The Voice of the Southwest will feature regular interviews with seminarians who will hopefully become priests for the Diocese of Gallup. One of the newest to enter is Michael Vento, who is studying at Pope St. John XIII Seminary in Boston, MA.
Can you tell us about your background? How did you come to be a seminarian for the Diocese of Gallup?
[I’m] originally from New York. I moved around a little bit and relocated eventually to Gallup, and was a lay missionary living with the Missionaries of Charity as a full-time volunteer in their shelter and soup kitchen.
How did you get connected with the Missionaries of Charity?
I’m a cradle Catholic and almost lifelong discerner with the priesthood. Jesus started calling me to the priesthood in the 8th grade. And I tried to answer that call a couple times.
The way that I got to the Missionaries of Charity there is that I’ve actually lived with them before at their shelter over in Phoenix – I was their live-in volunteer there. I had just returned to Arizona after discerning with the Benedictines. And then I was a lay missionary for about a year and a half on the streets of Kensington [in Phoenix] with gang and drug outreach. I was on a Catholic farm for a moment – I was looking to start a farm for Catholic families. Then I was in Juarez, Mexico, which is kind of a cartel area, helping to start a shelter for immigrant women and children that were looking to seek asylum in the United States. They had a safe place to stay while they tried to find an appointment to see about getting access to the U.S.
As a cradle Catholic, you know, I did not know how to discern as the Church teaches. What is He calling [me] to? What’s His wish for me in this life? Even something like: what’s a priest versus a monk versus a friar – or are they the same thing or different?
[I would] look into it for a while and meet with my local priest. They were all very generous and interested and start some guidance. But then I wound up moving or the priest wound up being moved to another location. Also, it’s not like you just get hit with a lightning bolt – “I’m supposed to be a priest now”. I’m sure that happens to some people. That wasn’t my experience. For me, it was on my heart – what about the priesthood, and could that be me up there for the Mass?
A piece of clarity that Father Josh Mayer – the vocation director for our diocese – something that he discerned in our first meetings: there was a consistency there. Every time it just kept coming back to: is God calling me to be a priest? Even if it has turned out to be “no” a couple of times. That’s part of discerning. It wasn’t that I wasn’t called to be a priest, period – but in that way, at that time.
I see it that God had more experiences for me to have, to meet more people, and God willing, I become a priest and now I’ll bring all these people with me.
So, where would Jesus be calling me? Where there’s a great need for priests, there’s the work in the vineyard. After coming to meet Father Josh, I stayed for a week. And then after I got back to Arizona, it felt right on every level: externally, spiritually, my heart, my soul. This is what I’m made for, this is what God is asking me to say yes to.
It kind of became clear to me that God is not calling me to move to Gallup to continue the life that I was living. He was calling me there to be part of the people there, to start serving there. And to just go with faith and relying on Him that…He’s going to provide a way for that to happen.
I don’t know what Abraham was thinking, when he was told to leave his home and just start walking. But, you know, God provides. What I’ve been getting reminded of, time and time again, is that God is never outdone in generosity, and that He always gives His children better than we could imagine.
God has given this combination of the right place and the right track – all the people I’ve met, all the conversations, speaking with other volunteers, speaking with those that we serve, just having friendly conversations with someone that came in to get a meal at the shelter and getting to know their story.
God is never outdone in generosity.
What about your family? Are they supportive?
I’m a middle child. My sister is married. So I have my brother-in-law and niece and nephew. And my experience with my family has been: if I’m happy with what I’m doing, they support me.
So you’ve only recently entered the seminary?
Yeah, this academic year of 2025.
And how are you liking it so far? You said you’ve discerned your vocation – is it kind of retreading familiar ground for you a little bit?
I would say that every experience is something brand new. So, being in seminary here, it’s phenomenal in every possible way. Here at Pope St. John the 23rd, this is a seminary for men of a certain vintage, so, specialized for men that are 30 to 60 years old to start the journey. I get to wear clerics, which I didn’t realize until it was time to put those on for the first day. It was somehow an equal amount of joy and humility, like, wow, I get to wear this. And being in the United States – how many people have had their blood shed for wearing this, for being a priest, for being a Christian? Going back to the one true priest, Jesus, shedding His blood for all of us.
Going back to Jesus, he called guys that had work experience and different life experiences. So in a way, it’s not abnormal, calling you at that point in your life, wherever you are. Because Jesus always needs us wherever you are, you know – He’ll come to where we are to call us.
It’s amazing to me the things I’ve learned about myself and about the priesthood…the material we’re starting to study, it’s a good course load.
Here, it is about knowing Jesus, and that’s what we’re learning here, philosophy and theology, all these things. It’s to have this deeper understanding of: “who is God?” And by knowing who God is, He is love. So I’m going to have a better understanding that I am loved, and that I am loved by the whole universe. He did all this, and He actually knows who I am, and He loves me as an individual. And it’s by knowing how much He loves me, that I could share that with other people, because that’s the only way that any of us are going to be called to God, [to] see His beauty and His love for us.
When you’re not, you know, super busy with all the coursework, what are some things you enjoy doing in your downtime?
Downtime, what is that? Is that a Latin word? *laughs*
I would say that also part of being here is having a better understanding of who I am. There’s the spiritual formation, there’s the intellectual formation, but also there’s the formation of being a person, to have that full picture. I’m getting involved in music…I joined the schola [Editor’s note: this is a type of choir that learns sacred chant]. It was pointed out as well by friends in Gallup that if God is calling you to be a priest, you’re going to be leading the Mass, and there’s going to be parts where you’re singing, like it or not. So it’s something that I enjoy developing. The way to learn how to love is to love, the way to learn how to walk is to walk, the way to learn to sing is to sing.
Do you have any favorite authors or books you like to read?
Being here at seminary, there’s so much reading, but I can’t be mad because everything is so interesting and powerful. I now have this newfound appreciation and desire to read these early Church fathers and saints. In my life I enjoyed reading more of things that are nonfiction, things that might help me like about a different computer program or better understand something I’m working on life, like personal development, and also biographies.
Is there anything else you’d like people to know about you or about the seminary process?
If the thought has ever popped up about that you knew this great person, one that seems so happy, joyful, that was a sister, a brother, a priest – that’s not just something for somebody else. And even if you are in seminary or discerning, it’s not, all right, I’m on this track now and that’s it. It’s still that conversation with God and [not] having it alone.
You know, the Holy Spirit’s involved in a very powerful and beautiful and loving way that I get to be here now. [I’m] missing my home in Gallup at the moment. I’ve got a longing to be there as a priest.
I’m trying to give God my first fruits, like Abel. That’s why I’m asking, is this your wish? Because if this is what God is asking of me, that’s not a cruel request. That is such a loving request, like, this is your path to Heaven.
It doesn’t mean it’s easy, right? Jesus showed us that the way to Heaven is through the Cross. It’s through sacrifice and love. And if there’s somebody who’s reading this, that has not heard, “Hey, has God called you maybe to be a priest, a sister or brother?”
By marrying the Church, you’re going to have a huge family of all your parishioners. You’re there at their most intimate times: their weddings, baptisms, at a death bed. Where the most intimate family members would be, that’s where you’re called to be.