Catholic Center Holy Hour a meaningful part of priest’s journey

In the final days before being ordained as a priest in the Diocese of Metuchen, then Deacon Jose Lim had a desire to go back and give thanks in a place near and dear to his heart – The Catholic Center at Rutgers University.

On June 21, just three days before being ordained to the priesthood, Deacon Lim (who graduated from Rutgers in 2014) gathered with close friends, fellow Rutgers alumni, and Catholic Center chaplains for a special Holy Hour, time of fellowship and honoring of Deacon Lim and his vocation to the priesthood.

“Thankfulness” was the word Deacon Lim used to open his exhortation in the Catholic Center chapel. When asked to reflect on his time as a Rutgers student, he fondly recalled the profound impact the Catholic Student Association had on him during these formative years. The impact of the community as well as the genuine relationships built there allowed Deacon Lim to encounter his faith in a new way.

“The Catholic Center was very much my spiritual home during my years attending Rutgers University,” he said, noting, “I met some of my best friends there and I encountered the presence of the Lord within those walls. Whether it was through the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, Eucharistic Adoration, Confession, spiritual direction, or simply a good cup of coffee and conversation, that building holds memories for me that are intimately linked to my returning to the Church and my eventual decision to discern a celibate vocation.”

Sister of Jesus Our Hope Anna Palka (who currently serves as a chaplain in the Catholic Center) hosted the evening and participated in CSA with now Father Lim during their time together at Rutgers. “Since our time at the Catholic Center, he has been a man of deep prayer and sincere charity. He naturally led those around him to love the Lord. As I offer my own life to be consecrated to the Lord in my religious vocation, I am so grateful for Father Jose’s support and the witness of his vocational journey.”

This love for the Lord and a giftedness in creating community with those around him was a sentiment echoed by just about every one of the seven individuals who honored Father Lim during the evening. Included, too, were reflections on Father Lim’s genuine heart, humility, and a true willingness to empty himself as Christ did.

After graduating with a nursing degree, Father Lim spent three years discerning with the Brotherhood of Hope when he realized that God was calling him elsewhere. He then returned home and worked as a cardiac nurse in Overlook Medical Center, Summit.

“It’s a poetic analogy” remarked Katie Cerni, who met Father Lim while he was a missionary in Florida State University. “But it’s powerful how, as a former cardiac nurse, Jose quite literally knows the heart of a person while also intimately knowing the heart of the Father,” she said.

Now ordained in the same Diocese that he first found a community within as a college student over a decade ago, there is something special about the full-circle aspect of his vocational journey; A true witness that with an openness to the will of the Father, every piece of a story can be transformed for the greater Glory of God.