Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
Serving Gogebic, Iron and Ontonagon Counties
By TOM LAVENTURE
Ironwood — After seven years of ministering to the spiritual needs of Ironwood Roman Catholics, the Rev. Robb Jurkovich said his next role will be as chaplain of OSF St. Francis Hospital & Medical Group in Escanaba.
Jurkovich is pastor of Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church in Ironwood. The 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. masses this Sunday will be his last before moving to his next assignment.
“I definitely believe there has been an overall growth and strength and love of the faith in this church,” Jurkovich said. “But we are constantly fighting against a bleeding population.”
Kids who attend Our Lady of Peace Catholic Church and School often leave Ironwood after graduating high school or Gogebic Community College, he said. It is a constant struggle to keep people here and that is true for the whole area, he said.
The Rev. Binu Joseph, a diocesan priest from Kerala, India, is being transferred from his post as pastor of Ewen, Berglund and Watersmeet parishes to take over at Ironwood. The Rev. Michel Jacobus, the pastor of Ontonagon, Rockland and White Pine parishes will add Ewen and Bergland to his area.
Bishop John Francis Doerfler of the Diocese of Marquette, wants to revitalize the chaplaincy at St. Francis, the only catholic hospital in the Upper Peninsula, Jurkovich said. The bishop wants the position to serve as an outpost of evangelization, he said.
“He wants me to be more hands-on in forming the spiritual direction,” Jurkovich said.
The role includes reaching out to patients, Catholic and non-Catholic, but also with providing a a ministerial outlook and tending to the needs of doctors and medical staff including counseling and teaching of the faith, he said.
A hospital role means being there for the faithful who are at a vulnerable time and often very receptive to welcoming God into their lives, he said. Hospitals are places where many people with addictions and other problems that put them on outside looking present an opportunity for the church to make a powerful connection, he said.
“There is never a dull day in ministry,” he said. “The Lord is full of surprises.”
Jurkovich said his work will also allow him to fill in for priests on weekends all around the diocese. It will be a nice way to serve many parishes and meet and get to know many people, he said.
Our Lady of Peace has an aging membership and tending to the needs of the sick and dieing has prepared him to serve a hospital population, Jurkovich said. The chance to provide catholic education in the schools has also helped, he said.
“I’ve done a lot in way of education and one the great gifts is being able to teach the faith,” Jurkovich said.
During his time at Our Lady of Peace, Jurkovich said the support of the staff and lay ministry was tremendous. He said Deacon Chuck Gervasio was important at the beginning as well as Deacon Bob Hamen who fills that role today.
Alison Schlag, the director of religion education, and Kathy Lahti, office secretary, have invaluable roles in helping run the day-to-day parish business, he said.
Jurkovich, 42, celebrated his 15th year as a priest on June 11. He came to Ironwood in 2012, after six years in Menominee as pastor of Resurrection Parish and an administrator of Holy Spirit Parish, and prior to that was associate pastor of St. Thomas the Apostle Parish in Escanaba, and St. Anthony of Padua Parish in Wells.
“Now it’s full circle back to Escanaba,” he said.
Born in Marquette, Jurkovich said he had a calling to the priesthood in high school but played three years of football at Northern Michigan University before moving answering that call. His six years in seminary included the University of St. Thomas in the Twin Cities, a semester in Rome, and four years at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit.
Jurkovich was ordained to the priesthood on June 11, 2004 by Bishop James H. Garland at St. Peter Cathedral in Marquette.
The annual priestly moves happen every July 1, he said. They are adjustments for priests who retire or leave the ministry, he said.
“We lost two priests this year that we didn’t expect and when that happens the deck has to be shuffled,” he said.
These are challenging times, if not the most challenging times due to scandals in the church, Jurkovich said. There are spirits of division, confusion and moral relativism where nothing seems true anymore and nothing matters, he said.
As darkness seems to overwhelm hope, people tend to return to prayer and that faith is the light that shines brightest through the darkness, he said. People often find there is something missing from living without God, and the Lord’s mercy is his greatest attribute in welcoming them back to the church, he said.
“I still believe that God is the founder of the church and not man,” Jurkovich said. “We are all hard-wired to love God, to know God, and to serve God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in him.”
