To be a 'priest for priests'

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

The undiagnosed pain that sent him into early retirement is a means to join his sufferings with Christ – as he continues his ministry.
He also hopes to serve by sharing a talent he began honing at age 4.
Father John F. Hamm shared these thoughts with The Catholic Free Press just before his July 1 retirement.
Father Hamm, 63, said he hadn’t planned to retire until a couple months ago; doctors are still trying to find the cause for pain in his back that reaches to his chest.
“It was during the pandemic that the back pain … limited my mobility,” he said. “I didn’t think it would be fair to parishioners not to be out there in the trenches with them. … I don’t want to be an occasionally-seen priest. I want to be out there and involved, as I have been in the past.
“I found another way to do that,” he continued. “I think of myself as a priest for priests.” That doesn’t mean ministering to priests; it means giving them a respite by   covering for them at their parishes, he said. He said some priests never take a vacation, but they need to – for their health and, by extension, the health of their parishes.
Father Hamm calls it his “retirement apostolate,” although he was already doing this diocesan sacramental ministry while living at St. Joseph rectory on Hamilton Street in Worcester before retirement.
After his ordination in 2013 he’d been named associate pastor of St. Bernadette Parish in Northborough, then St. Augustine Parish in Millville and Good Shepherd Parish in Linwood. In 2015 he became administrator of St. Denis and St. Anne parishes in Ashburnham, and, in 2017, St. Denis’ pastor. (St. Anne’s had been declared unsafe and demolished.) In 2019 he became administrator of St. Paul and St. Stanislaus parishes in Warren.
Father Hamm said the most uncomfortable thing for him is standing in one place for a while, which he has to do when celebrating Mass.
“That’s a perfect opportunity to join my suffering with the suffering of Christ,” he reasons. He said he’s booked into October.
“And I love it,” he said. “I love going out and meeting the people of God, celebrating Mass for them. … It makes priesthood so much fun and joyful.”
It gives him the chance to meet people from all over the diocese, and encounter people he already knows.
“Serving the people of God like that, having the opportunity to interact with them, is energizing for me,” he said.
“I’m also looking forward to bringing my musical abilities to ministry,” Father Hamm said. “I play piano and harpsichord. I started studying when I was 4 and never stopped. My undergraduate degree is in music.” He now rejoices in his nephew, almost 4, whose favorite piece is Igor Stravinsky’s “The Rite of Spring.”
“He sings along with the melody,” Father Hamm said. “It’s a very unusual melody.”
But back to the priest himself. He said he plans to perform at Southgate at Shrewsbury. He moved there in June. Among the residents are more than a dozen retired priests of the diocese. Father Hamm said the priests “recognize the need for fraternity, and share their lives, their strengths, their support, their prayers.” They pray together, celebrate Mass together and eat together there.
Father Hamm said he’s also hoping to form a classical music chamber ensemble with a violinist and a cellist – other priests or fellow members of the Associated Chamber Music Players. His idea is to raise money for priests’ retirement with performances throughout the diocese: “my way of giving back for what the diocese and Southgate are providing for me.”