Boulder priest retires after 40 years of service

On Aug. 15, the Rev. Greg Ames spoke to over 300 people at Sacred Heart of Jesus Catholic Church in Boulder, reflecting on his 40 years of priesthood around Colorado and the experiences he shared with them.

“I have stood with you at your graves and your weddings, at your baptisms and your first communions and the moments of great trial in your lives and great trial in my life,” said Ames during his sermon. “Let’s all try to go to heaven, and then we’ll meet again.”

Ames, who said his first mass on Aug. 2, 1986, marked his retirement with a deeply personal mass surrounded by family, friends and parishioners from across Colorado.

Before mass, Ames moved through the pews in his vestments, hugging people who had come to celebrate him. Some knew him from his time at Sacred Heart of Jesus near the end of his career. Others came from parishes where he had served earlier in his ministry, including Immaculate Heart of Mary in Northglenn, St. Anne’s in Arvada, St. Jude’s in Lakewood and St. Peter Catholic Church in Greeley.

His voice broke more than once as he thanked the people who had supported him through decades of ministry, illness and family caregiving.

Ames has spent recent years caring for his parents in Longmont. His mother died three years ago, and his 95-year-old father attended the retirement mass, sitting in the front row with a smile on his face. When Ames thanked him, the congregation rose for a standing ovation.

“I want to thank my family for being here,” Ames said. “For my dad, who has been such a strength for me after the loss of my mom and who’s become my best friend.”

Ames began the day of his retirement in his backyard in Longmont surrounded by friends and family. Father Donald Buhrman, a longtime friend who met Ames in seminary 48 years ago, said Ames has already been living a quieter life while caring for his parents.

“He’s been semi-retired, taking care of his mom and dad,” Buhrman said. “So, I just pray that he stays healthy and he can enjoy what he’s doing.” 

Ames’ farewell homily centered on what he called “little deaths,” the sacrifices and losses that teach people how to say yes to God. He connected the theme to Mary, whose Assumption Catholics celebrate each year on Aug. 15.

“The quality of Mary’s death reveals for all of us the beauty of her life,” Ames said. “And what is the beauty of Mary’s life? The beauty of Mary’s life was that when God asked her to do something difficult even as a young girl, she said, ‘Be it done unto me according to your word. Yes, Lord. Yes.’” 

Ames told the congregation how his own mother consistently said yes to the Lord even when she lost her ability to write and eat on her own. 

“Those little deaths mark how she would experience her final goodbye,” he said. “And it was those little deaths that each of us experience in our lives that teach us how to say yes to the Lord when we arrived at our final journey.” 

Ames also spoke about his own suffering after being diagnosed with pancreatic and kidney cancer in 2008. The illness returned more than once, and he said prayer became simple during the worst moments.

“When I was in the ICU and lying in the hospital for so many days, I said ‘Jesus’ over and over and over again to the point where my ICU nurse was convinced that I was cursing because I was in so much pain,” Ames said.

That willingness to speak openly about doubt, fear, and pain is part of what parishioners say made Ames’ ministry powerful.

“He’s a wonderful homilist,” said Anne Obrzut, a good friend who met Ames in 1992 at St. Peter Catholic Church in Greeley. “He can touch your heart, and immediately you feel like he’s speaking to you personally.” 

At an ice cream social after mass in Jubilee Hall, parishioners placed envelopes in a basket for Ames and traded stories about the priest, friend and traveler they had come to know. Anne remembered trips with Ames and others around the world, including to Peru, China, Patagonia and Nepal.

She said Ames also helped deepen her own faith through Catholic conversations he hosted.

“He did Catholic conversations on Wednesday nights, and people would go, and there would be five or 10, and then all of a sudden there were 300 because they were learning about the faith,” Obrzut said. “Well, that prompted me then to become very active in my faith, and I ended up getting a master’s in theology.” 

Buhrman describes Ames as a natural leader who excelled at creating places for people to gather.

“He’s a visionary and he’s a planner,” Buhrman said. “He pays attention to detail, and he’s got vision.”

When asked about his greatest challenge as a priest, Ames pointed to the three years he spent in the South Bronx.

“That was incredibly challenging for me culturally, because I was the only white guy in town, and you know I lived among homeless people,” Ames said. “That was very difficult for me at the beginning.”

In retirement, Ames said his main focus will be continuing to care for his father. He also plans to facilitate parish missions during Lent and Advent, continuing to guide people in faith even after stepping away from full-time ministry.

As he looked back on 40 years, Ames said retirement has brought sadness, gratitude, and a sense that his life turned out differently than he once feared.

“I’ve been very teary; a little bit of melancholy kind of going on that my life is coming full circle 40 years later,” Ames said. “But a tremendous, tremendous emotion of gratitude that my life has turned out to be so rich and so blessed when I expected something so different.”