‘I left confirmed in my call.’

July 1, 2021

By Father Tim S. Hickey, Diocese of Dodge City

July 1, 2021

Father Tim S. Hickey (Photo by April Harmon Photography)

“When the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest is come” (Mk 4:29).

The kernels of my vocation weren’t that different from many others: growing up in a family of faith, and nurtured by Catholic culture and schools, pastors who truly shepherded their flocks (including this occasionally wayward sheep), and the Knights of Columbus.

With degrees from Benedictine College and Marquette University, I came to work for the Supreme Council, eventually serving as editor of Columbia (1999-2008). During my time in New Haven, I came to know Father McGivney and prayed daily at his sarcophagus in St. Mary Church. The seeds finally ripened at Yankee Stadium, of all places, as I covered the Mass that Pope Benedict XVI celebrated there in 2008. I left confirmed in my call.

Now, I’m a pastor of three parishes in western Kansas, close to where I grew up. There might be more cattle than people where I serve, but the grains of faith continue to be planted in many fields and are ripening. “Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest” (Lk 10:2).

Father Tim S. Hickey
Marienthal (Kan.) Council 2930
Diocese of Dodge City

Father Christopher Murphy, Diocese of Providence.

‘I left confirmed in my call.’

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