Voices for Voices®

The Sacred Journey: A Priest's Reflection on Service and Ministry | Ep 252

• Founder of Voices for Voices®, Justin Alan Hayes • Season 4 • Episode 252

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The Sacred Journey: A Priest's Reflection on Service and Ministry | Ep 252

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What does it truly mean to minister to others? In this deeply moving conversation with Father Edward Gretchko, we journey beyond the ceremonial aspects of priesthood to discover the profound reality of spiritual service.

Father Ed shares how his understanding of priesthood evolved from a third-grader fascinated by the Mass to recognizing that true ministry happens in the 23 hours away from the altar. With gentle wisdom, he reflects on decades of service to families like Justin's—celebrating weddings, comforting the grieving, and simply being present during life's most challenging transitions.

The conversation takes us into intimate moments of pastoral care: sitting for hours with parents who lost a child at birth, visiting the terminally ill, and bringing sacraments to the dying. Father Ed's reflections reveal how ministry often manifests not in grand gestures but in quiet presence, attentive listening, and consistent compassion.

"Faith without action is no faith at all," Father Ed reminds us, challenging the notion that we can simply "let God do everything." Instead, he points to a damaged crucifix with the inscription "you are my hands and my arms" as a powerful metaphor for our responsibility to actively participate in God's work of healing and compassion in the world.

Perhaps most touching is Father Ed's humility as he describes himself among "the nameless priests of all ages" who perform ordinary yet sacred duties without expectation of recognition or reward. This perspective offers a profound counterpoint to our culture's obsession with achievement and status.

Whether you're exploring questions of faith, wondering about the priesthood, or simply seeking inspiration for living with greater purpose and presence, Father Edward Gretchko's wisdom provides a beautiful reminder that we're all "workers in the vineyard," each with our own calling to serve others and bring more love into the world.

#SacredJourney #PriestsReflection #MinistryLife #SpiritualService #FaithInAction #ClergyVoices #ServiceToOthers #ReligiousLeadership #JourneyOfFaith #CommunityOutreach #DivineCalling #ChristianMinistry #ServantLeadership #SpiritualGrowthJourney #ReflectionsOnFaith #VoicesforVoices #VoicesforVoicesPodcast #JustinAlanHayes #JustinHayes #help3billion

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Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Hey everyone, thank you for joining us on another episode of the Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. I'm your host, founder and executive director of Voices for Voices, Justin Hayes. Thank you so much for joining us today. I am beyond thrilled to be able to have the guest with us, to be able to have the guest with us. This guest is a priest and he has been a huge part of mine and my family's relationship with God, the church faith. He celebrated my marriage, my wife Charlene, my sister Heather and Brian Page. My mom and dad attended church for many years where our guests celebrate mass, and it's just been a blessing to have somebody in our lives that we can talk to about faith and has been involved with so many life milestones. Most recently last year, my father passed away and Father Ed was so gracious to make time to come and talk with us as a family. My dad, as he started to pass he started to pass had, I believe, a sense of peace, and so I'm going to introduce Our guest is Father Edward Gretchko.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Thank you for joining us Good to be with you, justin.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

Yeah, so I just want to again thank you for being a big part of my life, my family's life, and wanting to give an opportunity for you to talk about how you got involved with wanting to be a priest and how faith is important, important. Well, I would like to think that most of us are attracted in some way to the church and it depends on where you were. I was a kid at a Catholic grade school and we went to Mass every day. Mass was in Latin, as you know. The priest faced the altar. He wasn't behind it looking forward, but there was something about the action that I wanted to participate in and I even thought, as a third grader, you know, maybe I could do that somehow.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

Mystery that priesthood isn't at the altar. The priest is not at the altar very often at all. At 23 hours of the day he's elsewhere. Even to find a place to pray it may not be in the church during the day, it could be sitting in the car between appointments. And also to understand that priesthood involves ministry. When we think of the word priest as a Catholic, we think of the ministry of the priest, but that ministry is reaching out everywhere, as you mentioned, the links between me over the years and just your family, the weddings we had the funerals, but not only that. I was there before that happened. I was there for the wedding preparation. I was getting to know the couple and guiding them through the premarital inventory and getting to know them in addition to maybe talking about the wedding ceremony the ceremony was the joy of the couple. Talking about the wedding ceremony, the ceremony was the joy of the couple, but preparing for it is preparing them for the life of being a married couple, assisting each other on the way to heaven.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

Somehow or other, we could lose that and think it's all about the romance that occurs early on, and then we wonder what happened when that romance isn't the same when kids are there, raising the family, when sickness occurs. I think of your mom and dad driving out to their house and sitting there just talking, knowing that things were going to get bad, and you'd say, how did he do that? Well, he took time that he would have done something else and he went to your house and it gave your dad a peace that not only was it a priest, but you know the fact that he knew who I was and he knew who I prayed for, and he knew that I would be giving him the sacraments of the sick and the dying. As much as we don't want to go anywhere none of us want to die but to know that you're actually preparing somebody for life that never ends and to take that graduation, that step from here to eternity. And sometimes Justin is just being there with the family.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

I recall another person that lost their, their little one at birth, at childbirth, and the mother was able at the hospital just to hold that baby that had died. And I sat there for hours with them. We didn't have a lot to say and somewhere along the line somebody had to say well, maybe we ought to get going. And the hospital was so kind, they wrapped the little baby up in blue and I think they even had little wings behind it. That kind of you know made things a little less sad. But sharing the hope for everlasting life and to think now how that little child is a saint interceding for that family, for all the troubles that they can go through and have, and I'm hoping that as we look at that same image of your family in particular to say, well, I have some relative hope and assurance that maybe my dad is blessing our family, blessing Father Ed and his ministry even now, and so we don't stop praying for him, but it's very likely that he's still praying for us, part of that communion of saints.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

Now, this is what I wasn't thinking about in the third grade. I was thinking about how to say mass, how to stand at the altar, and I like to sing. Fortunately, that helps. Some priests can't sing at all. Pope Francis, for instance. He couldn't sing very well. Maybe it has something to do with his capacity of lung, breathing and everything else. But you know the new Pope, the first thing he comes out he sings the Regina Caeli in Rome and and Salve Regina and Curia Eleison. So these are some of the thoughts in my mind as you wonder and say well, you grew in your knowledge and awareness of what the priesthood was, that people need the ministry during the other days, when they're not even in church, and then to realize that you're going to be called upon by people that don't even have faith, you're going to be with people that aren't Catholic.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

Yesterday, for instance, justin, I had a funeral of a wonderful man who so wanted me to have his funeral and I'm only the weekend assistant now, since I'm retired and I said well, we have to get permission from the pastor. Well, the crowd was mostly not Catholic, because he became Catholic. Even I, as I read the obituary, I kept reading it and reading it. He was a member of the Masonic Lodge and I said how could he be a Mason? And well, remember, he was not a Catholic up to the last three years, so his family wasn't catholic. Uh, and so I was speaking and giving witness to my catholicity. We were at the altar celebrating our sacred liturgy.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

And when the liturgy ended, when the mass had ended, when liturgy ended, when the Mass had ended, when we had left the cemetery, many of those people said thank you so much, it was so meaningful. So you could say, sometimes we touch the hearts of are Catholic or not, and being a calm voice, and you know, speaking from the heart and your experiences over the years, and like you said, you're not, you don't know, but you could have touched many of those lives and maybe they have some introspection into their life, have some introspection into their life and maybe that helps them, maybe on that, that journey, to have a little bit more understanding and maybe to, to, to reach out and I think that's a big thing just in general, as humanity and as teachers, and uh, and the vocation of the priesthood, that we're trying to help people get to heaven, and help is one of the big words. You can take a horse to water but you can't make them drink the water or eat the food. Water eat the food. But what you can provide is information, faith, prayer, and you know, kind of at the, you know at the end of our own days, to know that we put it all out there. We put, you know, every bit of our being, our spirit, our body into hopefully making the world a better place and hopefully bringing peace to some who have not had it.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

You're calm and just so transparent personality of, as you mentioned, you know, with my, with my dad, just being there and listening and just sitting there, of just knowing that there's a familiar person, a familiar voice. You don't have to talk for the whole time, you're there, but just knowing that I have somebody with me besides my family that have that care and compassion and is that listening ear that you have. Uh, did that come as you were going through the seminary of as you mentioned? You know you're one hour a day, or or more, you're at the altar, but all that other time you're like you. You have other appointments, other projects that you're being called to do. I guess the listening part, did that come easy to you or is that something that, over the years, you just you know?

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

just as we all. We all learn and can continue to enrich ourselves and educate ourselves. Yeah, I think that you know you develop your own style of priestly ministry among the people as the years go by. I feel that the vows of a priest to serve the people basically the only vow we have is to be obedient to the bishop and the vow of celibacy. But life is very much like the marriage vows, because think of how I served, along with your mom and your dad. Think of how he came to the sacristy to get ready for mass, think of how he volunteered to be at the ambo to read the readings, and that voice of his went out to the church. So when it came time that he wanted his priest to be there though I was retired- I had to make that decision go out, sit with him because we've had the good times.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

Now, marriage has other times. It's got health, but then the other part, sometimes it's got wealth and sometimes the wealth is gone. So you know, it's serving and loving, loving even when the times aren't good. And again it allowed him to walk around the house with me and just to talk about everything that he was able to accomplish in the home with the kids, with the family, with your mom, et cetera, et cetera.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

And I think this is what we do day after day and at times, yes, you can be tired. I know I'll be 82 this year, so there are times that I get tired, but now I can go home and rest for a half an hour and then go out and do something. The next event that is scheduled, and hopefully that I'll be able to have that ability and also to be very much aware when the time comes, someone may have to minister to me as much as I wouldn't want it. Uh, I might have to depend upon the love and the charity and the concern of someone else. I wonder someday will a priest come to my place and bend over me to anoint me with the holy oil of the anointing my hands and my head and pray that I can one day have the communion with the saints in the kingdom. It's a good life.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

But it also says this is why we go to a church. Do you ever have people say to you I don't have to go to a church? And you say, well, you don't have to go to a church for certain things, but we are part of the church. It's not just a church, it is the church. You may not be in Massillon anymore and you're working in Hudson, but you're the church and you're bringing your faith to the people in your own particular calling right now, which is voices for voices. You know people speaking for people. Even St Paul says we're ambassadors for Christ, god, as it were, speaking through us, and the speaking brings about the action. And that's it. We're not just talking, but we're living the faith. And that's why even St James in his epistle says faith without the action is no faith at all, it's dead faith. So I think it's a marvelous ministry that all of us put together as part of our faith.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Yeah, and, as you were talking, there's times where you're on the altar and you're there as that leader, but then there's other times where you're one with, like you said, the church, thought, like you said, the church, regardless of if your, if your vocation is, is a pastor, that, as you mentioned at the end of your, your days, that you, you have that wonder and thought of, you know, will priest come and visit me, and and and I think that those things are just hard to think about because it's life, it's passing on and it's just an incredible ministry that you've done and are continuing to do, even as a retired priest. You have, you know, six different parishes that you do various activities and events, and and, uh, holding holy mass, and uh, is that, what is that part of what drives you kind of emotionally? If I'm doing the Lord's work, I can touch hearts, help individuals. I guess what keeps you going day after day.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

Yes, I think that one of the things that Pope Francis said early on in his pontificate that we had to get out of the sacristy and into the street. And I've always kept that as a thought for me, that a priest is there to serve people not just to serve, but to serve people and their needs. And I believe it was Francis years ago that said if you're going to go out among the sheep, don't forget they're going to smell. Yeah, and I think let us priests realize that we're sheep as well, because we're the sheep of his flock. He's the good shepherd. So sometimes we're like the sheep and to pray for that energy which is the Holy Spirit, to go out and continue to do the work.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

If you'd asked me, are you ever going to get a trophy for anything you do? I'd say I don't think so, because I would like to be numbered among the nameless priests of all ages that, down through the centuries, lifted up the body of Christ, raised their hands over the sick, the suffering, the sinner, raised their hands over the couple, as the couple joins hands in marriage and that sacrament you join each other by the holding of your hands in the western church and to say that I did everything ordinary. I did everything ordinary. There was nothing out of the ordinary. So I don't expect to get a crown or a special hat or anything to wear.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

Some priests get that. You know they have titles and that's because they're so unique and different. It's because they answer the call to serve in that very special way. If you're the dean of an area, then you switch your name to very reverend, not just a reverend. So they're still ordinary priests doing their work and they still come to suffer and they can have sickness as well as health, and bad times as well as good times. So I think we pray God be with us in all of this.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Absolutely, and I know my dad at the end of his days. You know there's a lot of passages in the Bible and the one that he just kept looking at a bookmark John 3.16, that God sent his only son to earth not to condemn the world but to save the world. And I just wonder what was going on. What my dad's thought was and I guess I think that he, as a lot of us do, feel that way that there's a lot of craziness that's going on in the world. But God sent his only son not to condemn it but to actually save it. And I think that's an important thing.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

For even if somebody isn't Catholic or doesn't have those beliefs that you know, somebody sent, you know, their only son. They could, they could have sent him somewhere out. They didn't have to do that and to come and, uh again, not know the people they were. He was going to help and is helping. Uh, I think that relates a lot with the vocation of the priesthood. But I guess, closing out our time together today, can you just share maybe your thoughts about John 3.16 and what that means to you, and maybe some inspiration to others.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

Well, that is a pivotal expression in the Gospel of Saint John and early on in the early part of his Gospel, the whole purpose of his coming that we would not perish but have everlasting life. And then, later on, in the 10th chapter of St John's Gospel, he says I have come, that they might have life, and not only life, but he says more abundant life. So, not only to be saved from death, but to have more, an abundant life. We, we, we can't limit our whole life on a single verse of the scripture, but we can use that single verse to spring forward to a life of ministry and service. You know, some people would like to say that we can sit back and let God do everything. Well, I'm going to let God do this, I'm going to let God do that, I'm going to let God take care of it.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

And then there's an image of the body of Christ that was in a fire at the seminary chapel. It actually came right through the door into the library and the arms of Christ were burned and they were destroyed and so on. The cross was just the torso and after the fire they put a sign over that cross and it says you are my arms and my hands. So you know, he gives us responsibility, the ability to respond to the needs of people. It's not a magical thing where we can say I went to a church and the holy spirit came upon me and now I don't have to do anything, I can sin and and I will be okay. And uh, we don't believe that. That's certainly not catholic teaching at all, that we can sin bravely and believe more firmly. Not at all. We need to cooperate, with God's grace.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

So again, justin, the priest is just another worker in the vineyard, like you are. I don't mean just, but each of us are given very specific ministries to do some to be administrators, some to be parents, some to be teachers, be administrators, some to be parents, some to be teachers. And he calls some of us to be apostles and disciples. And today, with media, it has grown exponentially. Where we can go into living rooms and in the hospitals we can be right there. I still have people that are telling me in our area because I'm going to change assignment in two weeks, but people from, say, masslin, where I served and lived and worked, they'll say we watch you on Sunday, even though it's not necessary because the COVID is gone. People are going to Mass and then they come home to watch another liturgy on Sunday and you know we watched you and it was so good to hear your word. So I think that media is God's gift. It can be a curse, but it can also be a great blessing.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

It sure can, and your voice is so comforting, so authentic, compassionate. And I hearken back to the when we had our calling hours last year for my dad and one, one of the individuals that we knew years ago and hadn't seen for a long time. I can't remember her name, I wish I could so I could give her kind of the credit, but she mentioned that when my dad was reading the first and the second and the response that that voice was a comfort to her and she, and so something that seems so small and so minor. I had no idea that anybody I'm saying that I didn't, I think that nobody had comfort in it, but to hear somebody come and say, I remember your dad and his, his voice and how it, it was a comfort and helped maybe understand a little bit more of the, the readings, what was in there, and and then your voice of being, you know, the, the comfort and and the authenticity and transparency over eight years, with the, the uh celebrating the marriages, uh, of myself and my wife Charlene, my sister Heather, her husband Brian, and it's just something that it's just really it's just amazing to think that you know that one individual and that made me tear up just as much.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

As an individual came through to work with my dad, he said that many years ago this individual was on hard times. I don't know if he was using drugs or what, but he was just going through hard times and he was looking for a job. And he showed up at where my dad worked AEP, ohio, off of Middle Branch I'm sure they may have changed their names over the years, but this individual showed up and my dad was there and this individual said hey, you know, I'm looking for a job and my dad was able to make a couple of calls to individuals that could actually help from a hiring perspective. And that individual is, either that day or very shortly after, began working side by side with my dad. And to know that that my dad was just so caring and so compassionate that he saw somebody in need and he could have very easily just walked away or just said send your resume, or so many different excuses could have been. And the fact that he said you know what in his mind, uh, it went to you know, I, I can, I can probably help this person.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

They're somebody that they're going through hardships, as we all do from time to time, and and that individual came shortly after through the receiving line at uh, at the calling hours and and those two things of having the solace of hearing my dad's voice at church, at mass, and then individuals saying my dad went over and above and my dad wasn't a manager, he wasn't some high up, he was a person that helped load transformers and things onto trucks so they can be fixed, you know, to restore electricity. And so that's why I think with you, father Ed, that for me personally, as well as my family and my mom, my sister and brother-in-law, their sons, my nephews and then my daughters, now six, and it's just an amazing thing that your vocation is, and I just want to say thank you for all you have done. And, like you said, you might not get a trophy, you might not get a hat or a key to the city or things, but you have impacted so positively with my family and I pray that others that watch this show listen to it, that they have a little better understanding of the priesthood and what we're all doing. We're serving God and then that we're all individuals and we all sin, whether we like it or not, that Jesus was the only one that was sinless.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

And I think there's sometimes some people in the world that you know they try to, you know, say that they're the God and, you know, worship me, and I think that this is you, you know, by you and I, having this conversation and sharing this information is, uh, is just helpful.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Just to reiterate, you know, you know that there's seven billion people in the world and you know we're still alive, for you know what purpose so god has to be having something for us to do to have a reason to keep us here out here on earth, uh and uh. So, yeah, I just want to say, you know, thank you very much. Uh, this isn't the last time, you know we'll talk, but, uh, that's why I wanted to bring you on and and let you minister on this episode, the way you have over the years with my family, and it's so important and I appreciate. I don't have, I guess, any additional words, but thank you and it's just been a true blessing to have you with us and continue to be able to have a conversation like this. It's really awesome, it's really awesome.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

Well, justin, I think that, just like Our Lady said yes to the angel and it changed the whole world, when we're called by our bishop ordinarily to take an assignment and we say yes and then we go off to that assignment, first of all, the bishop doesn't have to look for somebody else. Secondly, we are where we've been asked to go. Sometimes the bishop may call and say I would like to give you the choice. Would you prefer this or prefer that? Well then, you have a choice. Then, if you do what you prefer and it became more difficult the bishop could say well, you chose it.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

But the most important thing is that word yes, I will do your will, and God, you know, is a yes to us. So often I've heard people say I don't believe in God, and the answer is always well, god believes in you, even if you don't believe in God. And when you might come around and say I never, never knew how much God loved me, he always loved you and loves you more. So to do his will is our delight. That's what the scripture teaches us.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Great. Thank you, father Ed Grachko, for joining us on this episode of our Voices for Voices TV show and podcast. And again, thank you. And thank you for being a light, being an inspiration in times where we question what we're here for, what we're what we're here for, um, and to to know that we have, you have, a lending ear. Uh, is, uh, is, uh, it's just, it's just really an amazing, amazing thing. So, if, uh, you're watching, you're listening, uh, I, I know this episode is going to touch so many people and it's, it's just a blessing that we were able to pull this together and you know, digitally here, you know through through zoom, that we're able to not have to be in the same place, but we can, we can do this and and share the very same messages and and thoughts and experiences. So, yeah, thank you, father ed, and uh, it's uh, yeah, I'm at a loss for words well.

Fr. Edward Gretchko:

Thank you, justin. It's good to be with you in this very unique way, huh.

Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes:

Absolutely Thank you, and, for our viewers, our listeners, thank you for being with us for this episode If you've been with us from the beginning or we're well into the 245 plus episodes that we have and we hope that you enjoy this episode and inspires you, and we we we ask, as we do at the end of our shows, that you know continue to be a voice for yourself or maybe somebody you know that's in need to share their voice, to let them share their experiences and help them feel and know that life is worth living, and there's people that love you and this is a perfect example of God's loved us, whether we believed it or not, and that's a very, very comforting to know. So until next time, I am your host, founder and executive director of Voices for Voices, Justin Alan Hayes. Thanks again to Father Edward Gretchko for joining us on this episode and we'll see you on the next episode. Take care.

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