The priesthood is Deacon John McCarthy’s second vocation.

While he thought about being a priest as a boy growing up in Levittown, he felt an even greater pull toward a career in military service. “My father was a Marine in World War II, and I looked up to a cousin who served in Vietnam,” he said. “I used to go to recruiting stations and hang out.”

While still a senior at Holy Trinity Diocesan High School, Hicksville, he joined the Navy, with delayed entry until after graduation.

“It exceeded my expectations,” he said of his time in the Navy. “I just loved what I was doing. I went into aviation, aircraft carriers. My specialty was engines.”

“I was greatly influenced by Navy chaplains throughout my career,” said Deacon McCarthy. He admitted that he “slipped away from the Church” for a little while but found himself longing for his faith and returned to regular Mass attendance.
“Around my halfway point in the Navy (10 years), I felt a very profound calling again,” he said. He remembers asking God to let him finish out 20 years in the Navy.
“Then I had a deep desire to go to college. I went to Emery Riddle (Aeronautical University in Florida). Looking back, I know it was God’s work because I needed a college degree to get into the seminary,” he said.

John McCarthy and Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, retired archbishop of Washington, prior to a Mass at Immaculate Conception Seminary, Huntington, in 2007. TLIC photo/Gregory A. Shemitz

He didn’t think much about the priesthood for a while, but apparently God hadn’t forgotten what Deacon McCarthy had said about finishing his 20 years. “Right around the 19-year mark, I felt God saying, ‘It’s time to get out.’ Out of the blue that came,” said Deacon McCarthy, who had reached the rank of senior chief petty officer. “I wasn’t planning on retiring ... but I started filling out the paperwork that morning.”

He transitioned back to civilian life, taking a job on the staff of Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, Maryland. “I knew there was something stirring, but I couldn’t figure out exactly what,” he said. He found himself getting really involved in the Church, actively participating in Mass, becoming a lector, an extraordinary minister of Holy Com-munion and joining the Knights of Columbus.

“I had a great job. I loved it, but God was calling me at the same time,” he said. He spoke with a Navy chaplain who put him in touch with the Archdiocese of Washington, D.C., and soon he started his studies for the priesthood at Blessed John XXIII Seminary in Weston, Mass.

After his first year there, while visiting family and friends on Long Island, he began to consider the idea of “coming home” to a place he hadn’t lived for 26 years. “I made contact with (then-vocation director) Father Tom Coogan. My intention was to come just to look at the seminary,” he said. It soon became clear to him that this was where God was calling him. “I spoke to Father Coogan about the possibility of a transfer. I didn’t know what would happen. Eight days later, I was starting at Immaculate Conception Seminary.”

“It is great to be back home again,” he said. “I think I would have been very happy in Washington, but I think I would have really missed the family.”

Blessed John XXIII Seminary is tailored for men entering the priesthood after age 30. “Coming here, with the mix of ages, the community and fellowship was just beautiful,” Deacon McCarthy said.

His naval experience made adjusting to seminary life easy. Deacon McCarthy also thinks it fostered skills that will help him as a priest including “adaptability, flexibility, dealing with people in all different circumstances, people from all different backgrounds and being able to deal with a lot of situations simultaneously.”

During his pastoral year at St. Anthony of Padua in East Northport, Deacon McCarthy found, however, that his military teaching skills wouldn’t pass muster with confirmation students.

“Teaching in the military is very different. For the first few classes, I had very structured lesson plans that just weren’t working. Then I started listening to what the students had to say,” he explained. “I needed that experience with young people. It was a great challenge, but it was so nice to see the transformation” of the students throughout the school year.

He welcomed the opportunity to get involved in different ministries during his time at St. Anthony’s and also serving at Holy Spirit, New Hyde Park, during his diaconate.
He has also ministered to patients at the Veterans Hospital in East Northport, especially in the psychiatric wing. “It is very fulfilling, and it’s really needed. You really build up a rapport because a lot of these guys, unfortunately, are there a long time.” He spent less time there this past semester due to his academic workload but is hoping to be able to continue his visits, depending on where he is assigned after ordination.