Fr. William Hayward, MIC

Missionary
Vietnam

First Vows: 8/15/1983
Final Vows: 5/31/1988
Priestly Ordination: 5/28/1989

Previous assignments and dates:
Formator in the St. Casimir Province: September 1989 – August 1996
Teacher, Marianapolis Preparatory School, Thompson, Connecticut
Associate Pastor, Our Lady of Peace Parish, Darien, Illinois: August 1996 – January 2001
Pastor, St. Peter Parish, Kenosha, Wisconsin: January 2001 – October 2010
Pastor, Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, Kenosha, Wisconsin: October 2010 - July 2018 

Do you have a devotion to a particular Saint(s)?
I admire St. John Henry Newman and get much insight and wisdom from his writings. I daily pray the Litany to St. Joseph. I am grateful for the lives and witnesses of St. Stanislaus and Blessed George.

Favorite quote from the Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska?

All things will come to an end; but love, never. (Diary, 1022)

Favorite prayer(s) to Our Lady?
The Litany of Loreto with the Rosary as a close second. I also love the Alma Redemptorist Mater and the Memorare.

His story:
During the Eucharistic Prayer at Holy Thursday Mass in 1981, I received the call I had been avoiding. I knew within a moment that God was calling me to be a priest. I was 22-years old, living in Ellensburg, Washington, becoming settled in St. Andrew Church and the local community. I was proud to be recommitted to Jesus Christ as a Catholic and eager to grow my career in land surveying. Now this.

I grew up in Syracuse, New York, but I loved the American West with its open spaces and beautiful vistas. I was not eager to move back East. Sensing that community life was important for me, I contacted a distribution service that would send my name to religious congregations who would contact me. One day I received an envelope with the return address "Marian Fathers, Thompson Connecticut." I almost discarded it. "I'm not moving to Connecticut," I told myself.

However, it had a typewritten letter and a signed signature. The vocation director invited me to share my ideas of what it would be to be a priest. I quickly jumped at the chance, eager to write about my call and my growing acceptance of God's will in my life. After several exchanges, he invited me to visit the Marians.

I found then in the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception what I am proud to still see today: authenticity. The life and ministry in which the Marian Fathers engage demand men of authenticity. Whether we minister in parishes, promote Divine Mercy, teach in schools, or preach retreats, we are called to be authentic men of God. We don't hide our faults and deficiencies behind a facade of feigned holiness. We work on them, trusting that God uses events and people in our lives to mold us into the image of Jesus Christ. And we see that love is necessary to keep our community together and committed to the founding vision of Saint Stanislaus Papczynski and the renewed vision of Blessed George Matulaitis.

I am exceedingly grateful to God for my life as a Marian Father.

More on Fr. William:
Our Duty Toward God and Country 
The Family in Crisis 
What Does This Jubilee Year Mean for Us?
Incorporating Acts of Mercy into Your Life