Author Archives: Nick Adam

Called by Name

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            As you may know, my professional background is in sports media, but you may not know that I love science fiction/fantasy books and movies. These include but are not limited to books and films like Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and all the movies in the cash cow that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You may not know the MCU by this acronym, but you surely have seen or at least heard of movies like Ironman, Thor, Avengers, etc., all based on Marvel comic books. The genius of these movies lies in the way they have been rolled out over the years. They are all a part of a larger story arc (or series of arcs) that build on one another. If you watched Avengers: Infinity War, you not only were encouraged to see what happened next in Avengers: Endgame, but you also could get valuable storyline information from less epic films like Ant-Man and the Wasp and other movies set in the same Cinematic Universe. It really is an amazing storytelling vehicle that has raked in billions of dollars for Marvel’s parent company Disney.

            Recently the producers of the Marvel movies told the world that “Phase Three” of the MCU was wrapping up, and that “Phase Four” would soon begin. These labels may be of little significance to those outside the fandom of these movies, but they are helpful to those who are diligently following along. The end of “Phase Three” meant that many of the character arcs and major plot lines of the past several films had been resolved, and so “Phase Four” will be trying to keep the larger story going while introducing new characters and plots to the fanbase. And because all of you have so graciously followed along with the story of the Department of Vocations over the past year, may I present to you: Phase Two of my term as Vocation Director in the Diocese of Jackson.

            Phase One included me getting my feet on the ground and traveling to different parishes meeting with priests and making plans. I also wanted to lay out my vision of discernment in our diocese: the importance of visiting the seminary, an understanding that discernment most properly happens while someone is in formal priestly or religious formation, etc. I see Phase Two as a bridge between the pandemic and a more normal future where we can gather together in groups once again. The key component of Phase Two will be “Prediscernment Prayer Nights,” which will consist of holy hours for vocations in each deanery during the winter and early spring. I will host these hours of adoration and benediction at two parishes in each deanery. Each parish was chosen to maximize the space available for worship and to minimize travel for those who want to attend. I will be asking pastors and parish leaders in each deanery to personally invite men and women who they believe might be called to priesthood or religious life to attend these events, and I ask that you do the same. This is a way for me to meet more folks interested in discernment at a time when things like retreats and other gatherings simply are not possible. Thus far I have Deanery I and Deanery II dates and times on the calendar. Check out my column in future editions as I schedule more of these events. Please pray for the success of my own “Phase Two!”

Father Nick travels a lot, but he puts his homilies on the internet for those who would like to hear them! Go to www.jacksonpriests.com/podcasts each Sunday evening to listen. You can also find out all you want to know about our Vocation office at www.jacksonpriests.com

Vocations Events

Prediscernment Prayer Nights: Deanery I – Feb. 9 at St. Richard Jackson, 6-7 p.m.; Feb. 10 at St. Paul Vicksburg, 6-7 p.m. and Deanery II – Feb. 23 at St. Alphonsus McComb, 6-7 p.m.; Feb. 24 at St. Mary Basilica Natchez, 6-7 p.m. Questions? Email nick.adam@jacksondiocese.org

Called by Name

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As I wrote my Christmas cards last month, I dated them in the top right corner with the notation Coronatide. The time of isolation due to the pandemic will certainly be held in our memories for many reasons. Certainly, there was tragedy for many, stress for even more, and suffering of one kind or another for all. And yet, we know as Christians that no suffering is ever wasted when we enter into it ready to receive the graces we need to endure. One of the graces that the Lord gave me was a greater willingness to enter into silence and stillness. I also read more books this past year than I ever had before.

Father Nick Adam
Father Nick Adam

The final book that was on my list this past year was Back to Virtue by Peter Kreeft. Kreeft is a Catholic philosopher who has been well published in the past few decades. This book was first released in 1986, and yet it rings very true today. Kreeft writes about the challenges of trying to apply virtues like prudence, justice, temperance and fortitude in a society that exalts “self-fulfillment” as the greatest good in the universe. We are taught from a young age (through cultural osmosis if not at home) that production is king. We must make money, we must reach certain concrete societal expectations, etc., in order to be fully functioning and fully alive.
This attitude ignores a tenant of the faith that we profess: the fact that our very life comes from and is leading us back to the Lord. We have to make God our number one priority. We have to look to the teachings and example of Jesus Christ to be fully alive. Jesus simply sought to do his Father’s will, and that’s it. This is difficult for us because religion has taken a back seat to just about everything else today. If soccer tournaments and hunting trips take precedent for many over Sunday Mass, then surely what our culture sees as good will take precedent over what Jesus says is good.
To be fully alive is to slowly and surely avoid sin and do good, and to receive the freedom that comes from our relationship with Jesus Christ. That relationship is strengthened by the sacraments and it should drive everything that we do. Living fully alive in God will help our human relationships grow and will help us to have an abiding peace in this world before we have complete happiness in the next. So, live fully alive in 2021, and listen to the voice of the Lord in prayer and at Mass.
You may be wondering: what on earth does this have to do with vocations? Well, it’s simple: vocation comes from the word “to call” and you won’t hear the call if you aren’t intent on listening to the Lord rather than the noise of the World.

If you want to know more about becoming a priest or religious brother or sister, please contact Father Nick Adam at 601-969-4020 or nick.adam@jacksondiocese.org. You can also learn more about vocations by visiting to www.jacksonpriests.com.

Follow vocations on Facebook and Instagram @jacksonpriests

Called by Name

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A couple of our seminarians and I recently watched a documentary called “The Social Dilemma” (streaming now on Netflix). The filmmaker interviews former Silicon Valley developers who helped to create the majority of the social media platforms that exist today. Most of the subjects left their posts due to ethical concerns about the effect that social media is having on humanity as a whole. This is not a new concern, but the documentary is a helpful source to understand just how addictive our phones and devices can become, and the way that the psychology-based advertising strategy of some social networks can basically break our brain. People stare at their phones, refresh, and stare some more. While “The Social Dilemma” focused much more on the effect that this is having on our youngest generations, we all know that every generation is susceptible to this threat: the threat of having our primary source of truth, goodness and beauty be a plastic rectangle that we hold in our hands.

Father Nick Adam
Father Nick Adam

It was interesting that I watched this film in one of the places in our country where screens do not have such a stranglehold: the seminary. The community life and brotherhood of priestly formation is a great antidote to the addiction of the virtually connected. The men at the seminary are actually connected, in prayer to and worship of the Lord, in common purpose, in conversation, and in challenging one another. This is a great gift that houses of formation provide, and it is something that I advertise to those who I bring to visit the seminary.
I think our younger generations are waking up to the lie of our “plugged-in” society faster than the rest of the population. They know that they will not find truth, goodness or beauty from any social network because ultimately all of these platforms are only seeking eyes and ears and clicks to sell to advertisers. Younger people have seen the destruction that this causes in the alarming rise in depression, self-harm and suicide among youth that the documentary details. This terrible reality, however, is also the reason I believe that these generations are ready to turn to something deeper, something greater, because they know the answer does not lie on their phone, they know that the meaning of life is not how many “likes” they get, but how many real relationships they can develop, and how they develop in relationship with the God who made them. They have spent their childhood in digital spaces that might care about their eyes and ears, but not about their immortal souls.
The Lord is certainly breaking in and speaking loudly and clearly on college campuses that provide access to exposition and adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and have thriving Catholic Student Centers because the students just want to grow in relationship with actual people, and with the Lord who actually loves them. I am impressed and inspired by the young men and women who are members of the Catholic Student Associations at the universities and colleges in our state, and I appreciate the pastors, like Father Jason Johnston in Starkville and Father Joe Tonos in Oxford, who support the students who are members of their flocks and hire excellent campus ministry staff to support them.
I encourage all of us this Advent to take a long look at what we are spending our time looking at and listening to. We all need more time with the Lord who loves us, and less time with devices that have made us objects of advertisers’ affection. I wish you all a Blessed Advent and a Merry Christmas.

Called by Name

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When Jesus teaches something in the Gospel, do we take notes? Do you apply His words to the way we live our lives? We say that we believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and therefore is God Himself, but do we take what He says in the Gospel seriously?

Take Matthew 19. Jesus tells his listeners that he is calling for an understanding of the marriage covenant that goes beyond a civil contract. He raises marriage to the dignity of a sacrament and thus says that the old Jewish understanding of divorce is no longer valid. But later on in the chapter, Jesus goes even further. He states that some are called to forgo marriage “for the sake of the Kingdom of God,” and then he makes the stakes even higher, saying “whoever can accept this ought to accept it.” (Matthew 19:12)

Father Nick Adam
Father Nick Adam

When we think about vocations to the priesthood and religious life, do we ever think about this clear teaching of Jesus. He is calling some to forgo the goodness of marriage to point people toward the Kingdom of God, and yet don’t we often see the call to celibacy as the rare “exception to the rule,” or something to consider after other goals have been accomplished or other more pressing questions about our lives and futures have been answered?

It is true that marriage to another is a natural desire of our hearts, but I challenge all those who profess the faith to really examine the way they see the possibility that they, or someone they love are being called to an incredible life, a life of fruitfulness not in a marriage bond, but in a deep, life giving relationship with the church.

God wants to give us many great leaders who can build up the church as spiritual fathers and mothers, begetting and protecting the many souls entrusted to them, and courageously pointing the laity toward the Kingdom when things seem most desperate, when tragedy has struck, or when temporal leadership has let them down. But we won’t have that great stock of leadership if we don’t take the words of Jesus extremely seriously. Jesus doesn’t say, well, those who don’t want to get married for some reason or who have exhausted all other options should think about doing this. No, he wants the very best potential husbands and fathers and wives and mothers to answer the call if they receive it. He wants the most talented and gifted among us to use their gifts for the church in ordained ministry or consecrated life if he calls them to it.

In order to answer the call, however, one must be open to it, he or she must be listening. Please encourage young men and women in your midst to be open to this call and help them to be open to the call by talking about it and learning about it yourself. Parents, help your children and teach them this lesson that Jesus gives us in the Gospel. We must shift the way in which the church sees the call to priesthood and religious life. We should give God our best, our first shot. We should all open the way to this call in our hearts, then if we don’t receive it, we can joyfully pursue a life-giving married life. Think of the gifts that would be brought to bear in our parishes and our diocese if all of us took the teachings of Jesus seriously, and were open to whatever the Lord called us to. “Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”

Welcome acolytes

(Fr. Nick travels a lot, but he puts his homilies on the internet for those who would like to hear them! Go to www.jacksonpriests.com/podcasts each Sunday evening to listen. You can also find out all you want to know about our Vocation office at www.jacksonpriests.com.)

Called by Name

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I want to thank everyone who was a part of making our first annual Homegrown Harvest Gala and Fundraiser a huge success. With the help of over 120 sponsors and donors, we reached and surpassed our goal of $75,000 to go toward our Seminarian Education Trust.

I hope that those who joined us for the livestream got to see the fruit of their donation in the men who are studying for the priesthood for our diocese. I put together a short video featuring all six seminarians, each of whom brings important gifts and a dedication to their own formation. They are also the fruit of families full of faith that supported and nurtured a care for the Lord and His church at home. Next year, I hope that we will be able to gather and celebrate these men and their families in person, but the livestream element provided its own opportunities and advantages.

Father Nick Adam
Father Nick Adam

I especially want to thank Father Jim Wehner, Rector of Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans, who provided an incredible talk about seminary formation for our event. The best thing about this format is that you can still watch this entire event! You can go to jacksonpriests.com or to our diocesan YouTube page where I have posted the two videos featured at the Gala.

I also want to thank the diocesan staff that helped me pull off this even seamlessly. Rebecca Harris and Julia Williams in our development office took the initiative in learning about online fundraising, did software training, and helped me in so many other ways. Joanna King, our fearless director of communications always came up with great ideas to get the word out about this event, Rhonda Bowden of St. Jude in Pearl helped me put together a great event at St. Jude, and Rusty and Yvonne Haydel for helping me promote the event in many different ways. Thanks to Father Lincoln Dall for his hospitality, as we used St. Jude to present the livestream, and to Bishop Joseph Kopacz for encouraging me to keep going even when we had to move to an online gala. A special thanks to our sponsors and parishes who gave large gifts that really fast-tracked our fundraising. We continue to strengthen our culture of vocations, and God is bringing forth laborers for the harvest as we speak. Please keep praying for more holy priests and see you next year!

Called by Name

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I would like to offer my greatest thanks to all the generous sponsors and attendees of our first ever Homegrown Harvest Gala and Fundraiser. The Lord continues to call forth workers for the harvest, and we are seeking to respond from all sides here in the Diocese of Jackson. The incredible support of so many, both spiritually and financially, is a great encouragement to me and to all of our seminarians. This year’s gala was held virtually on Oct. 9 and you can watch a replay of it on our Vocations Facebook page (facebook.com/jacksonpriests). I look forward to sharing with you the results of our gala in the next issue of the Mississippi Catholic.

Earlier this month, I took three young men on a tour of the grounds of the seminaries that we currently use for formation, Notre Dame in New Orleans and St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington.

Father Nick Adam

These trips are invaluable to a young man who is beginning to consider that he may have a call to the priesthood. I remember the first time I visited the seminary: Father Frank Cosgrove drove me down on Super Bowl weekend 2012 to Covington and we arrived just as the bells were tolling for monastic evening prayer. Of course, I had no idea what monastic Evening Prayer was, all I saw was a line of monks clad in all black processing two by two into the Church while we tried to figure out where the heck to go! This was just what I thought seminary would be like: intense and intimidating.

I quickly realized, however, that this was not the measure of seminary life. As I sheepishly entered the seminarian refectory (cafeteria), I was shocked to see that there was a Super Bowl party going on. There was a huge pot of gumbo on and the guys were settling in to watch the game together. They were having fun! They were normal people! And even the monks, who run the seminary, quickly revealed the great joy that they have in their vocation as I met with the rector of the seminary and some the other priests on staff.
This experience has driven me ever since to try to get guys who are open to priesthood to “come and see” what seminary life is all about. I was especially grateful on this trip for our six men who are in formation, all of whom stepped up and gave great witness to our guests. It is these trips, these conversations, these interactions, and these moments for prayer that allow many men to take the final plunge and start the application process. The money that we raise for tuition gives us flexibility in offering experiences for men who are not yet in seminary formation. I am trying to run this department with a view of the whole, and the money raised to offset our largest budget item is a great gift to all of the men who are benefitting from a top notch seminary formation, as well as the men and women who are taking part in other programs that are being offered to foster vocations to the priesthood and religious life.

Called by Name

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Seminary is a challenging time on many levels. The seminarian is tasked with growing in his relationship with the Lord and listening to His voice. He is challenged in the classroom, and in the pastoral application of what he has learned. He is challenged when he was to figure out how to effectively preach and teach the faith. One of the biggest adjustments for a seminarian, however, might be becoming a “public person.”

Father Nick Adam

When I started working at WTOK-TV in Meridian and anchoring the sportscast each night, I couldn’t help but notice when people would stare at me. I would go to Wal-Mart and someone would glance over to me and it was for just a split second longer than a normal glance. After a while I realized that people were trying to figure out where they knew me from! Some people would recognize me and come over and speak with me like we were old friends, after all, they saw me everyday. It took time for me to get comfortable with that reality, and so it was funny to me when I left television, went to seminary, and then started wearing a roman collar and noticing a similar phenomenon. When you wear clerics, you make a statement about who you are and what you are about, and people react. Many react with curiosity, others with joy (mostly Catholics ha!), and some (very few in my experience) with suspicion or even anger or hatred.

We give seminarians a chance to get used to this experience before they reach ordination. At about the halfway point of their formation, a seminarian typically receives “candidacy.” They make a public declaration that in good conscience they believe they are being called to the priesthood, and they start to wear a roman collar in public and become a public representative of the church. The seminarian begins to see the effect that the identity that they will take on with ordination will have on their life. When someone sees a roman collar, they should expect to be cared about, listened to and respected. In some ways priests need to be “all things to all people,” especially when someone is in need. This is why the men get the chance, when they are ready, to experience this before ordination. Grace builds on nature, and so if our men do not get in the habit of being there for people in a real way before ordination, they will not magically start being there for parishioners once they get ordained. Wearing clerics before ordination can give them valuable insight into the responsibility they are taking on to care for the People of God.

I wanted to explain this process because I often get that question, and our seminarians who have received candidacy do as well: why do some guys who are not yet priests wear the collar? The roman collar does not equal priesthood, but it should make someone confident that the person wearing one knows the Lord and wants to bring them into deeper relationship with Him.

Vocations Events

Friday, October 9, 2020 – First annual Homegrown Harvest Gala and Fundraiser (virtual)

For more information and sponsorship opportunities visit: https://one.bidpal.net/homegrownharvest2020/welcome

Called by name

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In the past month I have visited several of our diocesan schools and I have had a great time getting to know the principals, staff and students at places like Cathedral School in Natchez, St. Aloysius in Vicksburg, Sr. Thea Bowman in Jackson, and St. Jospeh School in Greenville. I have fond memories of having priests as guests in the classroom when I was a Catholic School student, and I hope that my visits to our schools help give our children a firm grasp of what a call to the priesthood or religious life might “sound” like.

Father Nick Adam

I tend to highlight two important facts at any school or parish that I visit. I think these two points are unknown to most, and so if my audience remembers nothing else, I hope they remember Father Nick’s “two points.”
Point number one, the desire to get married and have a family does not mean that a young person’s discernment is over. It is a part of our very biology that we desire to love someone else in this world as fully as possible, and the Lord has raised marriage to the level of a sacrament so that a man and a woman can share that love in a fruitful way. However, Jesus reveals in the Gospel that some men and women are called to forgo that natural calling and say yes to a supernatural gift that comes forth in a celibate life. Jesus goes so far to say “…let anyone accept this who can.” (Matthew 19:19) So point number one reminds young people (and older folks as well) that Jesus asks us to give Him the first say, and if you are asked to choose celibacy with generosity, God will bring forth abundant love in your life.

Point number two, speaking to a priest like me about a vocation does not mean I am going to sign you up to fill in for me at the parish next week! In fact, even going so far as enrolling in the seminary or a house of formation does not mean that you are locked in for life! The church provides years of formation to men and women so they they can fully discern whether they are being called or not. I will never push someone into a choice they have not come to freely, but I do hope that more and more young people will take advantage of the church’s resources that allow them to pray, study, and have the support of a community conducive to good discernment. A person who feels they may be called to priesthood or religious life and is considering entering formation should be prepared to offer the Lord two years. If you can commit to two years of joyful discernment, then you can rest assured that the Lord will use that time well, and again, you can always leave if you discern marriage is the call for you!

As I say often, I am so zealous about spreading the word regarding priestly formation because after my first two years in the seminary, I didn’t want to leave! Being supported by so many wonderful faculty members and leaders of the church, and being in a community of like minded individuals all striving for holiness and pushing one another in a healthy way was an amazing experience.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support of our six seminarians, all of whom are doing well. Please pray for many young men and women throughout the diocese who are pondering the Lord’s call.
– Father Nick Adam

Vocations Events

Friday, October 9, 2020 – First annual Homegrown Harvest Gala and Fundraiser (virtual)
Visit https://one.bidpal.net/homegrownharvest2020 to support this event.

Called by Name

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I received an email from Father Augustine Foley recently. Father Augustine is a Benedictine monk who teaches philosophy to the seminarians at St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington, Louisiana. Everyone who attends St. Ben’s (nicknamed that thanks to the Benedictines who run the place) know that Father Augustine is the monk who takes photos: photos of birds, deer, monastic liturgies, football games between the seminarians, etc.

Father Nick Adam

If something is happening on campus, Father Augustine is taking a photo of it. So, the email I received from Father Augustine was, of course, a photo. It was a picture of Grayson Foley (no relation to the photographer!), one of our newest seminarians, fishing the pond adjacent to the beautiful Abbey Church.

I was struck by the photo not just because it was a particularly beautiful shot of the Abbey grounds, but also because just eight years ago in August of 2012, I was Grayson. I was brand new at the seminary and struck by the beauty of the place. I loved the acreage that I could explore and the time I could spend speaking to the Lord by one of the ponds or running the trails through the woods. Grayson, and our five other seminarians, are all at different stages of their priestly formation, but all of them are getting the help that they need to make a diligent discernment, to confidently declare “yea or nay” on the question of diocesan priesthood.

It has been such a joy to see two new men have the courage to ask that question this year. I pray that their time in seminary is as joy-filled as mine was. If you look at the photo, you see a picture of peace. Peace comes to our heart when we finally stop trying to do everything on our own and we begin to allow the Lord to help us decide what we will do with our lives. Peace comes when we bring our sufferings and our joys and our fears and our triumphs to God and we see our life through the lens of the Lord. In short, peace comes when we put God first.

Grayson Foley enjoys a quite moment of fishing on the pond adjacent to Abbey Church at St. Joseph Seminary College in Covington, Louisiana. (Photo by Father Augustine Foley, O.S.B.)

As I have stated in this space many times, there are men and women who are being called to discern religious life in our diocese right now, I hazard to say many more than those who are currently in discernment are being called. If you want to find peace, give your life over to the Lord, give Him the time and space to work with you, mold you, form you and love you. As challenging as priesthood has been over the past two plus years, I would not change a thing. I am doing what I was called to do, and there is a measure of peace and stillness in my heart despite any disturbances that arise at the surface.
I ask the reader to seek to answer this question: have I placed God at the forefront of my life, have I even asked the question in prayer, Lord, what do you want me to do with my life? If that question remains unanswered, come speak with me. That’s what I’m here to do, to help faithful Catholics find that peace that comes from listening to God’s call and following his will in your life.

Vocations Events

Friday, October 9, 2020 – First annual Homegrown Harvest Gala and Fundraiser (virtual)

For more information and sponsorship opportunities visit: https://one.bidpal.net/homegrownharvest2020/welcome

Called by Name

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I hope you have enjoyed getting to know our seminarians over the past several issues of the Mississippi Catholic, we still have two more men to feature, starting with Will Foggo this week. Our seminarians are getting back to their academic commitments this month as they return to study at St. Joseph Seminary College and Notre Dame Seminary. St. Joseph is where most of our men start out their studies and then everyone goes to Notre Dame for their graduate work in Theology.

Father Nick Adam

But this summer our men were spread throughout the diocese engaging in pastoral work and getting to know priests around the area. This was one of the greatest gifts of the “Tour de Priest.” I was able to spend time with a few of our men as they engaged in a different part of their formation. I spent a good while in Starkville with Carlisle Beggerly and listened as he delivered a very impressive reflection in the context of evening prayer and did the same in Jackson with Andrew Bowden.

Prior to their return to the seminary, our seminarians and I gathered in Natchez for some time to build community amongst ourselves. I am so pleased with the men who are in formation for our diocese as I believe they are authentically seeking God’s will in their lives and only that. In my mind now the calendar turns over and I look to the future. Who is the next young man who wants to respond to the mysterious call the Lord has placed on his heart? That call that says: “you need to see if priesthood is for you, I want you to go and see.” I’m in the midst of scheduling out the rest of my year. I’ll be visiting schools in person and via Zoom/YouTube/WhateverElseINeedToUse and traveling to parishes and campuses around the diocese. But I could always use more help. The best thing you can do is pray for more vocations, but if you want to do one more thing, tell a young man you admire that they would make a good priest, and encourage them to get in touch with me. They can go to www.jacksonpriests.com to find out all they need to know and send me an email or give me a phone call.

We have six men in the seminary, and they are a great gift, let’s continue to call forth more men to consider this path, a path that leads to answers, a path that leads to challenge, a path that the Lord could be calling them to take.

Vocations Events

Friday, October 9, 2020 – First annual Homegrown Harvest Gala and Fundraiser (virtual)

Email nick.adam@jacksondiocese.org if interested in attending this event.