Former cardiologist is new priest at St. Mary Catholic Church in Jackson
Published: Monday, September 19, 2011, 11:45 PM Updated: Tuesday, September 20, 2011, 10:05 AM
Timothy Nelson traded his white lab coat for a white collar, a stethoscope for a cross and the title “doctor” for “father.”Nelson, 59, has what he describes as short, medium and long answers to his path to becoming a cardiologist and then a priest.
“As a physician, there is a lot of exciting ER stuff, but no matter how good you are, eventually that person will die. What I can do as a priest is be there for them, to help them turn their life around if necessary, to meet the Lord,” said the new priest at St. Mary Catholic Church, 120 E. Wesley St.
The Rev. Timothy Nelson speaks with Jackson residents Megan and Kathryn Keersmaekers about Megan's upcoming wedding plans at St. Mary Catholic Church. Nelson, 59, recently became the church's new priest.Nelson said he grew up in Iowa knowing he wanted to be a priest.
That changed in college.
“I started dating, I studied math and physics, and I wanted to do something great with my life,” he said. “I realized if I became a doctor, it would be exciting and I would be helping people in a practical way.”
Nelson said his experience in the medical profession showed him the difference between treating people with faith as opposed to those without faith.
“The man with faith needed less medication to relieve his pain and calm him down. The man without faith was more challenging, treating him was not as smooth,” Nelson said. “It was a tangible, practical way to define the difference faith makes in people’s lives.”
It was a colleague at Royal Oak’s Beaumont Hospital who sensed Nelson’s calling. The doctor, a Buddhist from Japan, and Nelson were walking down a street one day when Nelson shared his interest in becoming a priest.
The colleague stopped and said, yes, that was what he couldn’t put his finger on, but it seemed right to him.
“Here he was, from a totally different country, religion and culture, and he had me pegged,” Nelson said.
Nelson worked 11 years at Gratiot Community Hospital in Alma with the Sisters of Mercy as he contemplated entering seminary. He finally did so at Sacred Heart in Detroit in 1996 and was ordained in 2000.
That motivated his fraternal twin, Patrick, who had a degree in economics and worked for a bank in Milwaukee, to also enter seminary. He was ordained several years ago and is a member of the Salvatorian Fathers in the Green Bay, Wis., diocese.
The Rev. Jim Shaver, area vicar and pastor of St. John Catholic Church, 711 Francis St., called Nelson “one of the most gentle, most caring, most energetic priests I’ve ever met. Tim has a great love for people and the church.”
Nelson was an intern for Shaver before his ordination and lived with Shaver and other priests.
“I don’t think I have ever felt more secure because I felt like I had my own private 911 line living in a room down the hall from me,” Shaver said.
Nelson learned to speak Spanish after meeting an exchange student from Bolivia in high school. He spent three months with the student’s family one summer, then took a year off in college and taught math and English in Bolivia.
His ability to speak Spanish comes in handy at his current assignment, because the Spanish-speaking Sacred Heart congregation is part of his charge.
When he makes hospital calls, Nelson admitted he still begins to reach into his coat pocket to grab a stethoscope.
“I can’t keep my eyes off the monitor, and I look at their vitals,” he said. But instead of giving medical advice, he might suggest questions the patient might want to ask his or her physician.
Nelson said people “allow a priest to go to the core of their heartache. As a priest, I am able to give people understanding, hope and a purpose to their life. Ultimately, I offer God’s grace or forgiveness and that is a weight off their shoulders.
“To me, that’s as good as putting a pacemaker in any day.”
>>>Great story I first saw over at Opinionated Catholic; a great blog!
“As a physician, there is a lot of exciting ER stuff, but no matter how good you are, eventually that person will die. What I can do as a priest is be there for them, to help them turn their life around if necessary, to meet the Lord,” said the new priest at St. Mary Catholic Church, 120 E. Wesley St.
The Rev. Timothy Nelson speaks with Jackson residents Megan and Kathryn Keersmaekers about Megan's upcoming wedding plans at St. Mary Catholic Church. Nelson, 59, recently became the church's new priest.That changed in college.
“I started dating, I studied math and physics, and I wanted to do something great with my life,” he said. “I realized if I became a doctor, it would be exciting and I would be helping people in a practical way.”
Nelson said his experience in the medical profession showed him the difference between treating people with faith as opposed to those without faith.
“The man with faith needed less medication to relieve his pain and calm him down. The man without faith was more challenging, treating him was not as smooth,” Nelson said. “It was a tangible, practical way to define the difference faith makes in people’s lives.”
It was a colleague at Royal Oak’s Beaumont Hospital who sensed Nelson’s calling. The doctor, a Buddhist from Japan, and Nelson were walking down a street one day when Nelson shared his interest in becoming a priest.
The colleague stopped and said, yes, that was what he couldn’t put his finger on, but it seemed right to him.
“Here he was, from a totally different country, religion and culture, and he had me pegged,” Nelson said.
Nelson worked 11 years at Gratiot Community Hospital in Alma with the Sisters of Mercy as he contemplated entering seminary. He finally did so at Sacred Heart in Detroit in 1996 and was ordained in 2000.
That motivated his fraternal twin, Patrick, who had a degree in economics and worked for a bank in Milwaukee, to also enter seminary. He was ordained several years ago and is a member of the Salvatorian Fathers in the Green Bay, Wis., diocese.
The Rev. Jim Shaver, area vicar and pastor of St. John Catholic Church, 711 Francis St., called Nelson “one of the most gentle, most caring, most energetic priests I’ve ever met. Tim has a great love for people and the church.”
Nelson was an intern for Shaver before his ordination and lived with Shaver and other priests.
“I don’t think I have ever felt more secure because I felt like I had my own private 911 line living in a room down the hall from me,” Shaver said.
Nelson learned to speak Spanish after meeting an exchange student from Bolivia in high school. He spent three months with the student’s family one summer, then took a year off in college and taught math and English in Bolivia.
His ability to speak Spanish comes in handy at his current assignment, because the Spanish-speaking Sacred Heart congregation is part of his charge.
When he makes hospital calls, Nelson admitted he still begins to reach into his coat pocket to grab a stethoscope.
“I can’t keep my eyes off the monitor, and I look at their vitals,” he said. But instead of giving medical advice, he might suggest questions the patient might want to ask his or her physician.
Nelson said people “allow a priest to go to the core of their heartache. As a priest, I am able to give people understanding, hope and a purpose to their life. Ultimately, I offer God’s grace or forgiveness and that is a weight off their shoulders.
“To me, that’s as good as putting a pacemaker in any day.”
>>>Great story I first saw over at Opinionated Catholic; a great blog!
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