May 20, 2025 // Bishop
Four Men to Be Ordained to the Diaconate
On Saturday, May 24, four young men will lie prostrate on the floor of the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Fort Wayne as they vow to live a life of celibacy, prayer, and obedience and conform themselves to Christ the Servant as they are ordained to the sacred order of the diaconate.
While coming from different backgrounds and different parishes from across the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, the four men – Johnathon Hickey, Noah Isch, Samuel Martinez, and Greenan Sullivan – have walked the path to ordination together throughout the past several years at Mount St. Mary Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland, forming a bond of friendship and, soon, as ordained clergy.
“I am excited for this group because they have each encountered Jesus, which led them to respond to this vocation of the transitional diaconate,” said Father Jonathan Norton, the pastor of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Warsaw, who also serves as director of seminarians for the diocese. “They have perseverance and value fraternity. It is not easy to be the final class at a seminary (after we began sending new seminarians to other places than the Mount). Their zeal for the Lord has helped them adjust to the circumstances and stay focused on Him. They also recognize how important fraternity is among the workers in the vineyard. Therefore, they have made it a priority to grow as brothers. I am very proud of them and look forward to welcoming them into ordained ministry.”
The following profiles offer readers of Today’s Catholic a snapshot of the men who will join the ranks of ordained clergy for the diocese – men who will seek to minister with humility, holiness, and joy. And while, God willing, they will one day become priests, their ordination as deacons will remain with them throughout their lives as they strive to serve as Christ served.
Johnathon Hickey
The son of Chris and Cheryl Hickey, Johnathon Hickey grew up at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fort Wayne and attended the parish grade school. After graduating from Bishop Luers High School, he attended Purdue University Fort Wayne before entering seminary at Mount St. Mary’s in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
Hickey, 27, has served at parishes in Elkhart the past two summers – St. Thomas the Apostle and St. Vincent de Paul. He said his time spent in these assignments “have shown me very similar yet unique experiences. … Living in the same city but at a different parish (and a different culture and language) has helped me see the diversity of our diocese and how priests are shepherds of many people across cultures and languages,” Hickey told Today’s Catholic. “This has also helped me see how one city can be so diverse but also very common, as all seek the grace and sacramental life of Christ in His Church.” Hickey said serving in Elkhart showed him that the city itself “is a mini version of the universal Church.”
As his diaconal ordination approaches, Hickey told Today’s Catholic that he is looking forward to conferring the Sacrament of Baptism, assisting at the altar at Mass, preaching, and exposition/benediction of the Eucharist.
Hickey said that sharing his seminary journey with the three others from the diocese who will be ordained alongside him “has been a highlight of my time in formation. I love the fraternal bond that we have, and I am excited to see how it will grow as we enter ordained ministry. We all live close to each other in the seminary and have seen each other, more or less, every day for the past five years. People will sometimes explain seminary brotherhood as a ‘band of brothers,’ and I think this is true. We have gone through many things together throughout the past years, and I think I will take bits and pieces of things I have picked up from them into my own ministry.”
Hickey told Today’s Catholic that he has been thankful for the prayers of the faithful of the diocese.
“Your help and support mean so much,” Hickey said, “and I am honored to be a part of this diocese and serve the people here!”
Noah Isch
As he prepares for ordination to the diaconate, Fort Wayne native Noah Isch told Today’s Catholic that while he is eager to jump into a wide variety of duties and tasks of diaconal ministry, he’s most looking forward to preaching the word of God.
The day after ordination, on Sunday, May 25, he’ll get his wish, as he’ll preach his first public homily at the 11 a.m. Mass at his home parish, St. Charles Borromeo.
“We spend so many years in study, and it will be exciting to share the good news of Our Lord with the people I get the opportunity to serve,” said Isch, who also noted that the first baptism he’ll perform will also be “a very special moment to welcome someone into new life in Christ.”
Isch, 25, the son of Andrea and Timothy Isch, attended grade school at Queen of Angels and St. Charles before graduating from Bishop Dwenger High School. He spent one year at Marian University before entering seminary.
During his summers, Isch has served at several parishes across the diocese, including St. Mary of the Annunciation in Bristol, Queen of Peace in Mishawaka, Sacred Heart in Warsaw, and St. Adalbert and St. Casimir parishes in South Bend. He said his time spent at each of these parishes has helped to prepare him for his diaconal ministry.
“I have learned from the example of the pastors I have been with that you must live for and love the people entrusted to your care,” Isch said. “I have learned from the people in these assignments that they desire to see and know the priests and deacons serving in their parish. There is a great need for what I like to think of as a ‘ministry of presence.’ Being present in the life of the parish is so central to ministry.”
Isch said that while he’s eager for ordination day, he is especially looking forward to one part of the Mass.
“In all the ordinations I have previously attended, one of the most powerful moments is the Litany of Saints while the ordinandi lay prostrate,” Isch said. “In this moment, the whole Church – those on earth, in purgatory, and the saints in heaven – pray for the men to be ordained. I think this will be a powerful and humbling moment.”
Samuel Martinez
Like his fellow ordinandi Isch, Samuel Martinez is also a son of St. Charles Borromeo Parish in Fort Wayne, where he attended grade school before graduating from Snider High School and Purdue University, from which he holds a bachelor’s degree in nutrition science.
As he nears his ordination as a transitional deacon, Martinez told Today’s Catholic that he is most excited about “how wildly generous the Lord’s mercy and love is for us, and I know this comes to us first as a totally free gift at our baptism. As a deacon, it will be beautiful to incorporate souls into the Christian family through baptism,” Martinez added. “It is hard to believe the Lord would want to utilize someone as imperfect as myself to bestow this merciful love on His children, and yet, what do I have that I haven’t been given first? I am looking forward to giving it all just as freely as it has been given to me.”
Martinez, 32, said his time at Mount St. Mary Seminary with Hickey, Isch, and Sullivan has helped to fortify him on his journey to ordination.
“These guys have certainly demonstrated to me the profound love God has for each and every one of us,” Martinez said. “Likewise, that all things are possible by God’s grace. We are all confident that we would have never met, let alone become friends, brothers, and deacons together if we hadn’t been called by God to walk this path together. I’m so thankful for my brothers. They’ve taught me so much more about myself and about how I relate to others. Likewise, I am constantly impressed with the ways the Lord speaks through them on a regular basis. John Paul II said that Christ gave us community and the Eucharist as the vital elements of living the Christian life. If the Eucharist has been my strength, then these men have been my support. I am forever indebted to them.”
Martinez, son of Jesse and Frances Martinez, has served three parish assignments while in seminary – at St. Pius X Catholic Church in Granger, St. Henry in Fort Wayne, and St. Anthony de Padua in South Bend. He said there has been “a consistent thread” at each of the parishes, “and that is simply the relationship of God, truly present in those churches as the very life of them all. I’ve met pastors and parishioners exponentially holier than myself, and they’ve constantly taught me to pray without ceasing. As a deacon, and someday priest, I cannot give something I don’t have, and when the faithful People of God depend on us to give them Christ, it is He who I must prioritize first and foremost.”
Just as the others told Today’s Catholic, Martinez noted that while each deacon is hoping to be ordained a priest, “the diaconate does, in fact, have an effect on the soul, which just like priesthood, cannot be removed. Simply put, the word ‘deacon’ means ‘servant,’ and we are indeed ordained to serve. That will never change. I pray that I am able to live up to that call to serve throughout this time leading up to priesthood so that I am able to do so with an even fuller readiness for the rest of my life.”
Greenan Sullivan
The son of Shawn and Pam Sullivan, Greenan Sullivan grew up as one of the family’s six kids in South Bend, where he attended grade school at St. Anthony de Padua Catholic School and, for two years, at St. Pius X. He graduated from Saint Joseph High School and went on to Ave Maria University in Florida, where he played on the basketball team.
As a seminarian, Sullivan, 28, has been assigned to serve in recent summers at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fort Wayne and at St. Pius X in South Bend. Sullivan told Today’s Catholic that these summer assignments “have helped me foster a greater love of the people of the diocese and a greater desire to serve them as a deacon and priest.”
Sullivan said he has been honored to grow in friendship with Hickey, Isch, and Martinez during his time at Mount St. Mary Seminary, saying, “My diocesan brothers have made it a great pleasure to be a seminarian for the Diocese of Fort-Wayne-South Bend. They have had my back since the day I entered seminary.”
Sullivan said he’ll be vested during the ordination Mass by Father Brian Florin, pastor of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church in Goshen and a former classmate at the Mount. Sullivan said he’s eager to celebrate with family and friends on ordination day.
Sullivan told Today’s Catholic that he is thankful to the faithful of the diocese for their financial and spiritual support throughout his time as a seminarian. “I would not be here today without it,” he added.
He said his diaconal ordination means that he will be “conformed to Christ the Servant, which characterizes the whole of ordained ministry. I hope that my experiences as a deacon will help me further realize that I am ordained to serve rather than be served.”
Ordination to the Diaconate
When: Saturday, May 24, at 11 a.m.
Where: Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Fort Wayne
Who: Johnathon Hickey, Noah Isch, Samuel Martinez, Greenan Sullivan
Livestream: diocesefwsb.org
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