Fr. John Greb

Mechanic becomes priest after 15-year hiatus from Church

By Joyce Coronel | Nov. 30, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

Fr. John Greb doesn’t have grease under his fingernails anymore. The former heavy-equipment mechanic who once spent his days fixing engines and tinkering with parts was ordained a priest in 2006.

Part of the phenomena of “late vocations” the Church has experienced recently, he’s in his 40s, but has only been a priest for three years.

As a child, Fr. Greb thought about becoming a priest, but as he entered his teen years, the dream faded considerably. By the time he left high school, he had stopped attending church altogether.

He earned a technical degree and was apprenticed as a mechanic at Empire Machinery in Mesa. Working on Caterpillar engines all day, he barely thought back to his childhood vision of the priesthood.

After a 15-year hiatus from practicing his Catholic faith, Fr. Greb returned to Church at the invitation of his sister. He felt a strong call to a religious vocation during a Mass that took place at St. Timothy Parish on Thanksgiving Day in l995.

“I received Communion, and I heard a voice within my mind say, ‘What about the priesthood?’ I tried to push that voice to the background,” Fr. Greb said. Meanwhile, he participated in the Arise program, learning more and more about his dormant faith.

“The call became stronger, but I kept telling God I want to be married, to have children. But God is persistent,” Fr. Greb said. A framed picture of Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen that hangs in his office at St. Joseph Parish attests to what happened next.

“Archbishop Sheen talks about the Hound of Heaven and how he pursues you almost relentlessly,” Fr. Greb said. At a workshop given by Catholic author Mary Beth Bonnaci, he learned that those who are considering the priesthood ought to read Archbishop Sheen’s autobiography.

“Godly people will confirm your vocation,” the book explained. When Fr. Greb attended singles’ functions at the parish, people would frequently ask him to lead the group in prayer. It even happened with teasing among family members.

“One time we had Thanksgiving or Christmas at my house in Tempe, and my dad, who is not Catholic and is still not Catholic said, ‘Oooh — Fr. John.’ These things kept happening and happening.”

He noticed in his journey back to the Church that the people who really seemed to have a strong faith were very devoted to the Blessed Mother. “I started to look around and I said, ‘I want their brand of faith,’” Fr. Greb said.

He made a pilgrimage to Mexico City to see the tilma of St. Juan Diego. There he prayed that if he had a vocation, it would be made known to him. Upon returning to Mesa, he received a holy card with an icon of Christ. When he turned it over, there was a personal prayer for vocations that asked God to make it known if one had a vocation to the priesthood.

“My first reaction was to put it back,” Fr. Greb said of the holy card. But he took it and began saying the prayer. A few days later he had a dream in which he saw two people arguing over Hebrews 5.

At the time, he didn’t know anything about the Bible and was amazed to turn to the Scripture passage and read: “every priest has been taken out of mankind… God is the one who calls him.”

Shortly thereafter, he entered Mount Angel Seminary.

What are you passionate about as a priest?

My job is to preach, to govern and to sanctify. That’s about getting people to heaven, not making them happy. I love Mary, too. I would hope that everything is directed to the Eucharist, the sacraments and salvation. I do preach about the abortion issue, the sanctity of life, contraception, and what separates us from the grace of God. I think sometimes people go to neighboring parishes when they don’t want to hear that message. I try to do it in spirit of love. I’ve preached on cohabitation and homosexuality. I tie it into what it means to be a practicing Catholic, what does the world say versus what God says.

Did someone invite you to consider the priesthood?

Not really. I thought about it, I said I want to be a priest, but that faded when I [graduated from] Our Lady of Mount Carmel and went to Tempe High. You become a teenager and you start to develop a measure of independence and you’re not sure if you want to go to church.

What can families do to encourage more vocations to the priesthood?

It makes a big difference when families eat dinner together and pray together. I’ve seen families where after they eat dinner, they go into the living room and pray a decade of the rosary. My father was one of the first people I approached. He said, “Just tell me whatever you need and we’re here to support you.”