Deacon Christopher Yanta’s journey to the priesthood began at the altar when he was an altar server at his home parish of St. Timothy in Maple Lake. The experience of altar serving kindled his desire to spend his life close to the Eucharist.
“The first time I served the Mass back in second grade, I felt like the Lord might be calling me to serve him in this way, and that feeling never really went away,” he said.
After he is ordained to the priesthood on May 25 — along with 12 other seminarians for the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis — he will be in the very role he admired as an altar server.
“(After ordination) I am really looking forward to the closeness to Christ in the Eucharist, especially at Mass,” said Deacon Yanta, 29.
He told the “Practicing Catholic” radio show for a May 17 program that the call went on the “back burner” during high school and college. But when he entered The St. Paul Seminary in St. Paul, he felt a sense of peace — a sign of following God’s will, he said.
“As I’ve discerned, (God) has really put a lot of peace in my heart and then conversely, in those areas where I’ve kind of discerned something else, he’s taken away that peace or made it very clear that this isn’t where he wants me.”
“It’s not all sunshine and daisies, as they say, but … my time in seminary has been overwhelmed with the Lord’s love and his peace,” Deacon Yanta said.
Deacon Yanta said that he hopes he can create a space of prayerful silence in his priesthood.
“I think the greatest need of our local Church (lies in a) lack of silence, that quiet space where we meet God,” he said. “I plan on preaching about the necessity of silence in our daily lives as well as offering retreats throughout the year that will provide opportunities for the people of God to enter into that silence.”
Acknowledging his call to be a “fisher of men,” Deacon Yanta said he also enjoys catching real fish.
“I absolutely love to fish,” he said. “There’s just something about being on the water, tracking down the fish, and the excitement of getting a bite.”
