Father Mark Zacker
As their young son ran through the living room and upstairs, almost tripping over the long sheet draped around him, Chet looked over his newspaper and gave his wife a quizzical “what-in-the-world” look. Bernice put down her sewing, and answered with a knowing nod and smile. Soon little Mark announced from the top of the stairs, “It’s time for Mass.”
Entering their six-year-old’s bedroom, Chet and Bernice were greeted by their proud son standing behind his storage-box altar and wearing his flowing-sheet chasuble. This “play Mass” was not the first Mark had celebrated evidently, nor was it the last, but it made a very fond impression on the two parents in the coal-mining Pennsylvania town of Mount Carmel. “Playing Mass” by himself or with a neighborhood playmate or two became as much a part of his play activities as football or baseball. Very desirous to closely duplicate the Mass, Mark was delighted when his mom gave him a small bottle of Manischewitz concord grape wine for the play Mass.
Having no siblings in the house, Mark was very outgoing. From third grade on, 6:30 a.m. would find him pedaling his bicycle to Our Mother of Consolation Catholic Church where he served the 7 a.m. Mass. Mark remembers his call to the priesthood beginning with no more than curiosity about the varied, dedicated service of his two parish priests, Fr. Stan and Fr. Fred. Although the priests were markedly different – one sedate, the other boisterous – they worked well together in serving all the life and death needs of the mostly Catholic townspeople. Mark never felt any pressure by anyone to become a priest, but appreciated the priests’ occasional compliments on how well he served Mass. Mark’s mom and dad’s devotion to the Church no doubt nurtured Mark’s openness to the gentle call to the priesthood. Chet handled the maintenance and construction for Our Mother of Consolation while Bernice cooked for the nuns.Mark’s path to the priesthood followed a slow, natural progression. He attended Holy Spirit Elementary School and Our Lady of Lourdes Regional High School. His favorite subjects were History (because of his love of reading) and Literature (because it was easier than math and science). Humor was and is a favorite ingredient in life for Mark. Mr. Ryan was his favorite high school teacher because of his great sense of humor as well as his expertise as an historian. He recalls his favorite book in 6th grade to be The Good Earth by Pearl Buck, while in college he was drawn to Dostoevsky and Edgar Allan Poe. His Catholic schooling helped nourish his curiosity about the priesthood. His admiration for his parish priests also continued to grow especially between his 10th and 15th years as several members of his extended family died. Two a year passed on for three years in a row. Mark wondered if sickness and death were all there was. No wonder St. Theresa of Lisieux (the Little Flower) became one of his favorite saints. However, through serving Mass, Mark witnessed all phases of people’s lives and saw firsthand how the priest is directly involved in all these stages.
As Mark wondered about his future, he was impressed by the dedicated devotion of his parish priests, his parents, and the parishioners at daily Mass,. Mark wanted more than a nine-to-five job. His dad advised him to avoid the mines and construction because there was no future there. He saw there was much more variety and adventure to being a priest. He recognized how Jesus helps people through the priesthood. So after high school off to DeSalles University in Allentown went Mark for four years and then another four years at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago. On June 15, 1996, Mark was happily ordained in his home parish.
Corpus Christi has been blessed with Fr. Mark Zacker as our pastor now for one year. His dreams and goals center on Faith formation in our Church and school. Vocations, social justice, good stewardship – all will happen if we focus on faith formation. Father Mark prays and lives to be a good example so he, like Fr. Fred, will have men follow him to the priesthood. While completely free time is rare, if given a free day Father Mark likes to play or attend sports. Football and baseball are his favorites, although he loves to watch his Philadelphia Flyers play hockey. On a longer vacation he would try to see the Phillies in Florida at their spring training games. While the business side of being a priest – budgeting, personnel work, job descriptions – is the hardest part of being a priest for Fr. Mark, it is more than offset by the joyful experience of helping his people. Corpus Christi thanks God for Fr. Mark Zacker who is both “Silver” and “Gold” treasure for our parish.