Priests gather to celebrate anniversaries

By KARA KOCZUR, Globe staff reporter
April 17, 2008

DENISON - With written and oral tradition each having their place within the Catholic Church, Father Jim McCormick took the opportunity April 14 to shed light on the oral tradition of six priests from the Sioux City Diocese.

Father McCormick was the homilist at the jubilee Mass held at St. Rose of Lima Church in Denison. Bishop R. Walker Nickless was the main celebrant and was joined by about 100 priests for the celebration.

Father Daniel Lynch, who was unable to attend the Mass, celebrated his 60th anniversary of ordination to the priesthood. Fathers Charles Bormann, William Devine, Peter Fransco and Lloyd White celebrated 50 years. Father Paul Kelly celebrated 25 years of priesthood.

Father McCormick drew laughter from those in attendance as he recalled stories of a school ballad by Father Devine, days at Bishop Heelan High School in Sioux City with Father White and how Father Kelly got sick during his first trip to Africa, not once, but twice.

Ordained when he was 34 years old, Father White said he didn't believe he would live long enough to celebrate his 50th anniversary.

"Time does pass quickly," he said. "I am surprised that I'm still here at my age of 84, and I'm grateful for that."

Besides saying Mass and visiting people in the hospital, Father White said one of his favorite things about being a priest is praying the breviary.

"I enjoy the breviary because I always liked poetry," he said, adding that the psalms are poetry. "When I was in the military service I always had a book of poetry that I carried with me."

Father White served during WWII with the U.S. Army, as well as in the Korean War with the U.S. Air Force.

At the end of Mass, Bishop Nickless congratulated the jubilarians and thanked them for their service to the Catholic Church and the church of Sioux City.

"My hope and prayer is that the faithful and dedicated and pastoral witness of all our jubilarians, and really all of us as priests who minister, may attract many to follow in our footsteps and join our ranks as priests of Jesus Christ," he said.

The bishop also took the opportunity to speak to the priests about Jesus, the Good Shepherd, as Good Shepherd Sunday was celebrated the previous day.

"To all my brother priests, I take this opportunity to thank you for being good shepherds," Bishop Nickless said. "Thank you for taking care of the flock that is entrusted to your care."

Priests do this, he continued, by their pastoral ministry, their celebration and preparation for the sacraments, their catechizing and their spiritual counseling.

"Most of all as priests, we show our care and concern for the people entrusted to our care by our daily prayer for them," Bishop Nickless added. "My brothers I encourage you to continue to attune yourselves to hear the voice of the Good Shepherd. Listen to his voice as he calls you in your prayer."

The message of the Good Shepherd hits priests two-fold, Father Kelly said.

"We're not only called to be led by the Good Shepherd, who is Jesus, but we in turn are meant to be good shepherds for others," he said. "So we always have to think about it in two respects: how well do we listen to our shepherd, Jesus, and how do we manifest being a good shepherd to the people we serve?"

The call to the priesthood is a very personal calling, said Father Kelly, who doesn't attribute his vocation to any one thing, but said he had encouragement from priests along the way and was always very conscientious of religion.

He didn't start thinking about the priesthood until college and even more so after college, when he was working as an accountant.

Father Kelly began to think more about the concept of "allocating scarce resources," which he learned in a college economics class. Recognizing that people are resources too, he started asking himself where it was that he could best serve.

"Where am I going to be able to do the most good for people?" he said was a question he thought about. "I came to the conclusion that I could do that as a priest as opposed to an accountant. I could be replaced by a hundred different people at my job as an accountant, but priesthood wasn't getting as much attention."

Following the Mass, priests and invited guests headed to the Boulder's Conference Center in Denison to continue the celebration.

Both Father White and Father Kelly said the Jubilee celebration was a very happy occasions.

"It was a very enjoyable day, just to see everyone get together and enjoy themselves and have a few laughs during the homily," Father Kelly said. "It's a very affirming thing when the brothers get together and celebrate these things."