by Reagan Scott
for the Register
Bishop James Conley will ordain three new priests for the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln Saturday, May 27 – Deacons Scott Nemec, Louden Redinger and Matthew Schilmoeller.
The ordination Mass will be celebrated at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ, 3500 Sheridan Blvd., Lincoln at 11 a.m.
The bishop will also ordain five new deacons at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ at 7 p.m. Friday, May 26 – Jonah Brox, Santiago Izquierdo, Augustine Reimers, Mitchell Schleis and Ranil Weerackoon.
A holy hour for the ordinandi will take place at the St. Thomas Aquinas Newman Center, 320 N. 16th St., Lincoln, at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 25. All are invited to attend.
Deacon Scott Nemec
Deacon Scott Nemec is the son of Mark and Beth Nemec, and has a younger brother and sister. He grew up in St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Seward and attended grade school at St. Vincent de Paul School. 
In middle school, he became a member of St. Wenceslaus Parish in Bee, and attended middle though high school at Aquinas Catholic Schools in David City.
Nemec began his studies at St. Gregory the Great Seminary in Seward after high school, and graduated with his Bachelor of Arts degree in theology before attending Mount St. Mary Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md.
Growing up, Nemec said a vocation to the priesthood always felt like a possibility.
“It was something I thought about from a very young age,” he said.
During his junior and senior years of high school, Nemec began to be more involved in youth ministry, participating in as many extra-curricular activities as he could, including TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) retreats, a mission trip in New Mexico, and the March for Life in Washington D.C.
“I had a lot of powerful experiences throughout high school,” Nemec said. “I had a deep conviction that Jesus was with me in the Eucharist, and I had really good Catholic friendships.”
Nemec began attending daily Mass and prayed every day, asking the Lord, “What do you want me to do?” He felt a desire to bring Jesus to others and lead others to God. He described his decision to enter the seminary as one blessed by a deep confidence.
As he begins his priestly vocation, Nemec said, he is looking forward to bringing Jesus to the faithful in the sacraments, and being part of his parishioners’ lives.
Nemec said while his motivation for joining the seminary hasn’t changed, he’s come to see the importance of the fatherly role of the priesthood, and looks forward to bringing Jesus to people as a spiritual father.
“That’s something that’s deepened as I’ve progressed in the seminary,” Nemec said.
Nemec asked that the people of the diocese remember the ordinandi in their prayers as they transition to their new roles and parishes as priests.
Nemec will celebrate his first Mass of thanksgiving Sunday, May 28 at 2 p.m. in St. Vincent de Paul Church, 152 Pinewood Ave., Seward.
Deacon Louden Redinger
Deacon Louden Redinger is the son of Brian and Kelleen Redinger and is the oldest of nine children. He has six sisters and two brothers. 
While Redinger and his family moved around the state often growing up, he considers St. Michael Parish in Hastings to be his home parish.
Growing up, Redinger was very involved at Camp Kateri Tekakwitha near McCool Junction, attending Sky Camp and Leadership Camp.
“It was a really big part of my life before junior high,” Redinger said. “It planted the seeds of vocation.”
Redinger said he had a “pretty typical Catholic background” growing up, but didn’t have a personal relationship with Jesus. An encounter with a priest when his family lived in Crete would change all of that.
While in seventh grade, Redinger began to help maintain the parish cemetery. The pastor for Sacred Heart Church (St. James Parish) in Crete was Father Paul York, and Redinger found himself inspired by his priesthood.
“He was a hard worker,” Redinger said. “He was willing to work with us. I saw him as a true public servant.”
Unfortunately, Father York would be diagnosed with cancer. It was the fall of 2010, and Redinger was a freshman in high school. His dad took him to the hospital to say goodbye.
After shooing the nurses from the room, Father York told him, “Louden, you don’t have to be a priest.”
“But I knew him well enough to know there was a ‘but’ there,” Redinger said.
He went to the hospital chapel to pray and there, for the first time in his life, he said, he found himself being totally convinced of Jesus’ presence in the Eucharist. From that point on, he found himself convicted in his vocation.
“I went through high school with that in the back of my mind. I couldn’t get rid of it,” Redinger said.
After graduating from Shelton High School in Shelton, Redinger attended St. Gregory the Great Seminary before moving on to St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa. There, he took a spiritual year, described by the seminary’s website as, “a preparatory phase of formation for seminarians intended to precede core philosophical studies.” He entered into his first semester of classes in the fall of 2019.
Now, Redinger is looking forward to being ordained, and accompanying people on their journey through life, whatever it may be, and being someone they can talk to, so they know they’re not alone.
“At this point, after living in so many different places, I’m really excited to come home to Nebraska,” Redinger said.
Redinger will celebrate his first Mass of thanksgiving Sunday, May 28 at 5 p.m. in St. Michael Church, 701 Creighton Ave., Hastings.
Deacon Matthew Schilmoeller
Deacon Matthew Schilmoeller grew up in Lincoln as a member of North American Martyrs Parish. The son of Mark and Cindy Schilmoeller, he is the middle child of seven, and has two brothers and four sisters, one of whom died before he was born. 
Schilmoeller grew up a block away from North American Martyrs Church and attended school there from pre-kindergarten through the eighth grade. Each summer, he said, his mom would take him and his siblings to Mass every day. There, his proximity to the priest would bring about the question of whether or not he might become a priest one day.
Over time, Schilmoeller would start to shy away from the idea of a priestly vocation, and tried to put it out of his mind. He graduated from Pius X High School in Lincoln in 2014 and ran cross country at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for a semester before transferring to the University of South Dakota (USD) in Vermillion.
During his third semester at USD, a group of Schilmoeller’s friends from Pius who were attending St. Gregory the Great Seminary invited him to a “come and see” weekend.
That weekend, as he spent time in the chapel praying, Schilmoeller told God all of the reasons he shouldn’t become a priest.
He said, “There was this silence and I thought I’d won.”
But, when he opened his Bible he read the verse, “Just so, the Son of Man did not come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.” Matthew 20:28.
“I realized, I might have all of these reasons why I shouldn’t be a priest, but there’s a presence at the seminary that’s calling me to come spend time with him,” Schilmoeller said. “I just knew that I needed to give the Lord time to speak to me.”
Schilmoeller entered St. Gregory the Great Seminary, and after graduation would attend the North American College in Rome. While he’s excited to be coming back to the diocese, he said it has been a blessing to live near the Vatican where he’s had the opportunity to meet Pope Francis and serve Mass with him.
“It hasn’t been a perfect road, but the Lord has been drawing me in further and deeper into his love for me. A relationship with Jesus makes all the difference in the world.”
Now, Schilmoeller looks forward to being able to serve as an instrument of Christ’s priesthood.
“I’m very much excited for the sacraments and celebration of Mass, but also for who I’m going to be. The Lord arranged my heart and created it to be in relationship with him, and in relationship with the people of God,” he said.
Schilmoeller will celebrate his first Mass of thanksgiving Sunday, May 28 at 2 p.m. in North American Martyrs Church, 1101 Isaac Dr., Lincoln.
Editors note: The Ordinations are open to the public. Those unable to attend the Saturday Priesthood Ordination can watch the livestream at youtube.com/live/ZNE4xeoFnfk or lincolndiocese.org/stream.
