When Menard Gaspi looks back at his long journey to becoming a priest – which will end on Thursday, 21 November when he is ordained at St Patrick’s Cathedral, in Parramatta – there are two things that have kept him going.
One of them was prayer, and the other was the love and support of his family.
“Whenever I took time to pray and just to be silent and to reflect on my journey, it puts all the trials and difficulties into context,” he says, adding that in those difficult times his family also gave him the stability and love that he needed.
“Their love and concern and support for me has given me this space to be uncomfortable. I love them so much, and just feel very grateful for them and the support they’ve given me for my journey.”
Menard’s road to the priesthood started 19 years ago during high school. It led him from his home parish of Mary Immaculate, in Bossley Park, through other seminaries and dioceses, to The Holy Spirit Seminary at Harris Park, where he completed his studies. He joined the Sacred Heart Parish at Luddenham-Warragamba while he was still at Holy Spirit seminary, before moving to the parish of St John XXIII Glenwood-Stanhope Gardens in February 2024.
Deacon Menard Gaspi during his ordination to the diaconate at St John XXIII Parish, Glenwood-Stanhope Gardens on Saturday 11 May 2024. Image: Alphonsus Fok/Diocese of Parramatta
He was made a Deacon earlier this year, and once he is ordained to the priesthood will remain at Glenwood-Stanhope Gardens.
Menard hopes him staying in the parish will show young people who have known him as a seminarian, a deacon and then finally a priest, that “I’m just like everyone else, I’m a dude but being asked by God to answer this calling to become his priest. For them I hope it makes the faith a little more grounded and concrete.”
Menard says throughout those 19 years he has kept that “deep passion I had when I was young to help people”, even though his ideas of what it means to be a priest have changed as he has got older.
“A big part of my journey was going through that phase of realising that the priesthood is not a career or a status thing, it’s a calling to love and to serve and to be the image of God for people.”
(L-R) Holy Spirit seminarian Macky Amores, Fr Matthew Dimian, Assistant Parish Priest at St Bernadette’s Parish, Castle Hill, and Deacon Menard before the 2024 City2Surf in August 2024. Image: Alphonsus Fok/Diocese of Parramatta
Another part of this journey for him was acknowledging “God as Father”.
And the priest he hopes to be is akin to that of a father: “One who is present, one who is able to guide, one who offers love and support, one who offers corrections when needed, and a figure who I hope that people will feel is approachable.”
Taking so long to reach his goal, he says, has only increased his feelings of anticipation as the big day approaches.
He remembers several weeks ago practising how to celebrate Mass with Fr Chris del Rosario, and being struck by the realisation that it would not be long before he was doing it for real in front of a congregation.
Seminarian Menard Gaspi (fourth right) with members of his family following his Rite of Admission to Candidacy during Mass for the commencement of the academic year of the Holy Spirit Seminary at St Patrick’s Cathedral, Parramatta. Image: Diocese of Parramatta
This brought home how close he is to the goal he has held for so long. And he admits part of him wants to wait a bit longer because “of the gravity I feel of what’s coming”.
However, he’s also incredibly excited. “This is where I’m meant to be,” he says.
He thinks of Ordination Day as like a portal, where he has no idea what is on the other side. “The adventure excites and scares me at the same time.”
But no matter what happens on the other side of ordination, Menard knows that the journey he has been on is the path that God wanted him to take, and this gives him peace.
Seminarian Menard Gaspi speaks with a member of the faithful following Mass at St Patrick’s Church, Blacktown. Image: Diocese of Parramatta
“Even though my journey has been long, and it’s been difficult, it’s the way that God has fulfilled me and helped me realise who I am and what my gift is to the world.
“Some people would look down upon the journey and say ‘I’m sorry it took you this long’, or ‘you should have been a priest earlier’, but this is the journey that God has put me on.”
As a result of his experience, he wants young people to know that there is no need to rush through life, but to be patient, to persevere and to trust in God.
“If you feel that you’re being called to something you will experience a lot of setbacks and a lot of difficulties along the way,” he says.
“But if you plant your feet in stability and in prayer, and trusting in God, I’m sure that you’ll reach where God is calling you to be.”
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To find out more about Menard’s story, click on these stories below.
Menard Gaspi: Holiness of life must precede priesthood
Seminarian Menard Gaspi on what will make him a better priest
Vows of candidacy to the priesthood ‘a treasure’ for seminarian Menard Gaspi
My hope for our Church: being yeast to build up the world and society
If you would like to know more about the priesthood, visit www.parracatholic.org/seminary, or have any questions contact the Holy Spirit Seminary or the Director of Vocations: Priesthood, on vocations@parracatholic.org
