Dcn. Zack Mazurek of St. Sebastian Parish in Bessemer was ordained to the transitional diaconate on May 31 by Bishop John Doerfler. Dcn. Mazurek said of his upcoming ministry as a deacon that he is most looking forward to baptisms.
“It will be pretty incredible. I think it’s something that we kind of underestimate, but it’s really the foundation of who we are as Christians and as Catholics, to be baptized into the presence and the love of the Trinity,” he said. “As a deacon, I’ll have the honor and privilege of being able to welcome in new members into the Church. That’s something I’m really looking forward to.”
Dcn. Mazurek shared that he will be in the Keweenaw Peninsula and Calumet for the coming summer. He said that it is an “area I haven’t been to a whole lot. Being able to meet the people there and serve there for the summer is going to be really beautiful.”
With regards to discerning a vocation to the priesthood, Dcn. Mazurek said, “It’s pretty normal to have at least some reservations especially at first … I think especially in our generation now, where we see it’s just tough to commit. We see [for] a lot of young people that it’s difficult to stay in relationships, or commit to a lifelong job or a career.” Dcn. Mazurek noted that for his part, as he was discerning the priesthood, he thought about how “you’re making promises just like you do as a young couple does when they’re getting married—making promises to be faithful and remain faithful for the rest of their lives.”
He described it as a daunting task. “I definitely really felt like unworthy, like, ‘there’s no way I could ever do this.’ I had to work through that with the Lord in prayer and just trusting and relying on him more and more to realize it’s all going to be coming from him,” Dcn. Mazurek said. “He’s the one that’s going to provide all of the graces and everything that I need, because he’s the one who’s called me. He’s the one who will help me be able to do what he’s called me to do.”
Dcn. Mazurek said that one doesn’t discern their vocation in a vacuum. “You come from a family, a parish, and a community. My family has been really supportive, especially with their prayers, always being welcoming when I come back from a semester away at seminary.”
He said that his family has been understanding that there were occasions where he has had to miss family gatherings over the summer, or other times where they have normally been together, because of what God has called him to do. Dcn. Mazurek said that his family has been very flexible and understanding with those circumstances. “They have been supportive of me throughout the years of formation leading up to today. I’ve been grateful for their prayers and encouragement, which I think has been the hugest thing,” Dcn. Mazurek said.
In the time of the Eucharistic Revival, Dcn. Mazurek shared a little of what the Eucharist has meant to him throughout his life. “St. John Paul II said that the Eucharist was the center of his day, the center of his life, and without it, your day was nothing. [He said] his ministry was fruitless if it wasn’t rooted and connected with the Eucharist because the Eucharist is the heart of Jesus given to us. It’s God’s love revealed to us,” he said.
Dcn. Mazurek said that he was able to experience that rooted connection with the Eucharist even from a relatively young age. “I think I was always struck by the power of the Mass and struck by the mystery of when the priest elevates the host, and knowing God is here—something is happening here. I think that’s kind of stuck with me ever since I was six or seven years old, all the way up until today,” Dcn. Mazurek said. “I think we always have to humbly come before that mystery and know ‘Wow, God is showing his love for me,’ and I’m never going to fully be able to understand that. We should humbly come before the Eucharist and receive his heart that he’s giving to us in his Body and Blood.”
“Growing up here [in the Upper Peninsula], I think we have an advantage in just how easily we can get out into nature,” Dcn. Mazurek said. “We can enjoy the beautiful waterfalls, the Lake Superior shore, Lake Michigan if you’re from the south end—it’s okay. You’re still true Yoopers,” he added with a laugh.
“We can enjoy the beauty of being able to encounter God in the stillness, in the peacefulness, and the beauty of creation,” Dcn. Mazurek said. “God wants to speak to you through the simplicity of your daily life; don’t underestimate that. I think that’s something that we take for granted, but God speaks to us in the ordinary stillness of our hearts.
“If we’re willing to open up our eyes and open up our hearts and listen, we’ll realize that he’s at the door of our hearts, knocking. I think … what made a difference for me in my discernment, was just beginning to listen and to see how he was moving, how he was working, and that he was always there loving me even when I didn’t necessarily feel like he was close.”
Dcn. Mazurek shared encouragement to Catholics across the U.P. He said, “no matter where you are, no matter what you’re doing, just realize God is loving you at this very moment and he made you for this moment, and he cares for you and loves you where you’re at. Just receive that and know no matter where you’re at, that he loves you infinitely.”