From the Pastor

Dear Parishioners of St. Joseph’s in Downers Grove,
 
Don’t worry, I know I’m in Downers Grove and you know you’re in Downers Grove. I’m coming
to this St. Joseph’s Parish from another St. Joseph’s Parish, in Manteno, where I was pastor for twelve years.
 
I’d like to begin to tell you about myself by letting you all know that this St. Joseph’s Parish is in fact the parish of my baptism. Three of my five siblings were also baptized here. Until 1960, we lived on Woodward Avenue about half a block south of Ogden Avenue. We settled back in Berwyn, my dad’s hometown, where we joined St. Mary of Celle parish and attended the parish school.
 
What some call “Catholic identity” was imparted to us quite naturally. It was in the common practices of our Catholic faith, taken up by my parents, and grandparents before them, that we first came to be aware of what it means to be a practicing Catholic. We have to practice, because there’s so much to learn! We learned about the Sacrifice of the Mass by attending Mass, as well as being taught about it in preparation for First Holy Communion and in succeeding years of Catholic schooling. We made our First Confessions too, putting into practice our need to forgive and be forgiven. In the Sacrament of Confirmation (in the fifth grade for many of us back then) we were instructed to be ready from then on to be Soldiers of Christ! Meaning, be ready, if necessary, to lay down your very life for Christ and His Church. We must never separate Christ from the Church He founded on St. Peter and the apostles.
 
This would prove to be of even greater importance later on in my early 20’s. But, what if I’d never been taught this and many other truths of our faith? These truths should always be held as quite distinct from our opinions about the Church, especially, in these times, where the Church’s moral teachings are concerned (see The Catechism of the Catholic Church).
 
I first acted on considering that I might have a vocation to the priesthood when I was in the eighth grade. That’s when I wrote to a Franciscan community for information about their way of life as priests and brothers. In the upper grades of our parish school, priests came to our classrooms to speak about their missionary work. They would conclude their presentations with a reminder to us that some of us may be called to the priesthood, some of the girls may be called to be religious sisters. St. Mary of Celle was founded and still staffed by the Benedictine Fathers of St. Procopius Abbey and our teachers were the Benedictine Sisters of Sacred Heart Monastery, both in nearby Lisle. Their witness to us of a religious vocation made it easier for us to imagine ourselves having such a vocation.
 
It was not until I graduated from high school that my discernment of a vocation became more focused. I visited a few religious communities after contact with their vocation directors. I also had the opportunity to attend Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio where I majored in theology. After two academic years, I was unable to return due to the financial challenge of tuition increases. Nevertheless, my experience at Franciscan University in Steubenville had academically, spiritually, and socially solidified my certainty of the truth of the Catholic faith. This, in contrast to so many other interpretations of scripture and the teaching authority of the Church, morally and otherwise, to which I had been exposed and by which I was confused as to the truth of these crucial matters.
 
I had a school loan to repay as I returned to work at a local Jewel supermarket where I’d worked since the age of sixteen. Over the next four years, I continued to pray about a vocation to the priesthood while also realizing I needed to take more concrete steps which would commence my journey to one day being ordained a priest of Jesus Christ.
 
That day of ordination came on May 31, 1993, as a member of the Congregation of the Fathers of Mercy.
 
Sincerely in Christ,
Fr. Albert