio’s desire for the priesthood at such a young age struck a chord.

As the deacon progressed through high school, he focused on academics, excelling in mathematics and chemistry. He took his aptitudes to the next level in college and majored in chemical engineering. He does divulge, though, that he asked, “What do I want to do to make me happy?” He concedes he didn’t even consider what God wanted because he was focused on pursuing his own dreams and ambitions.

God was at work, though. Shortly after arriving at the University of Alabama in Huntsville as a freshman, he went to sleep one night with the startling realization that he didn’t know a single person in the entire state of Alabama. “What on earth have I gotten myself into?” he remembers thinking. In a moment of grace, though, he thought, “Oh, I know You, Lord.” The night would mark a so-called “kickstarting” of his spiritual life. His prayer life deepened and he began attending Huntsville’s St. Joseph Catholic Parish.

The parish’s campus ministry had been inactive for some years, but a family in the parish reached out to the college student mid-way through his freshman year. The group had restarted and was searching for people who might be interested in getting involved. Deacon Stepnowski began attending weekly meetings and even providing rides to Mass for students without transportation.

In 2018, Deacon Stepnowski, like Deacon Vickery, was compelled to travel to the Cathedral of St. Paul to venerate the heart of St. John Vianney, but the experience that changed priesthood from a thought “percolating in the back” of his head to one of action was his service as a Totus Tuus missionary. He was able to teach the faith, interact with youth, and meet priests throughout the diocese.

Through it all, his parents remained steady, much like their passing on of the faith. “I wasn’t being pushed into something,” explains the deacon. “I was able to discern with freedom.” And it is that same freedom that provided clarity when deciding not only to call Alabama home but to finally ask, “What do You want of me, Lord?”

As evidenced by the three deacons, no one’s path to seeking the will of the Lord will ever be identical, nor will the discernment of one’s part to play in His will. What is certain, though, is that the “harvest is plentiful” and the Lord has provided three new laborers to spread His Good News in the Diocese of Birmingham in Alabama. Thanks be to God!