The Virgin Mary has powerfully accompanied the life and priestly journey of Fr. Jordan Neeck, O. Praem.
By Jay Sorgi | For On Mission
May is the month of the Blessed Virgin Mary, perhaps more than any other month of the calendar year. It includes the May Crowning and a pair of feasts: Our Lady of Fatima on May 13 and the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary on May 31.
A planet of about 1.4 billion Catholics has experienced an incredible amount of unique ways that God has reached the human heart and soul through the journey, work, accompaniment and prayers of the Blessed Mother.
Fr. Jordan Neeck, O. Praem., a member of the Norbertine community of St. Norbert Abbey in De Pere, and a chaplain at Notre Dame de la Baie Academy in Green Bay, has his own story of encounter, which reflects how God can meet each individual heart through Mary.
“I didn’t really have a strong Marian devotion until becoming a priest. And in part, it was recognizing and sharing in Jesus’s priesthood, that a mother was always there or present for Jesus during his ministry,” Fr. Neeck said.
He used Fr. Don Calloway’s book, “Consecration to St. Joseph: The Wonders of Our Spiritual Father,” on the suggestion of a Norbertine brother, yet the lessons from it and numerous other spiritual books directed him even more to Christ through Mary.
“What I found in just getting more and more of this, if you want a relationship with Jesus, you need to be close to the people who were close to him,” Fr. Neeck said.
“If God chose her to help form his Son, she can help me form me in Christ’s image and share in his ministry. I just remember the intensity of prayer before the Blessed Sacrament, and then just really turning to Our Lady and St. Joseph as well. Looking at the Mediatrix between humanity and Christ, Our Lady helps to intercede and bring us to her Son.”
He also cited a book from Venerable Fulton Sheen, who invoked St. Gemma Galgani’s ministry of praying for a sinner whom she said Christ was refusing.
“St. Gemma said, ‘Then I’ll ask your mother.’ And Jesus said, ‘In that case, I cannot refuse.’ And so it ended up, the sinner ended up going to confession immediately thereafter,” Fr. Neeck said.
Those examples illuminate the incredible resourcefulness God has in revealing himself in countless unique ways through the Blessed Mother’s presence, options each of us can engage in individually in ways that speak to us.
“It is a beautiful thing to think about all the different ways that we can come to know, love and worship our Lord, and especially the devotions through our Blessed Mother that the church provides for us to deepen our relationship,” Fr. Neeck said.
He cited countless pathways, from the Rosary itself to the different pilgrimages to places where the Virgin Mary is believed to have appeared — from Knock, Ireland, to Kibeho, Rwanda, and, within the Diocese of Green Bay, at The National Shrine of Our Lady of Champion.
“I remember just going for walks every day, praying the Rosary, and just how soothing and comforting those prayers were, being able to memorize and then reflect upon the mysteries of it and recognizing that it’s really that devotion of love to Our Lady that she’ll bring those prayers on those beads to her Son,” Fr. Neeck said.
He also went on a pilgrimage to Medjugorje, Bosnia, and Herzegovina, which has not been officially recognized by the Vatican as an apparition site.
“I remember the first Mass at Medjugorje, the English-speaking overseer, Fr. Leon, gave the opening homily. It was like directly talking to my heart. He said, ‘I bet some of you here are skeptical.’ And I’m like, ‘Uh-huh,’” Fr. Neeck said.
“He’s like, ‘Let me tell you about a place in Champion, Wisconsin, in the Diocese of Green Bay.’ I’m halfway across the world and hearing about a local place. He said that wasn’t initially an approved site, but it was because of people’s faith, their devotion in coming there, that allowed the place to be approved (by Bishop David Ricken), allowing Mary to work in and through the people who would get to worship her Son.”
Fr. Neeck said that whether it’s the Rosary, spiritual reading, devotions to any number of manifestations of the Blessed Mother, or a pilgrimage, diving into Mary and her “yes” to God countless times helps us build an incredible level of trust in God that heals and opens doors.
“Rather than saying no to God and, ‘That doesn’t fit into what I have envisioned,’ they said yes. Their lives, as we know, were not easy at all. And yet, things went well. They were loved. They loved one another. They trusted in God’s providence. They weren’t wanting for anything,” Fr. Neeck said.
“We might have our plans, but to be able to surrender to God allows us to find true joy, to find true love. (In) saying yes, as Blessed Virgin Mary did, what we find is that when we lose control or let go of the reins and allow God to be God, that’s where we find true joy, true happiness — not necessarily an easy life, but a life that has purpose and meaning and is fulfilled.”