Priestly ordination for Deacon Nathan Budde will be May 30
By Suzanne Weiss | For On Mission
If you encountered Deacon Nathan Budde during his boyhood and told him that one day he would be delivering homilies to pews filled with congregants, he wouldn’t believe you.
“I’ve always been a very shy person,” he said. “I was always deathly afraid of talking in front of people. I didn’t have a lot of confidence.”
It took him nearly five years of prayer, practice, and encouragement to overcome this fear, said Deacon Budde, who will be ordained a priest on May 30 at St. Francis Xavier Cathedral in Green Bay.
This year Deacon Budde is completing his priestly formation at St. Francis de Sales Seminary and his theological studies at Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology in Milwaukee.
The son of John and Jennifer Budde, Deacon Budde was born in Green Bay and raised in De Pere with four siblings. His home parish is St. Mary Parish in Ledgeview.
“I grew up in a pretty devout household where we prayed several times a day,” he said. “We always went to Sunday Mass. Being Catholic is a very integral part of our family life.”
As a small boy, he thought he might like to become a priest because he enjoyed studying the Bible and observing the priest during Mass, he said.
When he was an elementary school student at Notre Dame of De Pere Catholic School, he couldn’t decide what he wanted to be when he grew up — a garbage truck driver, a construction worker or a priest.
“It was always in the mix,” he said with a laugh.
Factors that nudged him toward his vocation included altar serving and participating in Conquest, a Catholic youth ministry program for boys, where he studied the Catholic virtues and the lives of the saints.
Fr. Daniel Schuster, his confirmation sponsor who currently serves as pastor at St. Mary Parish in Luxemburg and Holy Trinity Parish in Casco, was influential in Deacon Budde’s decision to become a priest.
“I saw him as a role model,” Deacon Budde said. “He walked with me spiritually. He’s been a great source of encouragement to me. He was and is a very influential priest in my life.”
In 2017, Deacon Budde attended a youth group retreat at Camp Tekakwitha in Shawano, where Fr. Schuster led Eucharistic adoration.
“I did have a pretty clear encounter with Christ in adoration that was pivotal to this wrestling in my heart,” he said. “The Lord was speaking directly to my heart.”
The following year, he took part in a pilgrimage to California, led by Fr. Schuster. The group followed the footsteps of St. Junípero Serra, the patron saint of vocations, and visited 18 missions in six days, Deacon Budde said.
While the public speaking portion of his high school English class wasn’t a favorite, his experiences in high school at Notre Dame Academy deepened his faith. At the same time, he was pulled in different directions.
“For a few years, there was this back and forth about accepting the call from God,” he said. “I was still running away from the call even though it was very clear. In high school, I wanted to be a fisheries biologist. I didn’t stop practicing my faith. I was still wrestling with what the Lord wanted me to do and what I wanted to do with my life.”
For a year, he attended St. Norbert College (SNC) in De Pere, where he studied subjects including biology and theology.
He avoided getting involved with Catholic groups at SNC. Then, a friend who had a time conflict with a swim meet asked Deacon Budde to take his place at Eucharistic adoration.
From then on, he started attending adoration every week.
“I read, prayed, sat in silence, told Jesus what I was feeling,” he said. “He worked on my heart … (I decided) okay, I want to give this seminary thing a shot.
Before attending seminary in the Milwaukee area, he spent three years at Immaculate Heart of Mary College Seminary on the campus of St. Mary’s University of Minnesota in Winona and graduated in 2022 with a bachelor of arts degree in philosophy.
The seminary priests encouraged him and told him he had a lot to offer, he said. “Without even realizing it until I looked back, I became more comfortable each year speaking in front of people.”
His latest assignment has been a diaconal ministry at St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Newton. He looks forward to his next appointment.
“I’ll be able to bring God’s mercy and his grace into people’s lives and help them to encounter Christ in the ways that priests have helped me encounter him,” Deacon Budde said.
“We’re very excited for him,” said his mother, Jennifer. “He has a love for the Lord … a peace about himself and this genuine interest to listen to what a person has to say. People seem to be very comfortable talking with him. That’s going to help him minister to people.”