Future priest looks forward, reflects back

By DAWN PROSSER
Director of Communications
 
As Deacon Thomas Kollasch prepares for his priestly ordination next weekend, he reflects back to the beginning of his seminary journey. The Bancroft native and Divine Mercy Parish member finished his final exams last week at the Pontifical North American College (PNAC) in Rome.
 
He said the final stage of his six-year seminary journey reminds him of the excitement he felt when he was accepted as a seminarian for the Diocese of Sioux City.
 
“Because I entered seminary with this fervor, this kind of zeal and this freshness of the relationship with Christ that I was entering into,” said the transitional deacon. “Now I find myself looking back at that and am very grateful that he has called me and begun this friendship with me. It renews me a little bit going forward.”
 
The deacon recognizes there will be a profound change in him upon the June 27 ordination. He and the other seminarians in his class have practiced presiding at Mass and look forward to celebrating the sacraments but can’t precisely know what that experience will be like until they are ordained.
 
“I don’t know what it’s like to be a priest, to say the Mass for the first time,” he said. “I just have no idea what it’s going to be like to administer the sacraments.”
 
Deacon Kollasch said there is “a little bit of trepidation” in this next step of his vocation journey, and what will be a new way of life for him as a priest.
 
“I’m just asking the Lord to show me how he wants to use me as a priest. How he wants to bless people’s lives through me,” he said. “I’m just giving him myself as I am with my strengths and weaknesses.”
 
First Mass 
Once he becomes Father Kollasch next Saturday, the new priest will be celebrating his first Mass of Thanksgiving at St. John the Baptist Church in Bancroft on June 28.

“I love being in the building. It’s what I look forward to when I’m flying home,” he said. “It’s very much a place of peace for me. It’s just a great honor to celebrate the Mass for the first time in that church where so many memories are stored, from going to elementary school Mass in there, cantoring with my mom in there, altar serving and trying to say the words of the eucharistic prayer with the priest…It’s an honor to be another priest who has celebrated the Mass in that beautiful place.”
 
Celebrating the Mass for the first time at his home parish surrounded by the community who has supported him throughout his formation is something he is looking forward to, but Deacon Kollasch admits he is nervous. He said he’s seen other new priests experience the same nervousness at their first Masses.
 
“When I see people I know become deacons or priests and they’re preaching and even if they are floundering, I’m so gracious internally with them. I’m just so grateful for them and what they’ve done and who they are,” he explained. “So, I’m trying to convince myself that people are going to be gracious with me.”
 
Post-ordination
Once he is ordained, the new Father Kollasch will spend some time with family before his temporary assignment this summer at Spencer Sacred Heart Parish with Father Kevin Richter, pastor. That will include assisting at churches in Hartley and Primghar and possibly Sacred Heart School in Spencer. He will also fill in at nearby parishes including Spirit Lake, Milford, Estherville and Emmetsburg this summer.

 Deacon Kollasch, right, and Anthony Vera, left, in St. Peter's Square when Pope Leo was named in this file photo. Unlike most newly-ordained priests, Deacon Kollasch will not be jumping in to parish life right away. He has the opportunity to return to Rome this fall for another year to complete a licentiate in biblical theology.
 
The seminarian said he has begun working on the degree while studying at the PNAC and will write a comprehensive academic paper on the Hebrew word, hineni. He will explore the significance of the word that appears in key places in Scripture.
 
“It means, ‘here I am.’ It’s the word that Isaiah says in the call of Isaiah ... it shows up in 16 other places,” he explained. “I want to write about what the word could mean in Scripture and what the deeper sense of when somebody says that, versus what else they could say.”
 
Hineni does not refer to situations where a worker shows up to complete a task but rather offering to do whatever is asked of that person, an “active surrender.” For example, when God’s call to Abraham to sacrifice his only son, he submits to God’s request although it may not make sense to him.
 
“I want to write about how that’s an act of faith to say, ‘Here I am.’ It’s really the greatest thing you can say. It’s my favorite prayer to say, notice my limitedness, notice my weakness and my need for God’s help and just say, ‘Here I am, Lord,’ and trust him with whatever is coming next,” Deacon Kollasch said.
 
During this last year in Rome, the seminarian decided to stay in his living quarters at the PNAC rather than moving to where some graduate students would stay. In this way, he will be able to support fellow PNAC seminarian, Anthony Vera of Le Mars All Saints Parish and Zach Steffens of St. Mary Spirit Lake Parish, who will begin studies in Rome this fall.
 
Vera and Deacon Kollasch have been preparing for Steffens’ arrival in order to ease the transition from studying in the U.S.
 

Newly ordained transitional Deacons Garrett Hugeback and Jimmy Fitzsimmons recently visited Deacon Kollasch in Rome.

“Guys are only here for a short time, so not everybody brings all the things they have in their room like furniture. Guys buy furniture over here, and then what do you do with it? When you are done, you stick it in the hall and somebody else takes it. So, Anthony and I have been gathering things for Zach to furnish his room,” the deacon said. “It’s exciting to accompany him on his first year over here and the excitement and challenges it brings.” 

Also, Father Michael Cronin, pastor of St. Rose of Lima Parish in Denison, will join the three in Rome this fall as he begins three years of study to obtain a degree in canon law. The deacon said he is looking forward to Father Cronin’s presence in Rome along with the two seminarians.
 
Grateful for Bishop John Keehner’s permission to complete the biblical theology degree, Deacon Kollasch does acknowledge there is a trade-off not being able to dive into ministry and accompanying people once he is ordained a priest.
 
“I think stepping away from that will be a little tough waiting another year,” the deacon said. “But it will be beneficial to have the experiences I get to have over here as a priest, too. It’s pretty unique to be in Rome as a priest.”
 
As he prepares to receive holy orders as a priest, the seminarian expressed his gratitude to all who have supported him along the way, through their messages, prayers and even through social media.

“I can’t stress enough how much it means to me. Everybody that’s praying for me has really sustained me throughout this year, especially with the trepidation of the upcoming ordination and awareness of my own weaknesses… All of the support is very, very strengthening for me,” he said.
 
Deacon Kollasch will be ordained at 10 a.m. June 27 at the Cathedral of the Epiphany. All are invited. The Mass will be livestreamed on the Diocese of Sioux City YouTube channel.

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