Florida Catholic | Priest Celebrates 50 Years Of Ministry

Priest celebrates 50 years of ministry

Father Samuel “Sam” Zebron’s priesthood has had many facets from teacher, to military chaplain and pastor, but what he enjoys best is distributing Communion.

LINDA REEVES | FLORIDA CATHOLIC PLAM BEACH BUREAU EDITOR

Published: 05.22.08

BOYNTON BEACH | A taste of service at the altar made a big impression on one young lad growing up in the 1930s – so much so that he has served most of his life.

“I am surprised that it is already 50 years. It doesn’t seem that long,” Father Samuel Zebron told the Florida Catholic.

The priest, a member of the Order of Friars Minor Conventual, serves as a parochial vicar at St. Mark Parish in Boynton Beach. He recently celebrated a special Mass of thanksgiving May 18, near the 50th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.

St. Mark parishioners, schoolchildren, fellow priests and friends gathered to celebrate their beloved “Father Sam” and honor him for his years of service as a priest.

“Father Sam is just the best,” said parishioner Mary Rodriguez. “He is sincere and direct and great to converse with when at church or in social gatherings. I love his homilies. He never gives the same homily twice, even when he has two Masses on a Sunday. He is a gifted speaker and a very intelligent, generous man.”

“Father Sam’s quote, ‘Humility is truth, not self-debasement,’ has been very useful for me,” said Kathleen Capp, teacher at St. Mark School.

Father Zebron told the Florida Catholic that the idea of becoming a priest came to him in elementary school.

“I had a desire to be a priest at an early age – probably in the third grade,” he said. “That is when I began serving at the altar.”

Father Zebron was born in Baltimore to Joseph and Jennie Zebron, a hardworking couple like their European parents.

“My grandparents migrated from Silesia to the United States through Baltimore,” said Father Zebron. His grandparents were born in the region of central Europe that was divided in 1945 between Poland and Czechoslovakia.

Father Zebron’s parents were blessed with seven children: three girls and four boys. “I was number five and the second son,” he said. His parents sent all the children to Catholic institutions and also educated them at home. Two of his sisters became nuns, joining the community of the Franciscan Sisters of St. Joseph.

“There were two in the convent. One is living. She is the oldest in the family. We did more praying at home than we did at church. We would be praying every day at home. We had special devotions to different saints, especially St. Joseph and the Blessed Mother,” he said.

Father Zebron was a teenager when he professed his first vows Aug. 15, 1950.

“My family was very supportive,” he explained. “It was a great honor for parents in those days who wanted nothing better than to have one of their sons to become a priest. The priesthood was held in great respect, and to have someone from your family enter the priesthood and be a priest was the cat’s meow. You couldn’t be blessed more than that.”

Father Zebron’s ordination ceremonies took place at St. Michael Cathedral in Springfield, Mass., May 24, 1958, with Bishop Christopher J. Weldon presiding.

It was then back to school for the young priest – teaching rather than studying this time.

“The first 11 years of my priesthood were in education,” said Father Zebron. “I enjoyed the teaching part. I did not enjoy the discipline part.”

He taught social studies to juniors and seniors at Baker Victory High School in Lackawanna, N.Y., for 10 years and at Archbishop Curley High School in Baltimore for another decade.

After first serving as a chaplain in 1961 in the U.S. Army Reserves, he joined the U.S. Air Force as a full-time chaplain in 1969.

“I went to Asia and Europe. I was stationed in Germany for three years, which gave me the opportunity to travel around Europe.”

Father Zebron went from serving military men and women to working in faith communities in 1992.

His assignments included pastor roles at parishes in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Georgia before coming to St. Mark in 2002.

Father Zebron says he enjoys many aspects of his priestly vocation, especially distributing holy Communion and hearing confessions.

“This is what a priest is able to do – give the bread of life so people won’t hunger. If all we have to allay these hungers and thirsts is what the world has to offer, people will never be satisfied. To make this bread available is one of the primary purposes of the priesthood. We have priests so that we can bring this bread from heaven down to earth, and we can partake of this bread of life.

“It is at the hands of the priests ordained by the hands of Jesus himself who is the dispenser of this bread from heaven,” said Father Zebron.

A history buff, game hunter, gourmet cook and golfer, the priest returned from a 14-day religious pilgrimage to Europe April 30 in time for his big parish celebration.

He led a group of 35 to Italy, Portugal and France, stopping at holy sites and historical stops along the way.

“With his knowledge of the holy shrines, the saints and Catholicism, it was a once-in-a-lifetime and absolutely unforgettable experience,” said pilgrim Jim Berry, a St. Mark parishioner. “We could not be more blessed than to have Father Sam guide us through living church history in these holiest of places. We are blessed to have Father Sam at St. Mark.”

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