His transitional diaconate will be on May 18
By Jeff Kurowski | For On Mission
The path to a priestly vocation for Nathan Budde traces back to his early childhood.
“I remember first sensing the call to the priesthood as a little kid even before I entered kindergarten,” he said. “This was encouraged by my family’s commitment to daily prayer and the relationship I had with my pastor, Father (Jack) Harper, as well as with the associate pastors who had been at St. Mary (Parish, Ledgeview) as I grew up.”
Budde, who grew up in De Pere, the second eldest child of John and Jennifer Budde, will be ordained a deacon by Bishop David Ricken at 3 p.m. Sunday, May 18, at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Green Bay. He is scheduled to be ordained a priest for the Diocese of Green Bay in the summer of 2026.
For the past three years, Budde has been in formation at St. Francis de Sales Seminary in St. Francis, Wis., near Milwaukee, with intellectual formation at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology in Milwaukee, pursuing a Master of Divinity degree.
Following graduation in 2018 from Notre Dame Academy in Green Bay, he attended St. Norbert College in De Pere for a year before attending Immaculate Heart of Mary College Seminary on the campus of St. Mary’s University of Minnesota (Winona) for three years.
Budde said that his years as a student at Notre Dame of De Pere Elementary School and Notre Dame of De Pere Middle School were important in fostering his vocation.
“As I moved later into elementary school, I began to altar serve and much of my prayer at Mass was focused on the actions of the priest and the desire to offer Mass myself one day,” he said.
A pivotal moment in his vocational discernment happened during the fall of his senior year of high school when he attended a weekend retreat at Camp Tekakwitha in Shawano with his parish’s youth group.
“During a period of adoration, I encountered Jesus and his love for me personally and he made clear to me during that time of prayer that he was calling me to be a priest,” he said.
He said he looks forward to preaching as a deacon to draw others into a “deeper relationship with Jesus.”
“As I have grown in formation, I have found a lot of zeal in proclaiming the word at Mass as a lector as well as in offering practice homilies in our preaching classes in the seminary,” he said.
Budde said he is grateful for the support of his parents and for all the prayers from the people of the diocese.
“Please continue to pray for me as I serve you as a deacon and prepare for ministry as a priest,” he said.