By Elena Perri • Posted May 11, 2026

This profile is part of a series highlighting each of the eight men to be ordained to the priesthood for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia on May 16.

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One of Deacon Michael Gokie’s earliest memories of his introduction to the Catholic faith was when his mother Catherine read the Bible to him as a 3-year-old.

He remembers sitting on the couch and talking about God as a preschooler. Receiving his First Holy Communion and the sacrament of reconciliation were poignant experiences for him.

“I remember reflecting on that Jesus died for me, and I think I cried,” Gokie said.

Later, as an altar server, he experienced the Mass in a more profound way.

“The mysterious aspect of the faith really attracted me,” he said. “There was something about the Mass that made me think, ‘Wow, what is going on here?’”

Gokie, now 38, was born in Dallas, Texas grew up in Nebraska where he attended Catholic elementary school and high school before going to the University of Nebraska. He has a younger brother David and a younger sister Jennifer Tran.

He credits his parents Catherine and Jeffery Gokie with sowing the seeds of faith that led to his priestly vocation.

“My parents would go to Mass every Sunday,” the deacon said. “We would never miss Mass, and we would always pray before meals.”

Gokie shared how his parents had a more invitational approach to passing on the Catholic faith to their children and never forced it on them.

“If I would’ve stopped going to Mass in high school, I think my parents would’ve been sad, and they probably would’ve invited me, but they wouldn’t have forced me,” he explained.

An engineering major at the University of Nebraska, the deacon became actively involved in the Newman Center during his freshman year. The campus also had missionaries from the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS) who helped students learn more about the Catholic faith and guide them in their faith journeys.

“I fell into that luckily, and it changed my life completely,” he said. “I really fell in love with Jesus Christ, and I just wanted to tell everybody about God.”

Gokie eventually switched his major from engineering to education. “The idea of being a teacher really attracted me, and my heart wasn’t really in mathematics,” he said.

A mission trip to Peru the summer after his junior year was when he first sensed that God may be calling him to the priesthood.

“I felt like God kind of tugged on my heart,” Gokie said. “I would ask God to tell me what He wanted from me, and I would say, ‘I’ll do anything you want.’”

Then doubts crept into his mind about whether he was truly willing to do whatever God wanted.

He decided to take a break from attending college and figure out the next step he would take in his discernment process.

During this time, Gokie indirectly received guidance from Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, former archbishop of the Archdioceses of Denver and Philadelphia, who was the spiritual director for a FOCUS missionary from Nebraska.

“I was telling the missionary that I was thinking about joining this community, and I wasn’t really sure what to do,” Gokie said. “He talked to Archbishop Chaput about it and Archbishop Chaput told him, ‘Well, he should go move in with them and see what it’s like.’”

Although the deacon didn’t know Archbishop Chaput personally, he knew of him and greatly respected him. “In a way, it was Archbishop Chaput’s advice that got me to say, ‘Okay, I’m going to go make a move,’” Gokie said.

He decided to spend a year in Colorado with a group of brothers from the Sodality of Christian Life he had met during the mission trip. Afterward, Gokie went to Peru and spent four years in formation at a seminary there.

While Gokie’s parents were happy their son wanted to become a priest, he explained that the thought of him moving to a foreign country and possibly not coming back home was concerning to them.

After completing his formation in 2014, he began serving as campus minister at the Newman Center at the University of Pennsylvania and Drexel University in Philadelphia.

The following year Gokie applied to St. Charles Borromeo Seminary where he completed three years of philosophy coursework and four years in the theology division.

He was ordained a transitional deacon last Jan. 11 and has been serving as a deacon at St. Agatha-St. James Parish in the University City neighborhood of Philadelphia.

For Deacon Gokie, spending time with Jesus in adoration was especially helpful while he was discerning his vocation.

He also completed the 33-day devotion developed by St. Louis de Montfort as a way for Catholics to consecrate themselves to Jesus through Mary.

“It seems like everything with the vocation started literally right after I did that,” the deacon said. “I was very devoted to Mary as well, and that was a huge guide.”

As he prepares for ordination, Gokie is looking forward to showing others the “loving embrace of the Father.”

“I think the experience of trying to love people and letting Christ love them through me is going to be the best,” he added.

While the deacon has already received requests from students to celebrate their wedding Masses, he considers baptism the most consequential sacrament he will administer as a priest.

“Baptism is so important because it’s the sacrament of salvation,” Gokie said. “It’s the most life-changing thing that could happen to a person. To be able to minister that sacrament, I don’t think there’s really anything more beautiful than that.”