John McGuire
St. Joseph Parish, Toms River
What seminary do you attend?
Immaculate Conception Seminary
An interesting thing about my life is:
I was call completely changed my plans for my life, bringing me from Buffalo, New York where I had chosen to live and work.
Prior to the seminary I:
Held a career as a paralegal who did a combination of legal work and social work, with the Hungry, disabled, and to a lesser extent the homeless.
When I want to relax or have some fun I would:
When I want to relax I turn on a movie or one of my favorite Cds, lock my door, and spend some time alone. When I want to have fun I gather together a group of friends to do pretty much whatever is there to do.
The first time I thought about a priestly vocation was:
While at Mass when I was six years old chanting along with the priest as he consecrated the host.
How do you pray? What is your prayer life like?
I am always very active and my mind runs a mile a minute, so besides community prayer, I tend to try to clear my mind, and give God the chance to talk to me, I spend too much time expressing my own needs, and God seems to like to speak in a whisper!
What excites me about being a priest is:
Serving God's people with my whole life, bringing God's Word to the people, and not worrying that what I am saying isn't popular, and forming a closer relationship with God.
What do you enjoy about seminary life?
I enjoy that so much time is set aside for prayer and community. We are here studying and that is important, but we enter into formation as a total person, trying to orient ourselves even more in step with the example of Jesus.
If someone is considering a vocation to the priesthood I would tell them:
Take time to reflect, talk to many people about what you are feeling. If you haven't gone to college yet, study Philosophy, so that if you go to seminary you can get to the fun stuff sooner!
A couple books on my shelf, CD's I own or songs I have downloaded are:
Books: Flag of Our Fathers, The Brethren, The Innocent Man, books for class. CD's Almost everything by Switchfoot, Fight the Tide by Sanctus Real, Goo Goo Dolls Greatest Hits Vol. 1, The Sun and the Moon by the Bravery, No, really I am fine by the Spill Canvas, Indestructible by Rancid.
A Scripture passage that inspires me is:
Psalm 23 - "The Lord is My Shepherd, I shall not want."
Matthew 4:19-20- And he said to them, “Follow me and I will make you fishers of men.” Immediately they left their nets and followed him.
