When Father Joe Menkhaus, parochial vicar at St. Bernadette Parish in Westlake, addressed Theology on the Rocks West earlier this month, he packed the house at the West Side Irish American Club in Olmsted Township.
About 200 people attended his program, “From Punk Rocker to Priest” on March 10. And Father Menkhaus didn’t disappoint them. He brought along his guitar and used it throughout the program to illustrate portions of his journey to the priesthood.
Father Menkhaus, who was ordained to the priesthood in 2022, talked about his family life as the oldest of eight children. The Menkhauses moved from Euclid to Valley View when he was 11 and he began attending Cuyahoga Heights schools, a small district “where everybody knew everybody,” he said. As the “new kid,” it took him a little while to find his niche.
He talked about meeting a girl and dating her. She was in choir. He wanted to do things to be around her, so he joined the marching band, teaching himself — with a little help — to play the trombone.
Things didn’t work out with the girl, so eventually, they broke up. “And I learned her father was a former priest. God works in strange ways,” he quipped, noting he had never considered a priestly vocation at that point in his life.
“I had some time on my hands and my grandparents had a keyboard in their basement, so I taught myself to play piano,” he said.
At school, he was a member of choir, the marching band and he continued expanding his musical repertoire by teaching himself to play the guitar.
His family attended St. Monica Parish in Garfield Heights and he met the music director one Sunday after Mass. They needed a guitar player and invited him to join them.
“I was a bit reticent, but I came along. And that began my journey in liturgical music,” he said.
In addition, he joined a ska band — Glow Pop Jiggly Jams — with some friends and played trombone. “We had a lot of fun and wrote our own songs,” he said. The group played at several popular venues in Greater Cleveland, but never made much money. Ska is a Jamaican musical genre, a precursor of reggae, with roots in the late 1950s.
“There were 10 members in the band and we would get about $100 for a gig. Split 10 ways, that meant we each got $10,” he said.
When the music director at his parish learned he also played piano, he was invited to play at Mass. Soon after, a $100 check arrived at his home. “I didn’t even know I was getting paid,” he said.
“That’s when God’s little winks really started becoming evident.”
Because of his involvement with the church music group, Father Menkhaus said he was attending Mass more often. But he hadn’t felt the nudge toward the priesthood yet.
The summer before his senior year in high school, he broke up with his girlfriend. He continued his involvement with variety of music programs Cuyahoga Heights High School.
Every summer, the Menkhauses went to Catholic Family Land for a retreat. The summer before his senior year, Father Menkhaus said he heard a voice telling him he’d be a good priest.
“It scared me,” he admitted. Later, he saw priests outside hearing confessions and the voice returned, with the same message.
“I had never thought about the priesthood before that,” he said.
He shared his experience at adoration later that night, when he participated in what was called a blind cross walk that simulated what it was like for Jesus to carry his cross. When he reached the top of the hill, Father Menkhaus said he burst into tears. He later spoke with a camp counselor who also told him he would make a good priest.
Although he wasn’t sold on the idea, “I made a deal with God that if I still felt that way in a week, I’d do something about it.”
When he got home, he looked at the diocesan vocation website and sent an email inquiry. Within a couple of hours, he recalled Father Mike McCandless, then the vocations director, was on the phone calling him. They met at St. Monica’s and Father Menkhaus recalled how surprised he was to see the young, athletic, blond, blue-eyed priest. “I never saw a priest like that before,” he said.
They chatted in the rectory and Father McCandless said he wasn’t sure if God was calling Father Menkhaus to the priesthood, but suggested he would be a good candidate for Borromeo Seminary so he could discern his call.
He read a discernment book over the summer and dove headlong into his senior year of high school, serving as a class officer, captain of the soccer team and he took three Advance Placement classes. “I was really busy,” he said, admitting he ignored Father McCandless’ phone calls. He started college visits and was interested in a sacred music program offered at Franciscan University in Steubenville.
Father McCandless invited him to a “come and see” weekend at the seminary. “I told him God was calling me to go to Franciscan. He told me to pray about it and to call him back.” Father Menkhaus said he talked with his mother and she gave him some sage advice.
“She told me she wasn’t sure if God was calling me to the priesthood, but said I wouldn’t be happy unless I did what God wanted,” he said.
He called Father McCandless and said he was going to a TEC (Teens Encounter Christ) retreat in January. “Great. I’ll be there,” Father McCandless said.
Father Menkhaus said he tried to find a way to get out of the retreat, recalling how miserable he was. His younger sister had attended a TEC retreat previously and his parents met at a TEC retreat in the 1990s, but this was his first experience with something like this. He heard his peers give witness talks and share their stories of brokenness.
He recalled how although he went to confession, “I always kept some things back. This time, I wrote out every sin, read the list to the priest and prepared for the wrath of God. After about 10 seconds of silence, the priest looked at me and asked if I’d ever considered the priesthood because my confession sounded like a priest’s confession,” Father Menkhaus said.
“I met girl at the retreat who wanted to be a nun and I wanted to be a priest … There were no more excuses. I had to give God a chance.”
He also was introduced to praise and worship music at the retreat.
Father Menkhaus said he bumped into Father McCandless at the retreat and they agreed to talk again. He also agreed to attend a come and see weekend, finding his ideas of the seminary were wrong.
“I expected to see a bunch of guys in cassocks with folded hands walking around chanting. I was surprised to find they were just like me. They liked video games, sports, etc. I went to the holy hour and they invited me to play the piano,” he said.
Although finances were a concern — Borromeo seminarians attend most of their classes at John Carroll University — Father McCandless told him not to worry, there was help available.
Meanwhile, he was accepted in the sacred music program at Franciscan. Soon after, he got an acceptance letter from Borromeo and shortly after that, he received a letter informing him the sacred music program at Franciscan University was being shut down to rebuild it. That made the decision to try Borromeo easier.
“I had some difficulties, but God always provided,” Father Menkhaus said.
He continued working on his music and wrote a song, realizing he wanted to do more songwriting. He collaborated with his brother Max, who is music director at St. Barnabas Parish in Northfield, and also tried writing some parts for the Mass. He said Max learned to write the music.
The culmination of their partnership came in 2022 — the year of his priestly ordination — when then-Father Michael Woost (now Auxiliary Bishop Woost) asked him to write a song for the Eucharistic Revival that could be used throughout the diocese and perhaps beyond. Father Menkhaus, Max and their sister Monica, with input from a fellow seminarian Father Connor Hetzel from the Diocese of Youngstown, wrote “Lord, I am not Worthy.”
“I asked God to show me what to say, and my eyes went to the document on the Eucharist,” he said, noting the phrase, “Only say the word and my soul shall be healed” struck him.
The song has been featured throughout the Eucharistic Revival in parishes and elsewhere.
Father Menkhaus concluded his program by inviting attendees to sing the song with him.
Click here to view a video of the song featuring Father Menkhaus, Monica and Max Menkhaus. The Menkhaus siblings also were part of a package about the revival that appeared in the July/August 2022 issue of Northeast Ohio Catholic magazine.
The next Theology on the Rocks West program will take place at 7 p.m. April 14 at the West Side Irish American Club, 8559 Jennings Road, Olmsted Township. Father Mark Latcovich, pastor of St. Ladislas Parish in Westlake, will discuss comparison of the Passion narratives. Cost is $15, which includes refreshments. Click here for reservations and more information.