‘Being in ministry is better than I could have imagined’

At age 13, Jonah Beckham told his parents he thought he was being called to the priesthood. The revelation was a little surprising, yet his parents, Maggie and Monty Beckham, knew their son was serious about his faith and they would do whatever they needed to do to support his discernment.

Now, eight years after being accepted into the seminary program at the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City, Beckham is only a few weeks away from being ordained a priest.

When Maggie Beckham talked about her son’s approaching ordination, she became emotional.
 
“As parents, the greatest gift you can pass down to your children is the gift of your faith and then watching them mature and grow in that faith until it becomes their own,” she said. “This is a true blessing. At his deaconate ordination, his smile of pure joy was radiating from within him, from his heart. I thought he would levitate!

“As Jonah’s mother, I cannot wait to experience Jonah celebrating his first Mass, holding the precious Body and Blood of our Lord in his hands, partaking in the greatest gift from God, his son Jesus and receiving his son, from the hands of God’s gift to me, my son. I am in awe at the wonders of God and humbled by the love and blessings he has poured over our family.”
 
Beckham, who turned 26 in early May, was accepted into the Archdiocese of Oklahoma City seminarian program in April 2017. He attended Conception Seminary College for four years before finishing his studies at Kenrick-Glennon Seminary and Mount Saint Mary Seminary in Maryland – the same seminary attended by Archbishop Coakley and Blessed Stanley Rother.

In June 2024, he and fellow seminarian John Grim were ordained transitional deacons at The Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Oklahoma City.

God willing, they will be ordained to the priesthood on June 28 at the cathedral. The ordination is open to the public and will be broadcast on the archdiocesan website and the cathedral’s YouTube page.

As Beckham reflected on his final few weeks, he was excited to be done with school and said he was looking forward to sharing in the sacraments as a priest while serving the Catholic community.

“The last year definitely went by quickly, but I would also say it was surreal coming to the end of my time in seminary,” he said. “This year the two of us have been blessed going on trips, including a trip to shrines throughout Europe for 16 days.”

He said his year as a transitional deacon has been a trial by fire, jumping in with serving others and preaching his first homily at his home parish of Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church in Edmond.

“When you enter the seminary, you have this idea of what you think priesthood is, but to be honest we have no idea! All I knew was I think I need to go to seminary, I think I need to be a priest,” he said.

“Fast forward to now and I don’t know what could have prepared me, but as I’m looking toward priesthood, I am focused on my desire to serve, my desire to be with my people and to be able to give my life over to service in this way. Being in ministry is better than I could have imagined.”

Beckham has a particular devotion to praying the Rosary, something he does often. He said he probably will be praying the Rosary the morning of his ordination.

“I’ll be reflecting on what Our Lady has done for me,” he said. “The Rosary was important to me in high school when I was discerning, placing my trust in Our Lady, and through my time in the seminary. Closeness with the Rosary has been the most important thing that I’ve had.”

Beckham said prayer is critical for other young men considering the priesthood, or men and women being called to religious life or marriage.

“Trust your prayer life and trust in what God provides,” he said. “There is no way I could have done these things without that.”

As the ordination approaches, Maggie and Monty Beckham said they’re increasingly grateful for their son’s “yes.”

“Jonah once commented during his discernment that should his call not lead him to the altar as a priest, he wouldn’t want to live his life any other way but for the greater glory of Jesus and his Church,” Maggie Beckham said. “He is where he should be and where God wants him to be.”

Diane Clay is a freelance writer for the Sooner Catholic.


Photo: (Above) This past year Jonah Beckham carried a monstrance and blessed his pastor, Fr. Collin Poston, of St. Bartholomew Catholic Church in Manchester, Maryland. Photo provided.
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Rev. Mr. Jonah Beckham stood with his parents, Maggie and Monty Beckham, after he was ordained to the transitional diaconate on June 1, 2024, at The Cathedral of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Oklahoma City. Photo Chris Porter/Sooner Catholic.