One week from Sunday, Deacon Ed Bresnahan – by then a priest
– will celebrate his first Mass.
It’s an event he’s been looking forward to for years and one
he anticipates eagerly, with butterflies in his stomach.
“I’ve been to Mass almost every day for my whole life so I
should have a pretty good idea of what to do, but being able
to celebrate it for the first time I have a little bit of
butterflies because this is what I’ve been preparing for,” he
said. “This is the biggest moment of my life – to be able to
lay my life down on the altar and celebrate the Eucharist.”
Deacon Bresnahan, who will be ordained June 12 at the
Cathedral of St. Thomas More in Arlington, will celebrate
that first Mass at his home parish, Holy Family in Dale City.
It’s the same parish where he was baptized and confirmed and
where he received his first Communion. It’s also the home of
many family members and supportive friends, like Father
Donald Planty, who Deacon Bresnahan said has provided “rock
solid” support for years.
“They’ve all been so good to me over the past six years,
really the past 28 years,” Deacon Bresnahan said. “Being
ordained to the priesthood is a team effort. You need mentors
and families, and the parish has been around me the whole
way. I think they’re about as excited as me being ordained as
I am.”
Born Dec. 13, 1981, Deacon Bresnahan grew up attending Holy
Family. He spent a few years at St. Thomas Aquinas Regional
School in Woodbridge, a few years being home-schooled and he
graduated from Bishop O’Connell High School in Arlington in
1999.
While the Faith was always important to him, Deacon Bresnahan
did not seriously consider becoming a priest until after his
2003 graduation from the University of Dallas.
He spent the first year after college traveling around the
country evangelizing with Net Ministries, an organization
that works to get young people excited about the Faith. The
time he spent as a missionary was grueling, but rewarding.
“It’s a real struggle to travel around in a van for nine
months,” Deacon Bresnahan said. “You’re staying with hosts
families who have kids on the retreat and it’s the same
conversations night after night. You really learn how to meet
people where they’re at and just be able to say, ‘I’m here,
not for anything of my own, but for the people to be able to
talk and interact.'”
While he was on the road, Deacon Bresnahan developed a strong
prayer life. Those prayers were vital in discerning his
vocation to the priesthood.
“If there are young men or women who are considering a
vocation to the priesthood or the religious life, don’t be
afraid to pray about it,” he said. “Don’t be afraid to ask
people questions about it. If I didn’t ask people about
becoming a priest and if I didn’t bring it into prayer, I
wouldn’t be here. It becomes a whole lot clearer when you
begin praying about it.”
For the last year, Deacon Bresnahan has been working at All
Saints Church in Manassas as part of his obligatory year of
service in the transitional diaconate. He says the experience
has taught him a lot and given him experiences beyond what he
could have imagined.
“All Saints is such a big parish that there’s always
something going on, so I’m never at a loss for some new
ministry experience,” he said. “There’s no way you can really
know exactly what you’re getting into until you get a chance
to experience it, but the joy and the great and wonderful
experience that comes with being a deacon has simply been
incredible.”
As his year at All Saints comes to a close, Deacon Bresnahan
says he’s looking forward to his new duties as a priest.
“I’m most exciting about celebrating sacraments with people
and being another Christ,” he said. “When you enter the
priesthood, one of the biggest things we seem to talk about
is the idea of laying your life down for others. The way we
do that is by entering into the mysteries of the Church by
bringing the sacraments to other people and by bringing them
the Eucharist.”
