Nicolas Fernandez
Posted on 11/06/2008 1:27:01 PM PST by NYer
.- At the age of 25, Nicolas Fernandez had all of the qualities needed to be a great policeman and his future in the force looked promising. However, during his daily work he discovered he needed different weapons to help the “troubled souls” he encountered, so he decided to become a priest.
Born on Staten Island of an Irish mother and a Spanish father, Fernandez has begun his six year-long formation at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Yonkers. He had been serving as a police officer for two years when, inspired by the teachings of John Paul II and the visit of Pope Benedict XVI to New York, he decided to change careers and become a priest.
According to El Nuevo Diario, the young seminarian recalls that when he was a policeman, people went to him with their problems because of the uniform he wore. “Now, they will do so because I’ll be wearing a priest’s cassock,” he said.
Fernandez was a patrolman in Brooklyn and his partner always said he could easily rise to the rank of lieutenant. “But that was the last thing I wanted,” he said.
“My choice for the priesthood was influenced by the discourses and speeches of John Paul II on the culture of death, which includes thousands of murders, suicides, homicides and national situations in which children are being abandoned or are victims of abuse in their homes because of drugs,” Fernandez said.
“For these turbulent souls, I never had an external solution as a policeman. There has to be an interior change, a change of heart and therefore, being a priest is necessary,” he added.
Awesome. Good for him.
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St. Joseph’s is a great seminary, too. From the sound of it, he should be a great priest.
He will now be able to stop crimes BEFORE they happen. It’s no wonder that police get so depressed, they spend so much time just picking up the body parts.
Wonderful story. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. Can’t emphasize enough about needing more prayer for vocations.
What an astute observation, and a remarkable decision about how to deal with this.
Good luck to him.
My Middle son ( I have 3) has been called to the priesthood ever since I can remember. He is almost 17 now, and will be going to seminary after graduation in 1.5 years. He has his first vocations weekend this weekend coming. I loved the story above because all the while growing up, he would say he wanted to be a firefighter/priest, a chef/priest, have his own fishing show/priest, now he is torn between a chaplin/priest. I told him not til Barack is not CIC. God bless him on his journey for Christ.
Good career decision since bloomberg is going to fire over a thousand cops anyway.
Blessings on him.
usually we take 2 classes/year. 1 in january, 1 in july. looks like in '09 it will only be one class in july.
God has indeed blessed him and you! Thank you for sharing your story on this thread. May it be an inspiration for other parents.
Thank you. I hope more young men will answer this call. It is a HUGE need. God calls so many..... the amount of men called to the priesthood has not diminished, the amount of men who take the call has.
Blessings for your son.
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How beautiful. One of the “Ridge Runners” on the Appalachian Trail in the State of Maryland this past summer told me that he was going into a Trappist Monastery this Fall. I assume he’s already there.
I imagine that this Obama Presidency is going to influence many young Catholics to enter Religious life. Because: “If we do not protect life, there is no reason to fight for any other cause.”
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