The Deacon's Bench
From The Wisconsin State Journal:
A couple of hours before Chris Gernetzke was to become a priest, he could be found in a room at St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church in Madison laying out the vestments he would wear at that evening’s ordination Mass.
Gernetzke may be familiar to readers. Earlier this year, he let the State Journal shadow him for a day at The St. Paul Seminary School of Divinity in St. Paul, Minnesota. His story highlighted the increasing number of men joining the priesthood in the Madison Catholic Diocese.
On June 26, Gernetzke and five other seminarians became priests, the largest ordination class in the diocese in 42 years. It was a culmination of years and years of study by the six men.
As Gernetzke prepared for the ordination, he said he was the good kind of nervous, the kind where you’re excited about the future but also respectful of the momentousness of what lies ahead.
“I’ve studied the practical realities of being a priest, but there’s a mystery to it, too,” he said. “It feels like the grace train has left the station, and you’re on the train, and God’s driving it.”
Photo by M.P. King / State Journal
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