Remember how, during school days, as summer approached, a sister or other teacher might encourage you to “enjoy your summer, but don’t take a vacation from reading and don’t take a vacation from God?”
Retirement, it would seem, follows similar principles. For local Catholic priests, religious and laity, leaving active employment does not mean that they “retired” from God. Rather, retirement has enriched their spiritual life and their relationship with God.
“I think people plan for their retirement in terms of finances, bucket lists, family, health, etc., but may not consider their spiritual life,” said Diana Brook, 67, a one-time Peace Corps volunteer and a retired caseworker and administrator for the Ashtabula County Community Action Agency. “I’m not sure I fully realized the importance of planning for my spiritual life, but I have found that retirement has given me the opportunity to grow spiritually in terms of prayer, Bible study and using my gifts to serve others.”
Father Jim Korda agreed, adding that including God in your retirement plans “is good advice for anybody. We always have to make time for those things that are important—whether it is our health, our mental well-being or our spiritual well-being.” Father Korda, 72, is a retired pastor and longtime leader in the diocesan Catholic Television Network of Youngstown (CTNY).
Discerning Retirement
All of this begins, however, with the decision to retire—which is a process that looks different for each individual person.
“You’ll know when it’s time,” said Father Ray Thomas, 80, another retired pastor who served in most of the six counties of the Youngstown Diocese—spending more than 30 years in Ashtabula County, including as a chaplain at the Youngstown State University Newman Center. He spent years presiding over the combining of three City of Ashtabula parishes into Our Lady of Peace Parish, and he fostered closer collaboration with other parishes in the county. “I was taking the parish as far I would be able to and asking the Lord to show me what He’d want me to do,” he said, “I was already 78, and the energy to keep doing what I had been doing was waning. It’s time for someone else to do this.” So, in 2024, he discerned that it was time.
George Schorsten also looked critically at his situation, but the decision to retire was preceded by reflection and prayer. “I believed that I had enough savings and that God would provide what I needed. I also felt that God had other things in mind for me,” said Schorsten, 72, a veteran Certified Public Accountant. After decades in business, he concluded his career as business manager for the Lumen Christi Schools, a network of Catholic elementary schools in the Mahoning Valley, and then as parish auditor for the Diocese of Youngstown.
For Humility of Mary Sister Rosemary Hammer, 87, “retirement” took the form of simply stepping back, as many religious brothers and sisters never retire—their ministry merely shifts over time. After serving for six decades with the Humility of Mary Sisters as a teacher, principal and health care administrator and in other service ministries including as director of the Cleveland-based Collaborative to End Human Trafficking, Sister Rosemary felt that her age was catching up with her. “It takes a very spiritual element” to accept the reality that one is ready for retirement, she said. Around 2018, Sister Rosemary retired to the Villa Maria Community Center in its independent living facility. As other health issues arose, she later transferred to the assisted living facility there. “For some reason, I was able to make the transition. You ask God to help you,” she said.
About his decision to retire, Father Korda said, “My mind and my body were telling me that this was the right time. Our mind and our body are good indicators of what we can do and should do.” With his energy level declining—particularly in terms of administration—he decided to let go of full-time ministry, determining that he could retire at 69. Yet he has remained involved in ministry, particularly with his Wineskins interviews that are carried on various local radio stations and major podcasting platforms, the TV “Mass for Shut-ins” and serving as a weekend assistant at parishes. He initially retired in 2023 to his residence in Boardman but relocated earlier this year to the Villa Maria Apartments on the grounds of the Villa Maria Community Center near New Castle, Pennsylvania.
Brook, on the other hand, said that she “really struggled to make the decision to retire.” Eventually, through prayer and reflection, she realized that she enjoyed her coworkers, but the actual work gave her less satisfaction. As part of her discernment, she spoke with people who had already made the decision and found that those with the highest level of satisfaction post-retirement continued to be very active. “I felt the Lord had other plans for me, which gave me the courage to move on,” she said.
More Time for Prayer
Shortly after his retirement, Schorsten, a parishioner of St. Mary Magdalene Parish in Youngstown (Mahoning County), hiked the Camino de Santiago—a network of pilgrimages leading to the shrine of Saint James the Apostle in the cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. The site, according to tradition, is where the remains of Saint James are buried. The centuries-old pilgrimage draws hundreds of thousands of pilgrims annually and was the subject of the 2010 movie The Way with Martin Sheen and his son, Emilio Estevez, who also directed.
“I spent over 35 days on the pilgrimage, and it changed my life forever. When you’re walking it, for the most part, you are walking by yourself. You have no one to talk to but God. Sometimes you like what God has to say and sometimes you don’t,” Schorsten said with a chuckle. “It really affected me. It’s a retreat, for want of a better term. It’s very emotional and I’m not an emotional guy normally.”
Beyond the Camino, Schorsten continued, “Retirement has allowed me to establish a daily prayer routine and I have been able to attend additional Masses on weekdays.” He also noted, “It seems that, almost daily, the Holy Spirit points out Scripture passages that call me to action. Before retirement I could use the excuse that ‘I don’t have time to do any more’ and I would rush through any prayer time. With having the time to consistently have a morning prayer routine, I seem to hear God’s call much more clearly. I also have been able to read more.”
Residing in her room at the Villa Maria Center assisted living section, Sister Rosemary said she has what she calls a “prayer nook,” which suits her pursuit of prayer. With the time that retirement allows, she noted that one can be “more still, more reflective. You can pull away from all the noise.”
One can realize, Sister Rosemary said, that “you’re where you are supposed to be.” She quoted Saint Oscar Romero, the martyred archbishop of El Salvador, who said, “God takes time to know the number of your days,” adding that God knows what those days will be like. She said that, in retirement, you are “nurturing your time more and you have to make choices about how to nurture it.”
Though she has time for solitude, much of her spiritual life is tied in with her community life. She remains connected with her community by living in close proximity to other Humility of Mary sisters and through online involvement.
“You have to be forward-looking and hopeful,” she said, rather than being discouraged that life isn’t what it used to be. “Maybe it shouldn’t be like it used to be. You have to trust in God that God knows where you need to be and what you need to become.”
Father Thomas, who after retiring moved to a home in Warren (Trumbull County), said that he has “more relaxed time for prayer, such as finding quiet time for the Liturgy of the Hours, Scripture readings and articles in Catholic publications.” Since retirement, he said that he is going to Mass more than offering Mass—usually declining invitations to concelebrate. “That was a little bit of adjustment, but it’s good to be in the pews with the folks,” he said. Though he does continue to assist at weekend and weekday Masses where needed.
For Brook, a parishioner of St. Joseph Calisanctus Parish in Jefferson (Ashtabula County), she said that she has “more time to devote to prayer. It used to be more quick and to the point, and for more immediate things. My topics have broadened. Now, I find myself praying for more worldwide issues—social justice type issues.” In addition, she said, “I can stop at the church and go in and pray. I like the solitude and quietness of the church.”
Father Korda said, “I find those moments when I don’t have anything to do, and I reflect on my surroundings and what is going on and my health. Those are opportunities for gratitude and to enter into personal prayer.”
A Shift in Ministry
As far as involvement in their parish communities is concerned, local retirees find that it doesn’t necessarily decrease—it just changes.
“Yes, I don’t have to go to as many meetings,” Father Thomas quipped, saying that enables him to be involved in the St. Vincent de Paul Dining Hall in Warren, the Knights of Columbus and the local Rotary Club.
In particular, Father Thomas said that retirement has given him the opportunity to preach missions for Unbound—formerly known as the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging—which, since 1981 has invited people to sponsor children or elders in 16 developing countries in Latin America, Africa and Asia. Father Thomas noted that he has also gone on 14 or 15 different mission assignments in the past year, including trips to Alabama, Texas, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois, New York and South Carolina. “It’s a grace from God,” Father Thomas said.
Even before retirement, Brook said she was already involved in her parish as a lector, Eucharistic minister and a member of the liturgy committee. “For the first six months after retirement, I decided: ‘Don’t commit to anything.’ I did turn some things down.” As she eased into retirement, she joined the parish’s Women’s Ministry, which organizes community dinners, funeral dinners, women’s teas and a semi-annual women’s luncheon. She also joined the Seven Sisters Apostolate, where one person commits to one day each week, to pray for priests for an hour. At present, she fills in when some of the Seven Sisters are not available. She has also become an advisory committee member for Direction Home of Eastern Ohio, which supports programs for seniors.
Schorsten noted that retirement has enabled him “to increase the time that I spend with the Catholic Men’s Fellowship,” which fosters involvement by men in the Church, the Knights of Columbus and the Holy Name Society at his parish.
As a Humility of Mary sister, Sister Rosemary has not been as active in parish ministry, but through her community she has been involved in various Church ministries. Many of those in her community in retirement still try to pursue social justice ministry—notably in participating in public demonstrations. Because of her mobility issues, such public involvement is not an option for Sister Rosemary, “But you can write letters and you can vote,” she said.
In retirement, Father Korda continues to help at parish Masses on weekends. When Father Michael Balash was on leave, Father Korda filled in as administrator for two periods of time at St. Patrick Parish in Hubbard (Trumbull County). “The parish has been blessed with a very good staff,” he said, so his service was primarily sacramental and liturgical. He said that the experience gave him more of an appreciation for the active priests right now who have multiple assignments. “Our job is to support them,” he noted.
A Spiritual Re-focusing
“My work life always demanded—or at least I thought so—my primary attention both on and off the clock,” Schorsten said. “With my retirement, I gained significant ‘brain time’ that I could now dedicate to other things. For me, that extra time has been used to improve my relationship with God. I obviously don’t know how much time I have left on Earth, so I feel the need to make the most of it.”
“Retirement has given me more time for quality prayer,” Father Korda said, “which overflows onto everything else that you do.”
“I would say that my faith has deepened just through my increase in prayer,” Brook commented. With retirement, she said, “You think more about your mortality. It’s a different phase of life and you are thinking along those lines.”
“I’ve deepened a lot of relationships with people now that I’m doing more in the parish,” she added. “Being a part of the Women’s Ministry is not only very fulfilling but incredibly fun. We have a great time working together in service to others … My friendships have deepened and acquaintances have turned into new friends. I look forward to every time we get together.”
“We are not promised tomorrow on this Earth, so we need to do our good work today,” Brook said. “Retirement has given me the time and flexibility to follow this sentiment and put my faith into action. And I am so grateful for all of the opportunities that God has provided.”
