Michael Gillotti

The Seminarian Michael Gillotti

Toward the end of my senior year of high school I walked to the corner of our back yard where we kept a 50 gallon metal barrel for burning trash. I pulled out all the high school wallet size photos of the girls I'd either dated or wanted to date and threw them into the fire. I was making a commitment to break clearly and completely with my past and to move onto a celibate life as a seminarian and eventually a Catholic priest. It was a serious and sober moment and one that I remember vividly. I knew there was no doing this half way. I was all in! But these were tumultuous times, the 60's and the 70's, and I was caught up in and shaped by them - The Vietnam War, the Civil Rights Movement, the wave of Eastern thought and religion and more. What an adventure this would turn out to be. I hope you enjoy the ride.