Adviser’s Note: The Journalism I class interviewed NDA’s Father Jordan, and, as expected, every feature story written has its own “take” from the interview. Enjoy the variety!
“I love running, and I don’t use music because I find it a time to talk to God,” said Father Jordan Neeck, NDA chaplain.
Father Jordan can commonly be seen running with NDA’s own track and cross-country teams, but most don’t know how his hobby started.
In his high school years, Father Jordan’s mother had an interaction with his high school’s cross-country coach and told him about her son’s desire to join the team. Although Father Jordan had never told his mom he wanted to join the team, he pursued the position the coach offered him.
Father Jordan also confessed how the girls’ cross-country team made the experience more enjoyable, and he ended up temporarily dating one of the girls on the team in high school.
In the present day he sees running as an opportunity to stay fit but also to have time with God. Father Jordan has run multiple marathons and commented on how he uses this time to pray, reflect, and give self-encouragement while running.
He is a busy man and has many positions at Notre Dame Academy while also having major responsibilities at St. Norbert College where he serves on the Board of Trustees. He also serves as Assistant Vocation Director and Secretary-Treasurer at the Abbey.
“My favorite part of being a priest is celebrating Mass,” said the priest. On the other hand, his saddest sacrifice was giving up being able to get married and have children.
Father Jordan never originally envisioned himself becoming a priest until college, although others did.
“A lot of people when I was younger saw gifts in me that I didn’t,” said Father Jordan. He found his calling towards the priesthood after a visit to SNC.
“St. Norbert actually wanted me to go there,” said the chaplain. He had prayed for months on the decision because he had his heart set on another college. Eventually, he felt God calling him toward St. Norbert and applied.
While in college he studied finance and after graduation worked in a corporate job for two years.
“There was an emptiness in my heart,” said Father Jordan. During this career struggle, he witnessed priests on campus working and living together and saw beauty in it. He became inspired to become a priest and work with high schoolers.
“I found it really attractive as a lifestyle,” said the priest. Once again he turned and prayed to God. After much thought and reflection, he decided to make a life change.
“Working with high school kids is much more fun than sitting behind a desk crunching away numbers,” the chaplain told the journalism class. He found peace and happiness in his new life.
He still occasionally dabbles in finance and is taking business classes at the University of Notre Dame, working towards an Executive Master of Nonprofit Administration at the request of Abbot Dane Radecki.
It’s currently his sixth year at NDA and fourth year as chaplain, and he deals with the sacramental ministry of hearing confessions, celebrating Mass, funerals, baptisms and weddings.–Ally Paprocki
*******************
Most people think priests sit around and pray all day, but Father Jordan has the right mix of Christ, running and hunting.
Father often runs with the NDA cross-country team after school. He will also run before school and will go six miles.
This isn’t the only thing Father does though. He is the NDA chaplain and has been for 4 years. He wears a habit every day paired with Birkenstocks.
“We do not have a dress code for facial hair but we do meet the skirt requirement,” said Father.
Father was called to the priesthood when he attended St. Norbert College. Several people thought he would go into the priesthood, but he kept saying “no” to the call.
Father liked how the Norbertiens were on campus with the students in a community. After he graduated SNC, he worked in finance for two years.
Although he enjoyed finance, Father said, “I felt an emptiness inside and never felt fulfilled.”
This was when he decided to go into the priesthood and hasn’t looked back since.
Father has other hobbies besides running and praying. He likes to hunt with a bow and arrow and has made the news because of it.
The Abbey is on 140 acres of land, explained the chaplain, and there was an overpopulation of deer.
Father asked the Abbot if he could thin out the population. He took his bow out and hunted some of the deer.
A lot of people had a problem with it to the point where the police and the DNR got involved.
Since what he was doing was perfectly legal, he didn’t get in trouble.
Father was getting hate messages and people were even vandalizing his stands. A local news station picked up the story as hunter harassment, and the story even made national news. Father actually received some fan mail from people because of this event.
Father Jordan Neeck is a man with many layers. He is an avid hunter, runner, teacher, and, most of all, a faithful
man of God.–Evelyn D’Angelo
