geonyayyad, Author at Brooklyn Priests

20 Jul The priesthood is more than a profession; it is truly a vocation, as is medicine

Posted at 20:17h in Family by geonyayyad

Testimony: Dr. Christine Walsh “My daughter Christine, the doctor, my son Martin, the priest, and my son Robert, the teacher.” That was how our mother always introduced her children, in birth order and by profession. She was proud of all of us, but I do believe...

20 Jul Help him to hear and listen to God’s call

Posted at 20:12h in Family by geonyayyad

Testimony: Linda Abels My husband Larry and I will be married 36 years in May. We both came from strong, Catholic families. My husband is music director at our parish of Our Lady of Hope; and we are both involved in numerous parish ministries. We have two...

20 Jul I don’t think that we were surprised but yet I was shocked

Posted at 20:08h in Family by geonyayyad

Testimony: Cathy Purpura This is my story as a mother who has watched her son grow to be a priest of our Church. It has been an experience in some ways like no other and in other ways very much like our other children choosing a...

18 Jul I Was Able To Listen To The Lord

Posted at 17:21h in Priests by geonyayyad

Even as a teenager and then a college student at City University - and as much as I like the noise of a big family, lots of good friends, playing piano in a rock band...

18 Jul I Needed To Put My Fears Aside

Posted at 17:20h in Priests by geonyayyad

The New York Mets have been building a new home, a new field of dreams in Flushing, Queens, which will open in April of 2009. There are many ways to get to the new stadium, Citifield, all depending upon one’s starting point. There is no...

18 Jul I Want To Be A Priest

Posted at 17:18h in Priests by geonyayyad

It is 1957 and my first week of school at St. Teresa School in Woodside. I had turned six in June and so was probably the oldest in the first grade. Sometime during the week Sister Margaret Agnes had asked us what we wanted to...

18 Jul Joseph, Come and Follow Me

Posted at 17:17h in Priests by geonyayyad

When I was in the seventh grade I told my parish priest (Msgr. Gerry Langelier), “I want to be like you.” Like many of the boys at IHM I admired him - he was a positive, prayerful and joyful priest who generously served the families...

18 Jul Divinely Initiated and Totally Unmerited

Posted at 17:15h in Priests by geonyayyad

A vocation is, like all graces, divinely initiated and totally unmerited. But as incarnate beings, vocations come to women and men in particular circumstances. The call to priesthood for me was mediated through family and parish. At the same time, the wider Catholic culture also...

18 Jul I Would Do It All Over Again

Posted at 17:13h in Priests by geonyayyad

When people ask me why I became a Priest, the first thing that comes to mind is when I was an altar server back in St. Patrick's parish in LIC and how I enjoyed serving Mass. As time went on I became very active in...

18 Jul Are You Willing to Say “Yes”?

Posted at 17:11h in Priests by geonyayyad

When one lives in the seminary, one often hears “Vocation Stories” from the seminarians. They describe the way in which they “heard” and answered God’s call to the priesthood. Some stories include literally “leaving everything behind”, dramatic conversions, struggles and difficulties in saying “Yes” to...