C
Catholic29
Guest
Servant of all
**Delma J. Francis **
Star Tribune Published August 6, 2005
He expresses disappointment over the Catholic Church’s role in promoting civil and gay rights. He believes celibacy among priests should be optional. He is ardently opposed to the war in Iraq and leads parishioners in weekly protest marches on the sidewalk in front of his church.:whacky:
At age 79, the Rev. John Brandes, pastor of St. Boniface Catholic Church in northeast Minneapolis, is hardly a retiring personality. And though he is nine years past the typical retirement age for priests, he is not yet ready for full-time R&R.
“This is pretty much a retirement parish for me, but I would go crazy if I were fully retired,” he said.
Brandes has been pastor of St. Boniface for 18 months, since returning from 10 years as a missionary in Guatemala, where he was assistant pastor of San Lucas Toliman Catholic Church. When he volunteered for the mission post, Brandes said, “it was my idea all the way. I wanted to go where I could slow time down.”
In thinking about where to go, Brandes considered the message in Mark 9:35, “Jesus called the Twelve and said, 'If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
"I thought, ‘I’m old, I’m bald, I’m white, I’m skinny and I don’t know the culture of Guatemala. I’m everything a Guatemalan is not, so that’s the place to go [to serve].’ "
Brandes said he misses the warmth of the Guatemalan people but is finding satisfaction in leading the St. Boniface parish, just as he did at other metro parishes he’s served. He gets his energy and motivation from parishioners, who have taught him how to make sacrifices for justice through civil disobedience.
Although he’s never been jailed for his protests, “I have been to court seven times,” he said, mostly for charges of trespassing while demonstrating at Honeywell “back when they were making cluster bombs. The judge gave us community service. My feeling was that I was *doing *community service when I was arrested,” he said, with a smile.:whacky:
Lean and fit with blue eyes that twinkle behind wire-rimmed glasses, the cleric is often seen walking and biking around his neighborhood. So an hour a week walking up and down the sidewalk to protest the U.S. involvement in Iraq is hardly taxing.
“He’s just delightful,” said Patricia Foss, a Eucharistic minister and member of the church’s fledgling social justice committee. “He has far exceeded expectations. He’s open to trying new and different ideas as long as they meet within the guidelines of the Catholic Church.”
As the committee members and fellow war protesters march up and down the sidewalk Tuesday afternoons, “we are out there to bring joy and to promote peace,” Foss said. “We’ve had a lot of positive response. People smile and honk their horns.”
Brandes said the response “has been far better than I had expected. People are starting to recognize the dignity of all human beings,” he said.
Brandes is also just as passionate about his calling. He loves being a priest and knew from the time he was in fifth grade at St. Bridget Catholic School on Emerson Avenue N. in Minneapolis that this would be his life’s work.
Still, he wishes he had had the option of a wife and family along with it. He believes priestly celibacy should be optional.
Would marriage have made him a better priest?
“To know [firsthand] the trials and joys of a family, yes. Time-wise, no,” he said.
Parishioner Audrey Krolikowski said of Brandes: “So many priests live an isolated religious life, but he thinks there’s more to being a priest than serving in the building.”
She recalled a moment during a funeral when he invited family members to the altar and asked them to assist with communion. “He handed one lady the chalice, and she whispered, ‘But Father, I’m not Catholic.’ He said there wasn’t any reason she shouldn’t hand out the wine, and smiled and went about his business.”
Krolikowski added that Brandes “just keeps going and going and going. Everyone loves him. We hope he lives to be 100.”
When *will *Brandes retire?
“God knows,” he quipped.:whacky:
startribune.com/stories/614/5546492.html
**Delma J. Francis **
Star Tribune Published August 6, 2005
He expresses disappointment over the Catholic Church’s role in promoting civil and gay rights. He believes celibacy among priests should be optional. He is ardently opposed to the war in Iraq and leads parishioners in weekly protest marches on the sidewalk in front of his church.:whacky:
At age 79, the Rev. John Brandes, pastor of St. Boniface Catholic Church in northeast Minneapolis, is hardly a retiring personality. And though he is nine years past the typical retirement age for priests, he is not yet ready for full-time R&R.
“This is pretty much a retirement parish for me, but I would go crazy if I were fully retired,” he said.
Brandes has been pastor of St. Boniface for 18 months, since returning from 10 years as a missionary in Guatemala, where he was assistant pastor of San Lucas Toliman Catholic Church. When he volunteered for the mission post, Brandes said, “it was my idea all the way. I wanted to go where I could slow time down.”
In thinking about where to go, Brandes considered the message in Mark 9:35, “Jesus called the Twelve and said, 'If anyone wants to be first, he must be the very last, and the servant of all.”
"I thought, ‘I’m old, I’m bald, I’m white, I’m skinny and I don’t know the culture of Guatemala. I’m everything a Guatemalan is not, so that’s the place to go [to serve].’ "
Brandes said he misses the warmth of the Guatemalan people but is finding satisfaction in leading the St. Boniface parish, just as he did at other metro parishes he’s served. He gets his energy and motivation from parishioners, who have taught him how to make sacrifices for justice through civil disobedience.
Although he’s never been jailed for his protests, “I have been to court seven times,” he said, mostly for charges of trespassing while demonstrating at Honeywell “back when they were making cluster bombs. The judge gave us community service. My feeling was that I was *doing *community service when I was arrested,” he said, with a smile.:whacky:
Lean and fit with blue eyes that twinkle behind wire-rimmed glasses, the cleric is often seen walking and biking around his neighborhood. So an hour a week walking up and down the sidewalk to protest the U.S. involvement in Iraq is hardly taxing.
“He’s just delightful,” said Patricia Foss, a Eucharistic minister and member of the church’s fledgling social justice committee. “He has far exceeded expectations. He’s open to trying new and different ideas as long as they meet within the guidelines of the Catholic Church.”
As the committee members and fellow war protesters march up and down the sidewalk Tuesday afternoons, “we are out there to bring joy and to promote peace,” Foss said. “We’ve had a lot of positive response. People smile and honk their horns.”
Brandes said the response “has been far better than I had expected. People are starting to recognize the dignity of all human beings,” he said.
Brandes is also just as passionate about his calling. He loves being a priest and knew from the time he was in fifth grade at St. Bridget Catholic School on Emerson Avenue N. in Minneapolis that this would be his life’s work.
Still, he wishes he had had the option of a wife and family along with it. He believes priestly celibacy should be optional.
Would marriage have made him a better priest?
“To know [firsthand] the trials and joys of a family, yes. Time-wise, no,” he said.
Parishioner Audrey Krolikowski said of Brandes: “So many priests live an isolated religious life, but he thinks there’s more to being a priest than serving in the building.”
She recalled a moment during a funeral when he invited family members to the altar and asked them to assist with communion. “He handed one lady the chalice, and she whispered, ‘But Father, I’m not Catholic.’ He said there wasn’t any reason she shouldn’t hand out the wine, and smiled and went about his business.”
Krolikowski added that Brandes “just keeps going and going and going. Everyone loves him. We hope he lives to be 100.”
When *will *Brandes retire?
“God knows,” he quipped.:whacky:
startribune.com/stories/614/5546492.html
