By John Rohlf, The Message assistant editor
Four diocesan priests ordained this past June recently reflected on their first few months of diocesan priesthood.
On June 14, Father Nick Biever, Father Keith Hart, Father Aaron Herrenbruck and Father Clint Johnson were ordained to the priesthood. The four priests ordained in June were the most for the diocese since 2019, when there were also four priests ordained to the priesthood. Over a 12 month span, the diocese added seven men to the priesthood, with three men ordained as priests in 2024.
“All seven newly ordained in the past two years are under 32 years old and all were raised in parishes within our 12 counties,” Diocesan Director of Vocations Father Tyler Tenbarge said in June. “It shows that the faithful and our pastors make vocations a priority in their homes and communities.”
Father Biever: Sacraments ‘really humbling’
Father Nick Biever, a son of Annunciation Parish in Evansville, is currently assigned as parochial vicar at St. Philip Parish in Posey County. Father Biever also spent his diaconate year at St. Philip.
Father Biever said prior to ordination Mass, they studied the Rite of Ordination multiple times through different retreats. After the Ordination Mass, as he was processing towards the back of St. Benedict Cathedral, Father Biever said he felt like he “was a father over the universe, which is a wild feeling.”
“(At) priesthood ordination, as soon as Bishop’s hands would be on my head, the Imposition of Hands, I thought it would feel like a lightning bolt. Like just boom. But it was really, the entire process was just so peaceful through the entire ordination Mass. There wasn’t really any one moment like that. It was more just a gradual process.”
Since being ordained to the priesthood, Father Biever said all of the sacraments have been “really humbling.” Father Biever said it is work hearing confessions, but it is also incredibly beautiful because God works so much through confessions. He also noted in celebrating Mass as a priest, he is thinking of the people’s needs and praying for everyone during the Mass.
Father Nick said that with Mass and certain sacraments, such as Confession and Anointing of the Sick, he feels he “should be doing just a little bit more to make something happen.”
“I would describe it as if I’m grilling some food, we set out all the ingredients, and I do all the right steps to grill. But then it’s like it’s Jesus at the end of the day making everything happen. It’s Jesus, it’s God making the fire to cook everything and suddenly, at the end of the Rite, like the Rite of Mass, the Rite of Reconciliation, it’s like things are happening through me somehow, and it’s wild.”
Looking back on his time in seminary, Father Biever said it is important for seminarians to remember they do not have to be perfect right at the start.
“Rely on seminarian training. Rely on all the experiences that you had before seminary, too,” Father Biever said. “And that there most definitely is a finish line to seminary. Even when it may seem like there is not.”
Father Hart: Ordination to priesthood ‘comes with a lot more freedom and responsibility’
Father Keith Hart, a son of St. Peter Parish in Montgomery, is currently assigned as parochial vicar of St. Joseph Parish in Jasper. He said with being ordained to the priesthood, there are more ministries he can do on his own, specifically sacramental ministry.
“I love all the different places I get to go and say Mass,” Father Hart said. “Whether that’s the all school Mass at the Holy Trinity campus or at the nursing homes or just at the hospital. Those opportunities where I’m able to just be with the people and get out to the community.”
Father Hart said he spent the past eight years of seminary formation preparing for the priesthood ordination, but “there’s nothing that can ever really prepare you for it.” Father Hart said it was meaningful to have support from family and friends, diocesan priests and from the community.
“I think having a full Cathedral was a great experience I would think for all four of us,” Father Hart said. “I think all four of us had at least 20 priests come and concelebrate our first Masses. I know for myself, that was very touching to see that support from so many other priests. Priests that helped me along the way get here. That was very meaningful.”
Father Hart said celebrating his First Mass and subsequent Masses and administering sacraments for the first time helped bring it home that it was real and not practice in the seminary chapel anymore.
“It’s those moments with people when they’re at their highest or lowest that really kind of bring it home, I’m a priest right now,” Father Hart said. “A priest of Jesus Christ. I’m here to make God’s presence felt during whatever moment it is that they’re experiencing.”
Looking back at his eight years of seminary formation, Father Hart believes the most important thing about seminary is building relationships with God through prayer and with brother seminarians.
“You’re able to live there with other men who have the same goal as you, which is to encounter Christ, to grow in holiness, just to discern where God is leading you. And so take advantage of that. Be friends with these incredible men and get to know them. And just have these great, awesome, holy and wholesome friendships. That in itself is its own formation and might be more important than a lot of other stuff that you can spend hours reading about.”
Father Herrenbruck: Anointing of the Sick ‘when I feel most like a priest’
Father Aaron Herrenbruck, a son of St. Clement Parish in Boonville, is assigned parochial vicar at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Daylight and St. Bernard Parish in Snake Run. Father Herrenbruck is the only priest among the four ordained in June to be at a different parish than the one where he spent his diaconate year. Father Herrenbruck was at St. Mary Parish in Ireland during his diaconate year.
“It was really hard for me to leave Ireland,” Father Herrenbruck said. “I really loved the people there. I was enjoying my time there and getting to know them. So I was disappointed when I got called to leave. But I’ve really been able to really enter into this parish here at St. John the Evangelist. They’ve been so welcoming, so good, so kind. Father Chris (Forler) has just been a wonderful mentor already to me.”
Father Herrenbruck said in his first few months of priesthood, there were certain things he expected, but others that “were just kind of wonderful surprises.” Although he was not really excited to hear confessions, he was surprised he has enjoyed hearing them as much as he has. Getting to know others in their most vulnerable moments has been impactful, he said.
Father Herrenbruck said the Anointing of the Sick, which a friend of his called the ‘sleeper sacrament,’ has been “one of the most rewarding and life-giving things I’ve ever done.” Father Herrenbruck recalled being a chaplain at a hospital for a summer. While he was able to be there for them, help them and pray for them, he was not able to give them what they needed, he recalled.
“Now that I’m a priest and I go visit people who are in the same situation, suffering and dying, now I can anoint them,” he said. “I lay my hands on their head and I think that’s when I feel most like a priest. And so that’s been a really beautiful experience.”
Father Herrenbruck said being ordained along with Father Biever, Father Hart and Father Johnson was “a unique blessing” he does not think many priests get anymore.
“We’ve started a support group together,” Father Herrenbruck said. “We meet often. Just kind of check up on each other and that fraternity, you can’t buy it. And it’s such a blessing to have them, to be ordained with them and to grow in my priesthood with them.”
Father Johnson: Hearing Confessions ‘greatest part of the priesthood’ so far
Father Clint Johnson, a son of Holy Cross Parish in Fort Branch, is currently assigned parochial vicar at St. Francis Xavier Parish in Vincennes and St. Philip Neri Parish in Bicknell, where he was also assigned during his diaconate year of formation.
Father Johnson said in his first few months of priesthood, the transition from diaconate to priesthood has gone well. He believes the new formation Pope Francis put in place for more of an apprenticeship year for a deacon helped get a feel for the parish, which Father Johnson said is most of the transition.
Father Johnson said the main changes have been celebrating Mass instead of serving in the deacon’s role during Mass, as well as hearing confessions and anointing the sick.
“The greatest part, I think, of the priesthood so far has been in that confessional,” Father Johnson said. “Something that I had no idea what to expect. Just kind of took me more by surprise. But it’s not about a performance or anything like that on my end but it’s really just allowing Christ to speak through me to the wounds that these people have. And just being attentive to that. To let that sink in and feel that.”
Father Johnson said during his year as a deacon, he had “several panic attacks” while giving homilies. For his first two months as a priest, he has not had a panic attack on the altar. He attributes the change to grace and not worrying about himself.
“I’m only worried about my kids in the pews,” Father Johnson said. “My 84-year-old kids in the pews being led to heaven. And that’s all I’m thinking about during Mass, and it’s really powerful. I think that’s probably the greatest grace that was most immediately recognizable was I’m not freaking out any more about my own safety. About people judging me. But I’m pouring myself out for these people so that they can go to heaven.”
Prior to the priesthood ordination, Father Johnson was prepared “to be crying the whole time.” However, he did not expect to be so happy throughout the ordination Mass. He said during the ordination Mass, he saw people from all different points of his life, including former coworkers, college roommates, friends from high school, parishioners from his summer assignments and parishioners from Holy Cross.
“People were just so happy for us, but they are so happy for the growth of the diocese, the health of the diocese, for the Holy Spirit alive in the diocese,” Father Johnson said. “I think that’s why people showed up. Over 1,000 people showed up because they were excited that the Holy Spirit is actually doing something in Evansville.”