Dominic James Buckley
Place of Birth: Cincinnati, OH (1985)

What about your family?
My parents are Daniel and Mary Ann Buckley.  I am the youngest of four.  We are my sister, Beth, my brother, DJ, and my brother, Dante.  My sister is married to Keith Buchholz and they have two children, Keifer who is 6 years old, and one more niece or nephew on the way!

When did you enter the seminary and what is your class?
I entered the seminary in August of 2005.  I am in the class of 2008.

What schools have you attended?
I graduated grade school from St. Andrew’s Catholic School in Orlando in 1999 and went on to spend four years at Bishop Moore Catholic High School in Orlando and was gratefully a member of the class of 2003.  I then went on to study at the University of Miami for the next two years.  I went through a variety of classes before deciding that the Lord was asking me to study elsewhere.  I studied everything from Mechanical Engineering to Communications to Jewish Literature.

What did you do before entering the seminary?
Before I entered the seminary I was a student at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida.  I was quite involved in the Catholic Students Association. 

Favorite Movie?
This is always difficult for me; I’ve seen many good movies that I wouldn’t want to say.  I enjoy movies for many different reasons.

Favorite TV Series?
Without a doubt while I was growing up it was ‘The Simpson’s’, nowadays I would say that I don’t watch too much TV but I think there’s some good shows out there, but I usually prefer other activities over TV.

When did you know that you wanted to be a priest?
Well, that’s a loaded a question.  I will say that the first time that I thought that it would be ‘cool’ to be a priest was during the Mass of my First Communion.  I thought about it while I was growing up and thanks to the most excellent example of Fr. Edmund McCaffrey OSB, I thought in the fifth grade that I would want to become a priest.  As I continued to grow up the idea of the priesthood was always there but because I didn’t have a good and solid understanding of celibacy and as my prayer life was not strong enough, I was unable to make the choice to enter the seminary.  I remember telling a couple of friends in High School that I was thinking about entering the seminary but nothing more came of it.  It was only in college that the decision became real that the priesthood may very likely be what I want and what Jesus wants for my life.  So here I am testing the authenticity of that calling in the seminary.

Was there any vocation moment, so to speak, for you?
Yes, I would say in college while in prayer I felt like I crossed the last and greatest stumbling block to further pursuing a vocation to the priesthood, celibacy.  In a moment of silent prayer before the Blessed Sacrament I felt I was given the grace to accept the gift of celibacy.  From this moment on the priesthood became the number one path I saw my life heading in. I was still open to whatever the Lord would ask of me but this was the moment when I felt him truly saying, “Do you want to be my priest?  Will you give it all up for me?”  I’m not sure if I will become a priest but this moment helped me take the next big step and enter the seminary.

What would you be doing if you weren’t in the seminary right now?
Well, that is a great mystery to me.  I suppose I might still be at the University of Miami or maybe I would’ve gone off to some Catholic Institution to study there.

What is your favorite apostolic assignment?
I’ve been blessed to minister in a few different areas.  It’s hard to choose but I would say that I enjoy ministering to the mentally and physically handicapped, the  elderly and visiting the imprisoned.

What is your greatest joy?
I find great joy in prayer spending time outdoors.  My greatest joy is also having a good time with my friends and family as we just hang out together and enjoy each other’s company.

What is your description of an ideal priest?
Wow, I’ll try to keep it short.  The ideal priest must love.  He must love Jesus, the Church, the sinner, all humanity, himself and his priesthood.  The ideal priest must emanate Jesus Christ in all that he does and not his own idea of Jesus.  He is singularly devoted to Jesus in the Most Blessed Sacrament and everything that the Catholic Faith handed down by the Apostles and their successors contains.  He not only prays, studies, and reads the Word of God but also lives it.  He relies utterly on the Blessed Mother and St. Joseph and all the Saints and Angels as constant friends and companions.  The ideal priest must above all else and most importantly be a loving father in the truest and fullest sense of fatherhood, as exemplified by God the Father.  The ideal priest is another Jesus on earth, bringing the good news of Christ to the poor and broken.  He is unabashedly and totally available for his people in any need they may have.

Who was most surprised by your vocation?
I would say that only those who didn’t know me were really surprised.  That said, I would still say that I think my mother was pretty surprised.

What is the seminary preparing you for?
I have been stretched and challenged to grow as a person on many different levels.  The simplest way to say it is that my heart is being stretched and widened so much so that it will be bigger and more like Christ’s heart so that more people can fit into my heart, just as Christ’s heart is so encompassing that all humanity fits into his heart.  In other words, I am being challenged to have the heart of Christ.

What is your greatest accomplishment?
Besides choosing to love Christ, I would say my academic and sport careers are very special to me.

What’s the last book you read?
I just finished “Happy Are You Poor: The Simple Life and Spiritual Freedom” by Father Thomas Dubay SM

What’s your favorite type of music?
Without a doubt while I was growing up it was hard rock and heavy metal!  I’ve tapered down, now.  I still have to say that my favorite type of music is rock n’ roll.

Do you collect anything?
No.

Who do you most admire?
The Saints.  JPII, Archbishop Sheen, M. Teresa, Therese of Lisieux, John Vianney, Alphonsus de Ligouri, Francis de Sales, etc.

What do you fear most?
Falling away from Christ or leading others away from Christ.

What is your greatest hope?
To live in a loving relationship with Christ now and forever.

What words of counsel would you offer to someone discerning a call to the priesthood?
Worry about nothing but Jesus and your relationship with him; rely utterly and desperately upon his love.  If you maintain this you will have a sure refuge and guide in all that you encounter.