Meet Our Seminarians

Stephen Jones

What is your home parish?
My home parish is St. Monica in Edmond.

What seminary do you attend?
I attend the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

If it is God’s will, what year will you be ordained a priest?
If it is God’s will, I will be ordained a priest in 2024.

What advice would you give to someone discerning a call to the priesthood?
Make it a priority to spend time in front of the Blessed Sacrament in prayer, daily if possible. The Eucharist is the Real Presence of Jesus Christ himself, and he wants to spend time with you! Also, find a spiritual director who can walk with you and help you hear and respond to the Lord’s call for you in your discernment.

What do you look forward to most about becoming a priest?
I most look forward to celebrating Mass and hearing confessions. I look forward to celebrating Mass because it is making the Lord truly present in the Eucharist every day. I look forward to hearing confessions because that is how God wishes to bring healing, mercy and forgiveness to his people.

Name one thing that every Catholic needs to know.
Every Catholic needs to know that God is truly present among us in the Eucharist, and he deeply desires our salvation. He loves each of us in an incredibly personal and unique way, and he wants us to spend eternity with him in heaven. Our life here on earth is preparation for that!

Why choose a life of sacrificial love?
Everyone is called to live a life of sacrificial love, whether that be as a married husband or wife, a religious brother or sister, as a lay consecrated single person, or as a priest of Jesus Christ. If I am truly called to the priesthood, I choose it because that is where Jesus has called me, and it is where I will be most fully satisfied and fulfilled. I desire to give myself to the people of the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City to serve and love them in order to witness the love that God has for all of us.

Stephen Jones
Pontifical North American College
Via del Gianicolo, 14
00165 Roma RM, Italy

John Grim

What is your home parish?
My home parish is Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Chandler.

What seminary do you attend?
I attend Kenrick-Glennon, St. Louis MO.

If it is God’s will, what year will you be ordained a priest?
God willing, I will be ordained in 2025.

What advice would you give to someone discerning a call to the priesthood?
The best thing you can do to discern priesthood is to foster a life of prayer and go to confession often. It is hard to listen to God when we reject him by our sins, but through constant prayer you will come to know the Lord.

What do you look forward to most about becoming a priest?
I am blown away by the prospect of becoming a priest and witnessing the miracle of the Eucharist daily.

Name one thing that every Catholic needs to know.
Every Catholic needs to know that God loves them, that God thirsts for them and that God is relentlessly inviting you into the most awesome relationship ever!

Why choose a life of sacrificial love?
The very nature of love is sacrificial. We are all called to a sacrificial love; I am simply choosing a particular kind of sacrifice that gives me the freedom to open my heart to an incredible love that uniquely imitates the life of Christ in the Holy Spirit. I would give anything to participate in such a love.

John Grim
Kenrick-Glennon Seminary
5200 Glennon Dr.
St. Louis, MO 63119

Jonah Beckham

What is your home parish?
Saint John the Baptist, Edmond

What seminary do you attend?
Kendrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis.

If it is God’s will, what year will you be ordained a priest?
If it is God’s will, I will be ordained a priest in 2025.

What advice would you give to someone discerning a call to the priesthood?
Listen. God speaks to us in the quiet and stillness of our hearts and it is through listening to him that God’s plan for your life will be open to you. Give yourself to Mary, the mother of all vocations.

What do you look forward to most about becoming a priest?
I look forward most to giving the sacraments to God’s people and most of all being the witness of faith the same way priests have been a witness of faith in my life.

Name one thing that every Catholic needs to know.
Every Catholic needs to know the importance and how much of a blessing it is to receive the Holy Eucharist.

Why choose a life of sacrificial love?
Through living my life through sacrificial love, I have truly felt more love and the loving presence of Christ in my life than I ever have before, and this is the feeling and the way I wish to live my life forever.

Jonah Beckham
Kendrick-Glennon Seminary
5200 Glennon Dr.
St. Louis, MO 63119

Joseph Allen III

What is your home parish?
My home parish is St. John in Edmond.

What seminary do you attend?
I attend the Pontifical North American College in Rome.

If it is God’s will, what year will you be ordained a priest?
God willing, I will be ordained in the year of our Lord 2026.

What advice would you give to someone discerning a call to the priesthood?
My advice would be to take the leap and pursue the call. If you enter seminary and are not called, the worst that can happen is you leave a better man.

What do you look forward to most about becoming a priest?
The ability to serve God’s people through the sacraments, especially that of reconciliation and the Mass.

Name one thing that every Catholic needs to know.
Go to confession often, not only will it assist in the growth of your relationship with God, but also, a state of grace is required to receive the body, blood, soul and divinity of our Lord in the Eucharist.

Why choose a life of sacrificial love?
Living a life of sacrificial love helps in growth with your relationship with God and gives an opportunity to serve the people of God in a more complete way. Furthermore, it allows one to stay humble through Christ and raise his name by giving him all the glory.

Joseph Allen III
Pontifical North American College
Via del Gianicolo, 14
Roma RM, Italy
00165

Max Marcott

What is your home parish?
My home parish is Saint James the Greater Catholic Church in Oklahoma City.

What seminary do you attend?
I am serving at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help.

If it is God’s will, what year will you be ordained a priest?
God willing, I will be ordained a priest in 2025.

What advice would you give to someone discerning a call to the priesthood?
Do not be afraid. God will never abandon you, for you are his beloved child, regardless of your age. Remember that you could never desire your own good or the good of another more than God. No matter what the Lord is calling you to, your main job, as hard as it can be, is simple. Open your heart to our Lord, invite him into every corner, and then share the love that he will instill there.

What do you look forward to most about becoming a priest?
I look forward to celebrating and administering the sacraments, proclaiming the Kingdom with the graces of ordination and giving blessings!

Name one thing that every Catholic needs to know.
Every Catholic needs to know what “poverty of spirit” means, and that our humanity is a priceless gift.

Why choose a life of sacrificial love?
Every vocation calls us to live a life of sacrificial love. We never can directly love God the way that he loves us, but through sacrificial love for one another, and for the sake of his name, God provides a way for us to truly reciprocate his love. If you always run from sacrifice, you will always run from love.

Max Marcott
Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help
3214 N Lake Ave
Oklahoma City, OK 73118

Rendon Chambers

What is your home parish?
My home parish is Saint Francis of Assisi in Oklahoma City.

What seminary do you attend?
I attend Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary.

If it is God’s will, what year will you be ordained a priest?
I will be ordained a priest in 2026 at the earliest.

What advice would you give to someone discerning a call to the priesthood?
I recommend keeping an open mind, even if you are fairly sure about your vocation. After all, God speaks to us when we least expect it. This brings me to my other piece of advice: listen. Find some time for silent contemplation with God, away from the daily distractions. This allows the Lord to bless you with thoughts that point to the direction to which he desires you to go.

What do you look forward to most about becoming a priest?
The thing that excites me most about the priesthood is the ability to serve the people of God by administering the sacraments. Sacraments are the ways in which we physically witness the graces of God, and it is with this appealing duty of the priest that makes me feel called to this vocation.

Name one thing that every Catholic needs to know.
I believe the most important thing that a Catholic must know is the reality of the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament. Throughout my life, I have found that the easiest way to find God is to go and see him in the physical, tangible way in which he manifests himself to us. In the seminary, I am blessed with so much time to adore Christ in the Eucharist and make my love for him more perfect, hoping to one day reflect on the perfect, unconditional love he has for me.

Why choose a life of sacrificial love?
Choosing a life of sacrificial love is a special type of selfless love; a love that Christ urges each and every one of us to strive for.

Rendon Chambers
Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary
1300 S. Steele St.
Denver, CO 80210-2599

Dominick Denney

What is your home parish?
My home parish is Saint Francis Xavier in Enid.

What seminary do you attend?
I am in my spiritual year at Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary.

If it is God’s will, what year will you be ordained a priest?
If it is God’s will that I be his priest, I will be ordained in 2025.

What advice would you give to someone discerning a call to the priesthood?
The advice I would give someone discerning a call to the priesthood is to pray and do not be afraid. The Lord will bring you where he wants you to be. Be patient, but steady in your prayer. The Lord works best in silence, so you must give him time to reveal things to you piece by piece.

What do you look forward to most about becoming a priest?
If I am to be a priest, I most look forward to being able to celebrate the sacraments with the people of God. There is nothing I desire more than to be able to bring people closer to their creator.

Name one thing that every Catholic needs to know.
One thing I believe every Catholic should know is that God is calling each of us to love each other and him in a very special way. Whether that is to foster a family of faith, care for a community as a priest, brother or sister in a religious community, or live a life of generous service as a single person, he has a plan for each of us that is more amazing than anything we can imagine.

Why choose a life of sacrificial love?
I have decided to pursue a life of sacrificial love because I believe this is the way that I will best be able to love and serve God, but also his people.

Dominick Denney
Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary
1300 S. Steele St.
Denver, CO 80210-2599

Patrick Clowe

What is your home parish?
My home parish is St. Mary Catholic Church in Ardmore

What seminary do you attend?
I am serving at Saint Charles Borromeo:

5024 N Grove Ave
Warr Acres, OK 73122

Zachary Berntsen

What is your home parish?
My home parish is Holy Name in Chickasha.

What seminary do you attend?
I attend Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary.

Robert Blaschke

What is your home parish?
My home parish is Blessed Sacrament in Lawton.

What seminary do you attend?
I am a seniorat Conception Seminary College.

If it is God’s will, what year will you be ordained a priest?
God willing, I will be ordained in the year of the Lord 2027.

What advice would you give to someone discerning a call to the priesthood?
Trust in God and be willing to make that first step, no matter what vocation it is toward.

What do you look forward to most about becoming a priest?
What I look forward to most about the priesthood is celebrating the sacraments, especially Reconciliation and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.

Name one thing that every Catholic needs to know.
“Now” is always the most important moment in your life. Pursue God now. Serve God now. Love God now.

Why choose a life of sacrificial love?
We are all called by Christ to imitate his life of sacrificial love. I believe that the best way for me to imitate Christ is to be his priest and carry on his ministry.

Robert Blaschke
Conception Seminary College
PO Box 502
Conception, MO 64433-0502

Henry Nguyen

Home Parish: Saint Francis of Assisi, Oklahoma City

Henry Nguyen
Conception Seminary College
PO Box 502
Conception, MO 64433-0502

Nathaniel Boyd

What is your home parish?
My home parish is Saint John the Baptist in Edmond.

What seminary do you attend?
I attend Conception Seminary College in Missouri.

If it is God’s will, what year will you be ordained a priest?
God willing, I will be ordained a priest in 2028.

What advice would you give to someone discerning a call to the priesthood?
A great piece of advice that helped me to discern was to always try and go see Jesus in adoration at least once a week.

What do you look forward to most about becoming a priest?
I look forward most to celebrating the Mass, and through the words of consecration turning bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Jesus.

Name one thing that every Catholic needs to know.
Every Catholic needs to know that in the silence of prayer God will meet you and talk to you. Make time for daily silence, even if it is only for five minutes. God will meet you there.

Why choose a life of sacrificial love?
I choose a life of sacrificial love because that is what Jesus did. He died for me and I want to give my life, that was never mine but always his, in shepherding his flock.

To learn more about seminary, contact Rev. Brian Buettner at bbuettner@archokc.org or (405) 721-9351. okcvocations.com.

Nathaniel Boyd
Conception Seminary College
PO Box 502
Conception, MO 64433-0502