Whatever you do, do from the heart, as for the Lord and not for others, knowing that you will receive from the Lord the due payment of the inheritance; be slaves of the Lord Christ. (Col. 3: 23-24)

Fr. Josh Janko is Chaplain at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. Before that, he served at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo, Japan. However, he’s a Carmel, Indiana native and a priest of the diocese here. I met him when he was serving as the Director of Catholic Mission at Guerin Catholic High School, when my oldest son, Nick, was there. He later served a short time at St. Louis de Montfort in Fishers before making the move to serve our great nation!

This weekend as many terrific young people graduate from GCHS and the priestly ordinations took place yesterday, I heard from a few folks that our world traveling friend was in the area. On Facebook, I was able to find confirmation of this, as you can see from the great photo above!

Fr. Janko has a heart that loves the Lord, and he glorifies God by the way he lives his life– filled with zest and positivity. His smile is glorious and he has an infectious laugh too! I saw a quote this week that reminded me of him, and then his name kept popping up in my week, so I decided that the Holy Spirit was nudging me to share with you about this truly terrific priest.

“To truly have a zest for life, you must squeeze all the juice out of it…especially the lemons. Believe it or not, they make life even more delicious. The lessons you get out of them make you strong, resilient, and amazing.” (JG Perry)

Strong, resilient and amazing are adjectives which describe this man very aptly. He’s gifted with young people, because he is full of life himself. Without a doubt, Fr. Josh has done the tough work of the priesthood, walking alongside folks at their most vulnerable times, administering the sacraments at crazy hours of the day or night, but even on the most mundane of days, his mood energizes others around him and he is the face of Christ to many.

I am grateful for his witness of what it means to be an authentic and enthusiastic man who loves the Lord with zeal! Thanks, Fr. Janko, for all you do each day…no matter where you live!!