Arlington, VA — Fathers Raymond E. Goins (CPT), USA, and Michael C. Sampson LT, USN, were among 12 men ordained priests for the Diocese of Arlington on Saturday, June 7, before a standing-room-only congregation at the Cathedral of St. Thomas More. Both are on track to become U.S. Military chaplains—Father Goins in the Army, Father Sampson in the Navy—with endorsement and faculties from the Archdiocese for the Military Services, USA (AMS). The two chaplain hopefuls will each spend the next three years honing their pastoral skills in local parishes before acceding to active duty under their co-sponsored seminarian agreements with the AMS and the Arlington Diocese.
Inspired by the “example of holy priests and chaplains, and the desire to be of better service to soldiers,” Father Goins, 33, says his priestly vision is “to serve God and His people, specifically by bringing them the sacraments.” Father Sampson, 42, says he discerned his priestly vocation when he “began to pray and meditate on the Litany of Trust” which helped him “be open to what God had planned for me and to have faith in his will and not my own.” Father Sampson says he is “looking forward to the opportunity to bring the sacraments to the people, but especially to encounter them in their times of greatest need.”
Fathers Goins and Sampson both completed formational studies at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, MD, where both earned a Master of Divinity Degree (M.Div.) and Father Goins also earned a Bachelor of Sacred Theology (S.T.B.). Both were ordained by Arlington Bishop Michael F. Burbidge through the laying of hands and the prayer of consecration invoking the Holy Spirit. AMS Auxiliary Bishop F. Richard Spencer concelebrated the 11:00 a.m. ordination Mass. Watch the video.
Father Goins is a 2010 graduate of Oakton High School in Vienna, VA. In 2014 he graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point with a Bachelor of Science degree in Political Science with a concentration in International Relations. He entered seminary after five years on active duty as a commissioned Army field artillery officer, earning the rank of captain. Father Goins continues to serve in the Army’s Individual Ready Reserve (IRR) while preparing to go back on active duty. He credits Fathers James O’Neal, CH (MAJ), USA (Ret.), and Matthew Pawlikowski, CH (COL), USA (Ret.), both of whom concelebrated the ordination Mass, for shepherding his priestly discernment.
Father Sampson is a 2001 graduate of Redwood High School in Visalia, CA. He earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of California at San Diego, a Master of Arts in International Relations and a Juris Doctorate from Syracuse University, and a Master of Law with a concentration in National Security and U.S. Foreign Relations from The George Washington University, all before entering seminary.
Among those participating in the ordination Mass were Father Goins’ parents, Ray and Sally Goins, his sister, Katie Goins, and his brother, Eric Goins, and Father Sampson’s parents, Michael and Diane Sampson, his sister, Michelle Benitez and her husband, Santiago Benitez, nephews Brooklyn McDonald and Isaiah Benitez, and a niece, Danielle Benitez.
The two new priests are among 12 prospective Catholic U.S. Military chaplains being ordained this calendar year across the country—nine as priests and three as transitional deacons—as the AMS strives to relieve a shortage of Catholic chaplains on active duty. Father Paul-Anthony Halladay, CH, (MAJ) USA (Ret.), AMS Director of Vocations, along with the military’s own Catholic chaplain recruiters and vocation directors nationwide, are finding the military itself a rich pool of prospective priests and chaplains.
In fact, according to the annual Survey of Ordinands to the Priesthood conducted by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University, 6% of new Catholic priests ordained in the U.S. this year once served in the military, and 12% grew up in military families, making the military perhaps the nation’s largest single source of new priests, military or civilian. The actual numbers are sure to be higher, since only 76% of this year’s ordinands (309 out of 405) responded to the survey.
Yet many more are needed to answer God’s call.
Young men interested in discerning a priestly vocation and the vocation within a vocation to serve those who serve can find more information at milarch.org/vocations, or may contact Father Halladay at [email protected] or (202) 719-3600.
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