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

Father Tim Moriarty came to his vocation after many years in the secular world, but life as a priest has brought peace and grace as nothing else could have.

Father Tim was ordained in the Cathedral in June 2003, where he then served as associate pastor. “It was wonderful because I had so many experiences with funerals, baptisms… I definitely learned the liturgical practices in those two years,” he said. In July 2005, he became pastor at Holy Family Parish in Three Forks with the Valley of Flowers Mission in Belgrade.

Father Tim grew up Catholic, yet is glad for his experiences in the secular world. “I had a wide variety of experiences before I became a priest.But the older I got the more open I was to the sense of God’s calling to me for a religious vocation. The key thing was when I was working for the National Parks Service in Arizona, I started doing daily rosary on my own,” he said.

His family had prayed the rosary regularly when he was growing up, and he said his return to that tradition signaled his openness to God’s direction.

His search led him to join Mount Angel Abbey in Oregon as a novice monk in 1992. He said that it was a powerful experience but the heavily structured life was not right for him. He joined the seminary at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn., for the Diocese of Helena in 1996.

Father Tim understands the hesitation many men feel about choosing holy orders, particularly the concern about giving up the chance for a wife and children. Nonetheless, he says there’s a peace he experiences in following God’s will as a priest that he doesn’t think he would ever have found in marriage.

Even though marriage is not a sacrament he can personally experience, the other sacraments fill him with joy and awe. Eucharist, of course, is number one, but he finds reconciliation very powerful.

“It’s the power of God’s mercy, the very apparent depth of people’s longing for God through the sacrament, the fact that I’m an instrument of God. There are times when this advice will come out, and I know it’s not me, it’s the Holy Spirit. My mouth is talking but I’m thinking, ‘Where did this come from?’ The power of the Spirit is just unbelievable,” he said.

He’s found amazing moments, too, in his duties as a priest, even the difficult duty of celebrating his own father’s funeral. “I didn’t know if I could do it, but it was so powerful. Bishop Thomas was a great support. It was a real grace-filled day.”

Despite these moments of grace, peace and power, he does not advocate faith based on feelings. “As I was trying to figure out what God wanted me to do, there were moments of anxiety, and a priest told me that if we all went with our feelings, none of us would be there.

“Rely on the Spirit. Go with what your mind, your conscience, is telling you to do – not your feelings. We all have feelings – they come and go – but your mind is constant. That’s the soul. If anyone is even remotely thinking about the priesthood or religious life, I highly recommend at least trying it out because God’s grace will be with you no matter what direction He leads you.”


Published in the Montana Catholic, Vol. 22, No. 9, September 18, 2006.