Mark Greschel, 45

First assignment: St. Clement
Education: Bellbrook elementary and high schools in Dayton, Ohio, California Lutheran University
Parents: Gloria and the late Edward Greschel
First Mass: 11:30 a.m. May 20 at Our Lady of Lourdes (Ashland Avenue)

Mark Greschel began a journey to the priesthood that was long and involved. But he does not consider his a late-in-life vocation. Greschel grew up Lutheran and attended a Lutheran university. Looking beyond graduation, he wasn’t happy with the options that lay before him. A linguist by avocation, Greschel took a course in Koine Greek, in which the New Testament was written.

“Something happened inside of me during that time,” said Greschel. “God worked into my essence a very different dimension of life and clicked on a switch that woke me up. I wasn’t spiritual, just a normal person. It was like going from black and white to color.”

Shortly afterwards Greschel read Thomas Merton’s “Seven Story Mountain.”

“I realized that story was me,” he said. “I looked hard for a Catholic Church and for the next eight or nine months had catechetical lessons. At the time, I wasn’t interested in the priesthood because I didn’t want to be celibate.”

Greschel decided to become a Lutheran pastor but later gave up the idea. He changed course and worked at a variety of jobs ranging from building houses to selling candy. All this time he lived a celibate life and still was happy.

“I thought about joining the Trappist monks or Jesuits,” said Greschel. “After a three-year waiting period for new converts, I joined the Jesuits. Just when I was about to start teaching, I left. It wasn’t working.”

Greschel then spent eight years as a paralegal at law firms. “All the while my vocation never left,” he said. “I kept fighting but decided to go back to it.”

He applied to Mundelein and entered as a second-year student. He is looking forward to parish ministry and occasionally teaching.

“I want to help people brush away the dust of the world and see God’s love shine through,”said Greschel. “I remember hearing my first homily and my first confession. I promise to keep my homilies short and interesting and to be kind in the confessional.”

Greschel says one of the reasons there are fewer vocations is because society places so much emphasis on relationships. “If people knew how much fun this kind of life is, they would be flocking to this place [the seminary],” added Greschel.

“I would like to see a person in each vicariate who constantly circulates and informs people about religious vocations. I believe God calls but we just are not hearing or listening. Sometimes I think the noise of the world drowns out that small voice.”

Other ordinations:
Jo-Andre Beltran
Paul Duy Duc Cao
Mark Greschel
Miguel Angel Martinez Figueroa
Michael J. Novick
Edward J. Pelrine
Kombo Livingstone Peshu
Robert William Schultz Jr.
Paul Charles Stein
Walter Antonio Yepes Galvis