National Jesuit News » Path to Priesthood

Jesuit’s ‘Path to Priesthood’ Airs on CatholicTV

NJN Editor — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 13:00:52 +0000

Jesuit Father Radmar Jao’s path to ordination will begin airing today on CatholicTV’s program “The Call”. Fr. Jao was ordained a priest in the Society of Jesus last year and the months leading up to his ordination were documented in a series of video diaries published via YouTube as “Path to Priesthood”. CatholicTV is now rebroadcasting these video segments as a shortened, complete program to their audience.

Fr. Jao, formerly an actor, joined the Society of Jesus in 2001. Today, he serves as a vocation promoter for the California Province of the Society of Jesus. The “Path to Priesthood” series was shot when Fr. Jao was completing his last year of theological studies at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University at Berkeley in California. The series captured the ups and downs of Fr. Jao’s journey and CatholicTV viewers will have an opportunity to follow along as well as see the ordination ceremony in Spokane, Wash.

The program will also be available at CatholicTV’s website and through their “on demand” channel. Fr. Jao will also appear on CatholicTV’s live show, “This is the Day”, on Tuesday, June 26 at 10:30 a.m. His interview will be available to view via CatholicTV’s YouTube channel after it airs live.

Below are the Eastern Daylight Standard airtimes for “The Call: The Jesuits – Path to Priesthood”. Check your local listings for more information:
The Call: The Jesuits – Path to Priesthood
Monday, 6/4 – 11:30am (premiere)
Wednesday, 6/6 – 6:00 a.m.
Friday, 6/8 – 9:00 a.m.
Sunday, 6/10 – 11:30 p.m.

Path to Priesthood: On Retreat One Week Before Ordinations

Kaitlyn McCarthy Schnieders — Mon, 06 Jun 2011 10:30:31 +0000

Ordinations in Spokane are less than a week away, and in preparation, Radmar is on retreat at the Campion Renewal Center in Weston, Ma.

“Prayer has been a main sustenance for me in these past couple of weeks as you know…Being on retreat is like a vacation, vacation with Jesus, really.”

As we follow Jao on his journey to ordination in June, leave a comment or ask a question here on the National Jesuit News blog, comment on YouTube or on Twitter via @AskAJesuit and he will respond in an upcoming future video diary. Check back weekly for more video diaries from Jao.

Path to Priesthood: Thank You

Kaitlyn McCarthy Schnieders — Mon, 23 May 2011 12:00:18 +0000

“I hope that these videos continue to feed your own prayer as they are actually beginning to feed mine. I am surprised how much I am actually thinking about my own path now, toward this path to priesthood, because I have to be conscience about every experience I have every day now, I’m thinking ‘okay, can I blog about this’ and it forces me to reflect on what God is doing and how God is actively working in me and through me to affect other people.”

Path to Priesthood: One Month Until Ordination

Kaitlyn McCarthy Schnieders — Mon, 16 May 2011 12:00:04 +0000

Radmar Jao is officially one month away from being ordained a priest, and if there is one thing he wants this vlog edition to communicate, it is his excitement at this next stage of his life as a Jesuit.

“I’m feeling excited that the time is coming…This is not the end of a journey. No, if anything the excitement is really in the knowing that a new stage of my life is beginning,” says Radmar.

Path to Priesthood: The Process of Discernment

Kaitlyn McCarthy Schnieders — Mon, 09 May 2011 12:11:49 +0000

“In my own discernment, it’s been an ongoing process; what really turned me around during the discernment process was a prayer experience I had during a discernment retreat, where I got this real sense of Jesus, falling in love with me. It sounds strange, but it’s a relationship and ultimately that’s why I’m a Jesuit, because of my relationship with Christ.”

Path to Priesthood: Why I Became a Jesuit

Kaitlyn McCarthy Schnieders — Mon, 25 Apr 2011 13:00:37 +0000

In this video diary entry, Radmar talks about why he became a Jesuit and his struggle with realizing his vocation.

“In all of these things I was doing, I thought I was doing God’s work and this is all that is required of me,” says Jao. “But I just felt like God kept pushing and tugging and saying ‘No, no, no, I want more, I want more’ to the point where I just started playing bargaining games with God saying ‘Look, if you want me to become a priest, then give me this audition, help me pay my rent, do all of these things to prove that this is what you want for me.’ Be careful what you pray for, because God answers prayers.”

Path to Priesthood: Jesuit Finds Renewal in Pastoral Ministry

Kaitlyn McCarthy Schnieders — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 13:00:30 +0000

One step of Jesuit formation on the path to priesthood is working in pastoral ministry, which helps prepare the Jesuit for his life immediately after ordination. Often during this formation time, the Jesuit will work in a variety of places; for Jesuit Radmar Jao it is as a deacon at Saint Agnes Parish in San Francisco, CA and the Children’s Hospital in Oakland, CA. In this video, Radmar talks about a pastoral ministry experience that deeply impacted him.

“My strength lies in accompanying people in the midst of their pain, in the midst of their struggle, in the midst of their confusion, just to be able to be with them and walk with them,” says Radmar.

As we follow Jao on his journey to ordination in June, leave a comment or ask a question here on the National Jesuit News blog or on YouTube and he will respond in an upcoming future video diary. And check back weekly for more video diaries from Jao.

Jesuit Starts Video Diary on his Path to Priesthood

NJN Editor — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 13:00:48 +0000

Along with preparing for the priesthood, studies and comprehensive exams at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University at Berkeley, soon-to-be ordained Jesuit Radmar Jao is discovering that he has created yet another set of expectations by participating in the Path to Priesthood video series.

“Expectations are something that I struggle with a lot. Being a performer, I feel like I have to perform; I feel like I have expectations of myself and I pay attention to other people’s expectations of me. And, that necessarily isn’t such a wise thing to do, I know, and I’ve kind of been working on that in my formation, just to…be. To be with whatever situation I may find myself with, but it’s hard,” says Jao.

Jesuit Invites Viewers to Join Him on His Path to Priesthood

NJN Editor — Mon, 04 Apr 2011 13:00:33 +0000

Today, we launch a new online video series via YouTube focusing on a Jesuit in the last few months of formation before his ordination to the priesthood. Called “Path to Priesthood”, the series gives viewers an opportunity to follow Jesuit Radmar Jao in the months leading up to his ordination, join his actual ordination ceremony and hear his reflections before his first assignment as a Jesuit priest. The series also offers a collection of weekly video diaries from Jao himself where he gives his thoughts on the approaching ordination, to what happens in his class, ministry or that day in his community.

Jao, who is currently in his third year of theological studies at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University at Berkeley in California, is preparing for his ordination in June in Spokane, Wash. Formerly an actor, Jao joined the Society of Jesus in 2001. He also currently serves as a deacon at St. Agnes Parish in San Francisco.

You can view the first episode below and make sure to come back next week for Jao’s first video diary on what his life is like as he prepares to become a priest.