EAST STROUDSBURG – When Rev. Mr. Jan Carlo Pérez reflects on his journey to the priesthood, he is quick to acknowledge that it was anything but a straight path.

Raised in a family that was not especially active in the practice of the Catholic faith, Pérez says his understanding of God developed gradually over time.

“It wasn’t until really my First Communion that I heard anything about our faith,” he recalled.

Years later, after enrolling at Notre Dame Jr./Sr. High School in East Stroudsburg, he began to encounter Sacred Scripture and Catholic teaching in a deeper way.

“It was my first time hearing the stories about Adam and Eve, Moses and David,” Pérez explained. “I never got the Jesus part until later, until about sophomore year, but when I did, everything clicked.”

That newfound faith eventually led him to Eucharistic Adoration at Saint Matthew Church and a growing desire to know Christ more intimately.

“Over time, this desire to be like Jesus, to emulate the saints, just grew in me until it possessed me,” he said.

On Saturday, June 27, 2026, that journey will reach a significant milestone when the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, ordains Pérez to the Priesthood for service in the Diocese of Scranton during a 10:00 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in Scranton.

The Ordination Mass is one of the most significant celebrations in the life of the local Church. During the Rite of Ordination, Pérez will publicly promise obedience to Bishop Bambera and his successors, prostrate himself before the altar during the Litany of the Saints, and receive the laying on of hands and Prayer of Ordination. His hands will then be anointed with Sacred Chrism, setting them apart for priestly ministry and the celebration of the sacraments.

For Pérez, that anointing has taken on particular meaning as his ordination draws near.

“One of the most beautiful signs in the Ordination Rite is the anointing of the priest’s hands,” he said. “I just finished a retreat where a lot of my time was spent reflecting on this anointing – that these hands are going to be set apart to call down the Spirit onto the altar and transform the elements into the Body and Blood of Christ.”

He paused before adding, “That is incredible. This is what these hands have been preparing for, for years!”

Pérez’s vocation journey began years ago at Saint Matthew Parish in East Stroudsburg, where he first met then-Diocesan Vocation Director Father Donald Williams.

“I first met Jan Carlo when I was the Vocation Director and Director of Seminarians,” Father Williams recalled. “Father Jerry Shantillo was the pastor here at Saint Matthew and he called me and said, ‘I have a young guy who is a first-year student at Temple. I’d like you to come and meet with him.’”

What followed was a years-long process of discernment, formation, and spiritual growth.

“Jan Carlo very generously and wonderfully just opened himself to a discernment process,” Father Williams said.

Over time, Father Williams watched that openness mature into a deep commitment to Christ and the Church.

“What I have experienced in Jan Carlo as a disciple of Jesus is that he is a committed student,” Father Williams explained. “But what I’ve seen over the years is not just something residing in the intellect but in the heart. His heart has been transformed. He has been stretched – and perhaps broken open – and formed to become a priest for the People of God.”

Pérez expressed similar thoughts – agreeing that seminary formation challenged him in unexpected ways.

“It has been the experienced of being stretched constantly,” he said. “Thinking, ‘That was enough, I’ve grown this far,’ and then God takes me in a different direction and shows me, ‘You still have to work on this here.’”

As he prepares to begin priestly ministry, Pérez is especially excited about accompanying people through life’s most important moments.

“In the Diocesan priesthood, we have the privilege of being able to do a little bit of everything,” he said. “Baptizing children at the beginning of life, funerals at the end of life, weddings in the middle of life, leading worship, preaching, teaching perhaps in schools.”

Ultimately, Pérez says his vocation comes down to gratitude.

“In the end, I’m doing this because I think God has done something great for me,” he reflected. “And I really want to share that with other people.”

Throughout his years of formation, Pérez says he has been humbled by the support he has received from people across the Diocese of Scranton.

“I feel extremely blessed … Even by people I’ve never met before,” he said. “It’s just really humbling and incredible what kind of hopes people put into me.”

All faithful are invited and encouraged to attend the June 27 Ordination Mass. For those unable to attend, the Mass will also be broadcast live on CTV: Catholic Television of the Diocese of Scranton and livestream through the Diocese of Scranton website, YouTube channel, and Diocesan social media platforms.