We asked priests to share significant moments that made a difference in their priesthood. Here are a few.
FR. TOM EXEJT
"Let me tell you the story of my toughest day in the priesthood. It was Holy Saturday in about 1981 at Our Lady of Fatima in Lyons. At 2 a.m., a high-school senior young man left the bar at closing time and drove home drunk. He flipped his car in a ditch and the gas tank exploded, burning him to death. Then at about 10 a.m., a 10-year-old boy drove one of those 4-wheel all-terrain vehicles across Ohio 120 without looking, and was hit by an oncoming truck. An eyewitness told me that the boy flew about 20 feet in the air and landed on his face on the pavement. Most likely he died instantly.
"What I thought was going to be a peaceful, restful day with nothing to do before the Easter Vigil suddenly became a round of emergency-room and family visits, leading everybody in prayer, etc. When I finally got home, the first thing I did was throw my Easter homily in the wastebasket and start over. I couldn't talk about exegesis of John's account of the empty tomb, and then leave the folks with some platitudes. First of all, I had to come to a conclusion about what I really believed about the Lord's resurrection, and relate it to the events of the day, news of which had traveled from Lyons to the farthest reaches of the Fayette parish (West Unity, Pioneer and Waldron, MI).
"In praying over the whole experience, my faith grew, I pray it continues to grow, and it has sustained me in the 40 years that followed."
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FR. DAVID KIDD
"One of the favorite forms of prayer that my students love doing is Eucharistic Adoration. The music is amazing and prayerful, but the most profound moment for our students is the time of silence before our Lord. They pour out their hearts to the Creator of Heaven and Earth. It is in those moments that God SPEAKS to them. For me, to see their devotion is such an affirmation of God's work in the world."
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FR. JEFF MCBETH
"When I was at St. Michael in Findlay I was kind of in a funk and a little 'pity party,' thinking things like 'Nothing I do really matters.' I stopped going through the school for a couple weeks (which I had typically done at least once a day) because... why bother. One day I was in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel during one of the Adoration days and literally felt God whap me on the backside of the head saying, 'It doesn't matter how you FEEL about it. Just do your job.' That was a transformative moment in my young priesthood."
“This is my body given for you;
do this in remembrance of me.” Luke 22:19
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