May 15, 2026

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Scenes of grit, joy and presence capture Deacon Hansen’s path to the priesthood

Transitional Deacon Sam Hansen proclaims the Gospel during the closing Mass of the National Catholic Youth Conference on Nov. 22, 2025, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. (File photo by Sean Gallagher)

By John Shaughnessy

As a wrestler in high school and college, transitional Deacon Sam Hansen showed his physical and mental toughness repeatedly, but the best example of his grit may have come in a spiritual moment.

The challenging and potentially explosive moment unfolded in the summer of 2021 when Deacon Hansen was a seminarian serving at St. Joseph Parish in Shelbyville.

It’s a moment that still impresses St. Joseph’s pastor, Father Michael Keucher.

“There was a family with several children who, because of very real and difficult circumstances, had not been able to complete their preparation for first reconciliation and first Communion,” Father Keucher recalls. “I sent Sam to their apartment each week to teach the kids, who were with their mother during the day but had no car. Over time, he became part of the family.

“Next door to them lived a man who kept a statue of Satan outside his apartment. Sam, without hesitation, struck up a conversation with him and simply asked if he would consider removing it out of respect for the Catholic family next door who were trying to raise their children in the faith.

“It was a bold thing to do, and most people wouldn’t have said anything. The man was pretty gruff; I’d seen him myself before. The man didn’t respond right away, but a few weeks later, the statue was gone. That’s Sam: confident, thoughtful, and always motivated by care for others.”

That moment offers a glimpse of the person Deacon Hansen is and the priest he will become when he is ordained at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis on June 6 with his close friends, transitional deacons Khaing Thu and Timothy Khuishing.

Then comes a moment that shows a different side of the 26-year-old Deacon Hansen, one that surprised even him.

‘It shows the Church valuing joy’

The moment occurred during a recent school Mass at St. Monica Church in Indianapolis, the parish where Deacon Hansen now serves.

Giving the homily on that April morning, Deacon Hansen added an unexpected touch to his message by breaking into song—something he’d never done before, he said later.

Amid making a point of how our lives go off-kilter when we turn away from God and don’t repent for our sins, Deacon Hansen smiled and started to sing a verse from the playful song, “If Ever I Cease to Love.”

If ever I cease to love, may the moon be turned to green cream cheese…

If ever I cease to love, may we all turn into cats and dogs.

“Does that ring a bell with anyone?” Deacon Hansen asked the children, who responded loudly, “Yeah!”

The school community sang that song together during a Mardi Gras prayer service leading into Lent.

Deacon Hansen told the children that the song has stuck in his head ever since. Then he shared a message that he hopes sticks with them—a message of loving God, choosing to do good, praying daily and asking for God’s forgiveness and mercy.

After the Mass, he stood in the vestibule, flashing a warm smile and exchanging handshakes and high-fives with the children. The way they beamed in return added a touch of sunshine for all on that rainy spring morning.

“I take prayer requests from the kids,” he says. “I’m asking how their day is going. It’s important to me that the kids know me. I get to learn their names, and they get to know mine. It shows the Church valuing joy, the Church valuing communion through joy.”

And Deacon Hansen exudes joy, says one of the people who knows the most about the parish.

‘We say it with love and respect’

There are certain truths about a parish, and one of them is this: The person who knows as much as anyone about a faith community is the parish secretary.

At St Monica, one of the secretaries is Julia Arciniega-Gonzalez. She’s watched Deacon Hansen in action ever since he spent the summer of 2025 there, and since his return in December. She has particularly seen his connection with the large Hispanic community of the parish.

“In the Hispanic community, we call him Casi Padrecito, ‘Almost Priest,’ ” she says with a smile.

“We say it with love and respect for him. We have a multi-culture parish community, and he’s always willing to help everyone.

“We work side by side most of the time. He’s very joyful, very organized and he’s thoughtful about everything, not only for our Lord Jesus Christ but also for the ministries and the feelings of the people. He’s very friendly with everyone.”

That connection showed as a woman left the parish’s Blessed Sacrament chapel, saw him and started speaking to him in Spanish, a language he can speak fluently. The conversation ended with both smiling.

“It’s the most diverse parish in the archdiocese,” Deacon Hansen says about St. Monica, noting that more than 25 countries are represented there. “Every sort of ministry is here. Every age group.

“The great lesson for me has been humility. Realizing my limits and dedicating myself to what is most important and trusting God to the rest. And having conversations with the people around here. It’s an opportunity to learn the value of a person’s life, and how each one is a reflection of God’s glory.”

He’s also learned how to go deeper in his faith from the parish’s Hispanic community.

“My experience here with the Hispanic community has just been an overabundance of love, of affection, of food, of support,” he says. “They have this cultural humility, this reverence. It all goes back to this heart of devotion that isn’t afraid to be honest with God.

“They’ve taught me to include that into my own spiritual life. To show my emotions to God in a new way. To see heaven in a new light—being reunited with relatives. And the way they pray for the dead. All those help me to see what our faith stands for.”

Part of what he stands for could be seen during one of his visits to a nursing home and his interaction with a woman named Gwendolyn.

‘It was just a good day’

“We have three nursing homes that we visit regularly,” Deacon Hansen says. “At one of them, we only have four residents who are Catholic, and we usually have three for our Communion service. This lady named Gwendolyn was sitting in the lobby, and she wheeled her way up to us and introduced herself to the group. In an incredibly mysterious way, our Catholic Communion group drew in this new member for just that moment.

“It’s so small, but it’s a hallmark of what we’re going for. It’s accompanying other people and giving them space where they can bring their struggles, their worries and their hopes so they can share them and have them seen by another person, by both a human person and a divine person. It’s experiencing a connection in a world that’s so isolated. The tragedy of nursing homes is that so many go unvisited, so many go untouched and unloved.”

Deacon Hansen brings a similar approach of accompaniment to the youths of St. Monica, according to Father Matthew Perronie, who also assists at the parish.

“Our youth group typically gets together on Sunday evenings,” Father Perronie says. “One night, we had been gathered together, playing different card games, talking and socializing. He led us around the property for a rosary walk. We came back, ate some food and then he took everyone over to the gym to play some basketball. I remember thinking this will be the end, and we’ll wrap up from here. Then someone asked if they could play soccer.

“So, he took everyone who wanted to play out to the soccer field. It was well past the allotted time for youth group. He’s not wrapped up in, ‘This is when it starts, and this is when it ends, and how are we going to fit everything into that time?’ He’s just content enjoying that time with the kids.”

Deacon Hansen also strives to show the youths the world beyond their parish.

On January 22, he led a group of youths to participate in a pro-life Mass, rally and the Indiana March for Life in downtown Indianapolis—an experience that led to an unexpected moment.

“We were walking up Meridian Street, and there was construction going on at the corner of Washington and Meridian,” Deacon Hansen recalls. “Someone had passed a bunch of the pro-life signs to a construction crew that was not involved in the march. They were on scaffolding, holding up these signs, and everyone was cheering. Our group cheered so loudly for these construction workers.

“It just showed them [the youths] that what our Church stands for is something that the common man and the common woman can connect with. The message of Jesus is speaking to people who don’t even know God yet. It was just a good day where they were able to realize they were part of something bigger than their community.”

Deacon Hansen felt the same way in connection to the first person who made him think about becoming a priest—someone who also gave him a memorable gift.

‘The two things I see as most important’

The moment occurred at St. Patrick Church in Indianapolis where his parents, Joseph and Gina, were married, and he and his two brothers were baptized.

“The late Franciscan Father Arturo Ocampo was one of the earliest people to encourage me about the priesthood,” Deacon Hansen recalls. “I showed him my kid’s missal when I was 5 years old, and he gave me a wooden practice chalice that I still have.”

The influences continued at St. Roch School and Parish in Indianapolis, where Father James Wilmoth served as a joyful, inspiring and good-hearted pastor for years.

“The message I got at St. Roch is that it’s never too early to start thinking about your vocation,” Deacon Hansen says. “I wrote an essay about wanting to be a priest in the seventh grade.”

His mother saw his faith grow deeper during his years at Roncalli High School in Indianapolis.

“He went to Mass every morning at Roncalli, and he loved eucharistic adoration,” Gina Hansen says. “He just loved the sacraments. It was very inspiring for me to see that.”

After two years at Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind.—where he served as the student president of the college’s Catholic center—he entered Bishop Simon Bruté College Seminary in Indianapolis. His years of priestly formation at Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in St. Meinrad followed, leading to his approaching ordination.

“I am extremely excited to be able to celebrate Mass and hear confessions,” he says. “Those are the two things I see as most important for the world. It’s the medicine the sick world needs.”

‘They know where his heart is’

Like all defining moment in a person’s life, the ordination of a priest is a time of deep emotion for him, his parents and the people who have watched and followed his path to this momentous point.

“I had a good cry when he was ordained a deacon down at Saint Meinrad. I hadn’t cried that hard in a long time,” recalls Joe Hansen, Deacon Hansen’s dad and an assistant superintendent of Catholic schools for the archdiocese. “They were tears of joy. I’m sure it’s the same feeling when you have a son or daughter getting married. He’s essentially marrying the Church.

“It will be a beautiful day, an emotional day. We have so many people, so many friends and family who are excited. And they’re excited for the Church, too. They know Sam, and they know where his heart is. He’s very selfless, and he understands that by becoming a priest he is sacrificing his life for others.”

Hansen pauses, emotion filling him again.

“I get choked up saying that because he gets it. He’s going to live his life for others. He’ll connect with his parishioners. He’ll connect with kids, and he’ll do anything to bring God’s love to them.”

Deacon Hansen’s mom Gina nods at her husband’s words before sharing her own.

“He was always just a kind-hearted child,” she says. “He’s ready.”

Gina notes how Joe’s side of the family—with Puerto Rican roots—is thrilled to have one of their own becoming a priest. Her thoughts then turn to her late grandmother and her dad who passed away—and how they would have loved to be there for the ordination.

“I believe they’ll be there in spirit,” she says. “Everybody in our family is so excited for Sam.”

So is Father Keucher.

“He’s a man of real faith and real presence. He’s a natural leader, with the great mix of humility and strength,” says Father Keucher, who is also the director

of vocations for the archdiocese, pastor of St. Vincent

de Paul Parish in Shelby County and dean of the Batesville Deanery. “He works hard, he loves being with people, and he has a particular heart for Hispanic ministry and for bringing people together in Christ.”

As others look forward to his ordination and his priesthood, Deacon Hansen looks back on his journey to this point, a journey that began when a 5-year-old boy showed his child’s missal to a priest and the caring priest gave the boy a chalice.

“The hardest part of seminary is the amount of places and people that we move through,” says Deacon Hansen, who will continue his ministry at St. Monica following his ordination. “As I move into a place of greater stability, I’m thankful for every place I’ve been and every person I’ve met who have helped me on this long journey. Each has provided their own value and just given me this broader image of the Church.”

He then shares a thought that he keeps as a reminder for himself. It’s a reminder for all of us, too.

“This life goes by fast, and there’s a God that loves us and waits for us on the other side.”

(For more information about a vocation to the priesthood in the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, visit HearGodsCall.com.) †

More about Transitional Deacon Samuel Hansen

Age: 26

Parents’ names: Joseph and Gina Hansen

Home parish: St. Roch in Indianapolis

Education: St. Roch School, Roncalli High School in Indianapolis, Wabash College in Crawfordsville, Ind., Marian University in Indianapolis, and Saint Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology in St. Meinrad

Favorite Scripture verse/passage: Romans 8:18: “I consider the sufferings of the present as nothing compared with the glory that is yet to come.”

The Criterion