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June 22, 2008

When the Lord came recruiting, he didn't wait for a better offer

By Dolores Madlener

STAFF WRITER

Interviewee

Cubs fan Father John Clemens resides at St. Benedict on the North Side while he finishes up his eighth year on the Priests' Placement Board and awaits a new assignment next month. Catholic New World/Karen Callaway

He is: Father John Clemens, graduate of Quigley and Niles Seminary. Has a bachelor’s in scholastic philosophy and masters of Divinity from University of St. Mary of the Lake. Ordained 1972. First Mass at St. Timothy Parish.

North Sider: His sister is 18 years older so, “Technically I was raised like an only child.” Attended St. Timothy Grade School. The family moved and he graduated from St. Hilary’s.

City life: Grew up in a neighborhood of mostly apartments. “We played in the alley. I learned to hit a baseball right over the pitcher’s head. If you hit it to right or left field you were in someone’s window. You learned to hit it right back up the middle.”

Learned the ground rules: “I played a lot of sports growing up, mostly softball and baseball. Now I’m a fan. I was kind of the trainer for the basketball team at Niles. I’m an avid Bears fan and diehard Cubs fan since childhood.”

Priesthood “knocked”: “We lived across the street from St. Timothy’s in a garden apartment. Whenever the server didn’t show up, the pastor walked over and knocked on my window and said, ‘Get up, we need a server.’ We were around priests all the time. The coach at Hilary’s was the parish priest. I got to thinking, ‘This is great the way he lives his life.’ My mother was president of the ladies’ sodality. I thought, ‘This is something to look into,’ so off I went to Quigley.”

Various turfs: He was associate director from 1979-1995 in the Office for Religious Education on Fry Street, commuting from St. Agnes in Chicago Heights. Moved back to the North Side at St. Gregory the Great Parish, becoming pastor. He has remained executive director of the Aquin Guild since 1980, organizing days of recollection and a yearly Mass and luncheon for Catholic teachers in public schools.

New territory: Last January he became moderator of the Archdiocesan Council of Catholic Women. He almost stole their talent show, “Padres Plus on Parade,” with his rendition of “If I were a rich man, Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum” from “Fiddler on the Roof.”

Show biz: He’s done singing and acting from seminary days and beyond. After ordination he directed teen musicals at St. Damian’s in Oak Forest. “At Gregory’s we did three musicals as fundraisers and getting people together.”

Early apostolate: “For a number of years I did ‘Search for Christian Maturity’ retreats for 17- to 20-year-olds. I did 50 of them. It touched the lives of a lot of young people who are now married and a part of the church. You could describe it as Cursillo for young people. With a married couple from Oak Forest, and Father Mike Hack, we took it to Ireland and elsewhere with a team of kids from here. A lot of young kids were touched by the program.”

Staying in touch with classmates: “Our class has not missed a yearly get together. A good number show up. It’s important. It gives you a chance to catch up. It’s invigorating to your priesthood to be with other guys and hear what they’re doing. I always feel good about the priesthood when I’m with them. It’s like a mini-retreat; a spiritual bond as well as a bond of experience — we laugh a lot.”

Trading old for new: He’s just leaving an eight-year assignment on the Priests Placement Board and will become a pastor again next month. Once upon a time priests were pastors for life. In sending priests and pastors off to new assignments, do they try to butter him up or is he treated like an IRS agent? “Sometimes they’re really friendly and sometimes they hear my voice and don’t answer a phone because it means it’s time to move. In general, priests have been very supportive, and I found the ministry rewarding, even though it’s not easy. It’s a full time job.”

What’s the up-side?: “The best part is going to parishes. They may be hostile because they’re losing someone they love, but often they appreciate we take time to come out and talk with them and don’t just appoint someone. “We hear a lot of the good side of priesthood that doesn’t make headlines. That’s where a priest is most respected and cared for — in those parishes where he’s doing ministry.”

Best advice: From my first pastor: “Don’t make priesthood so complicated. Just love the people. It’s a simple thing — if you love them and let them love you, the other stuff falls into place.”

Leisure: “I love musical theater and movies. I try to see the movies nominated for Oscars. I’m an avid golfer. Not good, but avid. We play once a week during the warmer weather at Cog Hill, or up in Wisconsin or anywhere we can play. My big yearly vacation is a golfing trip to California with classmates. In the winter I’ll usually sit around reading, listening to music, go to a movie and out to dinner with friends.”

Encouragement for new priests: “One of the things younger priests learn is you do need the day off, the vacation, the spiritual retreat, the breaks. It provides you with the energy to be a better priest.

Favorite Scripture verse or motto: “No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friend” (Jn 15:13).