|
|
| |
|
|
|
Vol. 45 No. 50
March 7, 2007 |
|
|
For Father Werner the priesthood was an
easy career choice
By Pete Sheehan
Senior Reporter |
Bay Shore — Growing
up in Ozone Park, Queens, Montfort Missionary Father
George Werner considered different careers, from naval
officer to architect.
He was also drawn to marriage and fatherhood, said
Father Werner, superior of the Montfort community here,
“but the priesthood was always something I thought
about.” Fifty years ago, his years of deliberation
culminated with his ordination as a Montfort priest.
Father Werner will celebrate the 50th anniversary of his
ordination March 16, with Mass and a private dinner at
the Montfort Residence and Retreat Center here with
family members, close friends, and colleagues. “One of
my nephews is a chef and he’s going to prepare the
dinner.” |
Father George Werner
|
|
On March 17, Father Werner will celebrate with an informal
noon Mass at the center, “and we’ll have light refreshments
afterwards.” Those interested in attending can call
631-666-7500. On March 18, he will visit his home parish,
St. Mary Gate of Heaven in Ozone Park, for Mass at 2:30 p.m.
His home parish was staffed by the Montforts, including the
Daughters of Wisdom, the Montfort community of women
Religious who taught in the parish school.
“I liked the priests, but there was one priest in
particular, Father McNiff. He was head of the altar boys,
and I knew him from that. But I often went to daily Mass
with my grandfather and I would see Father McNiff walking
in.
“He always seemed so prayerful,” Father Werner said, and
became a hero to him. When Father McNiff died young after
complications from surgery, “I cried like I lost my best
friend.”
Another influence was Salvator D’Avanzo, “who served in the
Navy during World War I with my dad.” In time, his father’s
friend became a Montfort priest. “He always told me that he
avoided baptisms, but when I was born in 1931, I was his
first baptism. He was always around and involved with our
family.”
Grace in the field
Father Werner had other interests. “My father was in the
Navy, so I thought I might like to go to (the U.S. Naval
Academy at) Annapolis,” Father Werner said. “But then, I
thought: I could always be a Navy chaplain.
“I used to like to build models and for a while my brothers
and I built a miniature World’s Fair out of different
materials. I thought I might like to be an architect,”
Father Werner said. “Then, I thought that I could always
build a church in the missions.
“So I always kept coming back to the priesthood,” Father
Werner said. After graduating from the parish school, he
went to the Montfort Preparatory Seminary which the order
operated at the time here. “Still, I dated” and thought
seriously about marriage. “Celibacy was an issue.”
He continued though his high school years at the preparatory
seminary, and, as was customary, did his first two years of
college there. At the age of 19, he was once visiting family
in Hicksville and was asked to take his baby cousin for a
walk.
“I remember we ended up in one of the potato fields and I
was thinking it would be great to be a father,” Father
Werner said. “I knew I had to make a decision.” He decided
to continue with the Montforts. “It was a moment of grace,
really.”
After entering the Marybook Novitiate in Hartford City,
Indiana, in 1950, he began his study at the major seminary
in Litchfield, Conn. He was ordained March 16, 1957.
His first assignment was to the Montfort’s Provincial Office
in Ozone Park for training in preaching, one of the
ministries of the Montforts.
“We were trained by guys like Father Bill Dilgen, who was a
great preacher,” Father Werner said. “Preaching is not easy.
You have to take what you learned in your head and try to
find a way to connect it to people’s lives. You’ve got to
make it real.”
He recalls his nervousness in preaching his first parish
mission at St. Francis Xavier Church in Brooklyn. One of the
older Montforts advised, “George, just look old.”
His provincial asked him to supervise construction of a new
Bay Shore facility for the order. “I was young, I didn’t
know anything about building, and I knew that two older
Montforts had turned him down.”
His father advised him, “You may not be the best man for the
job, but you are the available man. So take the job and do
the best you can,” Father Werner recalled. He employed that
paternal advice many times over the years.
The facility, where he works today, was dedicated in 1963.
Over the ensuing quarter century, Father Werner filled
various roles for the Montforts during a period of rapid
change.
He was novice master in Hartford City, Ind., from 1968 to
1969. “That was challenging. In those days, we always had 20
to 22 men” in early formation.
His other responsibilities included time as superior of a
Montfort ecumenical center in Litchfield, two terms as
associate pastor at his old parish, St. Mary Gate of Heaven,
a few years as vocational director, and a term as provincial
from 1979 to 1985.
“The only difficult period was vocations director from 1973
to 1977,” Father Werner said. Following the turbulence of
the 1960s, he found little interest in joining the Montforts.
His term as provincial also had difficulties. “There were a
lot of men who were leaving. It was a struggle, but I
enjoyed it. I always felt I had the confidence of the men.”
After a sabbatical year of study and one extended retreat,
Father Werner became pastor of his home parish from 1986 to
1994. “It was interesting because a lot of the parishioners
were people I went to school with. There were good people.”
“It was a really good time, even though there was always a
struggle with the school” and raising the money. One of his
favorite memories was the annual bazaar.
“We had about 300 people working as volunteers, and that
actually became a community of faith,” Father Werner said.
“I remember Saturday nights saying Mass for the volunteers
who were tired from working all weekend, but it was so
prayerful.”
In 1994, Father Werner returned to Bay Shore as bursar for
the community, and in 1996 he became superior. “I continue
to do retreat work as well as supervising the facility and
the men who live here, including a number who are retired.”
He still enjoys preaching. “I use six or seven themes at an
opening talk at a retreat and watch to see which ones
connect. I always look carefully for the reaction. If they
look distracted at one theme, I try something else.
“At one retreat, I mentioned loneliness, and everybody sat
up straight,” Father Werner said. So he kept on that theme.
As he looks back on his 50 years as a priest, Father Werner
said he is happy. There are times of loneliness and painful
situations arise, such as when one close friend left the
order or when the priests in his charge face difficulties,
such as infirmity and in one case, mental illness.
Still, with God’s grace, he has enjoyed his opportunities to
serve. “With the exception of a few days, there isn’t any
time that I wouldn’t live over again.”
|
|
|
|
Send
questions or comments about this web site to
webmaster@licatholic.org
E-mail intended as a Letter to the Editor
goes to
editor@licatholic.org
Last modified:
11/21/2007
© Copyright 2007 The Long Island Catholic |
|
|
|
|
