We invite readers to send short stories about the ways in which their lives have been personally blessed by the life and work of priests and religious in our diocese.

By Karina Fabian

When Jesus appeared to his disciples after the resurrection, he still bore the wounds of his crucifixion. Father Jim Connor sees a powerful message in that fact that has helped define his own ministry.

Father Connor was born in Anaconda in 1949. His father worked on the smelter and his mother was a nurse. He grew up in Anaconda and went to Carroll College. Although he said he’d always felt a calling, after college he went to work at the psychiatric hospital in Warm Springs near Anaconda for three years before entering the seminary.

In seminary, he had a chance to study in Israel. He said being able to walk in the same places where the events of the Scriptures happened brought them alive for him. He was ordained in 1978.

He served in Bozeman at Holy Rosary from 1978 to 1982, then at St. Anthony’s in Missoula from 1982 to 1986. Next he served as pastor of St. Michael’s in Conrad until 1992, then moved back to Bozeman to Resurrection Parish, where he served until 1994. From there, he served at Our Lady of the Valley in Helena through 1996, then Risen Christ in Kalispell until 2001.

He returned to Helena, serving at St. Mary’s from 2001 to 2006. In 2006, he moved to Polson where he continues to serve at Immaculate Conception Parish.

Wherever he has been, he’s found his greatest joy in supporting others in the love of Christ. “I enjoy being involved in people’s lives – in times of great celebration, times of great sorrow – to be a source of consolation and comfort to people.”

Reconciliation is his favorite sacrament to celebrate. “You can truly help people to understand God’s forgiveness and to understand what a transforming experience it can be to receive that forgiveness, and they believe it.”

Celebrating Eucharist for the people he serves continues to be an awe-inspiring experience, even after nearly 30 years of ministry. Father Connor also finds awe in how the Lord works through him; sometimes, he says, through his own inadequacies. In fact, his favorite book, The Wounded Healer, by Henri Nouwen, addresses the concept of recognizing and embracing your own woundedness and using it to bring healing to others, just as Christ used his wounds to save us. “That’s always been an inspiration to me – when we can do that, we can be the healers Christ calls us to be.”

In what little spare time a busy diocesan priest can have, Father Jim likes to play golf and spend time with his fellow priests. He’s a member of Jesus Caritas, a group of priests who meet monthly to spend time in prayer and review how their ministry has gone. They go out to dinner and socialize as well.

“The camaraderie, the sharing of life, the prayer time, all that we do whenever we gather is important to keeping things in perspective and building each other up, supporting each other in difficult times – all that rolled together,” he said, adding that with so many demands and so little down time, the support of his colleagues is very important.


Published in The Montana Catholic, Vol. 24, No. 4, April 18, 2008.