Archdiocese embraces pony-tailed priest

Friends see Mireau as deeply loving person

By RENATO GANDIA
WCR Staff Writer
Edmonton

Father Mireau, 29, the eldest child of Maurice and Linda, is the second priest to be ordained by the archbishop this year.

A gifted preacher, musician and youth minister, Mireau, who also holds a master's degree in mathematical physics, studied at Newman Theological College and St. Joseph Seminary.

As a deacon, he served in the parish of Villeneuve region and worked at the Liturgical Commission Office.

Some 63 priests, six deacons and the retired Archbishop Joseph MacNeil attended the celebration, together with the people of the archdiocese.

In his homily, Collins told Mireau that his ordination is "an act of God by which he is transformed and consecrated by the grace of Christ's priesthood."

Collins reminded Mireau of the threefold - prophet, priest and shepherd - dimensions of his ordination.

"A prophet does not speak in his own words but the Word of God. Your being a prophet is being of service to the Word. You are being consecrated to the service of prophecy," the archbishop told Mireau.

A priest can throw in a little bit of his talents in proclaiming the Word but it is the Word of God that remains forever, Collins said.

One of his best friends, Shawn Woodard, told the WCR, "Honestly my first impression of him when I first met him 10 years ago, was that he's a geeky, skinny guy with big glasses and the whole nine yards."

But the geek turned out to be "one of the most loving people" Woodard has ever met. "He always has time for you. He's the kind of guy that if I'm feeling down or I need some cheering up, he's always just a phone call away. It never seems to matter how busy he is. He's always got time."

"He is very loving not just to his friends but with everyone else." - Shawn Woodard

When Mireau first started talking about the priesthood Woodard did not see him as a priest. "He did not strike me as really outgoing or a people person. I saw him more as a bookworm type of guy."

Woodard said he was skeptical when Mireau told him about entering the seminary. "I don't remember what my exact words were but it probably was along the line 'Yeah right.'"

"We started talking about it and then I heard from other people at Camp Encounter about him. I said 'Wow there's really a different side to Mike that I haven't seen before.'"

Woodard never doubted Mireau's devotion. "From the time I met him there has never been a doubt about his faith in the Lord, his dedication to the Church."

Mireau did not strike Woodard as a person to whom teenagers or young adults would gravitate.

"But it was there somewhere: I just never got to see it until a few other people mentioned it. Now I see it in everything that he does. And the best part is that he is very loving not just to his friends but with everyone else, from Catholics and non-Catholics to non-practising Christians and even devout atheists."

Betty Ann Laporte met Mireau at Camp Encounter when he was a counsellor.

"When I met Michael it was very obvious to me that he was special. He is his own person. He cares for young and old with such honesty, without mothering anybody, like a huggy-lovey kind of person."

"His love of God is with absolute honesty of who he is as a person. God's love has taught him exactly who Mike Mireau is. His true knowledge of himself I guess is a very strong point of Mike," said Laporte.

"He is so free in knowing that God loves him and that he loves God. I wish him all the blessings that God can give him and particularly that he continue to always know God loves him."

Three years ago, when Mireau spent a year of pastoral internship at Good Shepherd Parish he touched people's lives with his preaching.

Veronica Christian of Good Shepherd told the WCR, "You have to hang onto every word because his preaching relates to real life. He preaches how he sees Christ in your life and how he shares it with you."

"Father Michael is what you see is what you get. He is a straight from the hip kind of guy, a people person. Two weeks after my mom met him, she said, 'You know you even forget he has a ponytail.' Once you get to know him, you forget it's there and that definitely is the truth."

He meets people where they are and he comes across as someone who is easy to talk with and share things with.

Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 -- Western Catholic Reporter