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Year for Priests: Reflecting on vocation, ministry

Name: Father Jerry Cosgrove

Birth date including year: Sept. 30, 1937

Hometown: Sioux City, Iowa

Education: Blessed Sacrament Grade School, Heelan High School, St. John’s University, CreightonUniversity (Graduate Degrees in Education), St. Bernard Seminary

Ordination date: June 1, 1963

Current assignment: Retired with ministry of chaplain to Carmelite Monastery and Bishop Heelan High School

Hobbies/interests: Reading and quiet time

Describe your call to priesthood. I tell others that the call to priesthood comes each morning at 5:16 a.m. when the alarm goes off and I have to ask myself; “Do I really want to get up and do this ?” As of this morning I did get out of bed and do it, tomorrow is another call. Just like so many married couples you do not say yes just once you are to respond to the call each day in a new way every time the call is given. I was blessed to be around many persons answering their call to the sacred vocation they accepted; parents, family members, families in the community, priests and religious sisters in our parish and schools. If God can give them the strength I should be able to find it in my bones to do the same.

Did anyone or anything provide you with inspiration to follow the call to priesthood? No one told me not to try and some said to go for it so that is what I was able to do. One day in the seminary the rector called me in and said, “Jerry, we have something important to talk about.” I thought this is it, I’m out of here. Then he said, “Jerry, it is your genuflection, it is very sloppy.” We practiced genuflecting and things have been ok since then.
Was it a difficult decision to make? Like all decisions it is some parts faith, some parts courage and mostly grace. The choices you have to make are no more difficult than those made by family members and in many ways less difficult. Some might think that the steps are more of a challenge since you make some alone but that is it, you do not make them alone. The grace of the church is what calls you to the final choice and that is the power that makes all possible.

What do you enjoy most about being a priest? After I turn the alarm off in the morning it is all up hill from there. Many of my years of ministry have been as a priest /teacher in the schools of our diocese. Catholic education remains a primary evangelical source of life for our Catholic community. I thank God that I was able to be and continue to be a part of that instrument of Christ’s presence to our people and society. All of the sacrifices made by our parishes and the families involved are well worth the struggle. The Catholic schools involve us in every aspect of the life of Christ in today’s society. We are able to teach, form, celebrate the sacraments, enjoy the joy of helping others know Christ and grow in the inner spirit of the people of the future and of today.

Are there any particular devotions or prayers that are dear to your heart? The primary source of Christ’s life for any of us is the Liturgy. For the priest that means the praying of the Divine Office each day and the celebration of the sacraments of life with the people. In all of the action of the liturgy you are with the message of the word of God in the scripture, that is our prayer and guidance.

Why do you find priesthood to be a worthy vocation? To have been a part of the Catholic church over the last seventy years has been a ride that puts all amusement parks to shame. If you haven’t put your arms up, let the wind blow through your hair, and hollered “Weeeee” you have missed the fun. We have had great ups and downs, the Second Vatican Council (that is just beginning), the pain of the scandals, the everyday smiles and tears of the people with whom you work these make it worth it for all of us and the generations that will follow the faithful.

What would you say to a young man considering a vocation to the priesthood? It is not easy and it is not difficult. It is like all that is before any of us, a surprise that is to be enjoyed. If you remember that you are working for God and not expected to be God you can see that like all of His calls it can be answered in joy. It is a joy for us because we are accepted by Him.