October 7, 2026

By Father William Muench
NCC columnist

This is the Priest’s Appreciation Issue – always a favorite column for me. Let me start today by declaring to you my appreciation for Bishop LaValley – I am grateful to him for all he is doing for us all – and my appreciation for all the priests of our Diocese of Ogdensburg. We have been blessed! The Holy Spirit has given us such wonderful and dedicated priests, for this we should be grateful. Our North Country parishes have great pastors and priests. So, please join me as we pray for them all; and let us pray that God continues to send many more priests to minister in our diocese.

Each year in this Priest Appreciation issue, I tell the same story of a priest who touched my life at an important moment in my life. I am so grateful for this priest’s support when I really needed it. I am certain that there are many other priests who have had a profound influence on my life and my priesthood. I thank God for them all and for their support. However, here is today’s story:

Recently, I was invited by a friend, a parishioner here, to join him for a ride to visit Lourdes Camp. Lourdes Camp is the summer youth camp of the Diocese of Syracuse located on Skaneateles Lake. As a young person I attended this camp many summers. Lourdes Camp was an important place for me in those days. So, I did enjoy this visit to camp now.

This story is about when I was eleven years old. On a particular day, after breakfast, one of the priests, I remember it was Father Shields Dwyer, invited me to take a walk with him. It was then that he was to tell me that my mother had died that day. Father Dwyer then spent time with me that day. I really can’t remember exactly what he said to me at that time, but his presence was so very important to me that day. I know that his presence with me was truly important; I still remember it.

So, this recent visit to camp – after all these years – was a powerful gift to me. It was a God given opportunity to remember that walk with Father Dwyer so long ago. I haven’t really thought about day often. I wish I had. That priest’s presence was a sacred moment for me – a necessary moment.

I have had many other opportunities to experience the presence of other priests in my life – times that truly enriched my own prayer life, times that made me a better person and showed me the way, times that I have always appreciated, times that made a difference.

Today, I would like to encourage you all to remember the priests who have brought you closer to the Lord Jesus by their words and even more by their presence in your parish at Mass or around the streets of your community – just as Jesus did in his time. I am certain that his actual presence was transformative. I believe that when a priest makes Jesus present to us, each of us will discover a true moment of appreciation.