The faithful example of his parents and parish priests and an experience of God’s mercy in Eucharistic Adoration provided a springboard for the calling to priesthood of Father John Francis Lado, who was among six new priests ordained for The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington by Cardinal Wilton Gregory on June 17 at the National Shrine.
Father Lado praised the example of his parents, John Lado, a telecommunications engineer, and Carmen Lado, who is retired after working as a design patent examiner.
“Everything they did began and ended with love. Above everything else, they prized the faith, and that mindset guided and shaped my upbringing,” he said.
Father Lado has three older sisters who are all stay-at-home moms, and he joked that as he grew up with them, they perhaps watched more “Pride and Prejudice” than “Transformers” movies, but they all liked Washington’s football team and the “Lord of the Rings” movies.
“We all loved each other,” he said, adding, “Having three older sisters did help me develop my listening skills and shaped my sensitivity for others.”
The future priest was homeschooled, and he later studied at The Catholic University of America, becoming the seventh person in his family to attend Catholic University.
From the age of 7, he felt a call to the priesthood, impressed by the example of his priests at his home parish, St. Patrick’s in Rockville, where he was baptized, received First Communion and the sacrament of Confirmation and was an altar server.
“I was inspired by my pastor, Msgr. Thomas Kane, and I wanted to be like him,” he said, noting that young parochial vicars serving there over the years, including Father Joseph Rogers and Father Michael Paris, “showed us that you can be happy giving your life to Christ.”
According to the Seminarian Directory for the Archdiocese of Washington, during the 2022-23 school year, five of the archdiocese’s 76 seminarians came from St. Patrick’s Parish.
As a high school student, the future priest began to struggle with his faith, but during Eucharistic Adoration following a healing Mass at St. Andrew Apostle Church in Silver Spring, he said that as he knelt down to pray, he felt as if his heart had been struck by a ray of sunlight shining inside himself.
“I call it the ‘physical manifestation of God’s mercy,’ it was the most profound experience of consolation in prayer that I had ever felt,” Father Lado said, adding that at that moment, he knew God was real and present in the Eucharist, and he needed to know Him. And it was then that his prayer life deepened and his desire to be a priest reappeared.
At Catholioc University, he was a counselor with the Light the World! Program designed to show high school students that they can live their faith in college. He became friends with some students who planned to attend the ordination and his first Mass. “It was inspiring to be a witness of faith and seeing the faith catch fire in the hearts of others,” he said.
When he entered Saint John Paul II Seminary, he appreciated “the support of the community of brothers seeking life with the Lord.”
Studying at the Pontifical North American College in Rome “in the heart of the Church” has been a great blessing, he said, noting on his walk to school, he would pass Churches with relics of famous saints. “Stopping into ancient Churches to say a prayer and see the living history of the Church is very moving.”
Studying with seminarians from around the world, he experienced the universality of the Church. Describing what it was like to study so close to the Vatican and Pope Francis, Father Lado noted, “This past year alone, I had the incredible privilege of carrying the chrism oil to the Holy Father to bless during the Chrism Mass on Holy Thursday morning.”
Serving as a seminarian at local parishes, he was moved by how people sought him out for advice, even though he was younger than them and they were living full lives. “I was struck by the power of being present in faith… The mere presence of a man who believes and cares has transformative power,” he said.
As his ordination day was approaching, he said he felt confident that the Lord and the Blessed Mother “will come through for me like they always have.”
Father Lado said his goals as a priest are “to serve Christ with my whole being and to be the instrument for His grace and salvation for as many souls as He wishes to reach through my life.”
The day after his ordination, Father Lado came home to St. Patrick Church to celebrate his first Mass. Beforehand he noted, “It will be surreal to celebrate my first Mass there at my home parish where I have served as an altar server for so many years. It will be very emotional to say the least. So many memories of my life happened there, and so much support has come from the faithful parishioners there.”
