Father Rappold: ‘God never gave up on me’ – Catholic from Arkansas

Mountain Home pastor celebrates 25 years as a diocesan priest

Published: June 21, 2024

By Aprille Hanson Spivey
Associate editor

Father Rappold: ‘God never gave up on me’ – Catholic from Arkansas

Father Norbert Rappold, pastor of St. Peter the Fisherman Church in Mountain Home, serves cake during his 25th anniversary celebration June 12 in the Family Life building. (Leo Clegg)

Father Norbert Rappold is a piece of driftwood in the chaos of life.

“When I have chaotic moments, I actually remind myself that I am driftwood. When you fall over the falls, the chaotic life of a piece of driftwood is ultimately what makes it beautiful, unique and one of a kind,” said the pastor of St. Peter the Fisherman Church in Mountain Home and liaison to the bishop. for the Catholic charismatic renewal. “I would like to think that I will wash up on the shore of the Easter ocean, and God will come and pick me up and put me in my special place.”

On June 12, Father Norbert Rappold, 62 years old, celebrated his 25th anniversary as a diocesan priest. More than 250 people attended a potluck dinner at the parish’s Family Life Building.

Father Rappold, the eighth of fourteen children, was born and raised in Conway. He attended St. Joseph School until fifth grade, when the family moved to Houston, Ark. He then attended St. Boniface Church in Bigelow (New Dixie). His curious nature earned him the nickname “Know It” in high school.

“I was always someone who asked a million and one questions,” he said. ‘… You cannot think about God if you do not have the mind that is willing to step outside the ordinary and into the possibilities. ”

After graduating from Arkansas Tech University in Russellville in 1984, he worked as a farm manager, in construction and later owned a lawn care business.

“I almost got married in those years. I was engaged. She met someone else. I felt rejected. It kind of fell apart, but it was a blessing. I know what heartbreak feels like,” he said. “It became an integral part of my priesthood. When they come to me with those broken hearts, there’s nothing you can do about it; just be in the middle of it because time will heal a broken heart.

Despite a well-paying career, something was missing in Father Rappold’s life.

The pastor of St. Boniface, Father Edward Marley, CSSp, helped plant the seed of his vocation.

“I was in love with him. He was much older, but he still led the parish, and he was just normal,” he said. “He wasn’t trying to be holier than thou and a great theological genius. He was just normal and would talk to you wherever you were.

After discerning his calling for several years, he was admitted to St. Joseph Seminary College in Saint Benedict, La., and later attended Notre Dame Seminary in New Orleans.

Father Rappold was ordained on June 12, 1999, at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock, one of the last priests ordained by the late Bishop Andrew J. McDonald.

He served for a year as associate pastor of Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church in Little Rock. In 2000 he became pastor of St. Agnes Church in Mena. In his 13 years there, Father Rappold experienced two pivotal moments of life-changing chaos: an EF3 tornado while celebrating Maundy Thursday Mass in 2009, and his rehabilitation.

“You have difficulty helping parishioners and people outside the parish itself. You can see the community and the city as the body of Christ,” Father Rappold said, adding that the devastation of the tornado opened his eyes to serving beyond the parish walls.

After struggling with alcoholism, Father Rappold spent three months in an out-of-state rehabilitation center. He has been sober since 2006.

“I addressed my own brokenness and woundedness instead of letting it control me,” he said. “I began to let the Lord help me and by His grace I took control.”

In 2013, he became pastor of St. Peter’s in Mountain Home, revitalizing the parish with community activities, more adult faith formation classes and a sense of unity and stability.

Father Rappold often gives blessings to people after Mass, hugs his parishioners and shares vegetables from his garden. In keeping with his seminary nickname “No-Shoes Norbert,” it is common to see him barefoot, wearing a Hawaiian shirt and shorts, greeting parishioners after Mass when he is not the celebrant.

“I try to be sincere. I don’t pretend to be something I’m not. I think that’s something Dad always did. You may not have liked him, but you respected him. … I’m not going to stand on your pedestal,” he said.

Looking back on 25 years of priesthood, he is very grateful that “God has never abandoned me.”

“I have discovered the secret of chaos and calm; God is in the middle of it. If you trust him, he will take care of you. Even if you don’t trust him, he still loves you. He’s holding you back,” Father Rappold said.

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