Ordination will provide two new priests eager to serve – and suffer

The two men who are about to be ordained archdiocesan priests are awaiting their ordination with joy and hope, but also with the realization that they will be serving as Jesus did, as the Suffering Servant.

Deacons Zachary Eischeid and Matthew Pohlman will be ordained by Archbishop George J. Lucas  at a 10 a.m. Mass Saturday, June 1, at St. Cecilia Cathedral in Omaha. You can watch the livestream here. 

Deacon Pohlman said he’s excited to become a priest, saying that he sensed his calling since he was young.

Deacon Matthew Pohlman

“When I was in the first grade, I felt the invitation to enter this life of ministry,” he said. “As the years went by, I learned more and more what it means to follow Christ, the Suffering Servant. I can only imagine this will take on new meaning as a ministerial priest.”

Deacon Eischeid said he sees the priesthood represented in a religious icon.

“In regards to ministry, I think of Chist the Bridegroom,” he said. “In this icon, Christ’s hands are bound, and he is stripped and crowned with thorns. It comes as a surprise, thinking the wedding feast should be filled with the most extravagant clothing and preparation.

“Yet, Christ reflects His Bride, a Church and world that is messy, beaten down, bruised and hurting. I hope that my ministry reflects that of Christ the Bridegroom. Unafraid to go into the messiness of each person’s life, to let them know they are good, they are loved, and they are not alone. 

“Much as spouses give their entire selves over to the other, each day I will be reminded at the Holy Mass as I say the words of Consecration: ‘This is My Body, Which will be given up for you.’

Deacon Zachary Eischeid

“If I don’t give myself fully to Christ and His Church, I hold back my life and my love.”

Deacon Pohlman said he is thankful for such a role.

“As I think about celebrating the Eucharistic Sacrifice, getting to know the People of God, and as I consider that there are things in priesthood that I don’t even know to anticipate, I am filled with gratitude that the archbishop has confirmed what I believed was the call of God years ago.”

Deacon Eischeid, from St. Boniface Parish in Elgin, is the son of Karen and the late Paul Eischeid. Other family members include his brother, Jake and his wife, Briley, and their three children: Jamie, Rya and Paul; and a sister, Chelsea Priester, and her husband, Austin, and their four children: Parker, Abram, Caeli and Callen.

Deacon Pohlman, from St. Gerald Parish in Ralston and more recently St. Robert Bellarmine Parish in Omaha, is the son of Brent and Michele Pohlman. He has one brother and three sisters: Zachary and his wife, Julia, and their three children: Quinten, Charity and Louis; Katie and her husband, Andrew; Amanda and her husband, Grant; and Clara and her husband, Max.

WATCH THE LIVESTREAM OF ORDINATION

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