Sometimes, a hard-working priest just needs a break.

The Rev. Vincent Bresowar, a 1998 graduate of Homewood High School who attended Auburn University, spent three years in the Air Force and worked at UAB as a medical technician before attending seminary, will be taking a sabbatical.

It comes after serving nine years as pastor of Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Russellville.

Bresowar, 45, recently oversaw construction of a $4.5 million, 500-seat church in Russellville, as he has watched the mostly Hispanic congregation thrive and grow in the new sanctuary that opened in October 2023.

The congregation now has three Spanish language Masses every weekend, and one in English.

Bresowar asked Bishop Steven Raica, head of the Catholic Diocese of Birmingham, for a break for spiritual renewal. He will start a six-month sabbatical on Sept. 1.

Even with a new building, Good Shepherd Church is bursting at the seams.

“It’s pretty full,” Bresowar said. “I’m going to take time away and rest. Get a little more continuing education, spiritual renewal, retreat, and travel.”

He plans to visit family in Homewood, Louisiana and Massachusetts, take part in a spiritual formation retreat in Michigan, travel to Rome, and visit California.

“Sabbaticals are meant to be a time of renewal,” Bresowar said. “I’ve been a priest 13 years. I don’t think ‘burned-out’ is the right word. I’m a little tired. There has been a lot going on here. I asked the bishop for time to get away and renew.”

Bresowar was ordained as a priest in 2011 at the Cathedral of St. Paul in Birmingham. He finished his bachelor’s degree at Our Lady of Holy Cross College in New Orleans and received his master’s degree in theology in 2011 from Notre Dame Seminary.

After the completion of the new Good Shepherd Church building in Russellville, and the recent construction of a new playground for children, the parish is in a good place for transition, Bresowar said.

“It’s in a very healthy place,” he said. “I’m not planning on leaving the priesthood. I’m going to take a break. Once the sabbatical’s over, I’ll be assigned somewhere. I don’t know where yet.”

Bishop Raica has not yet announced who will be the next pastor at Good Shepherd.

Fluency in Spanish is a qualification. “It would help,” Bresowar said.

“Russellville is continually growing, and the demographic is mostly Hispanic,” Bresowar said. “Some people have adapted well to the influx of Hispanics, and some, not so much.”

Good Shepherd Church has welcomed the influx.

“We’ve seen it grow and grow,” Bresowar said. “The sense of community at our church has been really impressive. People have begun to take ownership. There’s a lot more community feel. It’s definitely a success in terms of community.”

The new church even recently won a beautification award from the Russellville Chamber of Commerce, he said.

“It’s beautiful,” he said.

As pastor of a mostly Hispanic congregation, Bresowar had to immerse himself in learning to speak Spanish.

“I was willing to learn it,” he said. “If I had known how much Spanish I would use, I would have started in kindergarten.”

It’s all about “the willingness to learn the language, and serve, and recognize the need to meet the spiritual needs of the people coming to this country,” he said. “They’re all people of God.”