Live a life worthy of the calling you have received

… I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received. Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all (Ephesians 4:1-6).

The Diocese of Bismarck is working toward forming men to live a life worthy of their calling in the 22 men studying for the priesthood.

Four of the diocesan seminarians, Jacob Degele, Ben Franchuk, Greg Hilzendeger and Nick Vetter, were ordained to the transitional diaconate this summer in Bismarck before returning to the seminary, reaching the final stages toward ordination to the holy priesthood. They are scheduled to be ordained priests for the diocese this summer by Bishop Kagan at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit. Deacons Degele, Franchuk and Hilzendeger continue their studies at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis. Deacon Nick Vetter is studying in Rome at the Pontifical North American College, along with diocesan seminarians Grant Dvorak, Jake Magnuson, Josh Hill, Steven Vetter and Isaiah Fischer.

Three more men joined these ranks as the newest diocesan seminarians—Charles Reichert, Joseph Richter and Joe Schon—and began their first year of formation for the priesthood this fall. The men are studying at St. John Paul II Seminary in Washington, D.C.

Diocesan seminarian Isaiah Jilek is also studying at St. John Paul II Seminary in Washington, D.C. There is a large contingent of seminarians at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary in St. Louis including: Paul Gardner, Logan Obrigewitch, Dustin Johns, Ben Wanner, John Windsor, Ryan Martire, Eric Artz and Colton Steiner. Seminarian Konnor Peterson is enrolled at St. John Vianney Seminary in Denver.

Get to know our newest seminarians

In an effort to give the faithful of the diocese an opportunity to get to know our newest seminarians, each man was asked a series of questions about who and what influenced his decision to answer to the will of God and what their seminary experience has been like so far.

Charles Reichert, College II

Diocesan seminarian Charles Reichert grew up as a member of Bismarck’s Corpus Christi parish. The seeds of a possible call to the priesthood were starting to take root for Charles in the later years of high school.

“My Catholic education has influenced me by providing me a solid foundation in understanding the Catholic faith and has given me the ability to let me pass on the faith to others,” he said.

It was here that he was able to see priests as faith-filled, joyful men, not the odd men who seemed somewhat disconnected from “normal” life.

“My early thoughts on the priesthood before high school was that I thought priests were weird, unless I knew them really well,” he shared. “But the first time I felt the call to become a priest was in my freshman year at St. Mary's Central High School. I had many good, holy men in my life entering high school, mainly teachers and chaplains, which guided my heart towards this call. At the time, I chose not to acknowledge this desire though because I desired my will over God's. I went throughout the course of high school trying to run from His will because I wanted the more worldly and secular things of life.”

In his senior year of high school, he was in a relationship with a girl and decided to attend college for a year at Montana State University. He had strayed away from his faith at college, but eventually realized he was profoundly lonely in this lifestyle, being far away from home and his faith.

“During my first semester, I became rather dry in my faith,” Charles explained. “I was only going to Mass once a week and my prayer life was almost non-existent. I eventually realized how unhappy I was and needed to change my life back into a life of holiness. Though as I started to take my faith more seriously again, I felt the call [to the priesthood] again, only much louder than before. I was confused because I felt the call to marriage, yet I also felt the call to priesthood.”

Charles and his girlfriend broke up and after talking to quite a few people about the seminary, he contacted the diocesan director of vocations at the time, Fr. Josh Waltz, who helped him with his application to seminary.

He credits Fr. Josh among the influential priests in his life along with Fr. Paul Becker, Fr. John Guthrie, Fr. Jared Johnson, Fr. Dominick Bouck, and Fr. Jarad Wolf. Teachers and family members have also played a big role in forming him in his faith including religion teachers Reed Ruggles and Nick Emmel and family members, his parents, Mathew and Shelly Reichert, and his confirmation sponsor and grandfather, Charles M. Reichert.

“All of these men and women have been role models of holiness and have inspired me as well to live a holy life in accordance with God's will.”

A strong foundation at home has allowed him to fully immerse himself into seminary life.

“My experience at seminary has been life changing. I have many brother seminarians who have become some of my closest friends, mainly because our friendship is founded on the most important thing in our lives, which is Jesus Christ. In my short time there, I have grown so much in my relationship with my brothers as well as in relationship with Christ. I find my prayer life has become much more fulfilling because my desire for Jesus in my life has increased. I have been able to have this desire through the help of the incredible formators we have in Washington D.C.”

His advice for anyone seeking seminary or religious life is to answer the call without hesitation.

“I would say that if there are any men or women who have felt the call to the religious life, do not hesitate to answer God's call. You will not have any regrets when you give God permission to work in your life.”

Joseph Richter, College II

You could maybe say that the priesthood runs in the family with Joseph Richter as the nephew of diocesan priests, Fr. David Richter and Msgr. Thomas Richter. He credits his family for giving him a strong faith foundation that he’s carried with him through his young life.

In fact, he remembers watching his uncle, Msgr. Richter, at Mass at the Church of Saint Anne and thinking it might be pretty cool to be a priest. Encountering solid religion teachers at St. Mary’s High School also helped to further his faith journey.

“These men showed me what it looks like to live a life for Christ, and I was able to see how attractive it was to live a life for Christ,” he said.

It was witnessing the priests in his life and forming friendships with them that played a key role.

“I grew up going to Mass at St. Anne's and ended up growing very close with the associate pastor there while I was in middle school. This friendship with my parish priest was very important because it showed me that priests are normal people and they enjoyed the things that I enjoyed like playing pinochle, hunting and playing sports. This was a big step in my realization that I might be called to seminary.”

Joseph’s decision to join the seminary had developed over many years.

“The final push came through conversation with [diocesan vocations director] Fr. Dosch and other influential people. It was a realization that this attraction to the priesthood was something that I had to really discern, which led me to seminary.”

He’s enjoying his first year of seminary and allowing his faith life to flourish there.

“My time out in Washington D.C. has been one of great joy. Having the structure of seminary has been fruitful for not only my human formation but it has also helped me grow immensely in my prayer life. We have incredible faculty who help us grow in all areas of our life.”

He added, “What I enjoy most about seminary life is the emphasis on the importance of prayer and receiving the sacraments. Our formators have shown us how vital it is for our day to be anchored around our holy hour and Mass rather than anchoring our lives on school or other activities.”

Joe Schon, College I

Both his Catholic education and time spent serving at Mass brought about thoughts of the priesthood very early on for Joe Schon. Having just graduated from high school in 2020, the choice of seminary or the traditional college experience was clear.

“My Catholic education has influenced who I am in many ways,” he said. “The first is that I learned what the Catholic faith was, strictly on the basic level. Second, as my high school education at St. Mary's continued, I learned why the Catholic faith mattered to me. The Church and learning of the faith should have the utmost priority because it is the means to our salvation. The Church is our vehicle to heaven. The final reason is that I saw that my teachers were great men and women. Their lived example of what a holy life could look like was attractive. They were great role models of what I could become if I pursued God.”

Being a server at Mass played a key role to opening his eyes to how he could better serve God. He grew up attending Spirit of Life in Mandan and then later his family joined Ascension parish in Bismarck.

“I always enjoyed altar serving because it made Mass less boring. It also naturally led to a better knowledge and appreciation for the Holy Mass. When my family moved to Ascension parish, I continued to serve Mass and also hospitality ministering with my parents and grandparents. I now see that from an early age, altar serving (and eventually hospitality ministry) instilled an attitude of service in me that would continue to grow into an attraction towards the self-giving service to the Church that a priest does.”

He remembers the idea of possibly serving the church as an ordained minister started in second grade when he began to consider the permanent diaconate so he could still keep the door to marriage open. But that idea faded and gave way to a different calling.

“During my sophomore year of high school, during adoration, I got the call again to join the seminary. I thought and prayed about it. I then went on the Rome trip after my junior year. This is where the call really took a hold in my heart.”

In his senior year, a profound experience would set him further in the direction of the priesthood.

“This is when I started talking to our chaplain about joining seminary. My final push to join the seminary was in early November 2019 when I had the opportunity to go to Bishop Austin Vetter's ordination. It was after the ordination that I contacted the vocations director to start the application process.”
 
Joe credits his parents, grandparents and extended family for his strong faith foundation. It was cemented by the influential priests he’s encountered.

“All of the priests in my life, especially the chaplains at St. Mary's, showed me that priests were normal and great men. Seeing priests as normal people (instead of holding them up on a pedestal) helped me see that I could become a priest and strive in my own personal holiness.”

Seminary life, so far, has been a good fit for Joe.

“I honestly cannot say that I don't like anything about the seminary. There have obviously been many struggles, but, as with any struggle, can come knowledge about oneself and growth. I have definitely grown a lot more than I was expecting in my first semester of seminary formation. My favorite part about seminary life is the interior life that we are able to have. My relationship with Jesus has grown a lot during these last few months. Every part of my life has changed due to this relationship with Jesus. I can go through anything (struggles, sacrifices, joys, etc.) with a new outlook that can always bring me to Jesus and holiness. This is by far the best part about seminary.”

All three of the new seminarians expressed gratitude to the people of the Bismarck Diocese for their continued prayers and financial support.

“Prayers really do help, and I think that this is evident in the holiness and success in the Diocese of Bismarck,” Joe said. “We are very blessed by God to have all that we have in this diocese.”

For more on their personal journey, you can view videos of the vocation stories of these new seminarians, as well as all of the diocesan seminarians studying for the priesthood, visit bismarckdiocese.com/vocations-1.