Herald Journal,
June 16, 2003
HT grad Jermey Kucera ordained as deacon
By Julie Yurek
June 8 marked a milestone in Jeremy Kucera's journey to priesthood.
He was ordained a deacon at Holy Family Catholic Church in Silver Lake.
Kucera is the son of Gerald and Luann Kucera of Silver Lake, and a 1995 graduate of Holy Trinity High School in Winsted.
After high school, Kucera graduated from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul.
He has been attending St. Paul Seminary School of Theology on the St. Thomas campus for three years.
This past year he spent his pastoral year working in parishes, including San Lucas Toliman in Guatemala and St. Catherine's Catholic Church in Redwood Falls.
He enjoyed his experience in Guatemala so much that he is going back to visit in August for 10 days, he said. "I loved it."
His future plans include working this summer at St. Philip's in Litchfield. His duties will include preaching, assisting at Mass, and visiting the sick, he said.
After his stay at St. Philip's, Kucera will return to the St. Paul Seminary for one more year, with plans to be ordained a priest in June 2004.
Kucera first began to think about the seminary when he was a junior at Holy Trinity, he said.
He has great memories of the school, he said.
"I loved going to Holy Trinity and everyone there Fr. Bob, the teachers, and my classmates," he said. "I feel blessed to have gone there and I miss it."
It was when he was a senior in college and studying in Rome that he really knew he wanted to become a priest.
He met the Pope on a few occasions while in Rome and had the chance to converse with some Dominican priests. One of the priests had spent a summer with Mother Theresa, Kucera said.
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