Deacon Steven James Mateja

Age: 32

Parents: David and Linda Mateja of Westland, members of St. Theodore of Canterbury Parish inWestland

Education: Edison Elementary, Marshall Junior High and John Glenn High School, all in Westland; Schoolcraft Community College, Livonia; and Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit, where he earned Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy, Bachelor of Sacred Theology and Master of Divinity degrees.

Home parish: St. Theodore of Canterbury Parish, Westland

Masses of Thanksgiving: St. Theodore of Canterbury Church, Westland, 11 a.m., Sunday, May 27; Holy Family Church, Novi, 10:30 a.m., Sunday, June 10

Secular career before seminary: Ford Motor Company

Route to priesthood: I can remember being a young child thinking about becoming a priest and praying about it. My aunt was a Dominican nun (she died long before I was born) and her picture was always up on our mantle when I was growing up. I used to look at her picture and pray to her and to the Blessed Virgin Mary, asking God to bless me, as He blessed my aunt, with a vocation to serve Him. I fell away from the faith in my high school years and early college years, but I had a deep conversion back to the faith after hearing a priest calling the people of God to deeper conversion. I gave my life to Jesus, began to pray daily and soon the Lord was calling me to think of the priesthood.

Greatest challenges facing the Church: I think one of the greatest challenges facing the Church, and indeed the world today, is the rising secularization of society at large. The culture at large sees the Church and Jesus Christ oftentimes as irrelevant to their lives, and as many continue to push God aside in pursuit of the empty promises the “world” offers, our Lord awaits their return to Him with open arms. But that is the greatest hope I see — that there is so much of God’s mercy awaiting this world, so much of the Father’s love that so many do not know. God will provide the grace for the new springtime of hope.

Hopes for priestly ministry: All I want to do is to love Him and make Him loved. I want to bring people to know the love of the Father and to love Him in return.

Aspect of ministry likely to be most rewarding: Teaching the youth. Our children are tomorrow’s Church. We must teach them to love Jesus Christ above all things and to go out and share the Gospel message that Jesus is Lord.

Deacon Salvatore Joseph Palazzolo

Age: 31

Parents: Peter and Angela Palazzolo of Macomb Township, members of St. Isidore Parish, Macomb Township

Education: Mohawk Elementary, Iroquois Middle and Dakota High School, all in Macomb Township; Kettering University, Flint: Oakland University, Auburn Hills, where he earned a Bachelor of Science in mechanical engineering; Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit, where he earned Bachelor of Philosophy, Bachelor of Sacred Theology and Master of Divinity degrees.

Home parish: St. Isidore Parish, Macomb Township

Masses of Thanksgiving: St. Isidore Church, Macomb Township, 11:30 a.m., Sunday, May 27; St. Michael the Archangel Church, Livonia, noon, Sunday, June 3; St. Mary Church, Wayne, noon, Sunday, June 10

Secular career before seminary: Project manager/engineer at Schaller Corp.

Route to priesthood: I was finishing my engineering degree when I realized engineering is not what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. That set me on a search for what I would do with my life. Secondly, I was growing in my faith. After having been away from the Church for a while, I came back and realized how much I had missed it.  Still, I thought to myself that I should really own my faith, that if I was going to be a practicing Catholic I should really understand it. So I began reading the Bible, watching EWTN, listening to Catholic radio, and I read through the whole “Catechism of the Catholic Church.” As my prayer life grew, I found myself asking God what I should do with my life, and I was surprised when he asked me: “Why don’t you become a priest?” It took me some time to accept the invitation, but I am so thankful I did! Once I realized the Lord was calling me to consider the priesthood, my confidence grew steadily and the Lord confirmed my decision along the way. Sure, some days the sacrifices of becoming a priest were in the forefront of my mind, but most days I was aware of the great honor and blessing the life of a priest is.

Greatest challenges facing the Church: The greatest challenge in the Church is to reach Catholics who need to be taught or reminded of the absolute importance of their faith, of the Church, and their living out the communion to which they are being called. An indifference to religion or the way one practices their faith, along with a loss of what sin and grace are have caused many to drift away. I see the greatest hope in the Church’s youth. The youth who are involved in the Church today know their faith, are passionate about it, and want the full Gospel. They are up to the challenge of living out their faith.

Hopes for priestly ministry: I hope I will be a good and holy priest, always bringing glory to God, and being an instrument of salvation to his people. I pray that I will always be obedient to the promptings of the Holy Spirit and not rely so much on my own plans and desires.

Aspect of ministry likely to be most rewarding: I think the most rewarding moments of priestly ministry will be those where I can reconcile others to God, or witness the conversion or growth of faith in my parish family. Serving the people of God as a spiritual father will be a great blessing.

Deacon Paul Michael Snyder

Age: 34

Parents: Gerald (deceased) and Marie Ann Snyder of Livonia, a member of St. Edith Parish in Livonia.

Education: Hoover Elementary, Holmes Middle, and Adlai E. Stevenson High School, all in Livonia; Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts in graphic design and marketing; and Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit, where he earned Bachelor of Philosophy, Bachelor of Sacred Theology and Master of Divinity degrees.

Home parishes: St. Edith Parish,Livonia, growing up; National Shrine of the Little Flower Parish, Royal Oak, after college and currently.

Masses of Thanksgiving: National Shrine of the Little Flower,Royal Oak, 10:45 a.m., Sunday, May 27; St. Lawrence Church,Utica, noon, Sunday, June 3; St. Edith Church,Livonia, 5 p.m., Saturday, June 9

Secular career before seminary: Worked for an independent design firm, designing automotive press kits and printed materials, as well as art directing for the auto industry.

Route to priesthood: Although I had a few thoughts about priesthood when I was growing up, I first began to think I might be called to be a priest when I was in college. At this time my faith became more important to me, and I was spending more time in prayer. But by this time I was getting close to finishing a degree and I thought I should get a job in the field I had studied. After a few years of working, I had a great job, a nice house, was making good money, and had all the things that were supposed to make me happy, but I wasn’t. For the first time I began to really pray about what God wanted for me, and the thoughts of priesthood returned when I would pray. I could see the Lord drawing me into a deeper relationship with Him, most especially through theMass.After praying about this for some time, and talking with my pastor, I decided the Lord was calling me to apply to the seminary to begin more serious discernment. When I entered seminary, I was not perfectly sure I was called to be a priest, but I knew I needed this time to pray and discern the Lord’s will. So, at times I had doubts if I was really doing what God wanted from me. These doubts were resolved through much prayer, as well as guidance from my spiritual director. Over time I came to see that the Lord was indeed calling me to the priesthood and inviting me to respond generously.

Greatest challenges facing the Church: In the culture in which we live, we constantly receive messages that are in opposition to Christian values. Therefore, it has become increasingly more important that we know our faith well in order to be able to defend it and be strong witnesses to the Gospel. We are confronted with the challenge of how to best renew our efforts in evangelization and Catholic education. The greatest hope I see is the faith and dedication of many of the youth and young adults who are strong witnesses to Jesus Christ in the world. In my parish experience, I continue to see many youth and young adult groups that that strive to know their faith, live it out and teach it to others with great love and dedication. They are a bright light in the future of our Church.

Hopes for priestly ministry: My hope is to always continue to grow closer to the Sacred Heart of Christ throughout my priesthood, so I can be an effective minister for God’s people.

Aspect of ministry likely to be most rewarding: I think the sacramental ministry of the priest will be most rewarding — Mass, confession, baptisms. I know how much Christ has transformed me through the sacraments, especially through reconciliation and the Eucharist, so I believe it will be a great blessing to share these moments of conversion with the people of God.