On Saturday, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Allentown will have four new priests after their ordinations, with Pottsville native Kevin M. Lonergan being one of them.
Diocese of Allentown Bishop John O. Barres will ordain the four men as priests in ceremonies at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at the Cathedral of Saint Catharine of Siena in Allentown. According to diocesan Director of Communication Matt Kerr, this is the largest ordination class in 10 years.
Lonergan, deacon, will be ordained with the Rev. James M. Harper III, 27, of Fleetwood; the Rev. Daniel E. Kravatz, Jr., 29, of Reading; and the Rev. Mark R. Searles, 28, of Easton. He will celebrate his first Mass at 4 p.m. Sunday in St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church in Pottsville. The Mass is open to the public.
Lonergan, 26, is the youngest of three children born to Lawrence J. and Sharon Kitsock Lonergan. He graduated from Nativity BVM High School and earned bachelor's and master's degrees from St. Charles Borromeo Seminary near Philadelphia. He is a member of St. Patrick Parish in Pottsville. During his diaconate year, he was assigned to the Cathedral of St. Catharine of Siena in Allentown.
As ordination day approaches, Lonergan has been assisting Monsignor Edward J. O'Connor at St. Patrick, especially at daily Masses, and is a lifelong member of the parish. O'Connor is beginning his 13th year as pastor at St. Patrick, where he also served as assistant pastor from 1992 to 1996.
Lonergan spoke about his call to the priesthood in the rectory kitchen Tuesday after Mass.
"I was an altar boy here from the time I could serve at Mass until I graduated from Nativity high school in 2006," Lonergan said. "I started thinking about the seminary in eighth grade. I had not thought about it prior to that, and that was when I decided to transfer from the Pottsville school district to Nativity to learn more about the church and the faith."
Lonergan wondered at the time whether he had a call to become a priest, which is the case for many who begin thinking about such a path.
"Throughout high school, my thoughts about the priesthood came and went. I had doubts I was called, and I wasn't entirely positive that that's where I was meant to be," he said. "It was Monsignor O'Connor, who was the pastor here when I entered high school, and the principal of Nativity at the time, Father Ron Jankaitis, who were really instrumental priests in my vocation. Coupled with the tremendous support of my family, that really solidified my decision to enter the seminary and see in a really concentrated setting whether or not God was calling me to the priesthood. I entered the seminary in 2006, and I remember thinking that I would give it one year to see how it goes, and eight years went by."
Lonergan said his parents and siblings were very supportive of his decision, though a bit surprised.
"I don't think they saw it coming, to be honest. They are and always have been supportive, but I don't think that was what they thought I would do," he said with a laugh. "Before eighth grade, I always wanted to be a mechanic. I loved working on cars and getting dirty. They were very accepting when I told them. I think the word 'intrigued' would be a good word. They never pushed or pressured me, and for that I am very grateful. My brother and sister have been very supportive, as well, though they laughed profoundly when I told them. I think over this time my family has grown in their own spirituality, which is a great blessing. I thank God for that every day."
Being an altar server was one reason that raised the possibility of becoming a priest, but it was also getting to know priests as individuals beyond their liturgical functions.
"It was being an altar boy, but it was also getting to know the priests who I was close with on a more personal level, to see they were more than just functionaries who came out of the rectories on weekends to say Mass," Lonergan said. "They were men who led wonderful lives and ministered to many people and met people in various places of their lives. I read somewhere that what men and women experience in a lifetime is sometimes experienced by a priest in one day. He might have a funeral in the morning, a wedding in the afternoon and then baptize someone's child in the evening. So all the emotional and joyful and sorrowful things that men and women experience throughout their lives can be experienced by priests in one day. That was extraordinary to me. It was something that really struck me as such a profound calling that priests are with people at the most significant points in their lives."
In addition to serving at the altar, Lonergan was involved in the parish music ministry while in high school.
"I've been cantor at St. Patrick's since I was in high school, and I was sacristan here on the weekends. I loved singing and have been involved in music ministry here and at Nativity, and also eight years at St. Charles, where I was assistant director of the music program in the college division of the seminary," he said. "That was a lot of fun. I got to work with the liturgies and scheduling music for them."
O'Connor, who sat at the kitchen table with Lonergan, said Lonergan was the first sacristan at the church.
"We started a program of students helping us set up Sunday Masses, and Kevin was the first one," he said, adding that involvement in the life of the parish is a significant influence on vocations.
"It is a great influence since my story is the same as Kevin's," said O'Connor, who also calls St. Patrick his home parish. "I left from this parish many years ago to go to the seminary in 1973. It's the same road that Kevin went on. It was the examples of the priests I saw here when I was an altar server and helped in the sacristy. It absolutely brings you close to the life of the Church, and you see it at its best."
Lonergan found seminary life suited him very well, though it took him some time to adjust.
"The seminary is a unique atmosphere where you are on a very regimented schedule, always having prayer at the heart of the schedule, especially the Mass," Lonergan said. "I became very used to the structure and the regimen of the lifestyle, but it took a little while. It wasn't immediate. We have to be at the chapel pews at seven in the morning, and if you're not there, then someone will look for you and ask why you weren't there. Then we have Mass at five in the evening. It's a very structured life, and there's a reason for that. The liturgies and the prayers at the seminary were extraordinarily deep and very rich."
He added, "Our studies were very rigorous. The seminary is a wonderful place to pray, to discern and to learn. We have a very good faculty there. I achieved a bachelor's degree in philosophy and a master's degree in theology through St. Charles Seminary."
In addition to making friends at the seminary and in parishes he has served as a seminarian, he has also maintained friendships with those he went to high school with.
"It's very important for a priest to have a variety of friends - men, women, clergy and laity - because it helps keep us rooted and focused on the mission that we're on," Lonergan said.
Lonergan is the last seminarian from Schuylkill County at St. Charles.
"We want to change that," O'Connor said.
"That is something I hope really changes in the future," Lonergan said. "I would encourage any young man who is considering the priesthood to pray about it and say yes that they may be called to the priesthood. God will always surprise them and God will not be outdone in generosity. If you're thinking about it, talk to a priest about it. We do need more priests. Schuylkill County has a rich heritage of vocations to the priesthood and the religious life. Our society says that it's a waste of time, but it's a profoundly rewarding life. It is one that you will find tremendous happiness."
"Kevin is absolutely right," O'Connor said. "There are many getting the call out there, and this county has been so rich in vocations."
Lonergan was asked about what he has learned about himself in his formation to become a priest.
"I learned that you never know what God is going to do with you in your life," he said. "I felt when I entered the seminary that I wasn't smart enough to be there. I thought that I wasn't worthy to be there, that I wasn't capable of living out the life of a priest, but God continues to surprise me about myself. When you allow Him to take the reins of your life, if you will, that you can and will be able to do all things. With God, all things are possible. That is true of my vocation. It's true of my seminary experience. The doubts that I had about my abilities, my worthiness, my intellect, were all questions, and God has shown me that I can and have done it. On this Saturday at the cathedral in Allentown, I will be ordained into the priesthood."