Common Thread Is Service For Jubilarians

PRISCILLA GREEAR, Staff Writer

Published: August 5, 2004

ATLANTA—One archdiocesan priest was a widower with grandchildren when, in retirement, he heard his second vocational calling and took his vows at 62. Three monks from Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery, including a future abbot, had first come together in November 1954 to the monastery’s old pine board chapel to commit their lives to Christ through the Cistercian order of their nascent Conyers community. Two Franciscan priests both grew up in Buffalo, attended seminary and later taught high school together; they now serve at the same parish.

One Marist has been a dedicated administrator at Marist School and another at archdiocesan parishes, as has another archdiocesan priest, who recently also earned a second master’s degree, online.

A Mass recognizing the devoted service and jubilee anniversaries of these nine priests serving in the Atlanta Archdiocese was celebrated by Archbishop John F. Donoghue on June 23 at the Cathedral of Christ the King. Golden jubilarians are Father Anthony Delisi, OCSO, Dom Bernard Johnson, OCSO, and Father Edmund Brand, OCSO.

Silver jubilarians are Father James Duffy, SM, Father Vincent Gluc, OFM Conv., Father Gregory Hartmayer, OFM Conv., Father Charles Kerscher, Father Joel Konzen, SM, and Father Edward Thein.

Father Kerscher, now 86, recalled rising out of retirement after his wife Edna Marie died in 1976. Becoming a priest was “the only thing to do.” It was God’s gift to his father, a German immigrant from Bavaria, who loved the church and wanted a priest in the family. After being turned down because of his age by the Trappists, he spoke with the late Archbishop Thomas Donnellan about his calling, who asked him only how often he went to confession and if he would preach. He recounted the questions to his daughter who responded, “Daddy, you’ve been preaching to me all my life long,” he recalled, and said that their home was like a monastery. “We were very close to the Catholic Church.”

And going to seminary was “like throwing a rabbit in a briar patch,” as was the priesthood. “Being a husband and a father and a grandfather and a great grandfather—you can’t top that. Being a priest is unbelievable as well. All in all I think God has given me a wonderful life.”

Father Delisi also expressed his gratitude for his priestly calling to God and to those who have helped him through service or by example.

“As I reflect on these past 50 years, I stand back in awe and expectation, for I know the future has even greater things in store ... a future in the eternal now with the God who made us and loves us.”

He fondly recalled the pre-Vatican II church where, living like Trappist-Cistercian priests had lived for centuries, they celebrated a private Mass in Latin each morning after vigils.

“Thanks to the enforced silence, the use of sign language and the solitude, I was able to enter into that place which is no place, a solitude which one must experience to understand its essence and beauty,” he said.

The Jubilee Mass was also a quiet and reverent event, attended by some 30 concelebrating priests, plus a few lay Catholics.

In his homily the archbishop spoke of the precious gift of priesthood as parents have fewer children and society is less focused on God, and of the priest’s struggle to imitate Christ and guard his flock, fending it from wolves or false prophets disguised as individuals, movements and governments.

“Good priests are a society, bonded by the living legacy of our Lord. They are what remains to us, in the Church, of the Christ, the Anointed one, the visible High Priest. They are the image of what He was—the strength He showed in living solely to bring good to men and women; the purpose He rendered in tirelessly making known God’s law in its true and full meaning; and His sublime selflessness, in pouring out upon humanity, by His own death, the redemptive power of God’s grace, of His eternal love.”

He said the priesthood radiates a love greater than its parts, and that “priests remind us of the divine formation of our church, of its wonder and beauty, of its ‘wholeness, its harmony, its radiance,’ as St. Thomas More wrote.”

It is through the priesthood that the church grows daily in its power to transmit divine grace to heal and to save. “Thank God, that in this Archdiocese, the Church has such good priests as we recognize today—and thank God, that through their love, we are fed daily the word of His wisdom, the good works of His love, and that above which there is no more precious yield—the Body and Blood of His Lord and our Savior, Jesus Christ.”

Following the homily the men renewed their dedication to Christ as priests of his new covenant. The service ended with the priests singing the “Salve Regina.”

Father Konzen reflected on his 25 years of ministry, largely in administration for the Marist order and at Marist School. He didn’t attend Catholic schools until seminary, but feels forever grateful for the influence of Catholic education on his life.

“Life as both priest and educator has been enormously fulfilling. Occasionally I wish I’d been able to have more time as a parish priest along the way, but the work in education is close to the heart of our mission as Marists. The Marists have been a gift as a Religious family and as colleagues, and it’s been an honor to work in Atlanta, where I was once a seminarian and where I have come to know many great priests and excellent students, parents, lay collaborators and Marist School alumni.”

Father Thein’s priesthood, on the other hand, has largely been in parishes. Reflecting as he walked outside on the Cathedral patio, Father Thein joked, “Just say I was ordained at 3 years old.”

“It’s not only been a great joy but a bit of a surprise how quickly it’s gone by,” he said. The Mass “was a very uplifting experience, especially to see brother priests, a good representation of parishes I’ve served.”

Father Thein added how the responsibilities have changed for priests with the evolution of the family and the strains and stresses it faces today. He has felt particularly privileged to work with seminarians during their formation.

“It has been my joy to see many continue their formation on to Holy Orders. I have also been interested in the many different cultures that have blessed our archdiocese, many since I arrived here in 1972.”

Father Edward Thein is from Pittsburgh, Pa., and first came to Atlanta in March 1972 at the invitation of seminarians from the Atlanta Archdiocese. In addition to earning a master of divinity degree from St. Mary’s Seminary and University in Baltimore, he earned a master of arts degree in organizational management from the University of Phoenix, Ariz., in 2003. His first assignment was at St. Jude the Apostle Church in Sandy Springs from 1979-82 after which he served at Holy Family Church, Marietta, from 1982-85 and then as vocation director and secretary to the archbishop from 1985-87. He then served at St. Joseph Church, Athens, from 1987-89 and went on to have his first pastorate at St. Joseph Church, Dalton, from 1989-95 while serving as northwest Georgia dean. He took his current pastorate at Holy Family in 1995.

His hobbies include racquetball, computers, tennis, travel and studying and teaching biblical languages. He has enjoyed ecumenical work and for several years, taught Scripture in the permanent diaconate program and now is team priest with Worldwide Marriage Encounter and state chaplain for the Knights of Columbus.

Father Edmund Brand is originally from Detroit and after serving in the military was ordained on Nov. 28, 1954, at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery, Conyers. Father Brand entered the monastery on Sept. 9, 1946, and studied as a monk in preparation for ordination at the monastery.

He served as the monastery archivist for many years. He also contributed articles to Catholic magazines and The Georgia Bulletin.

Brother Chaminade Crabtree, OCSO, of the monastery wrote that Father Brand has had a “gentle presence” at the monastery. He is now cared for full-time in the infirmary, but he still knows how to make others laugh with his sense of humor.

Father Anthony Delisi, OCSO, is originally from Avonmore, Pa., where his sister Catherine had the town’s first vocation to the Apostles of the Sacred Heart. Father Delisi was ordained on Nov. 28, 1954, at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery in Conyers. In addition to priestly studies at the monastery, he earned a master’s in liturgy from the University of Notre Dame, South Bend, Ind. At the monastery he was appointed assistant master of ceremonies and then master of ceremonies. He spent nine years in Nigeria with the monks at Awhum and later as the first chaplain for nuns at St. Justina, Abakaliki. Upon returning from Africa, he became involved in the formation of lay Cistercians, a group of lay persons devoted to the Gospel under the guidance of the Rule of St. Benedict. He was superior ad nutum from 2002-03 and is currently novice director. He is an amateur archaeologist and at the monastery has found over 1,000 points and Indian artifacts, including some dating back around 10,000 years.

Dom Bernard Johnson, OCSO, was born on a military base in Colorado and grew up in Tioga, La. He was ordained on Nov. 28, 1954, at Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery in Conyers. He was elected abbot of the Vina, Calif., New Clairvaux Abbey Trappist community in 1968, before going on to serve the order in Rome on the Abbot General’s Permanent Council. In Rome he earned a master’s degree in canon law from Gregorian University, and he served as president of the Trappist canon law commission for 20 years. He returned to Conyers and was installed as the abbot of Our Lady of the Holy Spirit Monastery in 1990 until his retirement in 2000 at age 75. Besides his abbatial duties he worked in education and formation, and for recreation enjoyed cooking there. He added, “I lost my beauty and my youth building that place—that could be a hobby I suppose.” He now lives at the Vina abbey.

Father James Duffy, SM, was born and raised in the Bronx, N.Y., and attended Our Savior Parish, founded by “fighting Father Duffy” of World War I fame. After completing his master of divinity degree, he was ordained as a Marist priest on May 5, 1979, in Westerly, R.I., by Auxiliary Bishop Kenneth A. Angell. His first assignment was as a parochial vicar from 1979-81 at Immaculate Conception Church in Westerly, after which he served until 1984 at St. Joseph Church, Haverill, Mass. He was chaplain at the VA Hospital and a parochial vicar at St. Anthony Church in White River Junction, Vt., from 1984-87. He then moved to Louisiana where from 1987-88 he was parochial vicar at St. Joseph Church, Paulina, from 1988-91 was parish administrator at Sacred Heart Church, Grammercy, La., and from 1991-96 at St. Julian Eymard Church, New Orleans. From 1996-2000 he was parochial vicar at St. Louis King of France Church in St. Louis, Minn., before coming to Atlanta to serve at Our Lady of the Assumption Church since 2000.

Throughout his years of service he has been active in youth ministry, altar server recruitment and training, evangelization, liturgy, religious education, hospital coordination and sacramental preparation. In recent years, he has served as the region coordinator for Minnesota and Georgia for the Atlanta Province of the Society of Mary, as well as the chairman for the Marist Council of the Province. He is currently a board member of the Interfaith Outreach Home. In his free time he takes long walks, plays golf, cooks and attends theater to relax and reflect on his spirituality. He particularly enjoys counseling, administering the sacrament of reconciliation and of the sick, as “I feel the Holy Spirit is truly alive in me while administering both sacraments of healing.”

Father Vincent Gluc, OFM Conv., is from Buffalo, N.Y., and was ordained on May 5, 1979, in Albany, N.Y., having entered the novitiate in 1969 with Father Gregory Hartmayer and 22 other men from the Northeast. In addition to seminary, he earned a master’s degree in Franciscan studies from St. Bonaventure University in Olean, N.Y. He taught and was a guidance counselor at Archbishop Curley High School, Baltimore, and later served as his order’s vocations director from 1982-85 before returning to Archbishop Curley High School. In 1992 he went to Trenton, N.J., to do parish work and from 1994-97 he served as secretary for the Franciscan Province. From 1997-2000 he served at a parish in Baltimore before coming in November 2000 to St. Philip Benizi Church in Jonesboro where he is a parochial vicar. His hobbies include walking, watching the Atlanta Braves and Falcons, and exploring North Georgia.

Father Gregory Hartmayer, OFM Conv., is from Tonawanda, N.Y., near Buffalo, and was ordained on May 5, 1979, in Albany, N.Y., having entered the novitiate in 1969 with Father Vincent Gluc. In addition to seminary, he earned a master’s degree in school administration from Boston College, and another in pastoral counseling from Emanuel College in Boston. He held various positions at Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore, where Father Gluc was also teaching, and then returned to Buffalo to serve as principal of two high schools, his own Cardinal O’Hara High School and St. Francis High School. He became pastor of St. Philip Benizi Church in Jonesboro in 1995. His hobbies include golf, walking and watching the Braves.

Father Charles Kerscher was born in Omaha, Neb., but he has lived in Georgia since boyhood. After attending Georgia Tech for two years, he volunteered for the military; he planned to serve a year but ended up staying 8 working with ROTC programs. Father Kerscher worked for the Atlanta Post Office until his retirement in 1972. He was married to Edna Marie and has two children, six grandchildren and 12 great-grandchildren. He was ordained on Dec. 8, 1979 at the Cathedral, having paid himself for seminary. Father Kerscher served as a parochial vicar at Corpus Christi Church, Stone Mountain, through 1984. He served as a parochial vicar at St. John Neumann Church, Lilburn, from 1984-88 and as a parochial vicar at St. Pius X Church, Conyers, from 1988 until his retirement in 1997.

Father Joel Konzen, SM, was ordained in the Marist Order on May 19, 1979, in New Orleans, after completing Marist seminary training. His first assignment from 1979-1980 was as a parochial vicar at St. Edmond Church, Lafayette, La., after which he came to Atlanta and served from 1980-82 as a teacher and admissions director at Marist School. From 1982-88 he was headmaster at Marist and from 1988-89 he served as president. From 1989-90 he completed a third master’s degree, in educational administration, from Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., where he had also in 1978 earned a master’s in systematic theology, and from 1990-92 was vicar provincial for the Washington Province, Society of Mary, in Washington; from 1992-97 he was president and principal of St. Michael’s Academy, Austin, Texas; from 1997-99 he was vicar provincial, Washington Province, Society of Mary, Washington, D.C.; and since 1999 he has served here as principal of Marist School. His hobbies include reading, travel, involvement with family history and reunions, and seeing arts performances and exhibits.