Husband, father, deacon—and soon, a priest

From CatholicPhilly.com: 

Thirteen years ago Jim Cardosi’s wife, Cindy, discovered she had little time left to live. In 2002 she experienced symptoms resulting from a neurological illness that by 2005 would be identified as frontotemporal dementia or Pick’s Disease, which Cindy developed in her mid-40s. She required full-time care, so Jim retired from the military. They raised five kids together and built their lives around each other. Jim’s faith kept him poised throughout the illness, and he felt the call to the priesthood before her death. He cared for Cindy until her passing in July 2008 at 51 years old in their Jacksonville, Florida home. “I was a very happily married man and expected a long life growing old with her,” Jim said. “But that’s not what God had planned for us.” Born in New Brighton, Pa., in 1955, Jim’s family moved to the Philadelphia area in the mid-1960s. The oldest of five children, Jim’s mother still lives in Norristown. His father died in 1998. His siblings and children all live in the Northeast United States. Ordained a deacon in May 2014, Rev. Mr. Jim Cardosi will become a priest for the Philadelphia Archdiocese on Saturday, May 16 at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul. The following day at 11 a.m. he will celebrate his first Mass at St. Titus Church in East Norriton (Father Leonard Lewandowski will be the homilist), which will be going back to the new priest’s roots. …Joe Cardosi, Jim’s son, will get married at Epiphany Church on June 6 – with his dad celebrating the wedding Mass. Joe remembered when his dad told him he wanted to be a priest. Joe was a duty officer at the Army’s Fort Richardson, Alaska. In a fireside conference room, Joe thought about his dad’s news as he looked out at the snow. He wasn’t surprised but remembered it being an odd experience. Joe left the Army as Jim made his decision. Joe remembered he spoke to his dad about the possibility of his father marrying him one day. “All kinds of stuff is happening through the grace of God and my willingness to step forward and to say yes to the Lord’s call,” Jim said.

Read it all.