Father Ed Brodnick celebrates 50 years of priesthood, service marked by those he’s served

Bella Bailey

Multimedia Correspondent

After 50 years of priestly ministry, Father Ed Brodnick has served seven parishes, from Corbin to Cold Spring, and two schools, influencing the lives of many. None more so than Father Brodnick himself, who has drawn inspiration during his tenure from those he served throughout his ministry. Marking this tenure is Father Brodnick’s particular affinity for youth ministry, where he finds “hope for the future, hope for today and the days to come,” he said.

Father Brodnick grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, with two brothers, a sister and faithful, loving parents. He attended grade school, high school and began college in Cleveland, a self-described “city boy from Cleveland.” Through God’s providence, Father Brodnick became a seminarian in the Diocese of Covington and attended St. John Vianney Seminary, Buffalo, New York.

Father Brodnick credits his experience in New York as the beginnings of his passion for youth ministry. “I was involved in high school retreat work, developing programs, and so I got a taste for youth ministry early on. I think that’s one of the reasons why that was just something that was a part of my vision of what my role was going to be in a parish,” he said.

Following his June 6 ordination by Bishop Ackerman, Father Brodnick was assigned to an Appalachian parish in Corbin, Kentucky. There, he gained firsthand experience in Appalachian ministry, but his passion for youth ministry remained. Bringing Bible school to the children of Corbin and surrounding towns, he explained, “We would run Bible school,” he said “and we would have vans where the people would trust us … to pick up their children, drive them to Williamsburg so that we could have Bible school with them all day.”

Following his time in Corbin, Father Brodnick was assigned to St. Mary of the Assumption Parish, Alexandria, as a part-time associate pastor, and to Bishop Brossart High School, Alexandria, as a part-time teacher. While at St. Mary Parish, Father Brodnick saw a need for the youth of the parish. “When I first came up from the mountains, there were not many choices for teenager retreats up here,” he said. So, Father Brodnick took a group to a Celebration retreat in his hometown of Cleveland. Describing the retreat as “Christ renews his parish, only for teens,” the experience was astounding, and the teens wanted to bring the retreat home.

“I thought it was going to be a one-time deal. We slept on the floor at the old St. Mary school. The cook from Bishop Brossart cooked meals for us and the young people,” he said. This “one-time deal” is in its 43rd year of operations, with retreats ongoing twice a year. “It’s one of those things where every time you thought that it was not going to be enough coming anymore, it would just come back again,” he said.

Father Brodnick remained at St. Mary Parish for five years, before a brief reassignment in the same role at St. Joseph Parish, Cold Spring. There for two years, Father Brodnick was then assigned to a full-time teaching position at Newport Central Catholic High School, Newport, for one year. From there, he was assigned as the inaugural pastor at St. Timothy Parish, Union.

“I think God just kind of guides us,” he said of all these assignments. “Sometimes you got to sit back and laugh, because you don’t realize it till after the fact … I love parish work … the pastoral work is breathtaking.”

Father Brodnick is now retired from active ministry but remains the chaplain at his beloved Bishop Brossart High School. “Getting to know some of these young people on a deeper level, rather than just seeing them once in a while, has been a gift,” he said.

For Father Brodnick, 50 years of priestly ministry is marked by dedication to his parishes, to teaching, but above all else, to the people he serves.

“For some reason, God decided that he needed me in each of those places for some time, to live and to be a part of that community and to lead them as best I could,” Father Brodnick said. “We [priests] try to do the best we can with whatever the Lord calls us to do … We’re not perfect at it, but somehow, with the working of the Holy Spirit and a lot of good people around us in a parish, a lot of the young people are hungry to know the Lord. It’s an exciting life, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”