The North American District of the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter has announced the priest assignments for 2017. The following priest changes will affect our parish later this summer.
Fr. Joseph Portzer will be leaving Mater Dei, and is transferring to the Colorado Springs apostolate.
Fr. Timothy O’Brien will be transferring to Mater Dei for his next assignment. Fr. O’Brien may be familiar to those who assisted at Holy Week masses in 2014 and 2015, as he was one of the seminarians assigned to assist the parish during those weeks. He is currently serving in the FSSP mission parish in Nigeria.
Father Timothy O’Brien was born to Steven and Lori O’Brien in Phoenix, Arizona, but moved to a small town in Northern Nevada when he was three. After one year of college, he enlisted in the Army. Father served his country for four years, three of which were spent in Fort Campbell, Kentucky and for one year he was deployed to the Middle East. After returning from overseas, Rev. Fr. O’Brien took a weekend trip to Columbus, Ohio, and attended a Solemn High Mass in Latin for the first time. After witnessing the beauty, order and majesty in that Mass, he began to discern a vocation to the Priesthood. After witnessing “the most beautiful thing this side of Heaven,” Father reoriented his life so that he might serve God as best he could. He began also to attend daily Mass when he was able and, when his enlistment was over, he returned to Nevada. Father was attending Mass three times per week and began looking into possible seminaries in which to test his vocation. This is when he first became acquainted with the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter. He visited their apostolate in Sacramento, and met the three Fraternity priests there. With their assistance, Father O’Brien joined the Fraternity’s Seminary in the Fall of 2008, and was ordained to the Holy Priesthood by His Excellency, Bishop James D. Conley at St. Thomas Aquinas Chapel in Lincoln, Nebraska, on May 30, 2015.
(Source: FSSP.com)
Fr. James Buckley will be transferring to Mater Dei for his next assignment as well. Fr. Buckley is also a friend of the parish, both as one of the first priests of our Latin Mass Community as well as being the guest speaker for our 2017 Lenten Mission.
Fr. James Buckley is a longtime Spiritual Director for Our Lady of Guadalupe Seminary, and has taught apologetics, Catholic and English literature, homiletics, and pedagogy as well; Father has also has extensive experience as a retreat master, and has been an expert teacher of the Catholic Faith over the past 50 years. As a young man, Father felt drawn to the priesthood at an early age, and joined a minor seminary of the Salvatorians at the age of 13. After high school he continued on with his studies with the Salvatorians, being Ordained in 1965. Most of his priesthood was spent teaching and in parish assignments both in the United States and in Africa. Father always had a preference for the Traditional Latin Mass, and at the invitation of Fr. Michael Irwin, FSSP, he joined the Priestly Fraternity of St. Peter in 1992. Fr. Buckley celebrated his Golden Jubilee on the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood in 2015.
(Source & image credit: FSSP.com)