The Ordination of Fr. John

Holy Spirit Prep’s newest chaplain arrived this past school year with a unique ministry opportunity: the witness of being ordained a priest. When John Klein, LC, joined the campus ministry team in August 2017, he was a newlyordained transitional deacon fresh out of three years of theological studies in Rome. HSP marked his first major assignment. A date was engraved in his calendar: December 16, 2017, when he and 32 other Legionary seminarians from around the globe would be ordained as priests.

Of course, Fr. John almost missed that date. His early plans never included the priesthood. In college, he tried engineering, then quickly shifted to music, his true passion. “It was a rush for me each time we played,” Fr. John recalled about his high school band. “I loved the loud music, the sound of the crowd, and the adventure of getting to play at different places.” His heroes wore popped, rather than Roman, collars – Dave Matthews especially. “I made a commitment to myself that I was never going to settle for a 9-5 office job. I was going to have an adventure with my life, just like Dave had an adventure with his.”

Music, though, left him feeling empty. Fr. John recalls an unforgettable performance with his band in college, “I remember thinking, ‘That was great, but it wasn’t as great as I thought it would be. Now what?’” That question led him, over months and months, to the priesthood. “I visited the Legion of Christ’s website from a computer in the University computer lab. The first picture that popped up was a picture of 50 Legionary priests…. ‘This is it,’ I realized, ‘the greatest adventure of a lifetime is to leave all behind and follow Jesus Christ.’ It wasn’t Dave whom I was meant to follow, but Jesus Christ.”

Then-Deacon John kept his date and was ordained on December 16 at the Basilica of St Paul Outside the Walls in Rome. “It was out of this world” Fr. John said, “laying prostrate during the ceremony was incredibly moving. I felt all the prayers of heaven, the saints, and the Church descending on me.”

Over the next ten days, Fr. John traveled with his family celebrating his first Masses. The Mass at the tomb of St. Gianna Molla in Milan was particularly special. Fr. John’s sister is a Sister – a Dominican Sister of Saint Cecilia in Nashville, who took the name Sr. Mary Gianna upon her consecration. More than a shared name, though, the actual biological daughter of St. Gianna, Gianna Emanuela, celebrated the Mass with Fr. John and his family.

When Fr. John returned to Atlanta from Rome, he came back to a jubilant student body to celebrate his first Masses with our Lower and Upper Schools. After Mass, Fr. John offered a personal blessing to many parents and teachers—a special blessing which he can offer his first year of priesthood.

“It has been very beautiful for me to get to meet the HSP families and share the journey and joy of my ordination with all of them,” said Fr. John. “To be able to minister at HSP as a deacon and then come back as a priest was a tremendous grace for me, and I believe, for the school.”

“This event had an impact on my little people,” said Lower School mom Tricia Mulcare. “Both were praying every day for Deacon John to come home as Father John!”

Fr. John keeps busier than ever since his ordination – celebrating school Masses, catechizing students, hosting junior high Gospel reflections, and facilitating retreats, among other ministry opportunities - but he never really abandoned his passion for music. It is a part of his ministry as a priest. “I have gotten to play more music for more people than ever before. Countless youth retreats in Connecticut, Atlanta, Chicago, New York City, Rome and more. Christ even gave me a couple of ‘Dave Matthew’s moments’ when I was able to play some of my own songs in Madrid’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium for World Youth Day 2011, and on a stage in downtown Krakow, Poland, for World Youth Day 2017,” he said.

Fr. John’s “yes” to God’s call in his life is a powerful witness to our students, and it is something he works to encourage in each of our students’ lives. On top of all his regular duties as assistant chaplain, Fr. John started an afterschool boys club for 5 th - and 6 th -grade students that combines sports, virtue, and Christian leadership formation. “Meeting with these young men and helping form them into future apostles and Christian leaders has been a great grace,” reflected Fr. John.

Fr. John has also used his passion for music to inspire and energize the Lower School students. For Mother’s Day, he worked with the third-grade class to create a video for their moms to show how much their children appreciate them. The students sang and danced along with Fr. John to a song called “Disaster,” which he wrote just for the occasion.

You can hear more of Fr. John’s work at his Reverb page: www.reverbnation.com/johnkleinlc