ROCKFORD—Transitional Deacon Jack T. Reichardt will be ordained to the priesthood at the Cathedral of St. Peter on Saturday, June 6. 

 

It will be a closed event due to the coronavirus restrictions, but livestreamed at www.rockforddiocese.org.

 

Born in Hinsdale, Rev. Mr. Reichardt moved with his family to Rockford shortly after his first birthday and says, “I have always felt Rockford as my home, though most of my extended family still lives in the Chicagoland area.”

 

His home parish is Holy Family in Rockford, and he attended the parish school, Boylan Central Catholic High School, also in Rockford, and the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn.

 

“Looking back on my education and formation, these schools were each uniquely influential in my discerning the call to the priesthood,” he says. “They taught me what it actually is to be a Christian and disciple of Jesus. They taught me to love the Church, her tradition and sacraments, ultimately giving me the knowledge and tools necessary to answer the call of Jesus to be his priest.”

 

As he nears ordination, he looks back.

 

“This last year I was looking through old photo albums from my time in high school and stumbled across a photo of my graduation from May 25, 2012.  Just a couple weeks earlier, Bishop Malloy was ordained and installed as our bishop. 

 

“What a grace and gift it was for me to see this picture from eight years ago, a time when the priesthood was not visible to me, to now, just a few weeks until this our same bishop is to ordain me his priest and son,” Reichardt says.

 

His call to the priesthood was a bit unusual.

 

“I first heard the Lord’s call to be his priest in the fall of my freshman year at college,” he says. “Up until this point in my life, the idea of priesthood never substantially presented itself. I was always so attracted to marriage and family life that I dismissed all else. However, it was during the first few months of college, when I was away from the church for a short time, that I began to attend the university’s Sunday Mass.

 

“It was a ‘normal’ Sunday Mass, with nothing special notable. Yet, it was during the homily that the Lord spoke most powerfully to my soul. I did not hear any voices nor see any visions, but heard and saw with the ears and eyes of faith in my soul the Lord say, ‘I want you to be my priest.’

 

“This line and call was so powerful it shook me to my core. A friend next to me visibly saw me gasp and verbalize an ‘Oh no…’  I knew in that very moment beyond any reason of a doubt that Jesus wanted me to be his priest.

 

“Seemingly, one would imagine being terrified or overcome with confusion in this moment. However, the light and peace which flooded my soul in that moment was overwhelming. I could not even doubt this call of the Lord even if I tried.”

 

After Mass, he sought out the priest, explaining what had just happened. 

 

“The priest, taking me seriously but also genuinely perplexed, told me to take a deep breath,” he says. “He asked, ‘Do you pray?  Do you go to Mass regularly?  How often do you go to Confession? …’

 

“This good priest then gave me a sort of “game plan” for the semester: to pray every day, attend daily Mass, go to confession at least every two weeks and to start a devotion to Our Lady and the saints.  

 

“Praise God, this conviction, desire and call to be a priest increased exponentially that semester, and within five months I had applied and was accepted as a seminarian for the Diocese of Rockford.”

 

He attended seminary at St. John Vianney College Seminary at St. Thomas University. He then studied theology in Rome at the Pontifical North American College and Gregorian University before transferring home to the University of St. Mary of the Lake (Mundelein Seminary). He graduated in May.

 

“I truly cannot wait to be a priest,” he says. “I desire nothing more in life than to be conformed to Jesus Christ crucified, to love and serve him and his Church with everything.  

 

“Please continue to pray for me and all my classmates preparing for priesthood!”

 

Following ordination, he will learn what his first assignment will be.