Brian Meinders excited to learn from diocesan priests, deacons

As Brian Meinders approaches his ordination to the transitional diaconate on May 20, he is looking forward to his new liturgical role in ministry.

“It’s exciting to think that I’ll be able to preach at Mass and to celebrate Baptisms, weddings and funerals,” he said. “It’s humbling to be chosen for that service … In the Diocese of Trenton we’re blessed to have so many great priests and deacons, and I’m looking forward to learning from and serving with them.”

The parishioner of St. John the Baptist Parish, Allentown, takes very seriously his “tremendously significant step” toward the priesthood.

“Through ordination, we receive an indelible character in our soul which conforms us to Christ,” Meinders pointed out, “which gives us the grace and responsibility to serve God and his Church.”

Born in Lindenwold in 1984 to parents Richard and Luanne Meinders, the future deacon attended Ocean Day School and Lakewood High School, both in Lakewood, graduating from

LHS in 2003. He studied political science and psychology from 2003-2005 at Rutgers University, New Brunswick.

Returning to education in 2018, he began studies in St. Charles Borromeo Seminary, Wynnewood, Pa., where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in philosophy, and will complete a Master of Divinity degree this month and Master of Arts in theology degree in May 2024.

Summer ministry assignments for Meinders have been in the parishes of Our Lady of Good Counsel, Moorestown; St. John the Baptist, Allentown; St. Pius X, Broomall, Pa.; Holy Family Home, Philadelphia, and St. John the Evangelist, Morrisville, Pa.

Meinders’ prior secular work and volunteering experiences have included being a professional poker player, Latin teacher and coaching chess.

The soon-to-be Rev. Mr. Meinders said that during the Mass of Ordination, he will be vested in the diaconal vestments of a dalmatic and stole by Father Michael Wallack, pastor of St. John the Baptist Parish. He will return to Our Lady of Good Counsel Parish to serve his diaconal year assignment.

By EmmaLee Italia, Contributing Editor

Prayer at the center

Continued from 9 in 2019; Nativity, Fair Haven, in 2020, and St. Charles Borromeo, Cinnaminson, in 2021. These assignments, Rev. Mr. Hrycenko said, have given him the opportunity to learn from many diocesan priests.

“All of them encouraged me to ask questions about what happens at the parish, the daily life of a priest, or why they celebrate the liturgy a certain way,” he said. “That openness and honesty was tremendously helpful … Although the parishes … are diverse and have different personalities, they are all striving for the same goal: honoring and worshipping God.”

The impact of prayer, Rev. Mr. Hrycenko said, “especially praying a Holy Hour … before the Blessed Sacrament,” was a vital lesson he took from the Mount St. Mary Seminary rector, who encouraged the seminarians “to live our holy hour … [as] the center of not only a priest’s prayer life but also their entire life.”

As for his vocation, Rev. Mr. Hrycenko hopes “to be able to encounter Jesus Christ. My life as a priest has only one goal: to help people get into heaven.”