Father Gadenz teaches a group of seminarians by the Sea of Galilee during a visit to the Holy Land in December 2016. Courtesy photo
Wings of Faith Twenty-five years on, ministry of Father Gadenz opens the Word of God to clergy and faithful BY LOIS ROGERS Correspondent
F
ather Pablo Gadenz recently marked the 25th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood in a familiar way, by preparing to settle into a new assignment as associate professor of Sacred Scripture in Mount St. Mary Seminary and University, Emmitsburg, Md. Reflecting on the task that he was invited to assume, with the approval of Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., Father Gadenz noted that opening the door to Scripture for seminarians has been a focus of his ministry since 2008 Father Pablo when he joined the faculty of ImmacGadenz ulate Conception Seminary School of Theology at Seton Hall University, South Orange. As he sees it, this is a vital mission. For in the classes will be seminarians, including a number from the Trenton Diocese. They will one day preach homilies in its churches, employing the lessons of faith and reason in the Catholic tradition that they learned in these classes, he said. “I remember Pope John Paul had written on faith and reason that these are the two wings on which, together, we ascend to the truth of God,” said Father Gadenz. “With all the studies, using reason, I try to open up the Word of God in Scripture written under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in ways that
22 Lives
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will help [them] nourish the faith of Catholics who hear the Scriptures every time they go to Mass.” BEFORE THE PRIESTHOOD The youngest of three children of Renato and Cecilia Gadenz, who hailed from Italy, the family emigrated from Italy to the Trenton Diocese by way of Chile and California. Settled in Tinton Falls when he was six years old, the family joined Eatontown’s St. Dorothea Parish where Pablo was a member of the youth group. After graduating from Red Bank Catholic High School as valedictorian in 1984, he commenced studies in electrical engineering in Princeton University, attended Mass regularly and was active in the university’s Catholic campus ministry pro- 🌾 ““I try to open gram at the Aquinas Institute. up the Word of In an article that appeared God ... in ways that in The Monitor in 1996 shortly will help [them] before his priestly ordination, nourish the faith of Father Gadenz noted that he Catholics ...” had been “content to serve as a dedicated Catholic layman” while pursuing a master’s degree at Columbia University in New York and working three years of employment at AT&T in Middletown. But, he added, during those three years of secular employment, he “began to see the Lord calling me full time to the
THE MONITOR MAGAZINE August 2021
