TAYLORSVILLE — Thirty-five years ago on Feb. 21, 1981, Father James Byer was ordained a priest of the diocese by Bishop Michael J. Begley, the first bishop of the Diocese of Charlotte, at St. Patrick Cathedral in Charlotte.
A native of Ohio, Father Byer attended Mount St. Mary's Seminary in Emmittsburg, Md., and learned of a need for priests for the mission Diocese of Charlotte through a friend. He has served at 10 parishes in the diocese, first at St. Gabriel Church as a parochial vicar and currently as administrator of Holy Trinity Mission in Taylorsville.
The Catholic News Herald recently asked Father Byer to share about his journey to the priesthood and his experiences over more than three decades of serving the Church:
CNH: When did you first discern that you were called to the priesthood?
Father Byer: I grew up in a Catholic parish, Sts. Peter and Paul Church of the Polish heritage in a suburb of Cleveland, Ohio. I began serving in my home parish when I was in the sixth grade. The sister in charge of the altar boys was especially helpful and affirming in her training program. Also, my pastor was an inspiration to me, to the degree of my attributing him as the seed of my vocation to the priesthood.
CNH: What are some of your favorite assignments you have had over the past 35 years?
Father Byer: Two assignments stand out in my memory: First, as parochial vicar at St. Ann Church in Charlotte. At one point of my stay at St. Ann's, I was given the additional assignment of living with (at the time) our retired Bishop Michael J. Begley, who lived very close by. I thought it a blessing to live with the bishop who ordained me and travel with him, as his master of ceremonies, as he celebrated confirmations in our diocese. Second, when I was in residence at St. Philip the Apostle Church in Statesville. The people were wonderful to me and I became good friends with a few families of the parish. While at St. Philip's, I considered myself graced and blessed.
CNH: What do you enjoy most about your priestly ministry?
Father Byer: Number one on my list is celebrating the sacraments of the Church. The sacrament of the Holy Eucharist is most special to me. The sacrament of penance offers any priest the opportunity to bond with and try to heal souls who need God's grace and forgiveness in their lives. All sacraments are wonderful opportunities for priest and parishioner alike to unite themselves closer to God and grow together as members of the family of the Church.
CNH: What are some of the biggest lessons you have learned over the past 35 years?
Father Byer: I have learned the importance of the virtue of humility. Staying dependent upon the Lord as a fragile human being myself, so as to identify with the fragility of the people of God. I have also learned the need for forgiveness in my own life so that I can offer the forgiveness of God with a greater sensitivity to the people I have been called to serve.
CNH: What advice would you give to a man discerning a vocation to the priesthood?
Father Byer: As you grow in maturity, try to balance the idealistic aspects of your understanding of the priesthood with the realities that you face on an everyday basis. The two aspects may bring you joy or may present a challenge to you. Be faithful to and constant with your own personal prayer life. Offer your services to the people you serve with honesty, respect, forgiveness and love all throughout your priestly ministry.
— SueAnn Howell, senior reporter
CHARLOTTE — More than 2,000 people packed St. Matthew Church in south Charlotte May 20 to hear "Dynamic Catholic" speaker Matthew Kelly during an evening of several conferences on "Living Every Day with Passion and Purpose."
The author of several best-selling books, including "Rediscovering Catholicism" and "The Four Signs of a Dynamic Catholic," captured his audience's attention right from the start, injecting his remarks with lots of humor yet sharing some dire statistics concerning the state of the Church in the United States.
Kelly pointed out a major concern widely noticed in the Church today: the average Catholic is not actively participating at Sunday Mass.
"If you visit any Catholic church in America on Sunday morning, what would you discover? There's a spectrum of engagement. You got some people in the pews 100 percent engaged; other people 80 percent, 60 percent, 30 percent ... So a fundamental challenge in this moment in history is an engagement issue," Kelly said.
"How do we drive engagement? How do we drive engagement in ourselves? How do we drive engagement in our family and friends? How do we drive engagement in our parish? How do we drive engagement in our community?" he asked the audience.
The answer to those questions, he continued, can be found by examining the experiences of people who live with passion and purpose – and not just religious people. According to Kelly, people who live with passion and purpose are highly engaged in every aspect of their lives.
"Living with passion and purpose is a by-product of other things," he noted, and two traits set apart these men and women. "They are hungry for 'best practices'" and "they are committed to continuous learning," he said.
"Interestingly, these first two qualities have nothing to do with our faith. Wherever you find excellence on this planet, you find these two qualities. When these two things are absent, we tend to be taken over by mediocrity."
Kelly continued, "Disturbingly, these two qualities are alarmingly absent from the life of our Church in this moment in history. As Catholics, we tend not to be hungry for best practices. We don't want to do it the best way. We want to do it our way! We think we are Frank Sinatra."
But, he said, we have plenty of examples to follow, in the communion of saints. They are the "kings" and "queens" of best practices when it comes to Catholic spirituality.
"If we were really hungry for best practices, we would know all about them," he said.
Kelly encouraged the audience to take a pen and paper with them to Sunday Mass, then take notes from the homily being delivered by the priest or deacon.
He acknowledged that it's not part of Catholic culture to take notes at Mass, he said. But, he added, that means "what we are really saying is, 'You know, I'm not even going to bring a pen and paper because Father has nothing good to say.' You know what? We're saying that's even worse than that: We're saying, 'God's not going to speak to me at church.' Because if we believe that God was going to speak to us at church, we would bring pen and paper."
People who live life with passion and purpose also possess clarity and ease of decision-making, he said. "They know who they are. They know what they are here for. They know what matters most, and they know what matters least."
"God wants you to become a phenomenal decision-maker. He wants your 'yes' to be a strong, powerful, passionate, enthusiastic 'yes!' And He wants your 'no' to be a firm, resolute 'no,'" he said.
How do we possess this kind of clarity? Solitude, silence and prayer, he said.
Personal silence and solitude are essential to listening to God's voice in our lives. "To thrive, you need silence," he said.
God speaks to us in many ways, Kelly continued. First, He meets our most basic needs. Second, He gives us talents and abilities to serve Him and others in this world. Our talents enable us all to make a difference in other people's lives, if we don't discount our ability to do so, he said. Our individual, unique talents also give us the chance to excel in certain areas, such as music or sports.
"Our culture obsesses about these unique abilities. But when you put these two things side by side: Become the best football player in the world, side by side with making a difference in somebody else's life, the football thing becomes trivial. Why? Because it is. Because we are made for meaning, and we can't live without it," Kelly said.
"When you put things in context, you discover their true value," Kelly said. "Who is the best in the world in creating context? The Catholic Church. (It's) been creating context for 2,000 years."
"We come here to church on Sundays to get some context," he continued. "We come here to church on Sundays to realign our lives in the context of the Gospel. The Gospel is the ultimate context because it shows us the true value of everything.
"I'm telling you, there's genius in Catholicism. You scratch below the surface, and there's genius in Catholicism."
— Rico De Silva, Hispanic Communications Reporter