When Deacon Robert Kilner is ordained by Cardinal Wuerl as one of four new priests for the Archdiocese of Washington during a June 17 Mass at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, he and Deacon Benjamin Garcia and Deacon Andrew Wakefield will make history, as the first priests to be ordained from the archdiocese’s Saint John Paul II Seminary. The three men were members of the seminary’s pioneer class when it opened in 2011.

But the native of Silver Spring, Maryland, said his priestly formation began even earlier.

“I call my father’s pick-up truck my first seminary,” Deacon Kilner said, noting that as a boy, he tagged along on Saturdays when his dad drove to the Our Lady of Mattaponi Youth Retreat and Conference Center in Upper Marlboro, helping him on projects like building a fence there.

On the drive there, his dad – who was doing contract construction work for the archdiocese – would have the boys helping him that day read highlights from the newspaper and discuss current events with him.

“On the way home, we’d always end up getting in serious conversations… (about things like) the church, faith, relationships, love and marriage, vocations,” the future priest said. “He encouraged us to be well-read, men of virtue.”

The fifth of nine children of Patrick and Toni Kilner said “mom and dad both formed us in a very natural way,” with prayer part of the fabric of their family’s life. When they would offer their children lessons about the faith or advice, it was always given with love, Deacon Kilner said.

His parents prayed the rosary and began each day with the morning offering and said prayers of thanksgiving each evening. Asked about his mother’s example, he said, “Like my dad, she was just this person of constant faith and hard work.”

The family attended the Shrine of St. Jude Parish in Rockville, which Deacon Kilner described as “the place of a very fun childhood” and where he received the sacraments of Baptism, First Holy Communion, Confession and Confirmation.

Deacon Kilner was named after Father Robert Mordino, a mentor and friend to his dad. Father Mordino, who died in 2007, served as the founding director of the youth retreat center and was well-known for his youth ministry work over the years for the archdiocese and at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Silver Spring.

“He was a man of great patience and prayer. He wasn’t afraid to roll up his sleeves and get to work,” said the priest’s namesake. “…I know if I stay close to our Lord in prayer, and if I try to emulate his (Father Mordino’s) patience and humility and his quiet hard work, I’ll be on the right path to being a good priest.”

Deacon Kilner attended middle and high school at The Heights School in Potomac, an all-boys’ school sponsored by Opus Dei. He said the men teachers and priests there were always available to help the students. Arriving there as a fifth grader, he remembers seeing “a valley where we could build forts, where they let boys be boys.”

He also remembers having the opportunity to attend Mass during a morning free period. “I went and was surprised by the beauty in the liturgy,” he said. “… After that, I was really drawn to the Mass in a new way.”

After graduating from The Heights, he attended The Catholic University of America, which he said “became a new home.” He played soccer with students there and sang for Red Line, an a cappella group named for the Metro train line that had a stop at the campus.

“I entered as an undecided major, and found just a lot of joy in studying philosophy and studying truth,” said Deacon Kilner, who earned a degree in philosophy there.

The college graduate then worked as a residential real estate agent, and began praying at the Eucharistic Adoration chapel at St. John the Evangelist Parish.

“I found myself in this chapel a few times a week, then every night of the week, and the call to priesthood came rushing back,” he said, noting that he had first thought about priesthood as a middle school student at The Heights.

Then Deacon Kilner became one of the inaugural group of 20 students at the archdiocese’s new Blessed John Paul II Seminary when it opened in 2011. The seminary was renamed as Saint John Paul II Seminary when its patron saint was canonized in 2014.

Recalling what it was like to be a pioneer student there, Deacon Kilner said, “Everything was new, from the building, to the faculty, to the men, the new seminarians. We were all aware we were starting something that isn’t often done these days.”

After the seminary opened, Deacon Kilner reflected in an interview about his vocational journey, saying, “Over the years, God made it very clear through many people and prayer, that he wanted something special from me.”

He later wrote that something his dad told him, “I have always thought that you have a priest’s heart,” resonated with him every day.

Deacon Kilner praised the prayerful example of the priest faculty members at the seminary, including the rector, Msgr. Robert Panke; the vice-rector, Father Carter Griffin; and the director of spiritual formation, Father William Gurnee. In that interview after the seminary’s opening, he said, “It’s very inspiring to see how they live out their priestly vocation every day.”

At that time, the new seminarian said he was learning “more about Christ than I every did before,” and was learning “to become more like Him.” He said then that the seminarians regarded each other as brothers. “We’re all shooting for the same thing. We’re trying to be configured to Christ in a special way.”

Asked about special memories of his two years at Saint John Paul II Seminary, Deacon Kilner said, “Evening Adoration was a highlight of each day, and Wiffle ball played in the evening by the light of our cars.”

In addition to emulating the joyful spirit of Saint John Paul II, Deacon Kilner said the seminarians also followed his example in becoming close to Mary and regarding her as “the mother of priests.”

For the past four years, Deacon Kilner studied at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, where he had the special opportunity to study the writings of saints, and then literally follow in their footsteps and see sites in the Eternal City connected to their lives.

“I remember early on thinking I’d like to make the most of being close to the Holy Father and the center of Christendom,” he said.

Deacon Kilner said he’s been inspired by the priestly heart of Pope Francis, and how through his words and actions he emphasizes the importance of sharing God’s love and mercy with people.

In an interview this past fall, the seminarian said, “He (Pope Francis), like his holy predecessors, is a man who is always with his people. On any given day, I hear about or see his convoy moving through the city to visit another hospital, another shelter, another person in need of the love of Jesus Christ.”

During his seminary years, Deacon Kilner had summer parish assignments at St. Patrick in Rockville, St. Peter in Waldorf and at the Church of the Little Flower in Bethesda, and served one summer helping the chaplain at Ramstein Air Force Base in Germany. He said he has been inspired by the friendships and brotherhood of the priests he has served with, which reminds him of the bonds that he formed with his fellow seminarians.

Deacon Kilner will return to his boyhood parish, the Shrine of St. Jude, to celebrate his first Mass at 10:30 a.m. Sunday June 18. As a new priest, he said he is looking forward to learning as much as he can from the priests he is serving with, and celebrating as many sacraments as he can for the people in his parish.

In his free time, he hopes to continue his hobby of carpentry, and as a priest, he’ll be able to incorporate his love of singing into the Mass.

After his ordination, Deacon Kilner also is looking forward to going back to where his journey to the priesthood began, by visiting the Saint John Paul II Seminary as a priest, praying in the chapel there again, and getting to know some of the next generation of priests studying there.

Asked what he felt in his mind and heart as he approached his ordination day, Deacon Kilner said, “It’s all grace.” And along the way, he said he has come to know of Christ’s enduring presence, that as “we’ll remain close to Him, he’ll remain even closer to us.