On Saturday, 28th June, Cardinal Vincent Nichols will ordain two men to the priesthood for our Diocese. In celebration of the Feast of Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest, they have shared with us the stories of their journey to this vocation.
Deacon James Boyle
I was born in Omagh, in County Tyrone, Northern Ireland to Glaswegian parents Charles and Mary Boyle. My father was stationed there at the time in his role as Medical Officer to The Argyll and Southern Highlander Regiment. On leaving the army my father took up the post of General Practitioner in the small rural village of Roslea, in County Fermanagh, in Northern Ireland, close to the border with the Irish Republic.
I am the fourth of seven children, with two sisters and four brothers, although we lost the eldest tragically in a road accident when I was five. I was a bright, gregarious child and enjoyed school, playing football, hanging out with my brothers, and serving Mass several times a week, something I kept up until I started secondary school. I remember my childhood as a happy time generally. After attending St Tierney’s, local Catholic primary school, I went to St Michael’s Grammar in the county town of Enniskillen.
After my ‘A’ levels I went to study in Queen’s University, Belfast and once qualified, I worked as an IT consultant, mostly in the finance industry. The work took me all over the British Isles and I met many wonderful, inspiring people along the way.
A powerful experience of God in Medjugorje radically changed my life and led eventually to a clear call from the Lord to the priesthood in my mid-thirties. After discerning for a few years, I finally took the plunge, and started seminary in Maynooth, in Ireland, where I studied Philosophy and Pastoral Theology.
Later, I ended up coming to London to study for the Diocese of Westminster and was sent to Rome to complete my studies in theology in the Beda College. After a wonderful pastoral year in Ruislip, I was ordained to the diaconate and then was appointed to Brook Green where I have just spent a very happy year serving as a Deacon. It’s been quite the journey, but the Lord has always provided the graces I needed, and I believe he always will.
Deacon Sean Power
A vocation to priesthood is something which has been with me, in one way or another, for much of my life. I grew up in a Catholic home, and from a fairly young age felt that the priesthood might be where the Lord was leading me to in my life. Following studies at university I spent two years as a seminarian at the English College in Rome studying Philosophy at the Gregorian University. After deciding to take some time out from seminary I worked as a professional fundraiser for a number of organisations.
During those years of work the call to the priesthood never fully left me, and in 2021 I joined Allen Hall Seminary. I’m now a Deacon, ordained last June, and stand on the threshold of ordination to priesthood. The vocational journey has not been a straightforward one, but I am deeply grateful for how the Holy Spirit has gently guided me to this moment in my life, allowing me to the discover the purpose for which God created me. I am currently serving full time in the parish in Potters Bar, Hertfordshire.
Header Photo: Mazur/cbcew.org.uk