I would like to begin this reflection with part of the message from Fr. Al Backmann in last month’s Kindling in recognition and gratitude for his dedication in helping many of us to better hear God’s call. Fr. Al has served as the Spiritual Advisor for Cursillo, helping to lead and direct many closings, making many phone calls and Emails to invite other clergy to serve on weekends, and as well serving on many many Cursillo weekends as part of the team.

“Each of us is called. Few hear that call, like the voice of God calling us in the night. Usually, we discover our call, like Elisha, while doing other things. For most of us our call comes as a persistent, inner prompting that can easily be drowned out by the lure of money, power, security or fame. But we will never be totally happy until we hear and respond to our innermost calling.” (Fr. Al Backmann)

Fr. Al is a genuine example of not letting those inner promptings from God being drowned out.

Here is a little of his background, taken from a University of St.Thomas publication on January 4, 2001:

He grew up in Minneapolis, graduated from North High, enlisted in the Army and served in Korea for two years. His first vocational religious calling was to marriage when he married his high school sweetheart,Nancy.Their marriage was blessed with five children. He earned an accounting degree from the University of Minnesota. He bought and sold commodities at General Mills until 1968, when he became an accountant for a large firm. He left in 1981 to establish his own firm.

Nancy died of cancer 7 years later in 1989. Two of their sons were living at home.

"A couple of years after Nancy died, I was talking to a friend and I told him I was thinking of becoming a deacon," Backmann recalled. "He said, ‘I think you’d be a better priest.’ I laughed and said I did not want to go back to school for six years. But you know, he planted the seed."

Others did, too. When he met with the vocations office to discuss becoming a deacon, 15 minutes into the interview he was told, "I don’t want to discuss you being a deacon, but a priest." A priest friend read Backmann’s autobiography and asked, "Have you ever thought of the seminary?"

"I kept getting this message," Backmann said, "and I kept asking God what to do. Finally one morning, He said He would give me all the support He could. I never looked back. When I got the call, I said, ‘Yes, that’s where I am supposed to be.’ "

Fr. Al was ordained a priest in 1999, 10 years after his wife Nancy died. I did not know Fr. Al then, but my wife Jackie and I had a connection to the Backmann family through Fr. Al’s brother Howie and Howie’s wife Marie. We spent three yearstogether in deacon formation, and Howie and I were ordained as permanent deacons in 1997. There must have been something pretty amazing about the family Fr. Al and Deacon Howie grew up in.

Fr. Al served the parishes of St. Bridget of Sweden in Lindstrom, Immaculate Conception in Columbia Heights, and St. John Neumann in Eagan, and also had served on the faculty at St. John Vianney College Seminary.

Fr. Al retired in July of 2011 and was named director of retired clergy in that same year. As someone once said, you never retire as a follower of Jesus. Fr. Al has helped out at many parishes since his retirement and he was asked to come out of retirement and agreed to serve as pastor of St.Therese Catholic Church in 2015 for one year. Most recently he was asked to serve St.Stephens in south Minneapolis for the next 7 months.

Fr. Al continues to be an inspiration for many of us in his ability to hear and his willingness to respond to God’s call.

For many of us who have worked weekend’s with Fr. Al, his down to earth manner, his smile and laughter, his passion for the Lord and Mass and his acronym J.O.Y. have guided us to better hear and respond to our innermost calling.

J.O.Y. on the cross in one direction represents (J) Jesus, (O) nothing between Jesus and (Y) You and in the other direction (J) Jesus, (O) Others and (Y) You

Deacon Tim Helmeke