Archdiocese of Baltimore priests celebrate 565 years of milestones

The Archdiocese of Baltimore will honor archdiocesan priests celebrating milestone anniversaries with a Nov. 6 Mass at Sacred Heart in Glyndon. Together, the priests have served the local faith community 565 years.

Among the honorees are Monsignor Joseph Lizor and Father Paul Thomas, two of the longest- serving priests of the archdiocese.

Monsignor Lizor, ordained for 65 years, believes his service as an altar boy at St. Mary in Hagerstown sparked an interest in his vocation.

“I wanted to stop kneeling on the bottom step of the altar and get up there on the top,” he joked. 

After three years of kneeling on the bottom, the young graduate of his parish school received a scholarship to St. Charles Minor Seminary in Catonsville, continuing his journey to ordination in 1958.

Looking back, the 91-year-old priest said he enjoyed everything about his ministry, which included 22 years as an army chaplain from 1971 to 1993.

“I said Mass all over the world,” he recalled. “I was stationed in Japan, Korea, Germany and Turkey, and I retired from the Army War College with the rank of lieutenant colonel.”

Monsignor Lizor’s other assignments included appointments as associate pastor of St. Agnes in Catonsville and pastor of St. Luke in Edgemere for 15 years preceding his 2011 retirement.

Monsignor Lizor  received a papal honor this year, the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice.

Father Paul Thomas, who is celebrating 60 years as a priest, was raised in the now-closed St. Peter the Apostle Church in Baltimore. Although he never served Mass as a young boy, he felt God’s call in a rather different way.

After taking the entrance exams for four high schools, he received four letters, with three of them requesting $10 to provide the results. The fourth letter from St. Charles Minor Seminary immediately invited him to attend and also offered him a scholarship.

“It was just as easy as it sounds,” Father Thomas said with a laugh. “It sounds kind of silly, but you know when we think of the priesthood being a gift from God, in a sense, it’s like God really called me rather than myself making the decision.”

So, for the past 60 years, Father Thomas has been returning the favor by serving God’s people. His assignments included appointments to St. Anthony of Padua in Gardenville, St. Mary in Govans and the Catholic Center in Baltimore, where he worked in the marriage tribunal and was the longtime archdiocesan archivist.

What he enjoys most about priesthood are baptisms.

“I think that’s why we’re called ‘Father,’ ” he explained, “because we’re giving new life, spiritual life to the babies and to the adults that we baptize. That’s a real thrill, to bring people into the church.”

And like biological fathers, Father Thomas found tremendous joy in following his parishioners through their spiritual lives.

“We as priests help get them ready for first Communion, and, later, help prepare them for confirmation, and eventually some of them get married,” he said. “So, you’ve followed them all their lives.”

For the past three years, Father Thomas has resided at Mercy Ridge, ministering to his fellow residents.

“We’re ordained to touch people’s lives in a spiritual way,” the 85-year-old priest said.

65 Years

Monsignor Joseph Lizor

60 Years

Father Paul Thomas

50 Years

Father H. Martin Hammond

Father Mark Logue

Monsignor Richard Murphy

Father G. Eugene Nickol

Father Michael Orchik

Father Thomas Ryan

40 Years

Father Lawrence Johnson

25 Years

Father Paul Breczinski

Monsignor McLean Cummings

Monsignor Robert Jaskot

Father Jose Opalda

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