Before becoming priest, Missouri man was professor, minister, hermit

Published: 2003-10-27

PITTSBURG, Mo. (CNS) -- Absorbed in contemplation in the wooded forest of his rustic, hand-built hermitage on Lake Pomme de Terre, Father W. Paul Jones prays for peace and understanding among all of God's people. To him, the Catholic priesthood is an extension of the ministry he carried out for 35 years as an ordained minister in the United Methodist Church. "The priesthood is the absolute climax to my life, bringing it all together," said Father Jones, recently appointed pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Hermitage and its mission parish, Our Lady of the Snows in Climax Springs. Both parishes are in the Diocese of Jefferson City. "When the people come forward to receive the body and blood of Christ, it's so wonderful," he said. "It is the power to change the world." An author of 12 books and a former theology professor, Father Jones first encountered Catholicism at a Trappist monastery in Colorado. He joined the Catholic Church and in 1996 was ordained a priest of the Diocese of Jefferson City.

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