Sean Neville
I Theology at St. Mary Seminary

I have been a member of St. Mary of the Falls my entire life, and it is truly a home to me.  I went through grade school at St. Mary, and it helped me to form a good faith foundation.  St. Mary of the Falls prepared me well for St. Ignatius High School, and now, seminary formation. 

At a young age, I developed a deeper relationship with and understanding of God through my Catholic education, but I didn’t begin thinking about Priesthood until my freshman year of high school.  I became very involved in our parish’s Life Teen program, taking my faith more seriously. The many seminarians from our parish served as great role models for me and made me think, “maybe I’m called to seminary as well.”  After much prayer, I recognized that the next step in my discernment process was to respond to God’s invitation to enter the seminary.

Following two years of study at Borromeo Seminary, I entered the Basselin Scholars program through Theological College at The Catholic University of America for three years, graduating with a Licentiate in Philosophy.  I am now back in Cleveland at St. Mary Seminary.  This year, I'm looking forward to studying theology and integrating back into community life here.

 

Jeremy Gaugler
Senior at Borromeo Seminary

I have been a member of St. Mary of the Falls my entire life. I went through grade school at St. Mary's, high school at St. Ignatius High school, and now I'm in my fourth year of seminary formation. Due to our Life Teen community at the parish, I developed a deeper relationship with and understanding of God. I'm blessed to have Sean Neville who laid the groundwork in my life to even consider seminary in the first place. 

After these last 3 years of formation at Borromeo Seminary, I am looking forward to finishing my degree in philosophy, and I'm excited to begin the application process for St. Mary's Seminary, on the other side of the building, for my further studies in theology.

Mike Mucic
Candidate for the Permanent Diaconate

On August 22, 2021, I began my fourth year of formation as a Third Year candidate in the Diaconate Formation Program for the Diocese of Cleveland. Last spring I was instituted into the Ministry of Lector, and this coming February, God willing, I will be instituted into the Ministry of Acolyte.

It was a joy to participate in liturgy at St. Mary of the Falls this past summer and was especially nice to see faces again without masks. I truly miss being with my SMOF family week in and week out during the academic year. The courses I will be taking this fall and next spring are Sacraments, Canon Law, Evangelization, and Homiletics. My wife Carolyn continues to join me in class studies and in my field assignments. She also continues to help me balance formation and family life, and encourages me in the discernment process. This year, we are assigned field education at St. John Neumann in Strongsville.

A five year program may seem long at first glance, but the years just seem to speed by. Sure, there is class and homework, but the new friendships and insights have been a blessing that I could not have imagined just a few years ago. I ask for your continued prayers for my family and myself as we seek God’s will for us. I will continue to pray that the Almighty God blesses each one of you with an abundance of love in His outpouring of the Holy Spirit.