My journey began back in the third grade in my hometown of Mt. Carmel, Pennsylvania. My father was a coal miner and my mother was a seamstress. I attended Holy Spirit Catholic School, and I wanted to be like my cousins who were altar servers. Following my First Holy Communion, I too, became an altar server. I served at most daily Masses at our church until I was 17 years old. The call to serving you began in those early morning hours, serving at Mass, and later at Funerals and Weddings.
During high school I worked as a newspaper carrier and a supermarket cashier. I got good grades and dated a couple of pretty girls. But always in the back of my mind was the call to be a priest. Eventually, my Dad got a job as custodian of our church and cemetery and my Mom became cook for the convent of Sisters that taught at our school. By the time I graduated, my whole family was somehow involved in the ministry of the Church! God was good to us and certainly was working in these wonderful ways!
Upon graduation from high school I took a leap of faith and entered the college seminary of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart (MSC) outside of Allentown, Pennsylvania. The whole charism of the MSC is to spread the message of God's love to the whole world as revealed in the Sacred Heart of His Son. I spent nine years with two other young men pursuing the same vocation. We stayed together during our years of formation in Allentown, then Youngstown, Ohio, and finally, Chicago, Illinois. Sadly, they left the community prior to ordination. I was ordained a priest on June 15, 1996. I went on to serve as a parish priest in upstate New York then as a missionary in Colombia, South America. Unfortunately, throughout those years no one else joined our community.
I made a retreat at the Mercy Center in Colorado Springs back in 1998. That was my first trip west of the Mississippi River. I realized how much the Church needed priests in this Diocese, and so the seed was planted to return here in 2002. That Summer I called Bishop Sheridan and had a wonderful conversation with him. At the end of our time together he asked me, "When can you start?" For nine months I joined Fr. Bill Carmody to care for the pastoral needs of the people at Holy Family, Security and St. Joseph's, Fountain. Then, Bishop Sheridan assigned me to assist Fr. Bob Jaeger at St. Peter's in Monument for one year. In the summer of 2004, Bishop Sheridan asked me to be Administrator, then Pastor, at Holy Trinity, where I still remain.
In the time we have together I pray that we can work with joy and enthusiasm for the Kingdom of God! From broader evangelization and ongoing formation in our faith to greater stewardship of our time, talent, and treasure; from increased enrollment at our Catholic School to more vocations to the Priesthood in our Diocese; I look forward to meeting and serving you.
Rev. Mark Zacker
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