Father's example encouraged son's priestly vocation

Deacon William Kessler follows his son, Father William F. Kessler, down the stairs from the choir loft at Ss. Peter and Paul Church, Alton, where the two had distributed holy Communion to members of the choir and musicians at a Mass March 22 celebrating the 150th anniversary of Ursulines in Alton.Father William F. Kessler and his father, Deacon William Kessler, share a unique perspective when it comes to discussing vocations. Both are ordained men in the Springfield diocese.

Father Kessler is pastor of St. Patrick Parish in Pana, and Sacred Heart Parish in Oconee. He was ordained a priest May 29, 1999, by Bishop Daniel L. Ryan, at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Springfield. His father was ordained a deacon eight years later, on June 24, 2007, by Bishop George J. Lucas, at the Cathedral, in the diocese’s first diaconate class. Deacon Kessler is assigned to St. Ambrose Parish in Godfrey.

Father Kessler, the eldest of Bill and Pat Kessler’s eight children, says his father always had a deep sense of vocation and tried to pass that on to his family. In addition, he credits his high school alma mater, Marquette Catholic High School, with nurturing his deep call to service. “I always say the Ursulines’ motto at Marquette High School, Serviam, is embedded in me,” he says.

The Latin phrase serviam  is translated “I will serve.”

But Father Kessler says he wrestled with his vocation.

“I knew I wanted to serve, but I wanted to do my type of service. I wanted to do my will. I liked to say, ‘not your will, but my will be done.’ Finally, it came to me that this — being a priest — might actually fit. I realized this is my vocation. I had to take the chance. It had to feel right,” he says.

Father Kessler was born in Italy, where his father was stationed while serving in the U.S. Army.  When the military assignment ended, the family returned to the Midwest and Bill and Pat looked for new careers.

Father Bill Kessler“I knew I wanted to do service,” says now-Deacon Kessler. “The thought occurred to me that working in health care gives back to the church. Pat is a nurse, and our long-term dream was to someday go to an Indian mission, where we could serve and work together.”

But the family stayed in the Madison County area and in 2006, Deacon Kessler retired after 35 years as administrator/CEO at Saint Anthony’s Health Center in Alton, where he was the first layperson to serve as the hospital’s administrator.

Father Kessler says becoming a deacon was the fulfillment of a long-time desire for his father.

“Ever since he learned about the diaconate ministry, he had wanted to be part of it,” says Father Kessler. “He had written letters to the bishop, and others, urging the diocese to start a diaconate program.”

Deacon Kessler says his desire to become a deacon was rooted in the gift of the family he and Pat received. Their children — five sons and three daughters — are grown, and the couple has nine grandchildren.

“Our family has been incredibly blessed,” says Deacon Kessler. “We’ve understood our whole lives, ‘to those who much is given, there is much opportunity to give back.’”

When the Springfield diocese announced a new diaconate program, “I realized the window for me was 2007, the year the first diaconate class would be ordained,” says Deacon Kessler. “It was then or never, because of my age. The diaconate studies program was a great opportunity to transition out of one ministry in the church to another. Both my wife and I and all our children have been blessed through our own Catholic education. The Lord and the church have been incredibly generous to us, and this is our way to give something back.”

Father Kessler says he likes having his dad an ordained deacon. “It is pretty unique. After all, how many families can say that?” he asks.

In fact, in the Springfield diocese, Father David Hoefler, who was ordained in 2002, is the son of Deacon Ben Hoefler, who was ordained a permanent deacon in the Rockford diocese, in 1982.

Deacon Bill KesslerDeacon Kessler sees his ministry as one more way to strengthen family ties.  “It was a great privilege to join with Father Bill at the wedding of his youngest brother, our youngest son,” he says. “That was a blessed moment for Dan and Becca and our whole family to see them united in their own sacrament. It was reminiscent for me of the five grandchildren that I have had the privilege to baptize. It is a gift to extend the opportunity, the grace of baptism and membership in the Body of Christ to the next generation.

“I think the greatest gifts we can give our children are, number one, life, and the other is faith,” Deacon Kessler says. “To me, one goes right with the other.”

Deacon Kessler says he feels privileged in his life. “First it was health care, now it is diaconal service.”

At St. Ambrose Parish, in Godfrey, where he is assigned, “we previously had three priests. Now Father Steve Pohlman, our pastor, has the whole place to himself. Anything I can do to serve the parish, and assist Father Steve, so he can perform his unique priestly ministry, I am happy to do.”

At St. Ambrose, Deacon Kessler helps with the sacramental preparation for first Eucharist and confirmation, does prison ministry, and assists with the RCIA program and parish school of religion.

Father Kessler says at family gatherings his father will ask him to lead prayers.

“I kind of joke with him. ‘Uh uh, you’re still Dad,’ I tell him,” says Father Kessler. “I encourage him to lead prayer when it is appropriate for him to do it. But he is of the old school, if there is a priest around, he wants the priest to do it.”