6 - The Courier, October 2013
VOCATIONS
Meet Our New Seminarians Ezra Lippert
My name is Ezra Lippert, and I am in my first formation year as a seminarian for the Diocese of Winona. I was born in Mankato, Minnesota, in 1994, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception, and I grew up thirty miles south of there on a little hobby farm, just north of the town of Easton; there I attended the parish of Our Lady of Mount Carmel for the majority of my life. The Lord has blessed me with a large and supportive family. I was the sixth of ten children to be born to my parents, Tim and Dixie Lippert, and I count myself extremely fortunate to have older siblings who have been examples of active faithfulness to their respected vocations. My oldest sister, Greta, is married and has recently given birth to her first son, my oldest brother, Jonah, studied in Winona as a seminarian for over three years and has recently finished his masters degree in Evangelization and Catechesis at the Augustine Institute in Denver, Colorado. His twin sister, Sister Amata Christi O.P., recently professed perpetual vows with the Nashville Dominican’s of St. Cecilia, and my third oldest sister, Sarah, is working on her master’s degree in Catholic Studies at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. As for the rest of my siblings, I excitedly await God’s plan for their future. My parents have always impressed upon us the importance of faith, making it central to our family life by surrounding us with the sacraments and by giving us opportunities to further our knowledge of church teachings through classes and retreats. Family relationships are crucial to the upbringing of every child, and, although it was ultimately my decision to discern the priesthood, it would be a lie for me to say that my family didn’t play an essential role in my upbringing in the Catholic Church, my development of faith, and my love of Christ. The first time I remember thinking about the priestly vocation, and, in fact, the first time that I realized that each person has a specific “calling” from God, was on my first, (of what would become many) Quo Vadis Days diocesan retreat, when I was only ten or eleven years old. I still remember coming away from those yearly vocation-retreats at the seminary with a love for the priesthood (or at least what I perceived to be the priesthood) and a desire to do God’s will. I was told by one of the priests that if I kept up that attitude, that if I kept saying, “Not my will but yours be done,” that God would make clear where I was to go. I guess that’s what you could say has been happening over the last seven years. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have had my share of second guessing and wondering if I really was supposed to be a priest, and by no means have I always followed God’s will perfectly, but I have always tried to remain open to God’s plan for my life. My pastor of two years, Fr. Niehaus, has been a wonderful aid to my understanding of what the priesthood is. His fatherly example of sacrificial love and service has greatly transformed my idea of “the priest” from my childhood ideology, to the reality of the priest’s mission to save souls by being another (mini) Christ for the world. Now that I am at I.H.M., I can look back and see how God has been working on me, how He has been calling me, even from a young age, and how He has sowed many seeds in my heart, meticulously watering and caring for them through the years. I am looking forward to the following years of formation at the seminary—the structure, discipline, and support that the seminary brings—and the chance to grow evermore in holiness and my relationship with God. My thanks to all of you for your loving prayers and generosity. Please continue to pray for our priests, religious vocations, and for those of us in priestly formation. In Christ, Ezra Lippert
William Lehn
The Office of Vocations Rev. Will Thompson Director
My name is William Lehn and I wthompson@ dow.org am one of the new seminarians for the Diocese of Winona. I am very happy to be at IHM Seminary; I have been looking forward to this moment for a long time. And when I say a long time, I mean since I was six years old, which is 12 years ago. I was born near St. Cloud MN and spent the first 13 years of my life there before moving down to Hokah MN. I now have three siblings, one older brother, one younger brother and one little sister. My parents have always held the priesthood up to me and my brothers as an honorable and noble choice. They have always been very supportive of me in my choice to enter the seminary. I was also blessed to have many young, energetic priests in my life from a young age. The priest that was the most involved in getting me involved and interested in the priesthood is Fr. Gregory Mastey, the former Vocations director of the St. Cloud diocese. Both Fr. Greg and other priests that I came into contact with really encouraged me to think about the seminary. These priests also got me involved in going to vocation camps and other church activities such as the youth group and serving mass. After moving down into the Diocese of Winona I got involved in going to the Seminary’s Quo Vadis retreats as well as the Information Weekend gatherings. These as well as the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe really kept my prayer life going through my teen years even though life for me was very stressful at points. As previously mentioned, the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe was very influential. I began to serve mass there, both Latin and English, and I also got a job there working as a Help Desk attendant and cart driver, and this past summer I worked for them in the maintenance department. I really enjoyed spending time at the Shrine, whether it was to serve and attend mass, or for work. I was around many great people who really supported me in my decision to enter the seminary. And as I worked I also learned a lot from my coworkers who were all very well versed in Catholic doctrine, so I had many good, wholesome conversations even while I was working. While I was at the Shrine I also came into contact with one of the greatest men that I now know: Cardinal Raymond Leo Burke. I loved being able to talk with him while he was at the Shrine, even though it was never for a very long time. I look up to his intelligence, calmness and respect for the Church as something to strive for. What finally drove the decision home was when I sustained a bad head injury in September 2012. I was playing flag football at St. Mary’s and I got hit by an elbow in the face that crushed the lower orbit of my left eye and impacted the bone in my temple into my face three centimeters in. It was by the Grace of God that I do not have serious repercussions from this injury. This hit could have ended my life, but God did not will it to be. Not only did I keep my left eye, God allowed me to keep my 20-20 vision. The realization of this really cemented the desire to go into the seminary for me. Not all of us have this dramatic of a wakeup call, but many of us do not need that dramatic of an incident. You do not need to be perfect to be perfect to enter the seminary; you just need a desire to find God’s will for you. I am not sure of what my vocation is, and that is why I am at the seminary. God wants what will make you the happiest that you can be in life. And when you join the seminary, you are really trying to find out where God meant you to be in life. It is a win-win choice, if you find that you are going to be happiest as a priest, then you win, if you decide to leave and get married and that is where you will be happiest, then you win. There is comfort in knowing where you are supposed to be in life. And that is what I am questing for; I am searching for what will make me the happiest in life. And that is what God made me for.
Sr. Amata Christi Lippert, O.P. Makes Final Profession
August 29, 2013 (Nashville, TN) –Eleven young women made their perpetual profession of the simple vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience as Dominican Sisters of Saint Cecilia Congregation in Nashville, Tennessee on July 22, 2013. Among those making final profession was Sister Amata Christi Lippert, O.P., a former member of Our Lady of Mount Carmel, in Easton, Minnesota and the Diocese of Winona. Sister Amata Christi is the daughter of Timothy and Dixie Lippert, also parishioners at Our Lady of Mount Carmel. She attended Maple River High School in Mapleton, Minnesota. She received Bachelor of Science degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Aquinas College in Nashville, Tennessee. She is currently teaching at Saint Thomas Aquinas Regional School in Woodbridge, Virginia. The Mass for the Rite of Perpetual Religious Profession was celebrated at the Cathedral of the Incarnation in Nashville, Tennessee. The Most Reverend David R. Choby, Bishop of Nashville, was the principal celebrant, with the Most Reverend Bernard J. Harrington, Bishop Emeritus of Winona, Minnesota concelebrating. The homilist was Reverend Gabriel Gillen, O.P., Vicar Provincial for Advancement and Director of the Dominican Foundation. Also assisting at the Mass were Reverend Monsignor Thomas Cook and Reverend Thomas Niehaus Sr. Amata Christi Lippert, O.P. of the Diocese of Winona; Reverend David Whiteside of the Diocese of Peoria, Illinois; and Reverend David Meng of the Diocese of Arlington, Virginia. In addition to the sisters making final profession of vows, twelve young women professed their first vows in the Congregation of St. Cecilia on July 25, 2013. The Congregation of Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia was established in Nashville in 1860. The Sisters of St. Cecilia are dedicated to the apostolate of Catholic education. The community of 280 sisters serves in 33 schools throughout the United States, with mission houses also in Sydney, Australia; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Aberdeen, Scotland. The community has recently opened a house of studies in Washington, DC, for its members who serve or study in the capital city. St. Cecilia Motherhouse is located in Nashville, Tennessee. For more information on the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia Congregation, please visit their website at www.nashvilledominican.org.