Diocesan seminarian Nicholas “Nick” Brown, right, at his May 1 graduation ceremony at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wisconsin. Brown will be ordained a priest May 22 in Honolulu. (Photo courtesy of William Tulua)
Diocesan seminarian Nicholas “Nick” Brown was packing boxes and gearing up for graduation when the Hawaii Catholic Herald called him on April 28. Taking time away from his last days at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology in Wisconsin, Brown reflected on his nearly six-year journey to the priesthood ending with ordination this month.
“It’s a time of transitions,” Brown said. From his Midwest dorm back to the Islands. From studies to parish work. From the pew to the altar.
“I’m still nervous,” he said. “It’s like starting a new job, but it’s different. It’s another life change.”
Bishop Larry Silva will ordain Brown at 6 p.m., May 22, at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa.
He will become Hawaii’s newest diocesan priest since Kauai-born Anthony Rapozo was ordained in 2011.
Brown, 49, grew up in Kalihi-Palama. He attended St. Theresa and Damien Memorial schools. Before entering the seminary, he studied briefly at Hawaii Pacific University and earned two associate’s degrees from Cannon’s Business College in Honolulu. He also worked several part-time jobs, including stints with Thom McAn shoe store, the Hawaii Medical Group and weekend reception duties at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Peace.
Brown later got a full-time job at Hawaiian Airlines. His 20-year career with the company came to an end in 2009 when, after attending a discernment weekend, he felt a strong call to the diocesan priesthood.
“It was like everything I touched, no matter what I picked up — newspaper, book, TV, radio — was talking about service,” Brown explained. “So I said, ‘OK Lord, I guess you’re trying to tell me something.’”
On May 10 that year, the feast day of St. Damien of Molokai, Brown received his acceptance letter from the diocese. He was sent to Cardinal Stritch University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for undergraduate seminarian work. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in religious studies in December 2012.
Brown just completed his master’s degree studies at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology, an institution for older vocations, in Hales Corners, Wisconsin. He graduated May 1.
Formation for the priesthood had its challenges, Brown said. Adjusting to academia after being years removed from the classroom was at times difficult.
“Being a second-career seminarian after working, I brought life experience with the job and things,” he said. “But it was a struggle for me with papers, trying to learn the philosophy, theology.”
Brown balanced bookwork by deepening his spirituality. He devoted much time in seminary to prayer and living out his call to serve God by “putting others first.”
“It’s his will not mine, and I have to always remember that,” Brown said. “I have to say OK, just let go and let God.”
The Island seminarian noted that his most enjoyable experience during formation was seeing the diversity of the universal church. At Sacred Heart, Brown met other men studying for the priesthood from places like Burundi, Cameroon, Poland, Vietnam and the mainland.
Brown said his classmates loved learning about the Hawaiian culture as well. He began during his first year in Wisconsin a tradition of gifting seminary graduates with kukui nut leis.
“I’ve made some really good friends,” Brown said.
Even the heavenly hosts
Brown is feeling “mixed emotions” as his May 22 ordination nears. He recalls the powerful ceremony last June when he was ordained a transitional deacon, the last major step before becoming a priest, at the co-cathedral. Brown especially remembers the chanting of the Litany of Saints during the ordination rite.
He looks forward to a similar moment when he will be elevated to the priesthood.
“It’s the whole community, the whole church, even the heavenly hosts, praying,” Brown said. “I could feel that. I think it’s going to be different this time around.”
He thanks his family, the local Catholic community and Bishop Silva for their support throughout his journey. Brown is particularly grateful to his siblings, as well as his mom and stepdad, Natividad and Aldelfo Alfaro, who live in Seattle.
Following ordination, Brown will celebrate his first Mass on Pentecost Sunday, May 24, at the co-cathedral, his home parish. He will begin his first assignment June 1 as parochial vicar at St. Anthony Church in Kailua.
Brown said although he will soon become a diocesan priest, “formation is never finished.” It’s a “lifelong commitment” to serve God as a faithful disciple, he explained. Brown views his ordination as just the first of many more “transitions” to come.
“Even though seminarian life is finished, formation never stops,” he said. “It’s ongoing. It continues until your last breath.”
Validation and praise
Those who know Brown shared words of encouragement and praise for the soon-to-be priest.
Diocesan director of seminarians Father Bill Shannon said he met Brown briefly when he visited Sacred Heart Seminary for the first time in October.
Father Shannon said Brown “is a very popular seminarian with the faculty and other students.”
William “Pila” Tulua, another seminarian for the Diocese of Honolulu, has been studying with Brown in Wisconsin. Tulua said Brown’s “brotherly type of mannerisms” and service-oriented attitude “will be very beneficial for him as a priest and the diocese.”
“I believe Nick answered God’s call in becoming one of the people who humbly wash the feet of the people who are on their own journey to Jesus,” he noted. “Nick is there to help them through the sacraments, and as a friend. He will make a good priest, a holy priest for the Diocese of Honolulu.”
Msgr. Ross A. Shecterle, president rector of Sacred Heart Seminary, said Brown has “grown in confidence and self-assuredness and his life of prayer has deepened.”
The Honolulu native, Msgr. Shecterle said, “has a certain warmth, a generous heart, and an ability to make a strong personal connection with people … we know he’ll be a great priest.”
The rector in an email offered Brown the following advice: “Father Nick, always keep your eyes and your ministry fixed upon the loving heart of Jesus, and embrace with your life the words of Mary, his mother, to the servants at the wedding feast of Cana: ‘Do whatever he tells you.’”
