Father Christie Tissera stands in his church, St. Elizabeth of Hungary in John Day.

From seminary and ordination through decades of prayer, teaching and service, a Catholic priest’s life is a long spiritual journey — and, often, can entail a long terrestrial journey as well.

Take Father Christie Tissera. Born, raised and ordained in the island nation of Sri Lanka, today Tissera is pastor of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church in John Day, some 8,700 miles from his native land.

Tissera, one of seven children, grew up in a devoutly Catholic family. “My mother encouraged me to become a priest when I was a little boy,” he recalls, “and that became my desire through school.”

After attending and graduating from college, says Tissera, “I trained for the spiritual life,” studying philosophy and theology for six years at a seminary for aspiring priests.

Ordained in 1989, Tissera spent the first 24 years of his priesthood at parishes in Sri Lanka. Then, in 2013, his bishop “loaned” him, as he describes it, to the Diocese of Baker to help alleviate a shortage of priests in Northeastern Oregon. He was posted first to Ontario’s Blessed Sacrament Parish and then, in 2017, to St. Elizabeth.

Tissera’s responsibilities are many and varied. “My most important,” he explains, “is to conduct the daily Mass.” He also administers children’s baptisms and first communions, vows of holy matrimony and the “anointing of the sick” sacrament to the ill and dying. As well, he says, “I visit and keep up my relationships with my parishioners.”

And, every other Sunday, Tissera drives to Monument to celebrate Mass at the Church of St. Anne — a mission, or “satellite” church, of St. Elizabeth.

In addition to tending to his Catholic flock, says Tissera, “I maintain relationships with other faith communities,” and he has collaborated with local Protestant churches to organize Lenten gatherings.

And once a month, “I enjoy going to the John Day Senior Center to visit seniors who’ve given so much with their lives,” says Tissera, who offers a prayer (and sometimes a song) before the center’s communal lunch.

What does Tissera consider his greatest challenge? “To live the life of a priest is the greatest challenge,” he explains — “to know how best to console, to learn how to relate to different kinds of people.”

Throughout his priesthood, Tissera has drawn particular inspiration from the life of St. Joseph Vaz, a native of Goa, India — “the saint,” he says, “we venerate most in Sri Lanka.”

During the island’s 17th- and 18th-century occupation by the Dutch, Vaz — defying the occupiers’ attempt to impose the Protestant doctrine of Calvinism — “traveled throughout the island bringing the Eucharist and the sacraments to clandestine groups of Catholics,” according to the website Catholic Online. “St. Joseph Vaz was canonized by Pope Francis in 2015,” says Tissera, “and has greatly influenced our Catholic life.”

Indeed, continues Tissera, “every saint is a light to our lives. When I visit other parishes, I try to learn more about the saints for whom those parishes are named.”

Tissera says he expects to be in John Day another five years. “I like this small community,” he says. “It is a smiling, welcoming community. It is easy to relate to people here. They always respect one another.”

All in all, Tissera concludes, John Day exudes “a very homey atmosphere.”

NAME: Father Christie Tissera

RESIDENCE: John Day

AGE: 63

OCCUPATION: Pastor of St. Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church

CLAIM TO FAME: Grant County’s only Catholic priest