2026 Jubliarians

In the August issue, The Herald magazine features its annual jubilarian section.  This special feature honors diocesan priests and men and women religious who are celebrating significant anniversaries in 2026. Below are profiles of three diocesan priests featured in this year’s issue: Father Don Brownstein, Father Mark Zacker and Father Jaimes Ponce.

To view the entire section as a flipbook, including a tribute to Msgr. Bob Jaeger on his retirement, visit:  

https://www.apubz.com/pubz/CCH/2026-CCH-Jubilarians/index.html

Father Don Brownstein, 45 years

Father Don Brownstein was ordained to the priesthood on June 13, 1981. His first assignment after ordination was as assistant pastor of Corpus Christi Parish. He later served as pastor at Annunciation and St. Joseph parishes in Leadville. From 1991-2001, he served as pastor of St. Patrick Parish, during which time the parish saw tremendous growth. From 2001-2010, he served as pastor of Ave Maria Parish in Parker, another parish that was growing rapidly. Beginning in 2008, Father Brownstein oversaw a capital campaign to build a new parish life center at Ave Maria. The campaign was successful and Bishop Michael Sheridan presided over a groundbreaking for the project in May 2010. From 2010-2013, Father Brownstein served as pastor of St. Peter Parish in Monument, where he led the effort to eliminate the parish debt.  He is currently retired and living in Denver. 

Father Mark Zacker, 30 years

Father Mark Zacker is a native of Mount Carmel, Pennsylvania. As a boy, he was heavily influenced by Father Fred and Father Stan, the two priests of the Congregation of the Holy Spirit who served at his predominantly Polish parish for more than 30 years. They were the first to point out that he might have a vocation to the priesthood. Father Zacker attended De Sales University in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, and afterwards entered the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart in Allentown, Pennsylvania. He was ordained a priest on June 15, 1996, and was assigned to a parish in Watertown, New York.  In 2002, seeking to become a diocesan priest, he came to the Diocese of Colorado Springs and served with Father Bill Carmody at Holy Family Parish in Security and St. Joseph Parish in Fountain. He then served at St. Peter Parish in Monument for a year before being named pastor of Holy Trinity Parish in March 2004. In 2007, he was named pastor of Corpus Christi Parish, where he remained for 12 years. Father Zacker said he enjoyed working with the principals and teachers at Corpus Christi School. While at Corpus Christi, Father Zacker regularly climbed the Incline in Manitou Springs while praying for more vocations to the priesthood and religious life. Many parishioners joined him on the “Incline for Vocations” hikes, as he called them. Now Corpus Christi Parish counts several seminarians among its members, a blessing that he believes is at least partly due to all those grueling walks up and down the Incline. “That’s been my great joy – seeing the children grow and the vocations blossom,” he said. “After 24 years in Colorado Springs, I see that there’s been great fruit – a lot more vocations to the priesthood.” In 2016, Father Zacker was named a Missionary of Mercy by Pope Francis for the Year of Mercy. He currently serves as pastor of St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Castle Rock and is a trained spiritual director. 

Father Jaimes Ponce, 25 years

Father Jaimes Ponce, who currently serves as pastor of St. Mary’s Cathedral and Judicial Vicar for the Diocese of Colorado Springs, was born in northeast Mexico in the state of Tamaulipas. His father died before he was born, leaving his mother to raise him and his five older siblings alone before she remarried. Despite her difficult circumstances, his mother continued to practice the faith and made sure that her children attended catechism classes twice a week, which had a big impact on his priestly vocation, Father Ponce said.

“The priest was always talking about God’s love — how important we were to him and how he cared for us,” Father Ponce said. “He also said that those who were not with us on earth were at home with our heavenly father. I wanted to preach about that because my biological father was with God already. Going to catechism class and listening to that priest developed my vocation.”

As a young college student, Father Ponce went to visit his brother in California and started attending a parish run by priests from the Congregation of Holy Cross. Attracted by the order’s charism, he entered seminary formation with the order and lived at the Holy Cross Novitiate in Cascade from 1994-95. But with the help of the vocation director, he discerned after several years that he was called to the diocesan priesthood rather than life in a religious community. Having met Bishop Richard Hanifen and Msgr. Don Dunn while living in Cascade, Father Ponce applied and was accepted as a candidate for Holy Orders in the Diocese of Colorado Springs. He was ordained a priest on Aug. 25, 2001. His first assignment after ordination was as St. Peter Parish in Monument. 

In 2007, Father Ponce was asked by Bishop Michael Sheridan to move to Rome to study canon law at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross. 
“It was a beautiful experience there,” Father Ponce said. “The professors emphasized the pastoral aspect of canon law. They always encouraged us to look into the heart of the person and take their history into consideration. Sometimes there are mitigating circumstances, and so we need to look at the whole picture, not just one aspect of the law.” 
In 2017, Father Ponce was named the first resident pastor of St. Benedict Parish in Falcon. 

“It was an excellent experience; the people were beautiful,” Father Ponce said. “A lot of them liked to volunteer and gave their time, talent and treasure. They were always happy and ready to help their pastor.”

In 2022, Father Ponce was appointed Judicial Vicar working full-time in the Tribunal, where he deals largely with people seeking declarations of nullity for a previous marriage. 
Father Ponce was named pastor of St. Mary’s Cathedral in 2024. He said that he enjoys celebrating baptisms and weddings because they are joyful occasions that represent the future of the church. However, funerals can also be beautiful experiences because they can be opportunities for conversion, he said. 

“Many times, we see reconciliation happen; we see people embracing the message,” Father Ponce said. “There have been people who have come to see me after a funeral because they want to come back to the Church. It is very joyful to see that.”