June 2, 2014
The scene: the New York City Subway in the early ’70s. Noisy. Hot. Graffiti-stained rail cars. A virtual sea of humanity flowing in and out like the undulating tides.
It may seem an odd place to receive a calling to the priesthood, but Father Joe Ciccone, CSP, said it was probably during one of these trips going back and forth to work with the thousands of others just like him when it really happened.
The future priest had a successful career on Madison Avenue for seven years when he decided he has something more to offer as a priest.
“At first I rejected the inclination, but I began to seriously pray about it,” said Father Ciccone, who is now celebrating 25 years of priesthood and currently serves as director of the St. Thomas More Newman Center at The Ohio State University in Columbus. “I felt God was providing a variety of promptings – via pop music, hearing Scripture proclaimed at Church, or even by ideas floating in my mind. Finally, I felt I couldn’t ignore the “thoughts.” It was a bit frightening to leave my job and ‘take the plunge.’ But, the Lord seemed to open the doors and guide me.”
With his background in media, an Amityville Dominican Sister suggested the Paulists to Father Ciccone.
“They just seemed to me to be very aware of and involved with our American culture,” said Father Ciccone, who attended Catholic grade and high school, and then studied communication design at the Pratt Institute in his native Brooklyn, N.Y., graduating in 1974. “I was fascinated by the sense of openness, creativity, and willing to work with those who identify with the American spirit, especially those who search for God or question Catholic Christianity in particular.”
At the age of 30, Father Ciccone entered the Paulist novitiate in 1983 and was ordained in 1989. He started out in campus ministry at St. Andrew’s parish at Clemson University in Clemson, S.C., from 1988-93, then served at St. Thomas Aquinas University Parish at the University of Colorado in Boulder from 1993-2000.
Father Ciccone moved across the country to join the staff at the Paulist Center in Boston from 2000-2005 before being named pastor of Immaculate Conception Parish in Knoxville, Tenn., from 2005-10. He has been serving as director of the Newman Center in Columbus since 2010.
“I would never had had the opportunity to know people from so many parts of the country if I had not joined the Paulists for priestly ministry,” said Father Ciccone. “I also enjoy, very much, the art of preaching. There is such opportunity to provide a vehicle for people to experience the Holy Spirit and have their lives changed.”
Reflecting on quarter-century of priestly ministry, Father Ciccone said it is easy to forget how much happens in 25 years.
“There are moments when it feels like yesterday where I began the Paulist novitiate or the early years of my priesthood in South Carolina”, he said, “then there are those other days when I am reading about people on Facebook – those who I may have known as college students – and now see how their own children are going off to college! What has surprised me is that even secular and non-religious people need someone to lead them in ritual-making for meaning in their lives, and how – as a priest – you are given access into a variety of peoples’ lives, where you can offer them blessing and a taste of the mystery of God.”