Rest in peace, Father James Betzen, 72, who ministered in Sedalia for 11 years

He was incredible, an incredible pastor. He will be forever in our hearts.”

Deacon Nestor Montenegro

Precious Blood Father James Betzen was well aware of the need to “become like little children” in order to enter the Kingdom of God.

He not only preached it, he lived it.

“When he was talking to the kids, he WAS a little kid,” said Deacon Nestor Montenegro, who assists the pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish in Sedalia.

Fr. Betzen, 72, a priest of the Missionaries of the Precious Blood who ministered in Sedalia from 2004-14, died peacefully on Oct. 30, 2025, at Our Lady of Mercy Country Home in Liberty, Missouri.

He had been a priest for 44 years.

The Mass of Christian Burial was celebrated on Nov. 5 in St. James Church in Liberty, with Precious Blood Father Timothy Coday presiding and Precious Blood Father Joseph Nassal preaching the homily. Both were friends of Fr. Betzen from their days in the seminary.

About 20 people from Sedalia, mostly members of St. Vincent de Paul Parish’s Hispanic community, traveled to Liberty for the Mass.

“He was incredible, an incredible pastor. He will be forever in our hearts,” said Deacon Montenegro, who spoke with Fr. Betzen by phone the day before he died.

“He told me, ‘You know what, Nestor? I’m very close to standing before God. So just pray for me, please,’” Deacon Montenegro recalled. “He passed away the next morning. I can still hear his voice. That’s going to be in my memory forever.”

An adept pastor for people of all ages and backgrounds, Fr. Betzen found his greatest fulfillment in ministering to people in Hispanic communities, including the one in and around Sedalia.

“He loved to be with people,” Deacon Montenegro recalled. “He was always smiling. He almost never missed a party. If he had two or three in the same weekend, he’d attend them all, jumping from one to the other.”

Joy of the Gospel

Online condolences came quickly after Fr. Betzen’s passing.

“Fr. Jim was a great human being,” stated Nela Suarez.

“He was a kind and faithful priest,” stated Libby Frates.

“I was very blessed to know this great priest, a great human being,” stated Chayo Gomez Arreola.

“Whenever you needed him, he was there to listen,” stated Olga Uvario. “He always gave me wonderful advice.”

“Padre James, we will always remember you with that smile,” said Bertha Rodriguez.

Fr. Betzen ardently believed that those who died with Christ will rise with him.

“Fr. Jim believed passionately that he was a beloved child of God who was redeemed by the Blood of Christ, and yes, indeed, he would rise again,” Fr. Nassal said in his homily.

He called to mind Fr. Betzen’s gentle, prayerful, pastoral approach, “emphasizing hospitality, embracing people from various cultures, especially immigrants.”

He understood that for people who are new to this country, the Church is not only a place of worship but also “a safe place, a social place.”

“He loved celebrating faith with the people, attending family celebrations, Baptisms, First Communions, Confirmations, weddings, funerals, Our Lady of Guadalupe Novenas, Las Posadas and Masses,” said Fr. Nassal.

Sacred mysteries

Fr. Betzen was born on Sept. 24, 1953, in Wichita, Kansas, one of 12 children of Nicholas and Esther (Seidl) Betzen.

“I grew up Catholic on a farm,” he once recalled. “I grew up with many experiences of life and death, the power and beauty of nature, and with mystery.”

The steeple of St. Mark Church in the town of St. Marks cast a long shadow on the neighboring Betzen farm.

“I remember the sunrise over the church during the winter months and hearing the church bells, which tolled the hour of the day,” he said at the time of his 25th priestly anniversary in 2006. “From my early years, I had fond memories of the church and priests.

“My Catholic teachers and my family taught me to approach mystery with faith and ritual — the Sacraments,” he once wrote. “Both the Church and my childhood experiences of the farm have taught me to approach life — the good and bad — with faith. Faith helps me to understand life and God. Faith helps me to believe in an all-knowing and all-powerful God for whom there is no mystery.”

By his sophomore year in high school, Fr. Betzen was convinced that God was calling him to Priesthood.

He entered formation with the Missionaries of the Precious Blood on Sept. 1, 1969, at Precious Blood Seminary high school in Liberty, Missouri.

“Even in the seminary, we noticed Jim’s prayerfulness,” Fr. Nassal recalled.

Fr. Betzen then attended Rockhurst University in Kansas City, completing a bachelor’s degree.

He spent a year of Special Formation at St. Mary Parish in Garden City, Kansas. The many Spanish-speaking parishioners there sparked his desire to become fluent in Spanish and work with immigrants.

“My life has been enriched by the good culture I was raised in in Kansas by my family,” Fr. Betzen told Fr. Nassal. “But the Hispanic culture has enriched my life in so many ways.”

He continued his studies and priestly formation at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. He graduated in the Spring of 1981 with a master’s degree in divinity with specialization in ministry, after completing two internships in Hispanic parishes in Chicago and a deacon internship in a west Texas parish.

He was Definitively Incorporated as a Missionary of the Precious Blood on Oct. 21, 1979, the Feast of St. Gaspar del Buffalo, founder of the society.

Fr. Betzen’s father died shortly before his son’s ordination. Fr. Betzen’s siblings made one bittersweet trip to St. Marks, Kansas, for Mr. Betzen’s funeral and Fr. Betzen’s Ordination.

On June 26, 1981, in St. Mark Church, Bishop Eugene J. Gerber, now deceased, of Wichita ordained Fr. Betzen to the Holy Priesthood.

The new priest celebrated his Mass of Thanksgiving the following morning in his home church.

“Pure joy”

Fr. Betzen’s first assignment was to St. Anthony Parish in Linton, North Dakota, where he also was chaplain and taught at Emmons Catholic High School from 1981-83.

 He studied Spanish in Mexico City in 1983-84 and worked as a parish priest there, giving him insights into the culture and the Church in Mexico.

He then ministered for three years at St. Mary Parish in San Angelo, Texas.

His next assignment included a parish and two missions, spread across an entire Texas county.

One of the missions included a privately-owned center that held federal male detainees, mostly Mexican citizens. He celebrated Mass each Sunday evening at the center.

“My time spent with these men was a good experience of prison ministry and a greater insight into the plight of Mexican men,” he recalled in 2006.

Beginning in 1993, Fr. Betzen ministered for 11 years in a newly-combined parish in Kansas City, with a growing Hispanic population spanning several generations.

He helped draw separate communities closer together, endearing himself to parishioners who stayed in touch with him long after he moved on to his next assignment.

Kathy Hernandez, one of those parishioners, called to mind his calmness and kindness to all who came to the rectory door.

She said he understood Catholic Hispanic culture and how to minister to the whole family.

She recalled the “pure joy” Fr. Betzen radiated after baptizing the Elect at the Easter Vigil.

Toward greater unity

In 2005, Fr. Betzen became pastor of the former Sacred Heart Parish in Sedalia and the former Mission of St. John the Evangelist in Bahner.

A few years later, he also became pastor of the former St. Patrick Parish in Sedalia, making him the first priest to lead all the Catholic communities in the Sedalia area.

All three were later combined to become St. Vincent de Paul Parish in 2019.

As pastor, Fr. Betzen led parishioners to take up a capital campaign to finish renovating what is now Sacred Heart Chapel and to finish furnishing an addition to Sacred Heart School.

The parish also began Adoration of the Most Blessed Sacrament throughout the week.

“It’s done a lot to bring the Anglo and Hispanic cultures together, because they pray together at Adoration,” he said in 2014.

His time as pastor coincided with a steady increase in the number of Hispanic parishioners in and near Sedalia. He began offering a Mass in Spanish every Sunday. That Mass eventually became the highest-attended Mass in Sedalia.

He served as pastor until 2011, when he was appointed director of Hispanic Ministry and senior associate of the Pettis County parishes.

He appreciated collaborating with Sister Eileen Scheiber, a Sister of the Most Precious Blood of O’Fallon, who worked in Hispanic Ministry in Sedalia for 11 years.

He often preached about the lifelong need to grow in faith and spirituality, and how ministering to one another is the best way to draw closer to Christ.

He made laughter and joy into tools for evangelization.

“His humor was great, and he was always smiling,” said Deacon Montenegro.

Poor in spirit

In 2014, Fr. Betzen was named pastor of St. Mary of the Visitation Parish in Ottumwa, Iowa, where he served until retiring in 2023.

In all his parishes, he emphasized hospitality, welcoming and embracing peoples of different cultures.

He was known for his gentle, pastoral and prayerful approach.

“He had a great sense of poverty,” recalled Precious Blood Father Aloysius Ebach. “He was willing to take on an impoverished parish, giving people a sense of comfort and hope. To the people, he seemed like a gentle giant of a teddy bear, smiling through all kinds of adversities while building trust and hope.”

In retirement at Schaefer Mission House on the grounds of the Precious Blood Renewal Center in Liberty, Fr. Betzen continued offering help to parishes in the Kansas City area, especially ministry with Hispanics. He was often called to hear Confessions in Spanish.

“Greatest life”

“The best we can do is pray for him and remember all the good things that he did for us, as our priest,” said Deacon Montenegro.

Burial was in Resurrection Cemetery in Kansas City.

Fr. Betzen once wrote: “As Christians, our lives are fashioned after the life of Christ. Where he has gone, we hope to follow. We believe that in Baptism, we receive the life of Christ through the Holy Spirit and become children of God.

“As Christians, we continually die to sin and to ourselves in order to experience greater life,” he continued. “Our final death is our opportunity to give ourselves totally to God and receive the greatest life: eternal life.”

Portions of this article are from the obituary provided by the Missionaries of the Precious Blood.