Phillip Necessary, St. Vincent de Paul Church, Rogers

Attends Saint Meinrad Seminary in St. Meinrad, Indiana

Hello! My name is Phillip Necessary, and I’m studying theology at Saint Meinrad Seminary in Indiana. I’m thankful for my parents, Kevin and Denise Necessary, lifetime members of St. Vincent de Paul in Rogers, who have been committed to raising my siblings and me in the faith, especially through their genuine example, commitment to others and ability to continually say yes to the Lord.

St. Vincent’s has been a spiritual home for me throughout my life. This parish is where I received all my sacraments that have nurtured me throughout my faith journey.

In high school, I would have considered myself a part-time Catholic, where I would take the faith seriously during the school week, but on the weekends, I would flip the switch, go to parties, and was not a follower of Christ. There were many glimpses where I felt convicted to turn my life around and come home to the Father, to be a leader in the faith and leave the chaos behind, but I struggled.

There were moments in high school, such as attending the Life Teen leadership conference, growing closer to my Catholic men’s group and visiting the adoration chapel that showed me how Christ is powerful and transformative.

Father Stephen Gadberry, when he was associate pastor, called me one day and said, “Phil, in my holy hour, I felt that I should call you and tell you that you would make a great priest.” I said, I don’t think so Father, but thank you. I finished my time at Rogers High School, and from the perspective of the world, life was good. I had good grades, was a football captain and had a lot of friends, but something was missing, I wasn’t saying yes to the Lord, I was a part-time Catholic, and my soul was not fulfilled.

After graduation, I decided to attend college at the University of Arkansas with a desire to either work in corporate business or politics. Success and wealth seemed to be the objective, but moments in high school, such as the phone call from Father Stephen, kept ringing in my head.

My freshmen year I entered a large fraternity, where I thought I would find acceptance. The fraternity was probably not the ideal environment to nurture holiness, and I stopped going to Mass. However, some fraternity men pushed me to be convicted in my faith which grew into an urge to help my fraternity brothers be better men; to be good future fathers.

I could’ve run from the environment, but I decided to take John 1:10 seriously which said, “He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.”

I became the president of my fraternity and decided to take my faith seriously and allow Christ to work in the environments around me. I returned to Mass at the University of Arkansas parish, St. Thomas Aquinas, where Father Jason Sharbaugh and other fraternity men continued to push me to grow deeper in my prayer life, to be a public example, and to be holy. Father Jason kept pushing me to lead Bible studies, attend daily Mass and ask the hard questions.

I graduated with a supply chain management degree and began studying for my MBA when the conviction to serve pastorally began to take root. I wanted to serve God, and he was opening doors for me to serve him. Men such as Deacon Joel Brackett and Father Jason helped show me that God doesn’t call the qualified, he qualifies the called, which significantly helped me in my discernment process. I was enough, I am enough; my story is part of my journey and God has called me for who I am, he is there, always!

This past spring, I received my master's degree in philosophy, which was a huge grace because the two year journey to receive this degree was difficult but beautiful because I was challenged to put my trust in Christ. I learned how to write lengthy papers, begin preaching and build friendships with individuals from all walks of life.

I had an opportunity to spend a summer in Mexico and in De Queen to master my Spanish-speaking skills, and this allowed me to discover a desire to be a priest and serve the people in a growing missionary diocese. My seminary, Saint Meinrad, has enabled me to embrace my strengths, such as leadership and fostering fraternity, while also facilitating opportunities to grow in my weaknesses.

I am the manager of the wood lot program at Saint Meinrad, where we deliver 100 to 200 truckloads of wood, hand-chopped by seminarians to people in need. Now in my first year of theology, I am learning more about the life of Christ, the fundamentals of Catholic Church teaching and taking more steps into public ministry.

I want to leave you all with this message. Each one of us has a vocation. It is placed upon our hearts before we are born, and it is our decision to find that path that God has prepared for each of us. Please pray for me, and I will pray for you. Peace!

Phillip Necessary is in the configuration stage of his priestly formation. During this stage, a seminarian models his life on the self-donation of Jesus Christ, shepherd and servant, as he prepares more immediately for holy orders. This normally lasts four years. Phillip is the son of Kevin and Denise Necessary of Rogers. His birthday is Aug. 5. If you wish to offer your prayers, mail a birthday greeting or provide other support to Phillip or any of our seminarians, please contact Georgina Pena in the Vocations Office at (501) 664-0340. This article was published Sept. 11, 2024. Copyright Diocese of Little Rock. All rights reserved. This article may be copied or redistributed with acknowledgement and permission of the publisher.