Father Nikolic

Long before he knew he had a vocation, Father Dennis A. Nikolic learned about priesthood from the example of two priests: Msgr. John T. Servodidio, pastor of his parish, St. Joseph's on Staten Island, and Father Tomislav Bondulic, his maternal uncleãnow deceasedãwho was a priest in Croatia, where Father Nikolic's parents were born.

To young Dennis, who was an altar boy, Msgr. Servodidio represented the liturgical and pastoral side of priesthood: he celebrated Mass and the sacraments. Father Bondulic, on the other hand, represented the personal side: he went swimming and fishing with the family when they went to Croatia on vacation.

"As I got older, I began to see in each one of them the other side as well," Father Nikolic recalled. "I saw the fullness of priesthood: God working through the priest, the priest being human. The realization came that a priest isn't someone who dropped out of the sky or was born a priest-he is a person who is called by God. I became more and more aware that God could be calling me to this, too."

Father Nikolic, 25, was born on Staten Island, the son of Grgica and Max Nikolic. As a student at St. Peter's Boys High School, he knew he wanted a career in which he could serve others, and he was influenced by the dedication of the De La Salle Christian Brothers, who operated the school. Also influential were the Franciscans at SS. Cyril and Methodius, the Croatian parish in Manhattan, where he attended Mass several times yearly with his family.

He lived at St. John Neumann Seminary Residence while attending St. John's University in Queens, where he earned a degree in philosophy. Occasionally someone would ask why he wanted to become a priest. He would reply, "If I didn't follow where God was calling me, I would never be happy or content." The call to priesthood is a sacred mystery that some may find hard to understand, he said, but his own vocation became clear to him through prayer and the example of priests and fellow seminarians.

"I began to see the way a priest helps many other people," he said, "by counseling them, comforting them in sorrows, rejoicing with them on happy occasions-marriages, baptisms-being an important part of every family in the parish community and standing in the person of Christ, who wants to be with his people."

At St. Joseph's Seminary he served on the seminary retreat team; taught in the religious education program at Our Lady of Mount Carmel parish and counseled students at Cardinal Hayes High School, both in the Bronx, and visited patients at Terence Cardinal Cooke Health Care Center in Manhattan. He was the class deacon this year.

He served summer assignments at St. Philip Neri in the Bronx and Sacred Heart of Jesus in Manhattan.

"I hope to spread the Gospel message, bring the healing and forgiveness of Christ to people through the sacrament of penance, and nourish them with Christ in the Eucharist," he said. He looks forward to "helping people when they're struggling, when difficult times come, when their faith is tested."

He is eager to begin parish work, and he noted that Cardinal Egan has called the parishes "the heart of the archdiocese." So much of Catholic life is centered in the parish, he observed: People come for marriage preparation, to marry and to have their children baptized. Children are instructed in the faith, receive the Eucharist and are confirmed.

"My parish has been a model of this, which is why I feel called to the priesthood: to be Christ in the parish, bringing Christ to the people, especially in an age that is hungry for Jesus."

Father Nikolic will celebrate his first Mass at St. Joseph's Church on Staten Island Sunday, May 19, at 2 p.m. The homilist will be Msgr. Servodidio.