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One man to be ordained a priest for the diocese of belleville may 10

Story and photo by LIZ QUIRIN
Messenger editor

Deacon Nicholas Junker, 26, has been “growing” into this decision his entire life, and May 10, he will take a step that is both an ending and a beginning for him. He will be ordained a priest for the Diocese of Belleville.

As a child, he and his parents said, he played all the usual games children do, but he also pretended to preside at Mass. He was 9 then. In sixth grade he spoke with Father Gene Wojcik, now pastor at St. Mary Parish in Chester.

A kaleidoscope of other people and experiences influenced his decision to go to the seminary.
Growing up, he attended Mass at St. Peter Cathedral, his home parish, with his grandmother, Mary Ellen Junker. They sat up front, his father, Greg Junker, said.

“She always said she wanted a priest in the family,” Deacon Junker said of his grandmother.
His grandmother died in 1998 and will be with the family in spirit as will all of his grandparents who are now deceased.
On her deathbed, the deacon’s grandmother, Mary Ellen Junker said there would be a priest in the family, Greg and his wife, Renee, said. Deacon Junker will celebrate a memorial Mass for his grandmother on the 10th anniversary of her death in July.

When he was confirmed, then Bishop Wilton Gregory asked if any of the young men had thought about priesthood. Deacon Junker had. It was just a little nudge, but one that, when looking back, fits nicely into the tapestry of life being woven with and for Deacon Junker.

When he was in high school at Althoff, he joined one of the many clubs — Life Savers was the name of this one.
A kind of teenagers’ DARE program, high school students visited Catholic grade schools and talked about rejecting drugs and alcohol.

A Belleville police officer picked up students and shuttled them to the schools. Deacon Junker remembers Officer John Brough as someone special to him. He shared his thoughts about priesthood with Officer Brough. “He was excited and encouraged me. We had great conversations”
Officer Brough, blinded in the line of duty in November 2006, received a special letter of invitation to the ordination from Deacon Junker.

Priests who influenced Deacon Junker as a child include the late Msgr. James McCormick, a larger-than-life pastor at the cathedral who embraced the people with warmth and love.
In high school, Fathers David Darin and now Dominican priest, Father John Iffert made an impact on him. Father Iffert especially seemed so happy to be a priest.
“The biggest influence was Msgr. Jim Buerster,” cathedral’s previous pastor.
“He was a terrific example for me. He taught me about a priest being present to the people. You would see him at the hospital, the store, or in the parking lot picking up trash.”
Deacon Junker kept these special people in his heart and went to De Paul University in Chicago where he earned a degree in finance, but the summer between his junior and senior years in college, he made a life-changing decision.
“I didn’t see myself as a number cruncher all my life,” he said.
When his parents went to the university to see him in August, they went to Chicago’s Navy Pier and walked through a display of stained glass, Renee Junker said.
“I stopped and thought ‘I wonder if he’s thinking about the priesthood,’” his mother said.
As it turns out, he finished his degree and began his studies for the priesthood at St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein, Ill.
The seminary, too, has given him a window on the world with seminarians from at least “a dozen different countries” as his peers.
His experiences in ministry in the diocese thus far — at St. Dominic’s in Breese and St. Bruno’s in Pinckneyville — have been “most enriching,” he said. “The people affirmed my faith.”
As the ordination draws near, the deacon and his family are eagerly anticipating the day.
“He’s going to be an incredible priest,” his mother said. What mother wouldn’t?
“He’ll be a foot-washer,” Greg Junker said, “more concerned about serving people.”
Greg Junker, and Deacon Junker’s sister, Ashley, 20, will play a role in his ordination. Both musicians, the father-daughter duo will play a reflective piece during the liturgy.
The excitement is building with the crescendo scheduled for May 10. Many family members will attend, and everyone in the diocese is invited to the ordination.
The Junkers — Greg, Renee and the deacon — believe this is the right fit; this is where God is leading him to go.
As this new chapter in his life begins, he looks forward to see where God wants him to be.