A year in the making: Priests reflect on new lives in ministry

By Mary Moore, The Catholic Sun
May 17, 2007

After almost a full year of preaching, hearing confessions, and tending to their large communities in the East Valley, Fathers John Greb and John Lankeit don’t feel so new.

“Time has passed rather quickly; I can’t believe it has been nearly a year,” said Fr. Greb.

The two priests were ordained last June and since then Fr. Greb has served as associate pastor of Holy Cross Parish in Mesa and Fr. Lankeit as associate pastor of St. Anne Parish in Gilbert. The two growing communities have kept these energetic young men busy fulfilling the duties of priesthood, responsibilities that came fast for two men fresh out of the seminary.

“I would say that within about a month, I felt like I had been celebrating Mass and hearing confessions my whole life,” said Fr. Lankeit, who credits the Holy Spirit with providing what he needed to fulfill his vocation instantly.

“As a priest, your understanding of priesthood matures very quickly, as it must. The day-to-day challenges a priest faces in serving the people of God help him realize his total dependence on the Holy Spirit to energize and guide his ministry. That’s something you cannot be taught in a classroom,” said Fr. Lankeit.

Though both men have found themselves occupied with a host of varying responsibilities that fill the day, each agreed that the celebration of Mass was central to their accomplishment of other tasks as well as the source of great energy.

“Celebrating the sacred liturgy is the most important thing that I do as a priest,” Fr. Greb said. “Virtually everything flows from this. Prayer life, the ability to offer pastoral counseling or spiritual direction, effectiveness as a preacher of the Sunday homily, and willingness to do the Lord’s will at inopportune times are all rooted in the centrality of the Eucharist in the life of a priest.”

Fr. Lankeit concurred.

“I never tire of celebrating Mass,” he said. “During both of the Masses I celebrated on Easter Sunday and the following day, my hands were shaking and I felt like I was on fire. It wasn’t nerves, either. My first thought was, ‘Man, I don’t know what’s going on here.’ But I did know. It was the power of the resurrection.”

Fr. Greb finds preaching to be one of his most enjoyable tasks as a priest, stating that he feels a “fire in the belly on Sunday morning” and can’t wait to preach. Parishioners at Holy Cross Church, like Ramon Alcala and his family, have noticed.

As a “freshly ordained” priest, Alcala says, Fr. Greb “makes a lot of sense. He brings new stuff. Whenever I see that he is celebrating Mass, I turn to my wife and say ‘Yes! Fr. Greb is celebrating.’”

Struggles in ministry

In addition to the exhilarating moments within their vocation, both priests have found struggles to be part of the job as well. Fr. Greb noted that encountering Catholics who do not take their faith or Church teaching seriously is difficult to deal with, as well as the rather large number of churchgoers who leave Mass early.

“It is trying when you want something for someone such as a deep and profound faith experience and that person does not seem to want it for himself,” he said.

One of the great challenges in the priesthood, Fr. Lankeit admits, is finding quiet time for prayer.

“In the seminary, you have a very controlled and controllable schedule and can easily carve out concentrated silent time with the Lord, especially in the Blessed Sacrament. A new priest is challenged to find that absolutely necessary silent time with the Lord in midst of the busy life in a parish,” Fr. Lankeit said, adding that the busy life of a parish priest is a reality that most Catholics may not understand.

“I think a lot of people think a priest celebrates Mass in the morning and then has the rest of the day off. I probably thought the same, too, many years ago,” he said.

“The reality is that so much is coming at you in a given day, at least in a large parish like St. Anne’s, that it’s hard to even recall all you’ve done in a week. You just know you’ve been busy. Busy with the Lord’s work.”