09/05/2026
FROM THE STARS TO THE ALTAR: MEET FR. ANDREW MESSER
Before Fr. Andrew Messer was studying Biblical Theology in Rome, before seminary, and long before his ordination to the priesthood this summer, he was a University of Toledo student studying something very different: physics, with a concentration in astrophysics.
And remarkably, studying the universe became part of the road that led him deeper into the Catholic faith.
Fr. Messer grew up in Toledo and attended Springfield Local Schools, where he developed a love for science and distance running. He had received the sacraments growing up, but by his own account, he did not begin attending Mass regularly until his freshman year at the University of Toledo.
As he studied physics and looked more deeply into creation, he began to encounter the presence of its Creator. It was also during this period that he read the Gospels for the first time—an experience the Diocese says “set his heart on fire.”
His description of what followed is difficult to improve upon:
“If I was going to dedicate my life to the stars, why not go deeper still and hand it over to the maker of it all?”
That is quite a journey—from contemplating the stars to offering the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
A FAITH AWAKENED
Fr. Messer’s vocation did not appear out of nowhere.
He has spoken openly about a series of tragedies after high school that became important to the development of his faith and trust in God. He has also credited the people God placed around him.
One of the most important was his grandmother, Joan Schmenk.
During the final year of her life, she brought her grandson to Mass at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Toledo. Fr. Messer has said that he owes his faith and vocation in large part to her.
There were other witnesses as well. The Catholic community in Toledo helped give him a stronger Catholic identity. Serving Mass for the Sisters of the Visitation in Toledo taught him much about the spiritual life. He developed a devotion to Our Lady and the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
And eventually there was a pivotal conversation with Fr. Phil Smith, who encouraged the college student to seriously pray about whether God might be calling him to the priesthood.
The astrophysics student began formally discerning a very different future.
DETROIT, ROME AND NORWALK
Fr. Messer entered formation at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit and later continued his studies at the Pontifical North American College in Rome.
Rome has given him an opportunity to go deeply into something that seems especially fitting considering how his faith deepened: the Word of God.
He has studied Biblical Theology and described taking deep dives into books such as Deuteronomy and Ezekiel, while simultaneously studying Greek and Hebrew—in Italian.
But priestly formation cannot happen only in a classroom.
For the 2024–2025 pastoral year, Messer returned to northwest Ohio and served a pastoral internship at St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Norwalk, becoming part of the wider Firelands Catholic community.
Something he wrote during that internship gives an interesting glimpse into how he thinks about Catholic worship.
When explaining a decision to place the large crucifix closer to the altar at St. Paul, Messer wrote that it would:
“better symbolize that the Mass is a representation of the sacrifice of love that Christ performed for us on Calvary.”
His explanation points toward an important Catholic principle: a sanctuary teaches.
The altar, crucifix, tabernacle, sacred images, architecture and arrangement of a church can help make visible what Catholics believe is actually taking place there. Bringing the crucifix closer to the altar made the connection between the Cross, Calvary, sacrifice and the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass more immediately visible.
This was not merely a question of decoration. It was a question of whether the sanctuary itself clearly expressed Catholic theology.
“A MAN AFTER HIS OWN HEART”
On May 17, 2025, Bishop Daniel E. Thomas ordained Andrew Messer to the transitional diaconate at Our Lady, Queen of the Most Holy Rosary Cathedral in Toledo.
Asked how people could pray for him as he approached priesthood, Messer gave a beautiful answer:
“that I be more and more a man after His own Heart.”
Then, on June 27, 2026, the journey reached the altar.
Bishop Thomas ordained Fr. Andrew Messer a priest of the Diocese of Toledo at St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church—his own home parish.
The young man who had once contemplated dedicating his life to the stars was now ordained to stand at an altar and offer the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.
And the parish that had helped nurture his vocation was literally part of the story. While Messer was still in Rome, St. Joan of Arc parishioners helped provide his first Mass chalice. It was inscribed:
“A gift from St. Joan of Arc Parish, Toledo.”
Messer himself made the larger point: vocations do not arise in a vacuum. They grow within families and communities that pray for them, encourage them and make room for young men to hear God’s call.
That is worth remembering in every Catholic parish.
A NEW PRIEST IN OUR OWN BACKYARD
For Catholics around Lima, Delphos and the surrounding area, this story is not merely about a seminarian somewhere in Rome.
Fr. Messer is here right now.
For these first months of his priesthood, Fr. Messer has been serving as an associate pastor in the Delphos–Landeck–Spencerville cluster: St. John the Evangelist in Delphos, St. John the Baptist in Landeck and St. Patrick in Spencerville.
And there is something particularly encouraging about seeing the beginning of a priesthood up close.
At two local Masses during his time here, Fr. Messer has made a striking first impression: reverent at the altar, friendly outside the sanctuary, and thoughtful and deliberate in his preaching.
At one of those Masses, he even encouraged parishioners to invite him into their homes for dinner, simply so he could get to know them.
For an assignment measured in months rather than years, that desire to form personal relationships with parishioners is particularly striking.
There is also something noticeable in the instincts of this young priest, and it fits a broader pattern increasingly visible among younger Catholics and younger clergy: a renewed seriousness about liturgical reverence, distinctly Catholic identity, sacred tradition, and the outward signs that communicate what the Church actually believes.
His comments about moving the crucifix nearer the altar are a good example. The concern was not simply what looked best. It was what the sanctuary communicated about the sacrificial reality of the Mass.
And importantly, reverence has not meant coldness. Solemnity at the altar has gone together with warmth toward the people. The same young priest concerned that a sanctuary visibly proclaim Calvary is also asking families to invite him over for dinner so he can get to know them.
Those two things were never supposed to be enemies.
BACK TO ROME
Fr. Messer’s time in northwest Ohio will soon give way to the next stage of his formation.
In September, he is scheduled to return to Rome to complete his studies in Biblical Theology.
There is something beautifully circular about the story.
A young man begins college studying the physical universe. Science awakens deeper questions. Those questions draw him deeper into faith in the Creator. The Gospels set his heart on fire. The Church helps him discern a vocation. Seminary takes him from Detroit to Rome. Pastoral formation brings him home to Ohio. The Church ordains him a priest. And now he returns to Rome—not primarily to study the stars, but to go deeper into the Word of the God who made them.
Fr. Messer once described life with Christ very simply:
“Life with Jesus is a great adventure!”
His own life is already a rather compelling example.
Please keep Fr. Andrew Messer in prayer as he begins what, God willing, will be many decades of priestly ministry—especially that the prayer he requested for himself may continually be fulfilled:
that he become more and more a man after the Heart of Christ.
And for those in Delphos, Landeck, Spencerville, Norwalk, Toledo, or elsewhere who have gotten to know Fr. Messer along the way, share a story or memory about him in the comments. These priest profiles become even richer when the communities that helped form and welcome these men can tell part of the story.
Ad multos annos, Father — may God grant you many years of faithful priesthood.
