Father John Iffert, O.P.
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My name is Fr. John Iffert and I am most excited to be here with you and to have the opportunity to introduce myself.
My favorite word is gratitude. Perhaps because I was born on Thanksgiving Day, I have come to believe that all of life is supposed to be a grateful response to the gifts God has poured out on each one of us. I have always encountered God most powerfully through the people God has placed in my life, so relationship with one another in Christ—in imitation of the life of the Trinity—is the center of my approach to Catholic life and faith.
I was born in DuQuoin, Illinois and raised on a farm there. I have two older sisters. In 1997, I was ordained to serve the Diocese of Belleville in Southern Illinois (my home diocese). I served there as a vicar at the Cathedral of St. Peter and then as pastor of Immaculate Conception Church in Columbia, Illinois.
Although I loved my ministry as a diocesan priest, I came to believe that God was calling me to life in a religious community. I desired to be consecrated in religious vows and to live in community. I also hoped for a more balanced life of ministry, prayer, and study than I had achieved on my own. In 2003, I entered the Dominican novitiate. After one year as a novice and three years of study in St. Louis, Missouri, I am grateful to be in West Lafayette and eager to dive into ministry at St. Tom’s.
