Anthony
J. Tomasulo, O.S.A.
My name is Antonio Tomasulo. My present assignment is serving as the pastor of a parish staffed by the Augustinians in Dania Beach, Florida.
My life and future were dramatically changed when I met my first Augustinian as a freshman at Villanova in the fall of 1953. Prior to that I was taught for four years by the Benedictines in Morristown, New Jersey. Years later when people asked why I didn't become a Benedictine, my stock answer is that A comes before B! I say that because I believe God does not follow logic when he calls a person.
When I came to Villanova I became a wild and crazy college "V for Villanova" student. For example, my roommate and I were almost arrested by the Philadelphia police when we were part of a small riot that tore down a goalpost at Franklin Field after the Wildcats upset highly favored Syracuse. Final score: Syracuse Orangemen 13 - VU Wildcats 14. Parenthetically, I should mention that we were at that game with two beautiful girls from Rosemont College.
We lived in the old barracks where the current Commerce & Finance building is located. We had to walk up to the old Mendel Hall (currently Tolentine Hall) to have our meals. In doing so, we had to walk by Corr Hall, then home of the Augustinian seminarians.
I was inspired by the wonderful espirit de corps which I saw among these young men. I watched as they played games of tennis and basketball. These Augustinians seemed happy and full of life. This attracted me. But I held back because I didn't want to give up my great happy-go-lucky college life. I was having too much fun to enter the seminary and end all this — no way! At that point I struggled with my life as Augustine did. Then one day an Augustinian, Father Tom Burke, who was my dorm prefect, sat me down in his office and said, "Antonio, why don't you give the Augustinian Seminary a try? You have nothing to lose; a lot to gain." Well, I took his advice and entered the Order in September of 1955 and I have never thought about what I missed. I didn't lose anything. In fact, I gained a whole new perspective on what life was all about.
I love being an Augustinian. I tell people the Order of Saint Augustine is like my late mother. She was not the most beautiful woman in the world, or the smartest, but she was my mother. She gave me life. The Augustinians took me in and gave me a whole new life. I have had eight different assignments over the 48 years and I have been happy and challenged in all those different apostolates. The one common thread in all those apostolates was my experience of Augustinian Community. In all of those assignments I have had a family of brothers with which I have lived, prayed and worked.
An Augustinian is not a Lone Ranger. We are a team in our approach to ministry and we live a common life. This was again brought home to me very strongly in December 2003. My Mom passed on to the Lord on December 3, at the young age of 97. I was devastated. Up to that point in her long life. her mental and physical health had been wonderful. So I struggled with the loss and separation. But my blood family in New Jersey, my Augustinian family here in Dania Beach, and my Augustinian brothers around the Province rallied around me with prayers, Masses, words of sympathy and support. The two families to which I belong came together at my Mom's Mass of Resurrection.
Growing up in Northern New Jersey, I was ignorant with regard to the different kinds of priests and religious orders. As I served the old Latin Mass, all priests were the same. When I became an Augustinian, I realized there is a difference. We have a different approach to ministry and how we live our lives. I could not make it as a priest without my Augustinian community.
The Lord willing, I shall be ordained 43 years this June. But I was an Augustinian before I became a priest. It has been a blessed and wonderful journey!