This weekend we had four men ordained as priests for the Archdiocese of Dubuque!  Please pray for our newly ordained priests: Fr. Peter Binder, Fr. Joshua Krischel, Fr. Jacob Francois, and Fr. Thiet Hoang.

Here are some reflections from Fr. Peter Binder, who will be serving the Mason City Pastorate (English and Spanish).

Where/when did your sense of call develop?

Having come into a stronger and more active embrace of the Catholic faith in my late years in high school, I was well seeded to begin to gain a sense of my call. Although I had some inklings of it in high school, I was still very much bound by a sense of earthly success. My focus was on getting a useful degree in college in order to land a well-paying job with good mobility. As I studied at Iowa State, however, I found that this end was ultimately empty. Although I found beauty and joy in my mathematical studies and in my long devotion to music, I soon saw that those alone could not satisfy the longing which was laid up in my heart. At the same time, I had begun to seek the truth more deeply in philosophy. This love of wisdom spurred me on to love of truth in Christ. However, as Plato lays out in the Gorgias, if one loves truth, one cannot hoard it. The lover of truth must desire for others to share in that truth. Thus my call was laid out for me: a desire for a transcendent commitment and a desire to share the truth which lay at the heart of that commitment.

What was your main motivation in pursuing your call?

I can describe my motivation under two movements, one of dying to the world and one of living in Christ. In the first, I recognized the insufficiency of the world and its offerings. As I have described, I was drawn towards some sort of transcendent end. This side of my motivation was greatly developed through music and philosophy, especially the music of Charles Tournemire. These two disciplines taught me to look beyond what is immediately apparent. I began to recognize that my happiness could not lie in worldly achievement. However, this negative movement could not be complete without a complementary positive movement, that of life in Christ. For me, my motivation to this life lies in the desire to direct others to Christ and His truth and love, as the heart to the fonts of water described in Psalm 42. Having found myself in Christ, what could be left but to share that greatest treasure, that summum bonum with all of those that God calls!?

What aspects of priestly ministry are you looking forward to as you approach ordination?

I look forward to drawing my life and offering life to my parish through the daily celebration of the Mass and sacraments.

Peace,

-Fr. Kevin