There is something unique about Father Lee Noel. He is a genuinely happy person! He is also a “people person.” And no matter where he is or who he is speaking with, he seems to be smiling from ear to ear.
His joy increased as he was ordained to the priesthood at a Mass held in St. Mary’s Cathedral in Cheyenne, Wyoming this past May. Throughout the ceremony his smile lit up the church from the sanctuary where he stood to the packed choir loft.
Bishop Steven Biegler later commented that he had never seen the Cathedral so utterly full (standing room only) as it was on Father Noel’s ordination day.
The newly ordained priest’s joyful journey began 11 years ago, on a college campus, thanks to the support of the donors of Catholic Extension Society.
No, not every college student that goes on a university campus ministry retreat will become a Catholic priest, like Lee Noel. But campus ministries are essential in helping young people discover their faith and what they are called to do with it. That’s why Catholic Extension Society has supported 115 such campus ministries and Newman Centers in 50 dioceses across the country over the last decade.
One of its alums, Father Lee Noel, was ordained May 28 in the Diocese of Cheyenne.
He celebrated his first Mass at the Newman Center, where his vocational journey toward the priesthood took root.
From reluctance to joyful abandon
When Lee Noel arrived at graduate school at the University of Wyoming, his aunt and uncle—active parishioners at St. Paul Catholic Newman Center—urged him to go on the Catholic campus ministry retreat at the beginning of the school year.
But Noel was very much a 23-year-old.
“I’m not going on a retreat with a bunch of 18, 19-year-olds for a weekend. Skip the club hockey practices and the parties they have lined up? I’m not doing this,” he recalled thinking.
But he knew he was interested. By that point he had gone to Mass a few times at St. Paul Newman Center—he could see it was a good community. The Newman Center at the University of Wyoming has been supported by Catholic Extension Society for nearly 40 years.
The Sioux City, Iowa, native was raised Catholic. With this retreat, Noel felt a gentle invitation to pursue something potentially fulfilling.
He chose to accept that invitation, albeit reluctantly. After all, he was still 23 and missing hockey practice and the parties to follow.
“Fine, I’ll go to this dumb retreat.”
His attitude quickly changed once he met other young Catholics like him. “The students there were so relatable, they were so fun to be around. I wanted to be a part of that.”
He now cherishes the memories made in those formative years.
“It was the place for me where I first found that it’s possible to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I saw people living that out and the authentic joy they had in their life and how fulfilled they were,” recalled Father Noel.
In 2016, Noel earned his master’s degree in entomology. He moved to Fort Collins, Colorado, which he described as an “outdoors heaven.” He felt he had it all—wildlife, horseback riding, hiking, biking—plus a good job and friends. He was attending Bible study regularly and becoming more involved at his local parish.
It was then Noel felt another gentle invitation—this time to enter seminary. And what better place to discern a call to the priesthood than back in Wyoming, where his faith journey had begun in earnest?
“In Laramie at the University of Wyoming in the Diocese of Cheyenne, I had felt a lot of good support from people there,” Father Noel said.
Catholic Extension Society supported Father Noel’s education at Mundelein Seminary. And coming full circle celebrating his first Mass back on campus at the University of Wyoming was a special beginning to a lifetime as a priest.
“Being able to go to St. Paul Newman Center to celebrate that Mass and be a mediator for people of His love at a place where I first encountered His love in a personal, really deep way was significant,” Father Noel said with his big smile.
Ready to change hearts
Father Noel is now in his first months as a priest for the Diocese of Cheyenne. The Extension-supported diocese spans over 100,000 square miles, the third largest diocese in the United States. For Father Noel, that means long drives to serve multiple parishes. Rural communities aplenty. Father Noel is eager to meet people where they are at.
There’s an excitement there of what that means to go out and minister to the frontier and those mission areas where there are places that only have Mass every other week.”
“I hope I continue to learn how to be a good listener. I hope I continue to learn how to be present to people at their highs and their lows.”
For our part, it is crucial that we continue to fuel this vital ministry on university campuses across the country so that students have a space where they can grow together in their faith and carry that faith into the next chapters of adulthood, no matter how they are called to serve God with their lives.
“In college we are all so ready to be formed,” Father Noel said. “That’s going to not just impact our life on campus. That’s going to impact us for years to come. Whether we’re married, single, a priest or religious—that time you spend through campus ministry and being formed and those lessons you learned from each other is going to set the world on fire and change hearts.”
Catholic Extension Society supports the education of hundreds of seminarians in the poorest regions of our country every year. Please support our mission and help us build up the next generation of priests!
