From left: Jesuit Father Antonio Virgílio Oliveira e Costa; Bridgeport Bishop Frank J. Caggiano; the three newly ordained priests Jesuit Fathers Alcidio Tembe, Josué Salguero and Justin Grosnick; and Jesuit Father Joseph O’Keefe, provincial of the Jesuits’ USA East Province. (Photos provided)CHARLOTTE — Justin Grosnick, who hails from St. Matthew Parish, recently was ordained a priest for the Society of Jesus (otherwise known as the Jesuits).
Father John Allen, pastor of St. Matthew Parish, proudly announced the local vocation and asked parishioners to pray for the newly ordained Father Grosnick as well as to pray for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life.
Father Grosnick and two others were ordained June 10 at the Fordham University Chapel in Bronx, N.Y., by Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport, Conn.
Father Grosnick’s family includes his parents, Spencer and Judy, sister Elaine, nephew Dominic, and niece Samantha – who are all long-time members at the south Charlotte parish.
Father Grosnick was born in Hershey, Pa., and attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he studied physics and astronomy, as well as international relations and history. After reading the Gospels during his senior year of college, he spent the subsequent year considering the priesthood while teaching at a Holy Trinity Middle school in Charlotte. For the next four years, he studied theology at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary and worked in a number of apostolates, the most formative of which were St. Rita’s Senior Center and the Children’s Hospital of Pennsylvania.
Newly ordained Father Grosnick gives his first priestly blessings.He left the seminary before ordination and went on to pursue his earlier love of international relations, first studying at Johns Hopkins’ School of Advanced International Studies and then embarking on a short career at the U.S. State Department. Yet he felt called back to vowed religious life, so he returned to the spirituality to which he was first introduced while in seminary and embarked upon a version of the Ignatian Spiritual Exercises in daily life – a core tenet of the Jesuits’ founder, St. Ignatius of Loyola. This ultimately led to his decision to enter the Society of Jesus.
As a novice, Father Grosnick worked at Calvary Hospital in the Bronx and the L’Arche community in Syracuse, both of which informed his understanding of mission and ultimately consoled him in taking vows. He spent six months at Georgetown University, helping in the classroom and campus ministry. At Georgetown, he also discovered his love for interreligious dialogue, Hinduism in particular. Subsequently, he studied theology at Loyola Chicago, while also supporting the Hindu students there and helping at Arrupe College. For part of his discernment, Father Grosnick lived in Tomsk, Russia, where he worked in support of the parish, taught high school, and helped with a L’Arche-inspired interreligious group for people with disabilities. He currently studies comparative religion and theology at the Graduate Theological Union.
Father Allen said the new priest will attend the University of California-Berkeley this fall to complete his studies toward a Ph.D., and will also continue to work in campus ministry at the University of San Francisco.
— Catholic News Herald
More online
At www.jesuitseast.org/press-release/meet-the-jesuits-preparing-for-ordination: Read more about Justin Grosnick’s path to the priesthood and his ordination.