By Renée St. Martin Wizeman

David Wayne Severson’s path to ordination has been filled with turns, trials and intense periods of discernment, by way of the Army, the National Guard, college and the Legionaries of Christ. Ultimately, his perseverance and willingness to follow God’s will and plan resulted in an evening Mass of Ordination at the Cathedral of St. Helena on June 24. Father Severson, 40, is the newest priest of the Diocese of Helena.

In remarks after the ordination Mass, Father Severson said June 24 is the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist and he referenced St. John’s sentiment, “He must increase, but I must decrease.” John the Baptist’s words capture Father Severson’s journey to fulfill his call to priesthood.

The winding path to priestly vocation

He grew up in the Bitterroot Valley community of Corvallis and graduated from Stevensville High School in 1990. Then he entered the Army and served in Kuwait during Operation Desert Storm. After 2½ years of active duty, he served another 5½ years with the Montana Army National Guard. In an interview with The Montana Catholic, Father Severson said being in the military was a time of maturation. “It was about growing up and seeing what’s out there in the world, the evils and goods,” he said.

Following his active service, he enrolled at Western Montana College in Dillon, finishing in 1998 with a bachelor’s degree in education and art history. He had a brief teaching internship at Loyola-Sacred Heart and St. Joseph schools in Missoula.

“I started to discern in college, in the late ’90s,” he said. “I was the typical college guy, but I felt something was lacking, I had a certain lack of peace. I would go to the chapel at St. Rose of Lima Church in Dillon and spend time before the Eucharist. I found a certain peace there I knew I was missing. Throughout my journey I always went back to that – it was always a point of reference, as Christ truly present.”

Raised Catholic with five siblings, he and his family recited the rosary together, both when he was younger and in his teen years, following his mother’s pilgrimage to Medjugorie. David, his mother and his younger brother would pray the rosary before the school day began. “We didn’t always like it,” he said. “But Mary’s presence was huge. I always had this devotion to (her) and that grew in college when I was discerning. I turned to Mary and knew she would guide me, and she did.”

He said that in retrospect, there were a couple of inklings of a priestly vocation during childhood. He recalls that in a conversation with his mother when he was a boy, she said “Oh, you’re going to become a priest,” and he replied, “Mom, if my wife leaves me, I’ll become a priest.”

His decision to pursue a priestly vocation gained momentum in his final year of college. As a young man, David was certain he needed to get married. In college, he met a woman who was Lutheran, and through that relationship both discovered more about their own faith. He said he grew in his faith, was “on fire” with the Holy Spirit and ultimately found his vocation was to the priesthood rather than married life. “I was still lacking something and I came to a point where I said ‘I gotta give God first dibs on my life’ and that’s what I did,” he said. His family, friends and even then-girlfriend supported his decision, Father Severson said. “She was very spiritual and she knew it was a call from God. …It was difficult (for both of us),” he said.

Legionaries discernment leads to diocesan priesthood

He entered the religious order of the Legionaries of Christ in 1998. While in the order, he earned a bachelor’s degree in philosophy and had pastoral assignments in Texas, California, Mexico and Chicago. In 2006, he entered a period of intense discernment and made a decision to transition from the Legionaries to the Diocese of Helena. He began theological studies as a diocesan seminarian at Oregon’s Mount Angel Seminary in 2007.

Father Severson said his transition into the Legionaries of Christ was one of the most difficult things he did. “It was really just totally out of love for Christ. I knew I needed that at that time in my life – that discipline, that regimented schedule – just to get me focused,” he said. The two-year novitiate period was almost monastic, he said, and heavily focused on prayer. He was in the order for nine years, and found religious life challenging throughout that time. He reached a point at which he found it affecting his prayer life adversely. He determined that being in the Legionaries was not a good fit because of his independence and his desire to serve as a parish priest, to “serve the person in front of me.” Most priests in the Legionaries are not parish priests. The Legionaries prayer practice remains a strong influence on Father Severson, who undertakes an hour of private prayer each morning, as well as praying the rosary daily. “I don’t follow all the same patterns as a religious would, because of the dynamics of being a diocesan priest,” he said. “But we each need to find the best way to get time in with our Lord.”

During his discernment with the Legionaries, he began to consider priestly service with a military component. “It was a call,” he said. He went to the Montana National Guard website, saw the chaplain candidate program and decided to visit the state chaplain. Father Severson is the only Catholic priest chaplain in the Montana National Guard at this time.

Once he had started studying for a master of divinity degree at Mount Angel, and with Bishop George Leo Thomas’ permission, David was able to receive a direct commission as an officer, and entered Army Chaplain School in Fort Jackson, S.C., for three months in the summer of 2009. “It’s not combat arms – you are focused on ministry,” he said. “It’s a totally different role. Once they know you are a chaplain candidate, (the soldiers) kind of lighten up” he said, noting the difference in his interactions with the soldiers now compared to his earlier service as a non-commissioned sergeant in the Army.

Ordination begins life as diocesan priest

During the ordination, Bishop Thomas’ homily identified six traits of happy priests: holiness, hope, humility, healing, humanity and humor. In the first trait of holiness, Bishop Thomas said, “all of the other sacraments and ministries of the Church are linked to the Eucharist and directed toward it. So too, celebration of the Eucharist also is source and summit of the spiritual life of the priest. Priests have the unmerited privilege of celebrating Eucharistic Liturgy with and for the people, a privilege every priest describes as the high point and ultimate source of priestly spirituality and personal happiness.”

In addition to serving as parochial vicar at the Cathedral of St. Helena, Father Severson will be aviation battalion chaplain for the Montana National Guard this year. The chaplain is expected to support all soldiers, regardless of religious denomination. “You’re with your flock in the parish, and then for one weekend per month and two weeks per year, you are moved to another culture,” Father Severson said. “It can balance your ministry.” Chaplain duties are focused on a “ministry of presence,” which sometimes simply involves being present with soldiers. Specific duties include marriage counseling; helping soldiers, including teenage combat veterans, cope with post-traumatic stress disorder; suicide-prevention counseling; and memorial services. If the battalion were deployed for combat, Father Severson could go with the troops as chaplain, subject to the bishop’s approval. Currently, deployments last for about a year, Father Severson said.

While his path wasn’t clear at its outset, Father Severson believes it was necessary to take this route. “God allows us to make all the decisions we want to,” he said. “And it is often the case that we need to go through all of those different experiences. For my generation and today’s generation, it is difficult to make commitments, and that plays a role as well. The culture aggressively puts these messages out there, so a lot of times we don’t see a calling to religious life or priesthood as something satisfying. But God hasn’t stopped calling – we just have to listen.”


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 27, No. 7, July 15, 2011.