Conception Abbey
Conception, Missouri
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Conception Abbey Conception, Missouri |
Tower Topics ~ Winter 2004 |
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Jubilarians celebrate decades of service
Prior Kenneth Reichert, 71, who also serves as a spiritual director for Conception Seminary College and directs Conception Abbey's oblate program, marks 50 years as a professed monk. Born Maurice Peter Reichert, the fourth of five boys, on July 7, 1933, in Brunswick, Mo., he attended high school, college and theology school at Conception Seminary. He entered the novitiate Sept. 7, 1953, and was professed Sept. 8 the following year. Father Kenneth was ordained to the priesthood May 30, 1959, by Bishop and later Cardinal John Cody. His early assignments included a year of study at St. Paul's University in Ottawa, Canada, followed by a three year stint as secretary to the Abbot. From 1961 through 1970, much of Father Kenneth's time was spent in the seminary, as a resident hall counselor (prefect), or teaching courses on the Psalms. During that time he also directed the abbey's Vocation Office and the oblate program. His work at Conception was interrupted briefly by a two year assignment at the Indian Missions in McLaughlin, S.D. But he returned to direct the seminary's Spiritual Formation Program from 1972 to 1985, while also serving as subprior and director of postulants. From 1986 until 1993, when Abbot Marcel named him to his current post as prior, Father Kenneth directed Special Programs and coordinated hospitality. He remained in the seminary, directing the offices of Recruitment and Alumni and serving as a chaplain and then as a spiritual director, a position he holds to this day. * * *
Father Gilbert Stack, 91, whose name became synonymous with the Shrine of the Nativity at Bethlehem, S.D., celebrated the 70th anniversary of his monastic profession and the 65th anniversary of ordination this year. A native of Kansas City, Mo., Father Gilbert's early interest was in science. He earned a bachelor's degree and a master's degree, both in chemistry, before coming to Conception in 1933. He was professed the following year, and ordained on Jan. 6, 1939. His earliest duties kept him close to home at Conception, where over the next seven years he served as dean of the seminary, chaplain to the Benedictine sisters at nearby Clyde, procurator (business manager), and secretary to Abbot Stephen Schappler. For more than 50 years Father Gilbert ministered in South Dakota. His assignments included 10 years as a chaplain and teacher for the Benedictine Sisters at St. Martin's Academy in Sturgis, during which time he also assisted at a nearby parish. In 1957, he founded and served as chaplain of the Shrine of the Nativity located in the Black Hills at the mouth of a 3.8 mile cave formerly known as Old Crystal Cave. He remained there until his retirement nearly two decades later. During those years Father Gilbert also led more than 150 pilgrimages to the Holy Land. * * *
Although Father Joachim Schieber gives the entire credit to God, he has gotten a lot of work done in the past 65 years of monastic life. At 85, he celebrated his 60th jubilee of priesthood this year. Born Jan. 4, 1919 on a farm near Clyde, Mo., (see Historical...) he was professed a monk Aug. 30, 1939, and five years later, on Sept. 23, 1944, he was ordained to the priesthood. Father Joachim came to the Abbey at a pivotal time in its history. His profession was received by the first U.S.-born superior of Conception, Abbot Stephen Schappler, and his profession class entered the monastery at the exact moment that major changes were taking place in the community's liturgy. He says participating in the changes that took place during the renewal of the Second Vatican Council were an especially important part of his formation as a monk. "I am most grateful to God for granting me the grace of balance in those turbulent times immediately before, during and immediately after the Council," he says. "It was through that grace that I was able to embrace the traditions of the Church, yet remain open to what the Holy Spirit was doing at that time." In his first quarter of a century as a monk, much of Father Joachim's energies were directed toward education. For most of that period he taught, and served as prefect and athletic director in the seminary. He also established the abbey's archives at the request of Abbot Stephen. In 1954, he completed a master's degree in history at Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and two years later moved to the Abbey's foundation at Elkhorn, Neb., where he created a "Campaign Office" to raise money for the high school. From 1958 through 1964 he was chaplain to the Benedictine sisters at St. Martin's at Sturgis, S.D. He was called back to the abbey to put his fund-raising expertise to work starting the Office of Development. That task completed, two years later he accepted his first pastorate at St. Aloysius parish, in what was one of the poorest neighborhoods in Kansas City, Mo. While there he helped lead a massive building project that created hundreds of low-rent housing units for inner-city families. In 1973 he was assigned to another post marked by poverty, the Indian missions on the Standing Rock Reservation near McLaughlin, S.D., where he also served as pastor. His last parish assignment was as administrator of St. Joseph parish in Trenton, Mo., and from 1993 to 1998 he served as chaplain at St. Mary's Hospital in Blue Springs, Mo. Father Joachim is currently engaged in the Apostolate of Prayer and he lives in St. Stephen Infirmary. * * *
Father Donald Grabner, 76, animal lover and expert Frisbee thrower, celebrated 50 years of priesthood this year. Known also for his dry sense of humor and an insatiable appetite for reading, Father Donald is one of Conception Seminary College's most knowledgeable professors of religious history and theology, and a longtime student of non-Christian religions. Born Raymond Grabner on Nov. 4, 1928, in Neodesha, Kan., Father Donald has two brothers, one of whom is a Conception Seminary College alumnus and retired priest of the Diocese of Wichita. Father Donald attended high school and college at Conception Seminary and made solemn profession as a monk Sept. 3, 1949. He attended the international Benedictine college of Sant' Anselmo in Rome for five years, during which time he was ordained to the priesthood on July 31, 1954. After receiving an advanced degree in sacred theology, he returned to
Conception where he taught and served as dean in the school of From 1973 through 1976, and again from 1980 through 1986, Father Donald directed Conception's Development Office. In 1987 he returned to the post of prior under Abbot James Jones. In recent years he has directed monastic formation, worked as a research analyst in the Development Office, and served as guestmaster of the Abbey Center for Prayer and Ministry, all while continuing his teaching duties. He also embarked on a labor of love, participating in the Monastic Interreligious Dialog's Christian-Buddhist Hospitality Program. In 1986 he and five other monastics were invited by the Dali Lama to spend 10 weeks in India visiting Tibetan monasteries. Partly as a result of that experience, in 2002 Father Donald participated in the historic Gethsemani Encounter, a monastic dialog between Buddhists and Christians. Transforming Suffering: Reflections on Finding Peace in Troubled Times, a book of excerpts from the Encounter, includes an epilogue written by Father Donald. Today, along with his teaching duties and his work in interreligious dialog and other monastic duties, Father Donald is the abbey's archivist, annalist, and intentionarius. * * *
Father Roland Carbone, 77, who celebrated the 50th anniversary of his ordination this year, has served in parishes in four states, on Indian reservations and on a college campus. But he always returns to a kiln. Father Roland, who was recently named pastor of St. Joseph parish in Trenton, Mo., is best known to many alumni as the art teacher at Conception Seminary College. An accomplished potter, he brought his passion to the classroom. "Every stroke you put on a canvas, every stroke you make in the clay is part of yourself, your life, your philosophy," he told his students. "Every artwork you do is a piece of religious art." Father Roland, who was born May 26, 1927, in St. Louis, Mo., was professed a monk Sept. 3, 1949, and ordained five years later, on May 29, 1954. Father Roland received his first parish assignment in 1959, as assistant pastor at St. Aloysius parish in Kansas City, Mo., after a two year stint as a chaplain for the Benedictine sisters in Yankton, S.D. In 1962 he moved to Fort Yates, S.D., where he served as assistant pastor, and ministered to the Indians on the nearby reservation. Later he held an assistant pastorate at St. Michael parish in Spalding, Neb., and served as chaplain at St. Mary's Priory in Nauvoo, Ill. In 1971 he accepted his first pastorate at St. Peter parish in Stanberry, nine miles from Conception. Two years later he moved even closer to home, as pastor of St. Columba parish in Conception Jct., just two miles from the abbey. In 1976, he left Northwest Missouri to study art at the San Francisco Art Institute, followed by further studies at Northwest Missouri State University. In 1978 he was appointed art instructor in the seminary, which he continued while also serving as chaplain at the Missouri Western State College Newman Center in St. Joseph, Mo., and later during a return as pastor to St. Peter's in Stanberry. For several years he was pastor at St. Joseph parish in Parnell, Mo. His current assignment in Trenton follows a brief stint as pastor of St. Michael Archangel parish in Kahoka, Mo. * * *
Father Adam Ryan, the Abbey's choirmaster and kitchenmaster, celebrated 25 years of profession this year. Father Adam was born John Joseph Ryan on May 3, 1955, in Morris, Ill. After earning a degree in Classical Languages and Literature with a specialization in Greek, he came to Conception in 1978 and made his monastic profession Aug. 5, 1979. Father Adam's early assignments included a year in the Abbey's kitchen, and six years at the Printery House, first as manager of Accounts Receivable and then as manager of Finance and Administration. After further Greek studies at Princeton Theological Seminary, Father Adam taught Greek in the seminary and directed Special Programs (now named the Abbey Center for Prayer and Ministry). In 1990 Father Adam completed theological studies at the Pontifical Athenaeum at Sant' Anselmo in Rome, and was ordained Dec. 8, 1990. This fall he will receive a Master of Arts from Creighton University with a specialization in Christian spirituality and retreat and spiritual direction. In recent years Father Adam has directed retreats in 15 states and has become extensively involved with area churches of various Christian denominations. From 1997 to 2003, Father Adam directed the Abbey Center for Prayer and Ministry. His other duties have included teaching theology, coordinating Conception Seminary College's Deacon Formation Program, serving as associate pastor at St. Gabriel's parish in Kansas City, and directing the Oblate program. We welcome your comments: |
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