By Reagan Scott
for the Register
All are invited to attend the annual Chrism Mass Monday, March 30, at 4 p.m., celebrated by Bishop James Conley at the Cathedral of the Risen Christ in Lincoln.
With the diocese’s priests in attendance, Bishop Conley will consecrate and bless the three oils used in the sacraments throughout the diocese in the coming year – Chrism, the Oil of the Sick, and Oil of Catechumens.
During the Mass, the priests of the diocese will renew the vows made at their ordinations. Five of them will be recognized for celebrating milestone “jubilee” anniversaries this year.
Msgr. Paul Witt is celebrating 55 years since his ordination this year, and Fathers James Schrader, James Divis, Lyle Johnson and Stephen Cooney are celebrating 50 years.
In addition to the men being celebrated, Bishop Robert Vasa is also celebrating 50 years since he was ordained a priest in the Lincoln diocese. Bishop Vasa attended St. John Nepomucene Elementary in Weston, then Bishop Neumann High School in Wahoo. Following his ordination on May 22, 1976, alongside his fellow jubilarians, Bishop Vasa served in the diocese for 24 years before he was ordained the Bishop of the Diocese of Baker, Ore. in 2000, and has served as the Bishop of the Diocese of Santa Rosa, Calif. since 2011.
55 years: Msgr. Paul Witt
Msgr. Paul Witt is the son of Ken and Helen Witt, and the oldest of three boys. He was born in Columbus, but raised in Lincoln.
Growing up, Msgr. Witt said it was a powerful, religious dream he had in the fourth grade that really got him thinking about a vocation to the priesthood. He also credited the examples of Msgr. Lawrence Gyhra, and Msgr. Daniel Pohl, who were a great inspiration to him.
During his time in active ministry, Msgr. Witt taught in the diocese’s Catholic schools at the high school and grade school level, and served as a spiritual advisor for Magnificat (a ministry to Catholic women).
His longest assignment was at St. Mary Parish in downtown Lincoln. When North American Martyrs Parish was created and the parish population split at St. Mary, Msgr. Witt started an RCIA class on Catholic instruction (now called OCIA) to try to rebuild the parish.
“What happened was it ended up bringing people in from Hastings, Omaha, Syracuse, Beatrice… it brought them in from all over the place,” Msgr. Witt said. “Now most of these were Catholics, but there were a lot of people who were not of the Catholic faith, but interested in joining the Church.”
While at St. Mary, Msgr. Witt said that his smallest OCIA class had 80 people, and his largest was attended by 160. During his time as a pastor in Plattsmouth, he had his largest class ever with 240 attendees.
The aspects of his priesthood that Msgr. Witt has enjoyed the most have been celebrating the Mass, preaching, hearing confessions and teaching.
For the past two and a half years Msgr. Witt has spent his time caring for his mother, who is 104 and a half years old.
When asked his thoughts on celebrating a milestone 55 years ordained, Msgr. Witt said, “It’s simple: where has the time gone?” He said that the five years since he celebrated his 50th jubilee have passed in the blink of an eye.
Wanting to give advice to everybody, Msgr. Witt suggested that anyone who is struggling with whether Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist should read 1st Corinthians 11:27, “Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily will have to answer for the body and blood of the Lord.”
“It doesn’t say he’s guilty of the bread and wine,” Msgr. Witt said. “It’s the most clear scripture quote that Jesus is truly present in the Eucharist.”
50 years: Fr. James Schrader
Father James Schrader was born in North Platte to James and Janelle Schrader, but spent some of his formative years in California, when his father returned to the Navy. The family moved back to Nebraska and settled in Lincoln when Father Schrader was 10 years old.
Pius X High School in Lincoln was the first Catholic school that Father Schrader attended, and he said it was there that his discernment process began, although he said what really started it all were his parents, who had “an obvious, real love of the Church,” and his grandparents on both sides of the family.
“You didn’t miss Mass unless you were on your deathbed, let me put it that way,” Father Schrader said.
He would go on to attend college for four years in Missouri before going to the seminary in St. Paul, Minn.
“Even when I went to St. Paul there were still some doubts, I don’t think it’d be normal if you didn’t have some doubts, but the combination of the environment plus a very good spiritual director kind of took care of that problem,” Father Schrader said.
During his active ministry, Father Schrader’s longest assignment was as pastor for St. Anne Parish in Campbell and Holy Trinity Parish in Blue Hill, where he spent 27 years.
Before that, Father Schrader had moved often, serving as a pastor and guidance counselor at Lourdes in Nebraska City, Bishop Neumann in Wahoo and St. Cecilia in Hastings.
“Each parish is unique, and a priest experiences that uniqueness. They were all good.” Father Schrader said.
In addition to his diocesan assignments, Father Schrader served as a chaplain to the Sheriff’s Department in the counties that he lived in, as well as a volunteer firefighter and EMT.
“I wanted to do something that would serve the whole community where I was assigned, not just the Catholics,” he said.
For Father Schrader, the role of priest and emergency responder intersected perfectly, and it helped that he was willing to run into a burning building if necessary.
He said, “You were with the people in some very intense, sad situations, but in our training as priests we’re taught how to deal with that, to help people.”
While he has most enjoyed getting to administer the sacraments as part of his ministry, Father Schrader said that baptisms are his particular favorite.
Looking back at his 50 years of priesthood Father Schrader had just one word to describe it: “unbelievable.”
50 years: Fr. James Divis
Father James Divis is the son of Merle and Alice Divis and the oldest of 10 children. He has seven sisters and two brothers. He was born in North Platte, but grew up in Holdrege, where his family lived right across the street from the church.
Father Divis became an altar server in the third grade and served all the way through high school. At the time, the Code of Canon Law required priests to have a server present at Mass in order to make responses in Latin.
It was his time as an altar server, the influence of priests and Marian Sisters that he knew and the need of the Church that drew Father Divis to the priesthood.
“I considered doing a lot of different things, but at that time, everyone was leaving the priesthood, and the need was intense. That’s what moved me to at least give the seminary a try,” he said.
After his ordination, Father Divis would serve in a few different roles in Lincoln, including working with the Hispanic community and serving as Bishop Glennon Flavin’s master of ceremonies. He received a degree from the University of Nebraska in school administration, and was then sent to Rome, where he received a licentiate in sacred theology (S.T.L.).
Upon his return to the diocese, Father Divis would once again serve as the master of ceremonies for Bishop Flavin, and worked to help reestablish the Office of Religious Education, which he said had been “pretty much dormant for a number of years.”
Father Divis would later leave Lincoln for York, where he spent the next 11 years as pastor for St. Joseph Parish.
In 1998, he started teaching at St. Gregory the Great Seminary, and in 2000, was asked to serve as the school’s spiritual director by Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz. He would stay there until his retirement in 2024.
“I patted guys on the back, encouraging them to continue to do whatever it was that the Lord was calling them to do,” Father Divis said. “That could be leaving, or that could be staying and continuing on. I didn’t push anybody one way or the other, just encouraging.”
Father Divis said all of his assignments were amazing, but he particularly enjoyed pastoral work, and continues to help cover Masses on weekends where he can from his home in Alma.
He said he is amazed to be celebrating 50 years of priesthood alongside the men he was ordained with.
50 years: Father Lyle Johnson
Father Lyle Johnson was born in Lincoln to Harold and Effie Johnson. While he never met his oldest sister, Corinne, who died at eight months old, he grew up with seven more sisters and five brothers.
Every summer, Father Johnson would walk to daily Mass with his mom, and said that his parents’ devout Catholic faith was what shaped his. He attended Catholic school in Lincoln, and entered the seminary after graduating from Pius X High School.
After his ordination, Bishop Flavin asked Father Johnson to study to become a guidance counselor. He received a master’s degree in clinical counseling from the University of Nebraska, and was a guidance counselor at Lourdes in Nebraska City.
The following year, Bishop Flavin asked Father Johnson to move into educational administration, for which he received an education specialist degree at the University. He became the superintendent at Lourdes, where he served 16 years.
In 1996, Father Johnson would apply for, and get permission to work at the diocesan mission in Barquisimeto, Venezuela where he would spend the next six years.
“It was an excellent experience,” Father Johnson said. “There were so many great people. The extreme poverty was a real difficulty, and then of course, the political instability was really bad as well.”
Father Johnson was the last priest from the diocese to serve the mission before it was handed over to the care of the Archdiocese of Barquisimeto.
When Father Johnson returned to the diocese, Bishop Bruskewtiz asked him to serve as pastor and chief administrative officer for St. John Parish and School in Lincoln where he has remained since.
In his years as a priest, Father Johnson has most enjoyed being able to work in schools, both in the diocese and Venezuela.
“The kids are incredible, the faculty and staff are completely, totally dedicated to what we’re doing. It’s easy to be around people with that conviction and that commitment to teach as Jesus did. That’s what they do,” he said.
Father Johnson said that the priesthood is a gift, and every man who receives it is asked to give of himself through the priesthood to the people he serves.
He said, “It’s a gift only each of us can make, and we do it with our own humanity and our own comparison. That’s why every priest is going to be unique and have their own set of opportunities and qualities and characteristics to contribute.”
50 years: Fr. Stephen Cooney
Father Stephen Cooney was born in Omaha, but moved to Lincoln when he was 5 years old. He and his parents, Emmett and Rosina Cooney, were members of St. Teresa Parish, where he attended school through eighth grade.
After this, Father Cooney would attend St. John Vianney Seminary in Elkhorn, which operated as a high school and junior college for men preparing for the priesthood. The school would later transition to become Mount Michael Benedictine School.
Father Cooney said his decision to enter the seminary in high school stems back to his first grade teacher, Sister Sylvaria, the assistant priests at St. Teresa and his own relatives, including his dad’s sister who was a nun, and two cousins who were priests on his mom’s side.
During his ministry, Father Cooney worked as a teacher, guidance counselor and administrator in five of the diocese’s Catholic high schools – Bishop Neumann, St. Cecilia, Sacred Heart in Falls City, Pius X and Aquinas in David City.
When Father Cooney was sent to serve at All Saints Parish in Holdrege, he asked Bishop Bruskewitz for permission to start a school. The church campus had classrooms already, and didn’t require any building to get things up and running.
All Saints School started with preschool, kindergarten, first and second grade classes, then was able to add a third and fourth grade, which is how it continues to operate today.
During his time in active ministry, Father Cooney also found particular enjoyment in helping coach soccer, basketball, track and volleyball for the schools where he worked.
Father Cooney’s longest pastoral assignment was at Holy Trinity Parish in Brainard, where he served 11 years, but for most of his remaining time in active ministry, Father Cooney served in a different role back in Lincoln.
For eight years Father Cooney served as a chaplain at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, and then another eight for CHI Health at St. Elizabeth and Nebraska Heart Hospital.
The nature of Father Cooney’s role as chaplain included celebrating Mass every day, taking Communion to Catholic patients and assisting any staff or patients who needed spiritual care.
In his retirement, Father Cooney celebrates Mass and hears confessions wherever there is need, and especially loves going out to Villa Marie School in Waverly where he joked that he actually gets compliments on his homilies.
“After Mass they say, ‘You gave a good homily, Father!’ After 50 years, nobody tells you that,” he said with a laugh.
