First Mass of Fr. John Kodet, FSSP
Fr. John Kodet, FSSP, offered his first Mass at Immaculate Conception church, our parish apostolate parish in Omaha, Nebraska. Father was assisted by Fr. Dan Nolan, FSSP, as deacon, Fr. Joseph Heffernan, FSSP, as subdeacon, and Fr. John Brancich, FSSP, pastor of Immaculate Conception, assisted Fr. Kodet.
Father is the fourth of nine children and was baptized on the sixteenth of October, 1988. He was blessed, along with the rest of his siblings, to be home-schooled, which emphasized the role of his parents as teachers and he and his siblings’ role as obedient students. The constant and good example of his parents as honest, hardworking, pious, and faithful Catholics taught him the importance of keeping God at the center of his life.
“As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abide in the vine: so neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine: you are the branches: he that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same beareth much fruit: for without Me you can do nothing,” ~ John 15:4-5
During his peaceful childhood on the family farm, free from the bombardment of modern and fast paced culture — filled with its countless distractions — Father found true role models in the Saints, whose hagiographies inspire us to imitate their spirit of faith in, and love and sacrifice for, our Creator and Redeemer.
Three elements combined to lead him to the seminary: the lives of the Saints, the faithful and cheerful example of priests at Sunday and daily Mass, and the oft repeated wise words from his parents: happiness comes from God and we will be happiest if we do His will.
For Father, this last thought begged the question, “What is God’s will for me?”
Father found the answer over the course of one year of college and seven all too brief years of seminary, praying daily to know and fulfill the Divine Will. In due time, Father Kodet was ordained to the Holy Priesthood for the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter, by Bishop James Conley, on May 30th, 2015, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Newman Center Chapel, in Lincoln, NE.
May God bless all who helped Father Kodet to ascend the altar of God. Father prays that you seek to know and follow your God-given vocation every moment of every day.
Every breath is “debt on debt.”
“Freely you have received; freely give.” ~ Matthew 10:8
June 22, 2015