At my first Mass at St. Rose in Proctor, MN, on June 19, 2001, I commented at the end of Mass that for years I would think to myself, “If I could only say one Mass … now all I can think is how I want to say thousands!” After 25 years as a priest, and by my math, I have celebrated and presided at the Holy Sacrifice more than 9,000 times.

This all began when I was in second grade. I was listening to Fr. Fred Method talk about the power of the priest to consecrate bread and wine into the Body and Blood of Christ and the power to forgive sins. He was teaching us as part of our preparation for the sacraments. I was amazed and immediately drawn to the priesthood. I thought being a priest was the only job in the world in which you could work miracles. The call was placed upon my heart. Later that evening, I told my mother that I wanted to be a priest. She said, “If that is what God wills, we will pray that God’s will be done.”

And it was. On June 18, 2001, the Church issued the ordinary call for me to be “a priest forever.” Bishop Dennis Schnurr was the ordinary of the Mass, and Fr. Jim Crossman and Fr. Tom Foster vested me in priestly garb. My parents were floating around afterward, and so was I. I heard my first confession later that night on the front lawn of my parents’ house from a priest I had known from my seminary days.

In the last 25 years, I have had five assignments and been associated with 18 parishes. My longest tenure was in Aitkin, MN, for 11 years. In all these years, doing God’s work, carrying out His will, imparting His grace, and sharing His gifts with the Church has been an unending joy. Not without many challenges, both personal and vocational, the priesthood has still provided me with ample opportunity to grow spiritually and humanly.

Looking back after 25 years, I am both the same and different. These words or concepts describe the heart of what compels my priesthood today: “worship,” “healing,” “grace,” “loss,” and “Mary.” Specifically, I seek to offer true worship to the one true God; to be a healing agent through confession and spiritual direction; to bring the light of Christ into the world through His manifold grace; to meet the pain of loss with the help of God’s Church and ministries; and to rely upon the motherly love of Mary for confidence and her intercession.

On my ordination card—which was something all of us from the St. Paul Seminary did, pairing a picture with a saying—I chose John 3:30, “He must increase, I must decrease.” John the Baptist said this of Jesus to his own disciples. I have always found this truth to be perfectly suited to a life well lived in light of being a child of God, His faithful disciple, dependent upon His grace and not my own powers or abilities. My hope is that others see Christ in me and that I reflect His love.

Please continue to pray for me and for all priests. I want to serve you and the Church in thousands upon thousands of ways because this is my vocation and, most importantly, so that God’s will be done.

More to come…