My desire to serve God

Deacon Doug Krebs is looking forward to giving back.
 
Krebs will be ordained a priest for the Diocese of Bismarck on May 31 at the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit.  
 
“Besides offering the Holy Mass, I am looking forward to giving back what I have received, in particular hearing confessions and being an instrument of God's mercy,” Doug said.
 
It’s a journey that developed gradually into a great love of God and His calling.
 
“I first thought of the seminary and the priesthood, when I was on a pilgrimage to Rome after my senior year of high school,” Doug explained. “Fr. Josh Ehli was a seminarian at the time on the pilgrimage, and he asked if anyone wanted to go to the Church of Sant' Anatasia for adoration. For some reason I went with him. During those few minutes of prayer, I first thought that the seminary was a possibility.”
 
With the first thoughts of the priesthood, Doug entered the seminary after his first year of college.
 
“I thought I should at least give it a try, and that it would make me a better man,” he noted. “I really didn't know if I was supposed to be a priest or not. After three semesters of seminary, God gave me a desire to be a priest. Since then, my desire to serve God as a priest has grown greatly every year.”
 
As Doug readies for his priestly ordination, he reflected on memorable moments during seminary formation.
 
“Other than my diaconate ordination, my most memorable moment in seminary was when I got the opportunity to be an altar server at Midnight Mass at St. Peter's for Pope Benedict XVI,” Doug recounted. “Before Mass began, I was in the vesting room holding his vestments, watching him get recollected for the Mass. It was a moment I will never forget, because it was such a prayerful moment watching the Pope get ready.”
 
He’s grateful that God has called him to be one of His priests.
 
“There are so many good priests in the diocese, and I just hope that I can continue the good work that they are doing for the people of God in the Diocese of Bismarck,” he said.
 
For all priests, ordination is a profound moment that launches a lifetime of service to God’s people.
 
Director of Vocations Fr. Josh Waltz says it’s actually hard to put into words.
 
“I think there are mixed emotions of excitement and the unknown, but at the same time a bit of being overwhelmed due to the fact that seminary is not priesthood. There is only so much that a seminary can do and then a man has to just ‘put out into the deep’ and let God provide for his deficiencies,” Fr. Waltz said.
 
He recalls the excitement of his own ordination nearly 10 years ago in 2007.

“I remember being so excited to simply celebrate the Mass and forgive sins, yet feeling the intensity of so great a gift which was about to be bestowed upon such an unworthy person,” he shared. “There really is an awe and amazement mixed with knowledge of one’s weakness and sinfulness. What God does in an ordination is truly extraordinary and life giving, not only to the man, but to the whole church.”