JOURNEY TO THE PRIESTHOOD OF DANIEL MCCAUGHAN OF AUSTRALIA

Catholic Communications, Sydney Archdiocese,
3 Jul 2013

Sydney Seminarian Daniel McCaughan in St Peter's Square for canonisation of St Mary of the Cross in 2010

On the eve of his priestly ordination by the Archbishop of Sydney, Cardinal George Pell at St Mary's Cathedral this Saturday, Deacon Daniel McCaughan says his over-riding emotion mixed with anticipation and some nervousness is still "a sense of deep calm and profound peace."

"There is also the wonderful knowledge and complete assurance that I am doing what God wants me to do and that this is absolutely the right step," he says.

On 6 July, Deacon Daniel together Deacon Dominic Pham Hong An Nguyen and Deacon Nicholas Rynne will be ordained into the priesthood by His Eminence and the following day, Sunday, 7 July each will celebrate a Thanksgiving Mass at their home parish in Sydney.

"I will be celebrating the 10.30 am Mass at St Peter's Catholic Church in Surry Hills which is where my family goes to Mass and where I was once an altar server," Deacon Daniel says.

The Sunday Mass at St Peter's will not only be the first time the newly ordained priest will celebrate Mass but in honour of this very special and momentous occasion, the St Peter's church choir is undertaking a new Mass setting which will be launched during the Mass.The choir is also currently  rehearsing Stanford's Beati Quorum Via, Thomas Tallis' If Ye Love Me and the return of Cantique de Jean Racine by Gabriel Faure for the Sunday Mass.

Growing up in nearby Kensington 28-year-old Daniel who is the eldest of 11 brothers and sisters shares his family's passion for music. The first of his siblings to participate in the Sydney Conservatorium of Music's program for children, he is not only an accomplished flautist but after entering the Seminary of the Good Shepherd, developed an interest in singing.

A member of the Homebush seminary's renowned Schola, his voice not only won him notice during his years in Sydney but also in Rome where earlier this year he was asked to sing the liturgy at the installation of Pope Francis.

Sydney seminarians Daniel McCaughan and Nicholas Rynne were ordained Deacons in Rome in October last year

"The Pontifical American College in Rome where I lived is well known for training seminarians to sing and chant in Latin, and each year sends a short list to the Vatican's Liturgy Office of deacons who can sing. My name was on this year's short list and I was asked to sing the Gospel in Latin at the installation mass for the Holy Father. But at the last minute it was decided this would be sung in Greek and instead I was asked to carry the Fisherman's Ring and to sing the other Deacon parts of the Mass," Deacon Daniel explains.

He admits he had no idea he would be carrying the Fisherman's ring as part of the ceremony until the night before. He says he still finds it difficult to absorb the great honour he was given when he watches footage of himself on that historic day when Pope Francis because the head of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics.

"That certainly was the highlight of my time in Rome," he says describing his role as a "magnificent gift."

"Daniel has been particularly blessed by God," says his father, Dr James McCaughan, Honorary Senior Lecturer with the Department of Physics at the Unversity of Sydney and recalls how while still just a toddler, his son had been embraced and blessed by Blessed John Paul II during the pontiff's visit to Australia in 1986.

"Then in 2000 when Daniel was 15, we went to Rome as a family and on 20 May - a day none of us will ever forget - we met His Holiness, Blessed Pope John II in his private library outside the private chapel of the Vatican. There were too many of us to go inside the chapel but somehow we managed to be part of the 20 or so to meet and talk with the Holy Father," Dr McCaughan says. "The Pontiff looked at our 10 children - our youngest was not yet born - and asked who was the eldest. That's when Daniel stepped forward and John Paul II gave him his wonderful look, blessed him and reached out to put his hand on Daniel's cheek."

The Fisherman's Ring presented to Pope Francis by Australia's Deacon Daniel McCaughan

More recently in December last year, just two months after his ordination as a Deacon, the young Australian was again blessed when he was chosen from 33 fellow deacons to be one of the four deacon assistants selected to serve Pope Benedict XVI at Mass over the coming year.

This saw Deacon Daniel assisting at the New Year's Eve Mass at St Peter's Basilica and again on Ash Wednesday, which was the last Mass celebrated by Benedict before his retirement.

Now as he approaches his ordination to the priesthood on Saturday, Deacon Daniel looks back over the seven years of study and discernment first at the Seminary of the Good Shepherd in Sydney and later at Rome's Pontifical North American College and the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross.

"The seminary is no cakewalk," he insists and points out that every seminarian goes through periods of doubt and darkness. "There are times when we don't see our vocation as clearly as we did when we entered the seminary. But by walking trustingly with our Lord during these dark and difficult times, eventually there is light at the end of the tunnel and you emerge with a faith that is deeper and even stronger."

Deacon Daniel began thinking about a priestly vocation as a 12-year-old during the years he was an altar server at St Peter's Church in Surry Hills and believes that from then on becoming a priest it was always at the back of his mind.

During his final year at Redfield College, Dural he says he felt God's call even more strongly, but this was put aside once more when he began his studies for a BA in political science and history with a minor in journalism at the University of Tasmania in Hobart.

"At Uni I did all the usual student things, hung out with my mates, went out with girls and had a great time. But every time I thought about the future, and one day marrying and starting a family, I felt restless and uneasy. I couldn't understand why I should feel like that way. I'd always been super attracted to the idea of marriage and family, and had been inspired by my own parents' who are a wonderful model of what a Christian marriage should be. But in 2005 I realised at last that while marriage and having a family is a wonderful vocation and blessing, they were not for me."

Deacon Daniel was in his third year when he says it finally hit him that God's call could be ignored no longer.

"I was walking across the campus wondering what I would do post-uni, and what path I would take, when I realised I had no option. The path God had chosen for me was the priesthood," he says.

Laughing he recalls how he threw up his hands and said:  "Okay God, you win!"

Less than two months after graduating with a BA, Deacon Daniel entered the Seminary of the Good Shepherd, Homebush and embarked on his studies for the priesthood.

Deacon Daniel McCaughan carried the Fisherman's Ring at the Inauguration Mass of Pope Francise

"I arrived back in Sydney from Rome last Sunday, so there has been all the excitement of being back with my brothers and sisters, parents and large extended family as well as my friends. There's also been a bit of stress with so much organising and things to do. But the transcendent emotion dominating everything is this wonderful and very deep sense of calm and peace."

Deacon Daniel says he has only felt this profound peace and calm once before in his life and this was in October last year on the eve of his ordination as a Deacon.

Once he is ordained by Cardinal Pell, Deacon Daniel will become a priest of the Archdiocese of Sydney but his stay in the city of his birth will be brief.

"On 15 January I am helping lead a group for outreach missions in Lima and then on to World Youth Day in Rio," he says. This will be followed by a few weeks at home with his what he calls "my fantastic boisterous loving family" before he returns to Rome in September to complete his fifth and final year of studies for his Licentiate in Moral Theology.

All are invited to the Ordination Mass at St Mary's Cathedral on Saturday, 6 July at 10am. Obviously it will be a very special day for Daniel but also one his father will never forget - he celebrates his birthday the same day.

SHARED FROM ARCHDIOCESE OF SYDNEY