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Year for Priests: Reflecting on vocation, ministry

Name: Father Thomas J. Flanagan

Birth date: June 6, 1948

Hometown: Rock Valley, Iowa

Education: BA German, Loras College, Dubuque, IA; MA Theology, University of Innsbruck, Austria; MA Music, St. Joseph’s College, Rensselaer, IN; EdD Counseling Supervision, University of South Dakota, Vermillion, SD.

Ordination: Jan. 25, 1974

Current assignment: Associate Pastor, St. Joseph’s Parish, Milford, IA

Hobbies/interests: Playing piano/organ, listening to music, going to concerts, reading, walking, involvement in peace and justice issues, supporting the missions.

Describe your call to priesthood. I remember beginning to feel an interest in the priesthood when I was about in the third grade. That interest just remained with me throughout the grade school and high school years and on into college.

Did anyone or anything provide you with inspiration to follow the call to priesthood? My parents and family were the first inspiration for me. I recall a fundamental attitude in my parents of readiness to serve those who were in any kind of need, and I have vivid memories of concrete examples of how they did that. As a family we prayed together regularly and always went to Mass on Sunday’s together. Our parents wouldn’t have thought of our missing religious education classes on Saturday morning! Besides family, the associate pastor in our parish was also an inspiration for me. He was a friend to my parents and visited our family often.

Was it a difficult decision to make? The idea of exploring the priesthood seemed to travel along through life with me, and I just kept going along from one step to another. The greatest decision-making time came for me just before I was ordained a deacon. I made an Ignatian retreat then, which lasted 40 days. It was a time of prayer, reflection and mostly silence. During that time I became more acutely aware of the magnitude of the step I was about to take, and I did wrestle with the question of whether or not I really wanted to go through with it.

What do you enjoy most about being a priest? I’ve enjoyed a variety of ministry experiences in the Diocese of Sioux City and I also spent 15 years doing missionary work with the Opus Spiritus Sancti communities in Africa, India and the Philippines. In all of those experiences I enjoyed and continue to enjoy most the opportunities I had to serve other people: to help them know God better and experience God’s presence in their lives, to pray with them and support them at critical moments, to rejoice with them at their festive celebrations and to seek material help for those in need.

What do you enjoy most about being a priest? There are no particular devotions or prayers that are especially dear to me. However, the theology of the Incarnation has had a great influence in my priestly life and there are two scripture passages that have been a guiding force for me: one is the story of the Last Judgment from Matthew 25: 31-46 and the other is Micah 6: 8.

Why do you find the priesthood to be a worthy vocation? Each person is called to find and follow God according to their state in life. The priesthood is a worthy vocation for me because it allows me to focus my time and attention on this pursuit of loving and serving God and neighbor.

What would you say to a young man considering a vocation to the priesthood? I would encourage him to “come and see” whether or not God is calling him to the priestly life. I would certainly tell him that it has been a wonderful life for me!