Seminarian Spotlight: Deacon Nicholas Emmerling

This is part of a series highlighting the stories of the men who are completing their formation for the priesthood at MTSM. To read more, click here.

Deacon Nicholas Emmerling had an idea from an early age that the priesthood would be in his future. A son of the West Side of Cincinnati, he got involved in ministry early and was immediately inspired by the priests he got to assist at Mass.

“My grandfather was in charge of altar server training at St. Ignatius, and he needed servers for the Saturday morning Masses,” Deacon Emmerling said. “I got involved with that in second grade after first communion and got to be along side a couple of retired priests, Father Don McCarthy and Father John Wall. They were really amazing priests who had 50-plus years of practical experience and life in the priesthood and seeing their joy helped inspire my vocation.

“Kids tend to push away the idea of the priesthood and in my case there was a little bit of fear,” Deacon Emmerling continued. “I reached out to my parents, and through that we really grew as a family and in faith. During the summer when I was 16, it hit me like a ton of bricks. The Lord took the fear right from my heart and placed the vocation of the priesthood right on me. From there, it has been as clear as daylight.”

Deacon Emmerling did his Minor Seminary at the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus before returning to Cincinnati to attend Mount St. Mary’s Seminary & School of Theology. The impacts within his formation have come both within the walls of the Seminary and out in the Archdiocese.

“The in-house retreats we do each October are unique and something that many do not get the chance to do,” Deacon Emmerling commented. “Those weekends have been life-changing for me. I think about the spiritual masters we have come in, people who have very busy schedules, and give their time to help form us to become good priests.

“I have really enjoyed teaching,” Deacon Emmerling continued. “During my pastoral internship I was at the Family of the Most Holy Eucharist, which is five parishes and each has a school. I had the opportunity to be in a school almost every single day and got the chance to teach the faith. Learning how to teach the faith to children, whose faith are so on fire helped continue to ignite my own vocation.”

The importance of education is not restricted to the young, Deacon Emmerling also witnessed that through his work with OCIA programs and the chance to be with people where they are.

“The Lord says ‘the harvest is abundant, but laborers are few’,” Deacon Emmerling remarked. “Every turn you make at a parish, someone is seeking a personal imitation of Christ. You have to be willing to sit with people and put yourself in uncomfortable situations so that people can come to you, especially if they are converting to the Church.”

Deacon Emmerling will be part of a cohort of nine men from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati who, God-willing, will be ordained to the priesthood on Saturday, May 16 by Archbishop Robert G. Casey. He reflected on his own personal experiences when discussing what he is looking forward to once he is ordained.

“A wise Pastor once explained to me that when we are ordained to the priesthood, we have already run the race,” Deacon Emmerling reflected. “He continued that we have to be willing to go back and run the race again with every person we meet. That may seem impossible, but we reflect on what the ultimate goal of the Church is, the salvation of souls. That is our mission and what the Lord has sent us to do.

“I look forward to being able to have compassion on people,” he continued. “My father passed away three years ago, followed by two of my grandparents. Experiencing that pain and knowing that the world suffers just as much, if not more than I have, has helped soften my heart and given me the strength to love these people and share the compassion they desperately need.”

Being a priest is an all-encompassing calling, something that Deacon Emmerling is ready for.

“We are called to the heavenly reality, yet we still have to live here for 70-80 years or more,” he concluded. “If we are not going to do it well, we risk not being as good or as perfect as we are called to be. Our Lord came down to us as a human, He took on that human flesh. We cannot cast off that human flesh, we have to embrace it. My time as a seminarian has helped give me the strength to be like what Christ presents in the Gospel, a man willing to suffer, experience the pains of the world and sacrifice for his flock.”