Fr. Jacob Hartman ordained to Priesthood
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The bells crescendoed as Bishop Ralph B. O’Donnell knelt down to receive Father Jacob Hartman’s first priestly blessing.
The new priest’s entire being radiated with joy.
“My face hurts from smiling so much!” he said on June 6 while giving his first priestly blessings to hundreds of friends and well-wishers.
Priests, deacons, seminarians and lay faithful from all over the diocese had gathered in the Cathedral of St. Joseph for Fr. Hartman’s priestly ordination.
It was Bishop O’Donnell’s first ordination since being installed as head of this diocese last October.
Fr. Hartman will serve as associate pastor of St. Peter Parish in Marshall and St. Joseph Parish in Slater and as the bishop’s assistant master of ceremonies, effective July 1.
Bishop O’Donnell, noting that “gratitude defines us as disciples,” thanked Fr. Hartman’s parents, the rest of his family, his priestly mentors at St. Andrew Parish in Holts Summit, his teachers at St. Peter School and Helias Catholic High School in Jefferson City, his seminary formators, and all who helped inspire, form and accompany him through his discernment, as well as Fr. Hartman himself for saying “yes” to God’s calling.
The bishop urged Fr. Hartman to lean fully into prayer and the Scriptures, and while ministering selflessly to the faithful and administering the Sacraments, to “make time to know and love Christ, so that you may be found more and more like him, together with your fellow workers in the vineyard.”
Fr. Hartman is a son of Patrick and Kristina Hartman of Holts Summit and a native of St. Andrew Parish.
He received his seminary formation at Conception Seminary College in northwestern Missouri, Holy Trinity Seminary at the University of Dallas, and Mundelein Seminary near Chicago, completing a Master’s in Divinity degree from Mundelein in December.
He spent time as a seminarian serving at Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Columbia, St. Peter Parish in Marshall and St. Joseph Parish in Slater.
Ordained a transitional deacon last spring, he has been assisting the pastor of Ss. Peter & Paul Parish in Boonville and St. Joseph Parish in Pilot Grove since the beginning of this year.
Faithful servant
The Scripture readings Fr. Hartman chose from the Book of Jeremiah and St. Paul’s Second Letter to Timothy spoke of God’s power to equip those he chooses for ministry.
The Gospel reading from Chapter 20 of the Book of Matthew tells of Jesus instructing his Apostles that whoever wishes to be great among them must be the servant of others.
“Just as he, the Son of Man, did not come to be served but to serve, so, too, anyone who would follow him must serve others, placing himself as the least,” said Bishop O’Donnell.
Jesus’s Apostles came to understand that following Christ as priests means “to serve, to turn one’s life over to the will of God, offering sacrifice not only [in the Mass] but also in our own gift of self-denial, imitating him who gave his life for our salvation.”
Drawing inspiration from a message from Pope Leo XIV to seminarians, Bishop O’Donnell urged Fr. Hartman to continue cultivating a personal relationship with Jesus “through prayer and listening to the Word.”
“So much of how we are able to bring Christ to others depends on how we have truly come to know him,” said Bishop O’Donnell.
He noted that by faithfully carrying out the duties of a priest, Fr. Hartman will allow Christ to continue forming him into his own likeness.
The bishop urged Fr. Hartman to carry out his priestly ministry “with constant joy and genuine love,” tending not to his old concerns, but to those of Christ and his people.
Chosen for ministry
Several dozen priests from this diocese and others concelebrated the Mass.
Joining them and the bishop in procession were permanent deacons of the diocese and members of the Equestrian Order of the Holy Sepulchre.
A full contingent of Fourth Degree Knights of Columbus served as the honor guard.
The soon-to-be-ordained priest took his place in the front pew next to his parents and family and waited to be summoned forward after the readings.
As part of the Ordination Rite, Fr. Hartman publicly promised to carry-out the duties of a priest as a minister of Scripture and the Sacraments, to pray without ceasing, to work obediently and respectfully with the bishop, and to imitate Jesus, who offered himself as servant and sacrifice.
While everyone else knelt in prayer, Fr. Hartman lay face-down on the floor before the altar, in a gesture of humility, obedience, total dependence on God and total self-giving.
The priests, congregation and choir chanted the Litany of Saints, imploring the holy men and women in heaven to pray for Fr. Hartman and the entire Church.
Fr. Hartman then knelt before the bishop, who silently laid hands upon his head in the biblical act of bestowing the gift of the Holy Spirit.
One by one, the other priests placed their hands on the new priest’s head, signifying their prayers for strength and grace.
Monsignor Gregory L. Higley, pastor of Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Lake Ozark, who was Fr. Hartman’s childhood pastor, ceremonially helped him put on his priestly vestments.
Bishop O’Donnell anointed Fr. Hartman’s hands with Sacred Chrism, symbolizing the power of the priest to sanctify, while saying:
“May the Lord Jesus Christ, whom the Father anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, guard and preserve you, that you may sanctify the Christian people and offer sacrifice to God.”
The bishop prayed the Prayer of Ordination over Fr. Hartman, asking God to help him “be a faithful steward of your mysteries, so that your people may be renewed in the waters of rebirth and nourished from your altar; so that sinners may be reconciled and the sick raised up.”
Jeff and Stefani Jones, Fr. Hartman’s godparents, presented the bread and wine for consecration.
Kneeling before the bishop, Fr. Hartman accepted the bread and wine as a symbol of his most important duty: celebrating the Eucharist.
Following a sign of peace from the bishop and the other priests, Fr. Hartman remained in the sanctuary as a concelebrant and spoke part of the Eucharistic Prayer.
Of the many
Among the concelebrating priests were Monsignor Robert A. Kurwicki, vicar general; Father Ric Halvorson M.Div. of Mundelein Seminary; Benedictine Father Victor Schinstock, president and rector of Conception Seminary College; Benedictine Father Pachomius Meade, vice rector of Conception Seminary College; Father Paul Clark, diocesan director of vocations and seminarians; Father Stephen Jones, rector of the Cathedral and pastor of the Cathedral parish; and the priestly deans of each deanery.
Assisting them were Deacons Brian Lutz and John Schwartze.
The current, largest group of seminarians of this diocese in many years served in various roles at the Mass.
The Diocesan Choir, conducted by Andrew Meagher Ph.D., director of music for the Cathedral Parish, and accompanied by organist Annette Kehner and a flute and brass ensemble, led the singing.
Bert Heil, Fr. Hartman’s grandfather, and Victoria Hartman, Fr. Hartman’s sister, proclaimed readings.
Fr. Hartman gave his first priestly blessing to Bishop O’Donnell after processing out of the Cathedral at the end of Mass.
Sacrifice of praise
The following afternoon, Fr. Hartman offered his Mass of Thanksgiving in St. Andrew Church in Holts Summit.
Joining him at the altar were fellow priests of the diocese, several of his seminary classmates, and representatives from the seminaries he attended.
It was the Solemnity of the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ.
Fr. Hartman preached on the significance of Jesus having chosen to become human in order to show everyone how to make a gift of themselves to God.
“Our Lord could have pardoned us from heaven without living among us and suffering for us and showing us to the Father,” Fr. Hartman noted.
Likewise, the Lord doesn’t need priests to fulfill his work on earth, but chooses them and allows them to participate in his work of salvation.
“Out of his goodness, he asks certain men to do that for him, as a gift to us,” the new priest stated.
At the end of Mass, Fr. Hartman presented to his mother the ornate linen maniturgium upon which he had wiped from his hands the fragrant Sacred Chrism with which Bishop O’Donnell anointed them during the Ordination Rite.
Fr. Hartman also presented to his father the stole the new priest had worn to hear his first Confession.
These items are traditionally kept by the parents for the rest of their lives and then buried with them in death.
Fr. Hartman also presented an altar crucifix as a gift to St. Andrew Parish.
While he was a child, fellow parishioners took small crosses home from church to remind them to pray for God to call people from the parish to the Priesthood and Religious Life.
“Although I didn’t know it when I was a kid, they were praying for me, and I’m very grateful for that,” he said.
