Before he entered the seminary, Father Kevin Wojciechowski wasn’t sure God was calling him to the priesthood. He prayed for, in his words, a “blatantly obvious sign,” but it never came.
“I just continued to have this restlessness that wouldn’t go away,” he said. “I kept having this inkling that I needed to just step out in faith and join seminary and see what happened.”
While studying at Saginaw Valley State University, Father Kevin’s faith deepened and he felt a desire for something more. He began attending Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, what he calls “giving God [his] initial ‘yes’ and then that daily ‘yes’ ever since then.”
Those daily instances of saying ‘yes’ to God’s will culminated with Father Kevin’s ordination to the priesthood on Friday, May 14 at Holy Spirit Parish in Shields. Bishop Robert Gruss celebrated the Mass, which included the laying on of hands and Prayer of Ordination, during which time Father Kevin received the strength of the Holy Spirit.
During the ordination Mass, Father Kevin vowed to "discharge the office of priesthood with humility and love, hold fast to the mystery of faith, proclaim this faith in word and deed, embrace the celibate state and pray for the Church and the whole world." The rite also included a promise of obedience to the bishop and his successors.
The liturgical rite is also rich in symbolism. Father Kevin was vested in his priestly garments— a stole and chasuble— by Father José María Cabrera. Bishop Gruss anointed his hands with sacred chrism oil, symbolizing his distinctive participation in Christ's priesthood, and placed bread and wine into Father Kevin's hands, pointing to his duty of celebrating the Eucharist and following Christ crucified.
“Just as you have received the cross of Jesus Christ in your own baptism, you are now being sent to proclaim the cross of Jesus by your life, by your ministry. Every priestly vocation flows from his cross and leads back to his cross. It’s at the very heart of the priestly ministry. The Lord is asking you to place all of your gifts at the service of his Church,” Bishop Gruss said in his homily.
Both Bishop Gruss and Father Kevin acknowledged Jesus’ words: “It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you” (John 15:16).
“Your vocation, as Pope Francis so often speaks, is born of an encounter with Christ himself, whose resurrection you are called to give witness to before the whole world,” Bishop Gruss told Father Kevin. “[Jesus has] formed your heart, he’s formed your very being for this moment and prepared you for this from the beginning of your life. … You must continue with great diligence and active prayer life so Christ may continue to form you into the priest he desires you to become.”
Father Kevin believes his journey to the priesthood has already revealed the way in which God has made him and called him to serve his people— even if he didn’t get a “blatantly obvious sign.”
He described this time in his life as “wanting Jesus to yell at me from afar what he wanted me to do.”
“All Jesus said was, ‘Just come closer to me. Come closer to me.’ And it was in drawing closer to his Sacred Heart that he could reveal to me from up close, he could whisper to me an affirmation of that calling to the priesthood. That calling was affirmed when I was ordained a deacon of this diocese— on the feast of the Sacred Heart,” he said. “I’m looking forward to serving for the rest of my life in this diocese as a priest of Jesus Christ.”
Father Kevin will serve at Holy Spirit Parish until July 1, when he will begin his new assignment at St. Thomas Aquinas Parish in Saginaw.
“I'm so grateful to God that he's called me to serve him and the people of the Saginaw Diocese as a priest,” Father Kevin said after his ordination. “The overwhelming support from family, friends, and brother priests over the years and in these last few days have been such a gift.”
Father Kevin will celebrate the following Masses of Thanksgiving:
- May 23 at 8:30 a.m.: All Saints Parish, St. James Church, Bay City
- May 23 at 10:30 a.m.: All Saints Parish, St. Boniface Church, Bay City
- May 30 at 8:30 a.m.: Holy Family Parish, St. Joseph Church, Sandusky
- May 30 at 10:30 a.m.: Holy Family Parish, St. Elizabeth Church, Marlette
- June 13 at 10 a.m., St. John Parish, Davison
Look for more coverage of Father Kevin Wojciechowski’s ordination and ministry in the next issue of FAITH Saginaw magazine!
Father Kevin Wojciechowski's Call to the Priesthood (produced 2020)
Father Kevin's Story
The story below was originally published in Faith Saginaw Magazine in 2018.
A cradle Catholic, Kevin began questioning the Faith in about tenth grade.
“It led to a lot of skepticism about belief in God’s existence and why I should be Catholic when I could be anything else,” he said.
Thankfully, he was able to find answers through books and the positive examples of faithful Catholics. By the time he began attending Saginaw Valley State University, he was ready to dive deeper in his faith through campus ministry.
Calling
“I was really inspired by the priests at SVSU and their witness,” he said. “I began to learn about the priesthood, that they do more than just celebrate Mass on Sunday. The more that I began to understand who the priest is, the more I felt myself attracted to it.”
He began to consider the possibility of seminary instead of becoming a math teacher or counselor.
“Neither of those career paths seemed to satisfy the desires of my heart,” he said. “What I saw in the priesthood was something more, and that mystery of the something more attracted me. I see the unique way a priest is able to bring Christ to people and bring people to Christ.”
Seminary
He applied for seminary, deciding to study for the Diocese of Saginaw, which he had come to know through his discernment process.
“I think I caught my family off-guard because I had never really acknowledged I was thinking about this. They probably had just as many questions as I did going into it. But throughout the process, we’ve been able to learn together, and they’ve been very supportive,” he said.
“I entered seminary, still unsure if this was really God’s path for me,” he said. “Taking the classes and having that daily prayer life started to confirm this call and deepen it all the more.”
Being a Seminarian During Difficult Times
Whenever he finds himself getting overwhelmed, Kevin finds comfort in Psalm 131, a brief song of trust in the Lord.
Kevin also acknowledges the temptation to see tragic headlines and feel like he has a massive task ahead of him, but he is learning to approach these with humble trust in God.
“I am not going to be the savior in this situation,” he said. “Jesus Christ has been, is and always will be. I place it all at His feet. I trust these situations in our Church and in our world to Him.”
Looking Forward
“I’ve always liked the Scripture passage where Jesus reads from Isaiah that He has come to bring glad tidings to the poor,” Kevin said, referencing Luke 4:18. “I have received such healing and truth from the Lord. I see a broken world, and I want to be able to bring to others what I myself have experienced in Christ, whether that’s through the sacraments, spiritual direction or simply having a meal with a family.”
Closing Thoughts
“Whenever I talk to people about this discernment process, the No. 1 fear I always hear is the uncertainty. A lot of people will ask, ‘What if this isn’t what God’s calling me to?’” Kevin said. “If you enter the seminary because you have even the smallest inkling that God may be calling you to the priesthood and you open yourself up to the formation you receive in the seminary, you have nothing to lose.”
Kevin added that he knows several young men who entered wondering if God was really calling them to the priesthood and discerned out of seminary.
“They came out of seminary a better man for it,” he said. “Don’t let the fear of uncertainty paralyze you.”
He also encourages everyone discerning any vocation, but especially the priesthood and religious life, to have an intimate prayer life with Jesus.
“At the heart of any major decision is falling in love,” he said. “We fall in love with a person, not an idea or a project. Nobody gives their life over for an idea, but we are willing to die for a person.(Knowing Jesus) makes it worth any sacrifice it may entail, and that’s going to be the source of all joy along the way as well.”
Father Kevin Wojciechowski Shares His Vocation Story, Talks About Preparation for Ordination & More in This Video Produced by Archdiocese of Detroit Just Before His Ordination to the Priesthood
Is God calling you or someone you know to the priesthood?