Meet three soon-to-be priests of the archdiocese

The three seminarians who will be ordained as Archdiocese of Omaha priests this Saturday undoubtedly have a lot on their minds and hearts.

They approach ordination day, they’ve said, buoyed by others’ prayers and filled with excitement, gratitude, humility, awe and confidence in Christ.

At the request of the Catholic Voice, Transitional Deacons Logan Hepp, Brian Hula and Will Targy briefly described their thoughts about the priesthood and the path God has led them on as they’ve discerned their vocations.

Archbishop Michael G. McGovern will ordain the three men at a 10 a.m. Mass on Saturday, June 7, at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha. They will be surrounded by family, friends and many others, including their soon-to-be brother priests and the seminarians of the archdiocese.

Deacon Logan Hepp

Parents: David and Susan Hepp 

Siblings: Sara, Jaclyn, Bryan

Home Parish: St. Stephen the Martyr, Omaha

What are you most looking forward to in your life and ministry as a priest?

I’m most looking forward to the adventure of the priesthood. I don’t know all the various places where I’ll be assigned. I don’t know what my future ministry will look like. And that excites me because every step I’ve taken in following Jesus Christ has been a gift. Ordination to the priesthood is simply the next step for me in the adventure that He has laid before me. 

What are your thoughts as you are about to be ordained?

As I approach ordination, I am filled with gratitude. God has cared for me so well as I’ve walked this road. He has supported me so well through the prayers, encouragement, friendship and love of countless people. I am truly blessed by the ways in which I’ve been prepared to say “Yes” to the priesthood. There are too many people to thank, but I know that my real gratitude is directed to God Himself, Who provided all I needed at every moment. 

When did you first sense your call to the priesthood? Please describe how God has confirmed that calling and what has led you to this moment.

The story of my discernment of a celibate vocation as a priest is long and multifaceted. To be brief, the Lord prepared me for His invitation from my youth. I was not ready to receive that invitation until I was in my early twenties and working as a FOCUS missionary. When His invitation came, I was at first surprised, but I soon came to realize: For this has my heart longed. I firmly believe that I was created to belong to God alone as His priest. This conviction has been purified in the crucible of suffering like gold from the furnace seven times refined. This conviction led me to St. Cecilia’s Cathedral on May 24, 2024, for my ordination to the diaconate. This conviction directs me to St. Cecilia’s once again so that on June 7, in complete freedom, I can confidently lay down my life before God and the Church for a life of priestly ministry. 

Deacon Brian Hula

Parents: Cathy and Paul Hula 

Siblings: Jenny Dsouza, Johnny Hula, Ann Phillips 

Parish: St. Peter, Omaha

What are you most looking forward to in your life and ministry as a priest?

I’m looking forward to providing the sacraments – especially Holy Mass – and inviting people to pray and teaching them how to grow in their relationship with God. 

What are your thoughts as you are about to be ordained?

The priesthood is such a gift – the identity and activity of the priest are so sublime; it’s something I could never “earn” or “deserve.” So, I feel very humble and awed. Yet, I also feel confident because I know this is what Jesus called me to. 

When did you first sense your call to the priesthood? Please describe how God has confirmed that calling and what has led you to this moment.

I “daydreamed” a little in elementary school about priesthood or religious life, but it was in high school that I seriously considered it (thanks to the experience of serving Mass and community and prayer in youth group). 

I realize that I have been tremendously blessed through receiving from God in prayer and the sacraments, so it has become more and more clear that diocesan priesthood is how I can make a gift of myself so as to pass that on to others. 

Deacon Will Targy

Parents: Steve & Tina Targy

Siblings: Natalie Kamtz (Zac Kamtz), Valerie Sigler (Cory Sigler), Julie Hinker (Tyler Hinker), Maggie Targy

Home parish: St. Mary, Bellevue

What are you most looking forward to in your life and ministry as a priest?

First and foremost, I am looking forward to administering the sacraments (especially offering the Mass and hearing Confession). The reality of acting in persona Christi (“in the person of Christ”), participating in Christ’s own presence and activity, is such an incredible and humbling invitation from our Lord. And I desire to bring Christ’s love and mercy to everyone that I encounter. On a pastoral level, I am looking forward to simply accompanying people in their journey with Christ, whether it be in marriage prep, men’s groups, youth ministry, teaching in Catholic schools and all the other vast opportunities to serve God’s people.

In a broader sense, I am excited about how the Holy Spirit is at work in the Church in this time. It can be easy to feel pessimistic about the lack of faith and morals in our current culture, but “where sin abounds, grace abounds all the more.” I have experienced in my own life and in the lives of others the power of the Holy Spirit at work in the Church to bring about renewal and restoration. Our own archdiocese has been at the forefront of this deeper movement of evangelization and discipleship that I am both extremely proud of and eager to participate in as a diocesan priest.

Lastly, I am simply excited to be back in “the good life.” Living away from home for seminary formation has been a great gift, but it has also expanded my heart and my desire to come home in order to minister to the faithful of northeast Nebraska. And, of course, it will be nice to be closer to my amazing family and good friends back in Omaha.

What are your thoughts as you are about to be ordained?

As I look toward ordination … I’m filled with a sober and thoughtful excitement. I recognize the gravity and difficulty of the priesthood, along with the potential challenges that lie ahead. Yet I desire to remain in a place of humble confidence and live out of the confidence that God has in me as He has called me to this beautiful vocation. I have been asking Jesus to steadily remind me that He “is able to accomplish far more than all we ask or imagine, by the power at work within us” (Eph. 3:20).

And, as I look back on the last seven years of seminary, I am incredibly grateful for all that God has done in that time. Kenrick-Glennon Seminary became, for me, a place of profound encounter with God and where I have found lifelong brothers. In addition to the fantastic intellectual formation that was offered, I also experienced profound healing, self-acceptance and self-possession. While all of this work is still ongoing, I am grateful for the deeper foundation of faith, hope and charity that the Lord had brought about during my time in seminary formation.

When did you first sense your call to the priesthood? Please describe how God has confirmed that calling and what has led you to this moment.

I was never opposed to considering a priestly vocation but it wasn’t something I seriously considered until my early 20s. After graduating from UNO, I joined staff with FOCUS (The Fellowship of Catholic University Students) and was sent to Mount St. Mary’s University. On the campus of MSM is also a major seminary and it was there that I believe God started to plant the seeds of my priestly vocation. It was the first time I had ever gotten to know seminarians on a deeper level, and I was both edified and deeply inspired by their willingness to lay down their lives for Christ and His Church.

But I wasn’t quite ready to take the next step into seminary, so when I left FOCUS after three years, I moved back to Bellevue and worked as a youth minister at my home parish. There, I wrestled with God, deliberated, sometimes ignoring His promptings, but eventually allowed myself to seriously consider and imagine what a priestly vocation might mean for my life. As I started to take small steps toward the application process, I didn’t know the whole picture. I didn’t experience 100% certainty as I entered seminary, which was actually okay. The process of discernment was ongoing. I learned that I just needed to trust God and He would reveal to me the next step.

That pattern continued as I entered seminary formation and my trust in God deepened. The possibility of priesthood became more and more real and I found myself coming alive and becoming more myself. Through the grace of God, I have slowly been able to surrender my life, my natural and charismatic gifts, my memory and my imagination to the Lord in order for Him to do with them what He willed.

It has been a blessed journey and I am thrilled to step into this amazing vocation of priesthood for the Archdiocese of Omaha!

At a May 6 reception at St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in Omaha, then-Bishop McGovern talks with the three transitional deacons who will be ordained as priests on June 7. From left are Deacons Brian Hula, Will Targy and Logan Hepp. SUSAN SZALEWSKI/STAFF

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