From Sydney World Youth Day to ordination

with PILAR MACKINNON 

“Isaac, there is no formula for being a perfect priest,” said Hamilton Bishop Stephen Lowe in his homily at the Mass at which he ordained Fr Isaac Fransen to the priesthood. 

“Rather, the Lord takes us as individuals, and shapes us and moulds us and brings us to the fullness of our lives that we offer as his priests,” Bishop Lowe said at a packed Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary on July 17. 

However, “while there is no perfect priest, I can give you some great examples”, Bishop Lowe added, before discussing the ways Fr Graeme Alexander, Msgr Des McCarthy, Msgr Michael Browne, Fr Nick Hoogeveen, and Fr Brian Playfair all lived their priestly vocations. 

All of these priests of Hamilton diocese, and also Fr Frank O’Regan, mentioned later by Bishop Lowe, had died in the last 18 months. 

“[They were] priests who knew their own and whose people knew them and loved them, priests who knew the heart of God, a God they loved and served.” 

“You, Isaac, are the replacement for these five great men,’ said Bishop Lowe, to much laughter from the congregation. 

At the start of the Mass, Bishop Lowe thanked Fr Fransen’s parents, Maryanne and Frank, for the gift of their son. The bishop also noted that one of Fr Fransen’s brothers, Brother Thomas, and a cousin, Brother Joseph Smith, would be watching the live-stream of the ordination Mass from their Fraternity Verbum Spei community in the United States. 

Fr Fransen grew up on a farm in the Waikato, with his six brothers. Bishop Lowe joked that someone had said to him recently, “it is about time the Fransens fronted up with a priest for the diocese”. This again produced much laughter from the congregation. 

Before his ordination to the priesthood, Fr Fransen told NZ Catholic that his strong family life played a significant role in his faith journey. 

Growing up, his large family was always an example that he felt he could look up to. As a boy, he was an “average active kid”, who loved sports and the outdoors. However, it was not until he finished at his small country school and went to a much larger intermediate that he began thinking about what he would like to do when he grew up.  

A significant moment in Fr Fransen’s life, that began to firmly lead him on his way to becoming a priest, was the 2008 World Youth Day in Sydney. He describes this as an “eye-opener” to the universal Church. Seeing the large numbers of young people attending made him wonder about the appeal that the Catholic faith had for these people, and he returned home ready to take his faith more seriously.  

This was not always easy at this point, as many of his school mates didn’t share the same enthusiasm. But he made good friends within youth groups, where other young people also wanted to grow closer to God. It was also during this period in his life that the young Isaac first discerned God’s calling for him. In his final year of high school, when he was 17, he was praying alone by the fireplace in his home, saying: “I don’t know what you want of me Lord, but I am willing to give you everything.”  

Around the same time, he had also been asking Mary to pray for him, as devotions to Our Lady have also been a large part of his journey of faith, and he felt her very near at the time. He responded, “if you want me to be a priest, I am willing but you’re going to have to help me.” Fr Fransen said: “It was a crazy prayer, one I have never forgotten. It gave me a sense of peace immediately afterwards.” 

He went on to study engineering at the University of Waikato, but the call to priesthood was always in the back of his mind. During his time at university, he remained active in young adult groups and went to Mass regularly.  

The friends that he made through the various youth centres and organisations helped him in his journey and encouraged him to pursue his calling and passion. Through that support, Mass, adoration, and the sacrament of Reconciliation, Isaac Fransen strengthened his relationship with Christ. Among the groups were LifeTeen, Pro-Life Waikato and WaiCath. 

In 2014, he volunteered to be part of a mission to help rebuild a church on the Weather Coast of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, where he spent about three months. He entered Holy Cross Seminary in 2015. 

At the ordination Mass, Fr Fransen thanked his grandparents and his family, and became a little emotional when talking about his youngest brother Reuben, who has battled with epilepsy and autism.  

In the order of service for the ordination Mass, in which he thanked many people, Fr Fransen wrote of Reuben, “I am in awe of your unconscious martyrdom which you have lived, it has inspired me in my priestly discernment and love for our Good Father. This side of heaven, we only have a glimpse of the witness you have been and continue to be.” 

In his homily, Bishop Lowe said that Fr Fransen was called to be a bearer of God’s Word in a world “more and more scarred by judgement and addiction”.  

“As Pope Francis would say, have the smell of sheep, but also, as the Holy Father would say, know the merciful heart of the Father, who knows you so intimately, in your weakness.” 

Bishop Lowe said that he hoped and prayed that other young men would answer the Lord’s call to priesthood in Hamilton diocese. 

“Our hope is that you, too, will become one of the great priests of the diocese of Hamilton,” after the example of the one who is our high priest and Good Shepherd.