Ordinations

the ordination of father luke turner

The Completion

of a journey

by J.D. Benning

How long are you willing to follow your dreams? How long does it take for a prayer to be answered? For Father Luke Turner, his childhood dream of being a priest came true much later than his sixth-grade-self ever would have expected. His mother, Thorene Turner, never stopped praying, and her prayers have finally been answered – on June 29, the Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul, she watched her son be ordained to the priesthood at St. Benedict’s Abbey. “This day has been a long time coming,” Thorene said as she addressed the crowd following the ordination, “a day that I have never stopped praying for. I’m so proud of my son and know that he is going to be a great priest!”

“As a kid, we always had the Catholic Digest, so I started writing to the religious orders that were listed in the back, just to gather information as a kid would do,” Fr. Luke shared on a recent episode of MonkCast, St. Benedict’s Abbey’s podcast. “I had this wild dream to be a missionary in Africa.”

While those dreams may be slightly different than those of your run-of-the-mill twelve-year-old, for a young Jeff Turner, he had made up his mind early. “I enrolled in Savior of the World Seminary with the intention of becoming a priest, but I wasn’t quite sure where I would land. My mom used to put me on a bus to visit [St. Benedict’s] Abbey, and I was always greeted by Fr. Regis and took part in monastic prayer,” Fr. Luke recalls. “My interest grew and after graduation, I came to Benedictine College as an ‘Abbey student’ taking courses, living in the dorms, and praying with the monks. I entered the novitiate in 1981 but felt like I

Msgr. Michael Mullen (top left) has been a mentor and example to Fr. Luke for most of his life, serving as his high school seminary principal and life-long friend.

needed to experience the world, so I left for what I thought would be a couple of years, but the time was never quite right to return to the Abbey.”

For the next 30 years, Jeff pursued a career in business starting out with Hallmark Cards in Kansas City. He climbed the corporate ladder with a few companies, eventually serving as a Senior Vice President for MasterCard – in his international role he traveled the world working in the payments industry. Working hard, he didn’t always have much of a prayer life. “What prayer life?” Fr. Luke joked. “I was always working, and I didn’t always make time for prayer. As soon as you achieve a bit of success in your career your attention turns to the next thing: the next salary, the next title, the next goal.”

When he was stationed in Dallas, Texas, he felt called to give back. Working in Latin America, he had become fluent in Spanish; through his parish, Fr. Luke sought to help immigrants in need in the area. “Our Pastor had a policy that all the volunteers had to do a weekly Holy Hour. I agreed, but it was in those Holy Hours that God was calling me back to the Abbey and ultimately, the priesthood.”

Thorene and Fr. Luke visited the Abbey in 2008 for the first time since he had left, “I saw a spark in him,” Thorene recalls, “there was something in him that felt at home at the Abbey.”

In 2011, Fr. Luke left his wealth and career behind to become a monk. After completing seminary studies at St. Meinrad Seminary in Indiana, Fr. Luke was ordained to the priesthood by his longtime friend, Bishop Kevin Vann of the Diocese of Orange, Calif. To begin his priestly ministry, Abbot James Albers has assigned Fr. Luke to serve as the Director of College Ministry at Benedictine College. “I am overjoyed at being ordained and am excited to serve the students of Benedictine College!”

Fr. Luke was ordained by his longtime friend Bishop Kevin Vann, Bishop of Orange, California. They first met when Bishop Vann served in Fort Worth, Texas.

“I spent three of the most formative years of my life living with the monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey. The day I arrived in Atchison in 2011, I met the new postulant Jeff Turner. I had no idea how good of a friend he would become or how important that friendship would be. Over the last eight years, Father Luke and I have shared countless laughs, innumerable meaningful conversations about life, and more than a few good meals! I’ve been blessed to live in several monasteries in different parts of the world over my decade of monastic life, and I can honestly say that few friendships have enriched and sustained my vocation as a monk and a priest as much as Father Luke’s. Besides his obvious capabilities, Luke is a man whose heart I’ve seen overflow with love and concern for others, and that is perhaps one of the greatest reasons I know he will be an excellent priest and one of the greatest reasons I consider him an example for me to follow.” - Fr. Bernard Denson, OSB - a monk of St. Bernard’s Abbey - Cullman, Alabama

Prior to his ordination Fr. Luke recorded an episode of MonkCast - check it out now at Kansasmonks.org/Lukecast

Be sure to subscribe to MonkCast on iTunes!

the ordination of father thiago ferreira silva

Carrying On

the legacy

Almost 60 years ago St. John XXIII had a vision – to share the riches of North America with the people of South America. He wasn’t talking about gold or silver, but the riches of the priesthood. He recognized an opportunity to carry out Christ’s great commission to go forth and make disciples of all nations. Responding to this call, three monks from St. Benedict’s Abbey journeyed to Brazil to establish St. Joseph Priory. Today, for the first time in its 56 year history, the whole of the monastic community is comprised of Brazilian monks. And on July 6, 2019, the nation of Brazil was made one priest richer with the ordination of our brother, Fr. Thiago Ferreira Silva, to the priesthood.

Fr. Thiago wasn’t always drawn to the religious life. At 26 he realized that, while his life was good, it was frenetic, “The frantic pace of my academic and professional responsibilities made me seriously reflect on the true meaning of life – what was guiding my life? I realized I was running away from my values and my choices were pulling me away from God. Before I knew it God was guiding me to the monastic life!”

Fr. Thiago entered the novitiate in 2014 and went on to profess vows and begin seminary studies. During his seminary studies he, with co-author Deivid Rodrigo Tavares, SSP, published a Lenten book, 40 Days with Jesus. (Written and available in Portuguese).

Simple vows were a time of learning and prayer for Fr. Thiago, “the young monk should never tire of seeking God,” Fr. Thiago said. “I could see changes in myself as soon as I entered the monastery. I really wanted to focus on listening, both to my brother monks and to the Lord. The act of listening makes us less intemperate, impatient and anxious.”

Fr. Thiago offers the Eucharist to his father during Holy Communion at his ordination at St. Joseph church in Mineiros.

by Br. Leven Harton

When Abbot James asked me to accompany him to Brazil, I was excited to finally witness first hand the culmination (and continuation) of 50 years of prayer and work by the monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey and St. Joseph Priory. It was wonderful to be in Brazil and be with the people, but especially to be with my brothers. This was my first trip to Brazil to be with the monastic community – it was a truly illuminating experience to be with them in their home – to see their strengths and gifts and to see how they share those things with the people. And to see how the people reciprocate, they have an evident love for these Benedictine monks and are proud to be led in their faith lives by these men. For someone who doesn’t speak the language it’s even more evident.

We visited Fr. Thiago’s hometown of Nova Veneza, it was incredible to see how the whole town was united in celebrating Fr. Thiago’s ordination, watching the community come together to thank and celebrate Fr. Thiago for pursuing the priesthood.

It was a blessing to enter more deeply into the life of my Brazilian brothers – something that one cannot truly appreciate without visiting them.

Join me in offering prayers of gratitude for Fr. Thiago’s vocation and for the gift of his life to the people of Brazil!

Why does St. Benedict’s Abbey have a priory in Brazil? To celebrate the work of the monks of St. Joseph Priory we produced a video, Kansas Monks in Brazil. Watch it now at kansasmonks.org/brazil