Heeding the call

While other children mimicked actors and actresses or crashed dump trucks, Mary Ann Hennecke said her son would "play as a priest" when he was young.

The childhood fantasy became reality June 1 as St. Mary's Cathedral was filled to capacity to watch William Hennecke receive the sacrament of holy orders from Bishop John J. Leibrecht.

Hennecke is the first Cape Girardeau resident to be ordained in the city in 17 years.

The Rev. Rick Jones, priest of Our Lady of the Lake Church in Branson, Mo., was the last Cape Girardeau resident to be ordained in the city.

Hennecke graduated from Notre Dame Regional High School in 1996. He enrolled in Southeast Missouri State University and began taking engineering classes, but he said he always felt he might end up in the priesthood.

William Hennecke waited in the back of St. Mary's Cathedral during his ordination ceremony June 1. Hennecke was the first priest ordained in Cape Girar~deau in 17 years.

"I knew God was calling me to this vocation," Hennecke said.

In November 1998, Hennecke contacted the Rev. J. Friedel, then the chaplain at the Newman Center on campus, and Monsignor Richard Rolwing, of St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Sikeston, Mo. Hennecke said they helped begin his journey of becoming a priest.

He also began meeting and praying "almost daily" with the Rev. Dave Hulshof of St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Hennecke said.

In the spring of 2000, he started the process of applying to the seminary. That summer, he said, he took extensive psychological examinations in Springfield, Ill.

The tests are required before a student can apply to a seminary, Hennecke said. They determine whether candidates have the organizational abilities and interpersonal skills needed to serve a congregation.

"They asked me numerous questions, ranging from 'How do you deal with problems?' to 'What do you do in your free time?'" Hennecke said.

Hennecke passed the examinations, and after church officials verified his baptismal and confirmation records, he was admitted to St. Louis' Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in 2002.

Hennecke received a $10,000 scholarship from the National Council of the Knights of Columbus for his study.

Kenrick-Glennon seminarians without prior college experience live at the seminary while attending St. Louis University for two years of liberal arts classes, then two years of philosophy courses at Cardinal Glennon College. That is followed by four years of graduate-level courses in theology at Kenrick.

The curriculum includes church history, sacraments, dogmatic theology, pastoral counseling and extensive philosophy classes.

Hennecke completed an internship at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church in Sikeston and St. Henry Catholic Church in Charleston, Mo., after his second year at Kenrick.

Hennecke received his master of divinity and master of arts degrees May 11, after presenting his thesis "The Christian Family, The Domestic Church." The thesis focuses on how vocations are rooted in the faith and the church and how families help children discern God's call.

Hennecke said his family has always been important to him. He said an experience with his grandmother, Adella Frank, planted a seed for his future vocation.

"After a service, she asked me, 'Don't you think you could give a good homily like Father?'" Hennecke said. "I began to wonder and contemplate, 'Could I be a priest?', 'Could I give a homily like Father?'"

"My mother played a large part in my journey into the priesthood," Hennecke said. "She helped me understand how important my Catholic faith is to me and how important it is to serve others as Christ did."

After he completed the divinity program, Hennecke wrote a petition for holy orders to Bishop Leibrecht.

The petition addressed Hennecke's plan to grow in four "areas of formation," human, spiritual, academic and pastoral. Included in the petition were a self-evaluation and anonymous peer evaluations.

Hennecke was then recommended for the sacrament of holy orders.

Hennecke said the words of the Holy Ghost at Jesus' baptism -- "You are my beloved son, in whom I am well pleased," from Luke 3:22 -- best described his feeling about his ordination.

The words are also engraved on the bottom of the chalice his mother gave him as an ordination gift.

"I only hope to be an authentic image of Christ," Hennecke said. "Essentially, the priest is the mediator who reveals Christ in others as they see Christ revealed in me."

Hennecke is the first of two to be ordained in Cape Gir?ardeau this month. Deacon Joe Weidenbenner will be ordained at 7 p.m. Friday at St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church. Hulshof said Weidenbenner came to Mass there while a student at Southeast. Weidenbenner's home church in Glennonville, Mo., in Dunklin County would have had trouble accommodating the large number of guests, so Hulshof said he chose to have the service in Cape Girardeau.

Hulshof was Weidenbenner's vocation counselor before he entered the seminary and said it will be a pleasure to welcome him into the ministry.

"Joe already has a lot of pastoral experience in retreat ministries and camp settings," Hulshof said.

Weidenbenner graduated in May from St. Meinrad School of Theology in St. Meinrad, Ind.

pwylie@semissourian.com

William Hennecke lay prostrate during his ordination into the Catholic priesthood June 1. (Dennis Vollink ~ Submitted photo)

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