Father Jon O'Guinn
D.O.B. April 17, 1963

Two lines spoken by a seminarian in the movie "Mass Apeal" jarred Father Jon O'Guinn's memory in 1985 back to an idea he had entertained nine years earlier.

O'Guinn went to see the movie because he had played the role of the seasoned pastor (preformed by Jack Lemmon in the movie) in a college play. He didn't remember the lines from the play, but that night they wouldn't leave his thoughts.

The first line was: "The most important thing in life is helping other people." The second: "What you believe in has got to be more important tha what other people think of you."

That night he called Father Jim Buerster, who had been associate pastor at St. Mary's in Belleville when O'Guinn was a seventh grader in the parish school, and to whom he attributed the "awakening to a vocation."

That awakening was quickly drowned, however, when O'Guinn was one of 12 boys to receive a part in the St. Louis Muny Opera's production of "Oliver" that summer.

"After that I wanted to be an actor. That's what I did in high school and college. That's what I got my undergraduate degree in."

After receiving a degree in Acting and Directing from Illinois State University. Normal in 1985, O'Guinn was working at the Illinois Shakespeare Festival the night he went to see "Mass Apeal."

In the fall he began attending Saint Meinrad Seminary in Indiana. During the course of his preparation for his priesthood, O'Guinn served year-long pastoral internships at St. Teresa parish in Belleville, St. Joseph parishes of Olney and Stringtown, and as a deacon at St. Stephen parish in Caseyville. In addition to Saint Meinrad, he also attended Kenrick Seminary and Aquinas Institute in St. Louis.

Indeed, the road to ordination took a few detours for O'Guinn. Perhaps it was symbolic that he was baptized by Bishop Anthony Deksnys, after his pastor refused to baptize him because his parents weren't married in the church.

Though he didn't grow up in a "traditional" Catholic family, O'Guinn thinks he may come from a "typical" Catholic family with divorces and blended families.  "Maybe I became a priest becaused I realized that every person, every family, has some mess to deal with. We're all in this thing called life together. That means we have a lot of common ground -- our woundedness -- where we meet each other, and where we begin seeking reconciliation and peace and love."

Born April 17, 1963 and ordained a priest June 5, 1993, O'Guinn became pastor of St. Theresa of Avila parish and St. Elizabeth Seton parish in Kinmundy after he served as a Parochial Vicar at St. Mary's and St. Sebastian parishes in Mount Carmel, St. Francis Xavier parish in St. Fracisville and Immaculate Conception parish in Columbia. His mother, Judy Freeman, now lives in Salem, along with his grandmother, Helen Rolen. Father Jon has two half-sisters, Judy Costello of Belleville and Jayme Pothoff of Salem, and a brother, Jody O'Guinn of Alton.