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In growing up I lived on a farm in the Jackson Purchase Area of western Kentucky. I asked my parents about becoming a priest. They encouraged me to talk with our pastor who took me to visit a seminary and encouraged me to write for information from other places. One response came from Divine Heart Seminary in Donaldson, Indiana. The Priests of the Sacred Heart wanted me to share in the love of the Sacred Heart and come to their seminary. That was the beginning of Fr. Leonard's call to the priesthood. It would take many years to bear fruit. I graduated from Divine Heart and started preparing for religious life at the community's novitiate in Ste. Made, Illinois. The studies took more time than the practical side of my life. What I learned convinced me that I did not want to be a priest. I left the community and joined the Air Force to serve our country.
I liked helping others and following Jesus' command to love everyone. In the camaraderie and the dating surrounding military life I became aware God was still calling me. Marrying and raising a family was a strong attraction, but, I decided I could help more people by working within a religious community. I asked to prepare to take religious vows with the Priests of the Sacred Heart as a Brother.
For me this was the best vocation. My life as a Brother allowed me to help others. I enjoyed visiting the Milwaukee County House of Corrections with Fr. Jim Steffes, S.C.J. and helped organize a group to help families of prisoners. At the same time I was helping other young men become priests. I watched over the construction of the new monastery at Hales Corners while preparing to maintain it for the community. I knew my vowed life made a statement in an unsure world. Community living and prayer strengthened my relationship with God. I was happy.
One of the tasks the community asked me to undertake was the direction of the newly professed brothers as they completed their studies. To prepare for this work, I was asked to pursue some studies. I attended the Institute for Religious Formation at St. Louis University. When I finished, I became the associate novice master helping others prepare for their religious vows. In this ministry, I helped pioneer inter-community religious formation with other communities in the Los Angeles area, establishing a curriculum of study and workshops. I enjoyed giving spiritual direction and directing retreats. God was still waiting, but, preparing me.
Missionary work has been part of the Priests of the Sacred Heart from the congregation's beginning. The U.S. Province of the Priests of the Sacred Heart wanted to form a mission team to go to Lesotho within South Africa. Here was a special way for me to help others. After the team was chosen and trained the project was abruptly canceled. I found myself still desiring to go to the missions. At this time, the Province of Zaire in the former Belgian Congo asked if the U.S. Province could send more men. I found myself in Pads learning French, the common language used by the missionaries in the Congo. In December of 1981, 1 went on to Kisangani to start my missionary life.
The Congo is an African nation trying to find its footing in a rapidly changing world. For over I 00 years, SCJs have rninistered to its people. They weathered a civil war, in which many members of the congregation were killed. Disease, including AIDS and HIV ran rampant throughout the country. One of the greatest challenges for the Congolese church will be AIDS. Reports indicate that in some villages, 50 percent of the population is HIV+.
Besides the need for a ministry to the ill and their families, there is the practical problem of how to replace lay leaders who are dying in large numbers. I worked in the country for almost ten years, witnessing many of the cultural changes, as well as a developing Catholic church.
In Babonde, one of the places where I was stationed, we provide food for patients at a nearby tuberculosis center. Unlike hospitals in the United States, those in the Congo generally do not furnish meals for their patients. It is up to the family to provide meals during a hospital stay, but that is difficult. Most family members live too far from the hospital to visit on a daily basis.
It was at Babonde that God blessed me by renewing the call to the priesthood. While building a bridge to help our missionaries get to one of the villages, I hurt my back. During the time of convalescence, I asked myself how I could serve the community and the church. Fr. Dave Maher, SCJ was the Provincial Superior at the time and he asked if I would like to study for the priesthood.
When I returned to the USA for my vacation I decided to give it a try. Going back to studies at the age of fifty was not easy, but, I was blessed with success. I finished my college and four years of theology before I was ordained to the priesthood. Knowing that my health would not support a return to the missions I asked to minister at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Houston, Texas. It was fast becoming one of the larger parishes at which we minister. The wide variety of ministry it afforded helped me adjust to the priesthood. I enjoyed the challenges. Preparing parents for baptism, the engaged for marriage, confessions, accompanying the dying and their families and above all celebrating the Eucharist were part of my community and prayer life.
After four years I was asked to be the pastor of Christ the Redeemer Parish, also in Houston and growing rapidly. To my surprise I found that I was good at administering a parish. The priestly ministry was still just as challenging and rewarding. During my first year as pastor, I learned that due to the shortage of priests, the Priests of the Sacred Heart would give Christ the Redeemer back to the care of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston. I had the job of working myself out of a job and building up a parish at the same time. In July of 2004 the change took place.
Now, I find myself as pastor at St. Joseph Church in Holly Springs, MS. It is a small parish in mission Mississippi. Here my varied life experiences are really helping in a multi-cultural parish. New challenges are meeting with the never-ending love of the Sacred Heart.
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