NO MORE MAYBES

Deacon Kyle Gorenski first considered becoming a priest in middle school.

“The idea of being a priest popped into my head in junior high,” he said. “I don’t know where it came from, it was just in the back of my head.”

Years passed but the priesthood always remained on the back burner in his mind; something that just floated around as a “maybe someday” idea. He went on to join the Army, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan during the height of the Iraq War, and later became a state trooper serving in his hometown of Narragansett, Rhode Island.

But years later, the idea of religious life was still on his mind.

“As an adult, my faith grew more,” he explained. “I liked being in the Army and being a state trooper but it felt like I wasn’t where I was supposed to be.”

Now, Deacon Gorenski, 39, will see his “maybe someday” idea become a reality when he and five other fellow deacons are ordained to the priesthood on Saturday, June 19, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception.

“As I got older, I took it as God put the idea of the priesthood in my head,” Deacon Gorenski said. “I’ve always wanted a job where I could help people.”

It’s a job description fitting for the deacon: soft-spoken and happy to listen, he always wanted to help others growing up. “When I was really little I wanted to be a firefighter, then I thought about being a priest, and then a police officer,” he said. “Those were just the jobs that I was always drawn to.”

Deacon Gorenski, who has three brothers (two older, one younger) described his childhood as a standard, suburban upbringing: he attended public school, played little league baseball as a kid and football for Narragansett High School. His family is Catholic and he was raised in the faith, but Catholicism was never a strong factor in his life.

“My family’s Catholic but I wouldn’t say very Catholic,” he said. “We’re not a strict family. Catholicism wasn’t a huge part of my life.”

But around middle school, Deacon Gorenski started to contemplate the idea of being a priest. It wasn’t anything he wanted to act on at the time, so he put the thought aside.

Instead, Deacon Gorenski hopped right into the armed forces after graduating high school. He joined the Army in June 2000, a little over a year before the start of the Iraq War.

“A year later 9/11 happened and we were planning to get ready to invade Iraq,” he said. The deacon did two tours of duty in Iraq and one tour in Afghanistan, serving as a field military police officer, assisting in raids and patrolling cities across Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I was right in the thick of things,” he said. “At times it was scary and nerve-racking, but I was with people close to me and every day was different.

“During the times of war, having faith really helped keep you going,” he continued, “and (my faith) got bigger as I got into my adult years.”

During his last years in the Army, Deacon Gorenski studied to become a state trooper, working in his hometown on Rhode Island. All the while, he found himself diving deeper into his faith and prayer life. The deeper he went, the more he started seriously considering the priesthood.

“As a kid (the priesthood) was in the background but I wanted to learn more about faith,” Deacon Gorenski said. “Then my relationship with God grew through prayer.”

He started reaching out to the local dioceses about the process of becoming a priest. Father Anthony Ligato, vicar of Vocations for the Albany Diocese, was the first to respond to his message: “He took me in,” said the deacon.

In 2011, Deacon Gorenski left the state police and entered college seminary at Rhode Island College and Our Lady of Providence Seminary in Rhode Island. He lived at the seminary while taking courses at the private university nearby to obtain his bachelor’s in philosophy. In 2014, he entered St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, Md.

In his second year in seminary, Deacon Gorenski and 14 other seminarians did a mission trip to San Lucas Tolimán in Guatemala. The men helped on a construction site, building and fixing houses for locals: “It was one of the most fun times in seminary,” he said.

“We would work all morning and do tours of the hospitals and schools and talk to the people,” he continued. “It was a beautiful country and the people were super-friendly. We were just building things but it was nice … it’s a very religious country. The whole country is about faith and family and being a part of the church. They had a lot of respect (for the seminarians) and I think they just were grateful for us being down there. They’re very kind-hearted people.”

Now back in the states and making his final preparations for ordination, Deacon Gorenski — whose parish assignments have included: the Church of the Holy Trinity in Cohoes, Our Lady of the Valley in Middleburgh, Blessed Sacrament in Albany, St. Ambrose in Latham, St. Isaac Jogues in Chestertown, and St. Clement’s in Saratoga Springs — is looking forward to his next step. 

“I’m excited to help people develop a relationship with God, and for those who don’t have faith to find it,” he said. Deacon Gorenski also plans to use his life experience to help other fellow veterans with their faith.

“(Faith) is important because it can always guide you through tough times,” he added. “I know God is always on your side. Any difficult situation, he always guides us.”