Diocese of Gary

MERRILLVILLE – National Vocation Awareness Week, celebrated Nov. 1-7, is an annual week-long celebration of the Catholic Church in the United States dedicated to promoting vocations to the priesthood, diaconate and consecrated life. While the week may be coming to a close, Julie Modesto is just getting started, lending support where she can to the Diocese of Gary’s Vocations Office.

As the new vocations office administrative assistant, Modesto was hired in September to work alongside Vocations Director Father Nathaniel Edquist and assistant directors Father Roque Meraz and Father Ivan Alatorre to encourage prayer and religious discernment among young men and women.

Modesto originally lived in Carmel, Ind., until a retail job with Marshall Fields prompted her to move closer to Chicago in the mid-1980s. She then met her future husband, Bob, and they began making plans to get married.

Modesto was raised Methodist and often attended non-denominational churches, while her husband was raised Catholic. Modesto began studying the Catholic religion, and in 1987 she was confirmed into the Catholic Church. Unfortunately, after missing a Pre-Cana class, the Church’s required marriage preparation program, the couple was told they could not be married in the Church. Disappointed, Modesto admits she became angry and distanced herself from the Church for more than 30 years.

A love for the Rosary brought Modesto back to the Catholic faith. She found Hallow and began reciting the Rosary with the Christian prayer app.

“I started doing the Rosary, and I really liked it,” she said. “As a matter of fact, I did the Rosary for probably about four straight years without missing. And I really fell in love with the Church again.”

Modesto said she also fell in love with Mary, the Mother of Jesus, whom she had never had a relationship with. As those connections to prayer and Mary strengthened, so did her desire to return to Mass. That eventually led her to walk into St. Paul in Valparaiso, where she made her first confession in 36 years.

“I've never left since,” she said. “It was so meaningful when I came back. At first, I was like, ‘God, why all the years did I miss out on this?’ But as Father Meraz told me, ‘God's timing is perfect.’”

Modesto gained a deep appreciation for the faith and “couldn’t get enough of it.” She attended a ministry fair at the parish and began assisting as a sacristan, Eucharistic minister and lector. She also volunteered at diocesan events including ordinations and the Chrism Mass. Recently, Modesto was invited to join the pastoral council and enrolled in the Lay Ecclesial Ministry Formation (LEM) Program.

Modesto registered for the LEM program because she felt that to bring people to God, she needed to have a solid understanding of the faith and its history. She has completed the first two years of the program and described it as amazing, adding that, “You learn so much. The classes are taught wonderfully by every priest we've had.”

After signing up for the LEM program, Modesto told her employer at the time, Franciscan Health Fitness Center Chesterton, that she would love to work for the Diocese of Gary in some capacity after completing the LEM classes.

“I love Franciscan and what they stand for,” she said. “Everything's Christ-centered. It's everything I love. It's Catholic. But it wasn't what I wanted to do. And I knew that I wanted to work for the diocese.”

That opportunity came more quickly than expected with the retirement of the previous vocations office administrative assistant, Jo Anne Rosenow, this fall. Having met previously, and knowing her desire to work for the diocese, Rosenow encouraged Modesto to apply for the position. Excited by the possibility, she immediately got to work updating her cover letter and resume.

Modesto applied and was offered the position. Just a few months into her new role, she continues to call it her dream job.

“I'm so happy. When I walk in here, I'm excited to come,” she said. “It's not that you don't get challenged. You get kind of stressed out on deadlines, but I know I’m supposed to be here. And that's the difference. I can just tell that it's God putting me where I am supposed to be.”

Modesto continued, “I feel like my life turned backwards, where the best is at the end of it.”

Modesto hopes to use her skills to promote the LEM program, support diocesan seminarians and clarify misconceptions about the priesthood.

“I think a lot of people look at a priest and think, ‘Oh, that poor priest,’” Modesto said. “They don’t realize they truly want to be doing what they are doing. They discern for a long time. They choose to be a priest, and they are happy.”

For more information about vocations within the Diocese of Gary, visit garyvocations.com. To learn more about job opportunities at the diocese, visit dcgary.org/office-human-resources.