Meet Fr. Joseph Upton!
The Prout School is excited to welcome Fr. Joseph Upton to our community and we look forward to the years ahead!
The article below is taken from http://www.catholicpriest.com/seminarians/JoeUpton.html
My first memory of being asked what I wanted to be when I grew up was in pre-school. Many of my classmates had drawn pictures of what they wanted to be: police officers, doctors, etc. I remember when my teacher came to me, and posed the question of the day, I answered without hesitation, “A priest!” I can honestly say that since then, I have carried that desire in my heart. While I have often entertained the idea of other professions, like teaching or psychology, the idea of the priesthood never left me.
Although my parents had me baptized as an infant, our Catholic faith didn’t really inform our experience as a family. I was exposed to the Catholic faith principally through the example of my grandparents. As a result, I asked my parents to be enrolled in CCD, and to make my first Penance and first Holy Communion. My parents, even though they often didn’t understand my interest in the faith, were very supportive. Interestingly enough, even as a small child, I seemed to intuit that there was a special connection between the priest and the Eucharist. I remember equating my desire to go to Mass with wanting to see the priest. I had been taught that the priest is the one who brings us Jesus and that is still the best way of describing my desire for priesthood. The priest desires to bring Jesus to people and to bring people to Jesus.
Having gone to public schools in Cranston my whole life, I was never given the opportunity to learn about my faith in an academic context. To make up for this, my grandparents would buy me children’s missals and catechisms to help me learn about the faith on my own. I am deeply indebted to their guidance and their faith.
The more I became interested in the faith, the more involved I wanted to become in my parish. My pastor during middle school and high school was extremely supportive of my interest in priesthood and my first job was as a sacristan at my home parish, unlocking the church and setting up for Mass every weekend. This experience enabled me to get a “behind the scenes” look at the lives of the priests of my parish. I realized that the priest did a great deal more than just say Mass on Sunday. I also learned that these men were normal, down-to-earth, and truly happy with their vocation. The wonderful relationships that I formed with them only confirmed the desires I had been experiencing throughout my childhood and adolescence. A retired priest who lived and assisted at my home parish, Fr. Robert Maynard, was a shining example of priestly charity, and always took a special interest in fostering my vocation to the priesthood.
In high school, I enjoyed being involved in many different activities and making friends much more than my academics! I was elected president of my class at Cranston High School East and continued to enjoy a normal high school social life. Some of my closest friendships were developed during high school. While my friends (few of whom were practicing any faith) often did not understand what I experienced as a call to the priesthood, they were nonetheless supportive, and I can’t imagine my life without them, even now. I felt very much the desire to be a husband and father. I entertained the idea of working with a new-found talent for computer technology, but still the idea of priesthood remained most prevalent. To the outward eye, I was an average high school student, but inside I couldn’t help but hear God calling me to a life-changing vocation. I made the decision to apply to Our Lady of Providence Seminary after my graduation from high school. I was accepted and began college as a seminarian of the Diocese of Providence in the Fall of 2001.
The time that I spent at Our Lady of Providence seminary afforded me the opportunity to get in touch with my strengths and weaknesses, with my talents and with my shortcomings. The key to any form of vocation discernment is always honest introspection. While that is not always enjoyable, it certainly ends up being the best way to trace God’s action in our lives, even in the midst of our brokenness. The community was great, and while it changed every year, we formed a unique group of guys from very different backgrounds, but who all shared the same goal: to discover what God wanted of each of us. The daily schedule of prayer, mass, community time and free time was a perfect balance which afforded us an opportunity to discern God’s will for our lives in the context of a joyful and supportive community. The time I spent there was invaluable.
In May of 2006, Bishop Tobin assigned me to continue my studies at Mount Saint Mary’s Seminary in Maryland. While the transition from a small community of no more than 20 to a larger community of nearly 150 was not an easy one, I have enjoyed my time at the Mount immensely. The Mount offers a well-rounded program of priestly formation that adheres to the vision outlined in Pastores Dabo Vobis. At the Mount, I have been exposed to a number of pastoral opportunities which have helped shape my skills in ministering to people of various backgrounds and life experiences. Most recently, I have been serving a term in the Campus Ministry Office of the undergraduate university here at the Mount, an experience which has been thoroughly enjoyable and informative. My academic formation at the Mount has enabled me to firmly root my perspectives in the tradition of the Church, while being open to the best currents of contemporary theology. Over the last three and a half years, I have enjoyed taking advantage of the seminary’s proximity to Gettysburg, Baltimore, and Washington, D.C. It will not be easy to say goodbye to the many good men—from all over the United States and beyond—that I have been supported and edified by over the past few years.
In May of 2009, Bishop Tobin ordained me to the diaconate, the last step of preparation before priesthood. As I write this, I am one semester away from being ordained a priest. In many ways, it is hard to believe that ordination is so close. I entered seminary formation nearly ten years ago, and ordination always seemed so far away. Now, as I look out over the “home stretch,” I am shocked at quickly it has all gone by. While it is hard to believe that I will be a priest in a matter of months, I am overcome more than anything with gratitude for the many gifts God has given me throughout the period of my formation. Things weren’t always easy or even enjoyable, but God has been generous in grace, and I am truly grateful.
The image of Christ washing the feet of his disciples is the perfect image of priesthood. Christ stoops down to the floor, to the feet of his disciples—where their bodies meet the earth, where they are most human. The priest is called to minister to God’s people not only in their joys, but often where they are most raw and human, in the wake of death, loss, and in grip of human weakness. He washes away what makes then unclean; he allows Christ to heal them through himself. As Cardinal O’Malley of Boston has said, after the Last Supper, the disciples were no longer arguing over who would get the best seat in the house, but over who would get the towel first. I can only pray that I may kneel one day at the feet of my brothers and sisters as a priest of Jesus Christ.
More information is also available on http://thericatholic.com/detail.html?sub_id=3268