From pitching hay bales to pitching salvation

Father Garrett Kau has been chaplain of Legatus’ Madison Chapter since 2018. He was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Madison in 2013 and is pastor of two rural Wisconsin parishes, St. Luke in Plain and St. John the Evangelist in Spring Green, which each have schools. “Interacting with the school children is one of my favorite ways to exercise being a spiritual father,“ he said.

His Legatus ties go back further, as he was involved with the Denver Chapter while in seminary. He served at a Legatus Mass and participated in a seminarian panel in which he answered questions about his vocation and his life of formation for the priesthood. “I got to know a number of members well through my seminary days,“ he recalled, “so when Madison was getting started, I was happy to help.“

Tell us about growing up on a Wisconsin dairy farm.

Some of my earliest memories were on the family dairy farm, but like many back then, and certainly today, my parents had to sell off the herd and farm in the late 1980s. Still, we lived in the country and raised chickens, and eventually I worked on a nearby dairy farm in my high school years. Milking at 4:30 a.m. seven days a week and pitching hay bales throughout the summer definitely gave me a great work ethic as a teenager and certainly was effective in keeping me out of trouble.

Did you grow up in an observant Catholic home?

Sunday Mass was automatic for us as a family growing up, along with saying grace before meals. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much else with the faith happening at home, but it did lay foundations that would prove crucial later. Looking back, I can see how being an altar server almost subconsciously gave me an appreciation for the Mass.

You earned a degree in microbiology from University of Wisconsin-Madison.

I have always been fascinated by the extremely complex machinery working within all living things and especially microbes, which led me to major in bacteriology. By the end of my time, I was most interested in food microbiology, understanding beneficial microbes’ role in food production and preventing the growth of pathogens.

What led you to the priesthood?

Saint Paul’s University Catholic Center, the Newman Center on campus, had a big impact on my growth in the faith. It really gave me a sense of ownership of my belief since it fell on me to practice my Catholicism. Perhaps most important was a sense of community. Growing up outside a small town, there was no youth group, so it was huge to come and meet others who were committed to living their faith on an increasingly secular campus.

You are celebrating 10 years in the priesthood.

On May 24, I’ll celebrate 10 years of priesthood, which is hard to fathom. I look back at pictures from either seminary or earlier in my priesthood and reflect on this amazing adventure that God has brought me on. The biggest reward will always be the gift of absolving sins in the sacrament of Reconciliation. In a world so in need of God’s mercy, unworthy though I am, I can give it.

How’s the Madison Chapter doing, and what advice would you give them?

It is small but mighty and is growing bit by bit. In a city that seems to take pride in being “free“ from God, it’s all the more essential that Catholic leaders in the workplace be ambassadors for Christ, as Pope St. John Paul II first exhorted Legatus members.

My advice to members is to not be afraid to be countercultural. I know that might seem easy for me to say as I make my way around town in a cassock and Roman collar, but Jesus wants us — and especially our gospel joy — to stand out.