Bishop Barry C. Knestout will ordain Deacon Andrew Clark, Deacon Samuel Hill, and Deacon Matthew Kelly to the priesthood at the Cathedral of the Sacred Heart, Richmond, on June 7 at 10:30 a.m. All are welcome to attend the Ordination Mass or to watch the livestream at richmonddiocese.org/livestream/. Please keep them in your prayers!
While walking across the Virginia Tech Drillfield, Deacon Samuel Hill, then a college student and a Methodist, asked his roommate about the doctrine of transubstantiation, the Catholic belief that the Eucharist becomes the body and blood of Christ during Mass.
“This guy was really smart, studying mechanical engineering, getting A’s in all his classes, so I thought, ‘Okay, he’s going to have a good explanation for me,’” recalled Deacon Hill. “But rather than giving a long theological answer, all he said was, ‘Yes, I believe that’s true.’”
“It was that short answer that I really needed to hear,” said Deacon Hill.
Later, while attending Mass with the same friend, he thought about the others in attendance praying and worshiping.
“I had this feeling, like, wow … people from the time of Christ have believed that Jesus is present in the Eucharist. Maybe there’s something to this. Maybe this is true. Maybe there’s something more to Christianity, to God’s design for his Church,” said Deacon Hill.
Reading the Acts of the Apostles, the Letters of St. Paul, and the early Church Fathers, Deacon Hill increasingly felt a tug at his heart.
“You begin to see the Catholic Church arising out of the Scriptures in a really beautiful way,” he said.
On Easter in 2014, he converted to Catholicism.
Even after converting, he wasn’t sure he wanted to enter seminary. But the call to the priesthood, said Deacon Hill, “was like a hook that sank into me. And it wasn’t just a thing in my mind – it was something that hit my heart. I felt the Lord pulling me in a new direction, somewhere I longed to go but didn’t exactly know how.”
He began his studies at St. John Paul II Seminary in Washington, D.C. in 2017, and in 2020, embarked on his postgraduate studies at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
“When Bishop [Barry C.] Knestout asked me to study theology in Rome, it was a big surprise to me,” said Deacon Hill. “It was in the middle of COVID. I didn’t know that I’d even be able to get to Rome, much less what it would look like when I got there. But it has been quite the opportunity.”
“I’ve found that the city has been different every year, as more and more people came back and more restrictions were lifted, and now we’re in the Jubilee Year,” he continued. “Every day is like a pilgrimage. It has really shaped my vocation in ways that I could never have expected, and it has really opened my eyes to the universal Church.”
As his ordination approaches, Deacon Hill admitted he’s not quite sure what to expect.
“I think I had an idea of what being a priest looked like when I entered seminary: You celebrate the sacraments, and you’re available to people,” he said. “But I feel the longer I’ve gone on, the more I realize I have no idea what it’s going to look like.”
Noting that he doesn’t know to which parish in our diocese he’ll be sent, he said, “Every parish is so unique, so I need to be ready for everything and anything, but I also have this greater sense that the Lord’s going to do something really good, and that I’m going to grow in it.”
For one more year, he’ll be back in Rome, as a priest, to complete his Licentiate of Sacred Theology at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.
After converting, “I thought I knew more [about Catholicism] than I did,” said Deacon Hill. “When I went to seminary, I realized, there’s a lot to learn about the faith.”
“It’s also a place of growing in spiritual discipline,” he said. “The Lord is always leading me closer to himself, always leading me into deeper interior freedom, and I’m growing in prayer, growing in love for the Church, growing in love for the sacraments.”
During his final year in Rome, he hopes to continue one hobby he’s picked up since his arrival: bicycling.
“The other day, I took a bike trip to Subiaco, the place where St. Benedict stayed for a while. I’ve ridden up mountains around Lago Maggiore,” he said.
Once he’s ordained, he envisions travelling by bicycle to celebrate Mass in unique locations. For now, he has not celebrated any sacraments, but he has preached several homilies.
“I had given reflections before. But there’s definitely a different approach when you’re ordained [a deacon],” he said. “My words have this new power, the power of the Holy Spirit to evangelize, to touch hearts. And it’s really humbling that the Lord is trusting me with this task.”
Read about Deacon Andrew Clark.
Read about Deacon Matthew Kelly.
Lee los perfiles de los tres diáconos en español.