Timothy Tarnacki was a teen delving deeper into his faith when Pope John Paul II appeared to him in a dream with a simple, yet, life-changing question: “Would it be so bad if you became a priest?” Shortly after that experience, the pope passed into eternity and later sainthood. On that night in 2005, Tarnacki was at a Christian concert where his bishop talked about vocations.
“It was in that moment that I felt like I was able to say yes to the Lord for the first time and to the idea that he knows what’s best for me; that he has a plan for my life,” he said.
Today, Father Tarnacki is a Pauline Father at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown (Bucks County), and Director of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Office of Ministry With Young Adults. In these roles, he’s changing the lives of young adults, whether it’s through marriages, religious vocations or simply bringing people closer to the faith. His methods take their cue from his compatriot, St. John Paul II: Listen to young adults; walk with them; and form relationships with them.
Father Tarnacki’s story is the latest in the Catholic Church of Philadelphia’s Faces of Hope series. These popular videos and stories showcase the impact individuals are having in making the Catholic Church the greatest force for good in the region. But these stories are not just local. The inspiration and lessons from these stories are universal.
As Father Tarnacki said, “There’s a great renewal that’s happening in the Church, especially with young adults. That gives me a lot of hope because I see how many young adults are becoming more and more radical for Christ and radical for their faith. They are becoming the real missionary disciples.”
Other stories in the Faces of Hope series include:
- Sal LaMantia and Justin Sturkey: Two sheriff’s deputies – one Catholic and one Protestant – who when they’re not debating the Eucharist are helping the homeless and other vulnerable populations (and sometimes taking them to confession.)
- Aurora Pomales: Dismayed at the lack of ministries for single Catholic women, this revert established her own. “Blessed Emilina” was created specifically for women who are single and not in religious life but who are nonetheless striving to live fully for Christ and find community.
- Nina Marie Corona: This successful business owner sat in a pew at Christmas Mass and couldn’t bottle up her emotions any longer. Addiction had crept into her family, and she wept, feeling like a stranger in her own church. In the years that followed, that moment of desperation turned into an inspiration and a multi-pronged ministry called Afire, and a multimedia program —We Thirst: Christian Reflections on Addiction—that’s now in university and seminary libraries, including Trinity College Dublin, and has been shown in churches across the United States and beyond.
These pieces of content and more can be found at this link on CatholicPhilly.com.
If media would like to run the videos or the stories – or would like to interview any of the subjects in these interviews, please reach out to the Archdiocese of Philadelphia’s Office for Communications at 215-587-3747 or [email protected].
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Archdiocese of Philadelphia
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Contact:
Ken Gavin
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