Meet Michael Jaksic
Greetings
Hello brothers! My name is Michael Jaksic, and I’m humbled and honoured to be succeeding Ivica Kovac in this very important role as Life, Marriage, and Family Officer with a focus of men’s ministry. There is, indeed, big shoes to fill and I mean that, seriously. Ivica has done an absolute excellent job expanding the MAXIMUS brand. Following him, I hope to touch base with you all soon. Should any of you wish to reach out to me, you are most welcome. You can reach me on michael.jaksic@sydneycatholic.org; Work mob: 0436 528 651; Personal mob: 0417 198 393.
Introduction
As a token of courtesy, I wish to briefly introduce myself to the MAXIMUS community. Where should I begin? I guess the simplest place to start is the beginning. I was born on the 5th of July 1983 at Auburn hospital to Croatian parents. Coincidently, this is the same place of birth and nationality as Ivica. I likewise grew up in the same ‘village’, a little suburb in Western Sydney called, Berala. We both also grew up attending St Peter Channel, the area’s local Catholic parish. It’s uncanny! But we could, in short, be described as the Berala boys with shaved heads and beards.
We do have some differences, though. My hair is slightly longer and my beard shorter. I’m also slightly younger, and slightly shorter. I haven’t been married as long and have 1 beautiful child instead of 7 beautiful children. I would be delighted if God blessed my wife and I with another 6 too – but that’s in God’s hands!
Humour aside, however, after leaving school at the end of year 10 in 1999, I finished a trade in Shopfitting, Kitchens and Detailed Joinery. Soon after finishing my apprenticeship, I spent a couple of years in partitioning and commercial fit outs. I then decided to try something new and began working as a security guard and then as a courier for Linfox. I then went on to something entirely new again. I felt a call to discern a vocation to the priesthood and spent almost 6 years in the Seminary of the Good Shepherd (2010 – 2015). After leaving seminary, I got married to my lovely wife Catherine in May 2016, and have spent the last 7 years working in university ministry (2017-2024) for the Archdiocese of Sydney.
Why I’m dedicated to Life, Marriage, and Family
I would like to spend a moment saying a few words about my faith journey. I grew up in a household where our Catholic faith was only nominally practised. Thankfully, on the other hand, not too far from home, my paternal grandmother was a shining example. From childhood, her witness to the Catholic faith convinced me of its truth.
Despite this conviction, I started living a more secular life during my teenage years. I only practiced the teachings of the Church that seemed convenient to me. I remember thinking to myself that I would adhere to her inconvenient teachings in my old age.
By the time I reached my late teens, I realised that I was becoming a person that I didn’t want to be. I tried to change and amend my behaviour on numerous occasions. But each time I tried, I failed. So, after a few years of failure, I turned to the only place I knew, the Church. After consistent recourse to the Sacraments – namely Confession and the Eucharist – my behaviour gradually changed. It was puzzling, though, and I had a question. Why did this change come about after returning to church but not prior? The answer dawned on me. It was Sacramental grace that made the difference. That my past failures were for lack of grace and that I was seeking salvation from sin on my own strength. As our Lord says, “you can do nothing apart from me (Jn 15:5)”. That’s when I realised the Church’s teaching on the Sacraments is not just rhetoric, but that there is real saving power in them.
Even though my behaviour had changed, I was still plagued with desire to sin. This profoundly changed when I discovered Pope John Paul II’s teaching on the Theology of the Body. I remember reflecting upon the Pope’s Catholic explanation on sexuality and marriage, and in a moment, I knew that it was the truth. Something immediately shifted in my heart, and the habitual desire to sin just dissolved in an instant. For the first time in my life, I felt free. I felt as though I had been lugging a ball and chain my whole life, and now, for the first time, the ball and chain had fallen off. That experience taught me what freedom really means: an unhindered capacity for doing the good, and not the licence to choose between good or evil without consequence!
This made such an impact on me, I wanted everybody to experience the freedom I did, and to know the good news about the Catholic faith and her teaching on the human person, life, marriage, and family. This was the essential factor which led me to apply for seminary. I wanted everyone to know that marriage is a vehicle to holiness and a sign of the kingdom of heaven. That marriage deserved the total effort of the spouses in a world full of people who prefer to put their efforts in everything else other than their spouse and family – you name it: sport, career, hobbies, travelling and so on… But I felt a strange desire that I needed to witness to this beautiful truth as a celibate priest. I didn’t make it ordination, instead God called me to bear witness to His truth, and my masculinity as a married man. And He has blessed me abundantly in the process.
Why I’m invested in Men’s ministry
I’d like to shift gears and finish by saying a few words about my time in seminary because I think it will illustrate something relevant to the MAXIMUS context. The seminary was the most spiritually fruitful and formative season of my life. I received theological training; learned how to pray deeply and love Our Lord, His Church, and my neighbour more profoundly. It was God’s gracious gift to me.
But the primary way in which I received this gift (and continuing) was brotherhood. I found that brotherhood was the most effective influence on formation in seminary. It was not just any brotherhood. But a brotherhood that was centred on Jesus Christ: the Man, par excellence! There is nothing like men being inspired by other men to live a life of action, virtue, holiness, and sacrificial love. Come to think of it, it was also this kind of brotherhood that gave me the courage to enter seminary in the first place and now aspire to be a loving husband, father, and holy man.
This is what I wish for all men. This is what God provides through MAXIMUS. This is what I hope to advance in the men’s ministry space, and help men connect with one another and to their local men’s groups.
But over the next couple of months, if things seem slow in this space, please be patient with me. I’m still learning about this role, it’s key contributors, and it’s duties. When I’m up to speed, things will pick up again.
Your brother in Christ,
Michael John Jaksic
“The person who loves God cannot help loving every man as himself, even though he is grieved by the passions of those who are not yet purified. But when they amend their lives, his delight is indescribable and knows no bounds.” Saint Maximus the Confessor
