Three new priests look forward to serving

The Good Shepherd must be chuckling right now: He's herded in one of His own. Among the previous jobs held by newly ordained Rev. Paul Butler was working at the Old Chatham Sheepherding Company Inn -- the largest sheep dairy in the country.

"I was the night manager!" Father Butler protested, laughing. "The only time I herded sheep was when they got out in the morning and they were all over the road."

Still, the Lamb of God made him a shepherd of another sort when he was ordained a priest of the Albany Diocese last weekend along with two others: Revs. Steven Moore and John O'Kane.

REV. PAUL BUTLER

Father Butler, 32, grew up in West Stephentown, the sixth of a flock of nine children of Anthony and Ruthanne Butler. (His mother passed away in 1990; his father has since remarried. His wife, Tanja Butler, an artist, has had works displayed at the Visions Gallery in the Pastoral Center.)

As parishioners of St. Henry's Church in Averill Park, the family simply looked at religious life as "part of the pot of things you could do," Father Butler remembered.

His oldest brother, Tony, was a Franciscan brother for 10 years; through him, the future priest saw that "this kind of religious witness was something that was possible." 

Submarine life

As a young adult, Father Butler hadn't decided on a career path. He graduated from Averill Park High and Hudson Valley Community College, then joined the Navy, becoming part of the submarine service.

"There were a couple of Navy chaplains I ended up talking to; we just got along," he recalled. "They said, `You ought to think about the priesthood.' I thought, `Well, that's nice' -- but it kind of put it in my mind."

After finishing his stint in the military, the future priest worked at the sheep farm but felt more and more of an urge to check out religious life. He spoke with the Paulist and Redemptorist Fathers, but neither community seemed to "click" with him.

Vocation

Instead, he figured he'd take some classes at Siena College in Loudonville to see where his academic interest lay -- and found the philosophy and theology courses most intriguing.

"I talked to my pastor [Rev. Peter Pagones] at St. Henry's," Father Butler told The Evangelist. "I just rambled...and finally, I said, `I'd like to be considered as a candidate for the priesthood.'"

The pastor said calmly, "Okay."

As soon as he looked into the diocesan priesthood, Father Butler realized that he was in the right place. He joined a discernment group for men considering religious life, where he heard stories not unlike his own.

Family support

He also told his family. "They were overjoyed -- but not surprised," he remarked. "They could see better than I could. It was the same with my brothers and sisters."

His siblings did tell him, "Paul, you'd be a good dad," and he admitted they were right. It was a struggle, he noted, to know that choosing the priesthood would mean giving up the opportunity to marry and have children.

That struggle was eased when Father Butler attended a wedding soon afterward. While most wedding guests were enthusing over the bride and groom, he said with a smile, "I was psyched about what the presider was doing!"

Education

Father Butler finished his undergraduate work at Cardinal Strich University in Milwaukee, then attended Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wisconsin (along with classmate Rev. John O'Kane, also ordained last weekend).

During summers, he served at St. Mary's and Our Lady of Mt. Carmel parishes in Granville, St. John/St. Ann's in Albany; and the Northern Points Cluster (St. John the Baptist in Chestertown, Blessed Sacrament in Hague and St. James in North Creek).

He also did a summer of clinical-pastoral education (CPE), learning to minister to patients at Albany Medical Center, and spent his pastoral year (an entire year in one parish) at St. Mary's in Oneonta.

In the process, he worked with college students at SUNY-Oneonta and Hartwick College, which made him realize how marginalized youth and young adults often are in the Church. As a young adult himself, Father Butler said that one of his gifts can be giving young Catholics a voice.

Other gifts, he added, are his ability to listen well to people and help them discern how God is leading them, and his background of coming from a faith-centered family.

9/11 attacks

Father Butler noted that he and his classmates were all on their pastoral year during the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the U.S., "and then we had our own 9/11 in the Church," referring to the clergy abuse scandal.

As a result, "I was able to see the best and worst in the Church," he stated. "Jesus is still alive and well in the Church. It sounds strange to say you're excited during a trying time, but it is exciting to be ordained at this time, when the Church is going through a birthing period." 

Though he describes himself as easy-going (and always late-arriving), Father Butler confessed that he was keyed-up at the thought that his ordination would be presided over by Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, the only bishop he's known his entire life.

"One of the most overwhelming things is to be ordained by Howard," he said. "It's that hometown feel."

Eager to serve

Father Butler is eager to get into a "hometown" of his own, as a simple parish priest.

The new priest hopes to be creative in his ministry; if asked to serve several parishes, he wants to bring them together as much as possible instead of "ordering out."

"I know that my vocation is parish-centered," he concluded. "I'm not sure where priesthood is going to lead me, but I know it's the road I'm going down."

REV. STEVEN MOORE

"If I came into this because I thought it was prestigious or there was any security in it, I'd be gone," Rev. Steven Moore says of the priesthood.

The abuse crisis that has shaken the Church, he explained, has affected everyone choosing a vocation at this time in history -- including the three priests ordained for the Albany Diocese last weekend.

However, he added, "the only reason I'm here is because I feel called by God and the people."

Family background

At 28, Father Moore is the youngest of the trio of newly ordained priests -- in fact, he is now the youngest priest in the Albany Diocese. But in his family, he was the oldest of three children, raised in Hudson Falls by Joanne Fenamore and Paul Moore as a member of St. Mary/St. Paul's parish.

He experienced a call to a vocation early in life, though he didn't act on it right away. He did attend daily Mass, even when he was the only member of his family who went to church, and worked as a sacristan for his parish.

"St. Mary/St. Paul's had two retired priests, Fathers [James] McManus and [Leo] Marcil, and my job was basically to look after them," he said.

Because the priests were losing their eyesight, he would enlarge and print out the prayers they needed to say at Mass each day and make sure they navigated the church steps.

Seeking a call

Later, an alumnus of Hudson Falls High School, Father Moore was in his sophomore year at LeMoyne College in Syracuse when he came to understand he had a decision to make about a possible vocation.

"I had a great girlfriend; I was pre-med; life was good -- but I felt unsettled," he told The Evangelist. On a retreat, "I said, `God, if you want me to be a priest, tell me.'"

Of course, God wasn't as direct as the college student hoped, but he still decided to try pursuing the priesthood.

"I changed my major and got a spiritual director -- and told my girlfriend," he said, adding wryly: "That was a life change!"

Process of discernment

He entered the Jesuit religious community right after college, attracted by their spirituality, community, intelligence and sense of mission. Like fellow new priest Rev. Paul Butler, he noted that people weren't at all surprised when he told them about his vocation.

However, he discovered that "something about [the Jesuits] didn't quite fit. I always wanted to work in a parish, but that wasn't the focus of their ministry." After a year as a novice, he decided that "I wanted to be a priest more than I wanted to be a Jesuit." 

A week he left the novitiate, Father Moore met with Rev. Thomas Konopka, who was then involved with vocations ministry for the Albany Diocese. By January 2000, he was starting his training at the Theological College at the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., on the road to becoming a priest of the Albany Diocese.

Parish work

In addition to his seminary training, he got some on-the-job training in summer assignments at Annunciation parish in Ilion and Blessed Sacrament in Albany, plus a full pastoral year at Christ the King parish in Westmere and a year of clinical-pastoral education at a veterans' hospital in New York City.

At the latter, Father Moore worked with many alcoholics and drug addicts struggling through rehabilitation.

"I'd be open to doing that kind of work" again, he noted.

Ready to minister

After four years of preparation, Father Moore is impatient to get into a parish.

"A lot of people say I'm laid-back, but I'm a laid-back workaholic," he confessed. "I'm not an in-your-face type of person, but I'm always active, always wondering about the next thing that's coming up."

Parish work is Father Moore's main love, because he likes working with many different age groups.

"One minute you're with the youth; the next, you're with the over-50 group," he remarked. "When people have a new baby, get married, lose someone, [need a] visit in the hospital, make their First Communion, Confirmation -- they come to us at all the different points in their lives. I love to be with people; to be there for the important moments of their lives. What could be greater?"

'Surreal' moment

Still, as he spoke last week with The Evangelist, he admitted that looking toward the ordination ceremony cowed him a bit.

"I'm trying to be calm," Father Moore stated. "It's very surreal; I'm shocked it's actually happening."

Priesthood, he said, is "huge and wonderful and scary -- just trying to witness to God working in our world."

REV. JOHN O'KANE

Rev. John O'Kane was a teenager when he told his friends he wanted to be a priest. Immediately, he realized he might have made himself a target of teasing, but his friends surprised him by being supportive.

"I always felt like I wasn't worthy of being a priest, because I liked to goof around with my friends," he mused, just days before his June 12 ordination to the priesthood for the Albany Diocese. "I always wanted to be a priest, but I wanted to be a kid, too."

Growing up in Uniondale, Long Island, as the son of John and Theresa O'Kane, Father O'Kane often found that both goals were tied together. With a father who was a New York City police officer and a mother who taught her three children's religious education classes at home, he was instilled with a strong sense of service.

Boyhood influences

Father O'Kane attended both public and Catholic schools at different times, but he found faith wherever he went -- including during his after-school pastimes.

"My Little League coach was a seminarian," he recalled. "I built a friendship with him. The Little League field was next to a nursing home, and he would have us wheel the folks over to watch the game."

Still, the future priest said he had to "grow up and get confidence" before pursuing his vocation. His family moved to the Albany Diocese after his father retired from the police force, settling in Our Lady of the Annunciation parish in Queensbury.

Calling

Instead of the seminary, Father O'Kane went to Adirondack Community College (where his father was teaching), SUNY-Cortland and SUNY-Plattsburgh, earning a degree in history in 1986.

He began working as a residential counselor for people with disabilities in a supportive living program, helping them to learn about managing their bank accounts, grocery shopping and other life skills.

But "I was always running away from the priesthood call," he admitted. Finally, he decided that "I just needed to try this out."

'Get off fence'

First, Father O'Kane spoke with his pastor, Rev. Joseph Anselment; then he joined a diocesan discernment group -- newly formed at the time -- for men considering religious life. For four years, he struggled to believe himself worthy of following his vocation and find confidence in himself. 

"People said, `Get off the fence,'" he remembered with a smile. "I said, `Okay, if they think I could do this'...and I applied."

After a year of living at Becket Hall, a discernment house in Rochester where men considering priesthood live together as they make their decisions (the Albany Diocese's version of this is St. Isaac Jogues House in Waterford), Father O'Kane was ready to enter the seminary.

Seminary life

It was an experience in culture shock for the admitted city person to go to Sacred Heart School of Theology in Hales Corners, Wisconsin. His years in the seminary helped the future priest to realize more than ever that the Albany Diocese was home.

Along the way, he also learned that God was with him, working through him as he worked toward the priesthood. An important lesson for all people, he said, is not to put a block on God's work.

In his summers in the Albany Diocese, Father O'Kane served at Our Lady of Victory parish in Troy, Blessed Sacrament in Albany and Holy Trinity in Johnstown. His pastoral year was spent at St. James parish in Albany.

In the end, he was sure of his decision.

Stability amid crisis

"I always felt I needed to work on stability," he told The Evangelist. When the abuse crisis rocked the Church just as he was preparing for ordination, he found "it's ironic that when I feel stable, our Church isn't."

However, he added, "We're picking up the pieces and doing a lot of healing. Coming in at the time of this challenge is scary, but it's what God is asking of me. With three of us being ordained [to the priesthood this year], we're bringing a lot of hope into the presbytery."

Being with people at the parishes he'll serve during the important moments of their lives was what Father O'Kane most looked forward to. He hoped that his energy, enthusiasm and humor would serve him well -- as would his life experience.

"I'd be different if I went [into the priesthood] as an 18-year-old boy," stated the 41-year-old priest. Now, "I have to be myself. I have no choice!"

The count is 2 and 1

Two of the Diocese's newest priests believe that Bishop Howard J. Hubbard is way off-base on one issue, while a third thinks the Bishop hits a home run.

"The Bishop has a flaw," stated Rev. Paul Butler, shaking his head sadly. "It's unfortunate," agreed Rev. Steven Moore. "Even the Bishop is not perfect." 

The pair are fans of the New York Yankees, while Bishop Hubbard is a die-hard Mets fan. Father Moore recalled that some seminarians even tried to get their bishop to convert, presenting him with a Yankees t-shirt at a get-together for future priests. 

He wouldn't wear it.

The Bishop's loyalty to his team doesn't faze Rev. John O'Kane, who enthused, "I'm a gigantic Mets fan! Probably one of the biggest."

But Fathers Butler and Moore can only believe that on this issue, they will always be at odds with their bishop. "It's okay," Father Moore consoled himself. "We have enough Yankees fans [among the priests] to support me." (KB)

(6/17/04)