I volunteered to accept an invitation from Fr. Resti, the pastor of St. Joseph's in Vacaville, to assist him and his parish. I will be on temporary "on loan" duty.
My home parish will remain St. Catherine's in Vallejo. My family and I plan to attend Mass on weekends and evenings that I'm not on deacon duty in Vacaville.
My joke is that while I am "on loan" I am actually "a-lone" because St. Joseph's, after 25 years of existence, has not had a permanent deacon to assist. It will be a transition for the parish...
... and for me. I'm used to having deacons around, esp. deacons around to back me up (and me backing them up) when one could not cover an event. But at St. Joseph's, I will be the only deacon in a parish of about 2,000. I think St. Catherine's falls in the 3000-3500 range.
Click HERE for parish website.
My official date to assist is Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015, but I came by the parish to help with Benediction on Friday, Sept. 25, 2015.
There, I met Carlos who helped me with Benediction. Pat and her team of ladies helped me in the sacristy with some orientation. Pat said, "I read your bio, and I expected someone older." :) She's such a helpful lady. A former parishioner from St. Catherine's who is now at St. Joseph's -- named EJ -- also helped me with the Chaplet.
In my mind, these St. Joseph's parishioners were my welcome committee. Thank you for your warm welcome, St. Joseph's!!
Fr. Brian, the parochial vicar, showed me the ropes, too.
This occasion also reminds me of another joke:
There was a parishioner that attended the Sat. 5pm Mass every week. Another parishioner attended the 12pm Mass every week. One day, they ran into each other at a parish festival. The first parishioner said to the other, "Oh, do you go to Mass at St. Catherine's?" The other parishioner replied, "Uh, yeah, I still go to Mass at St. Catherine's. Do you still go to St. Catherine's?"
I'm sure I'll get this question even with all the announcements from the ambo and bulletin about my being on loan. But that's okay.
One thing has become clear to me. I hope to encourage, inspire and recruit new deacons for this parish. In time, I suppose.
For now, I'll just be all on loan -- I mean, all alone -- as a visiting deacon until the back up shows up.
St. Joseph, pray for us.
My home parish will remain St. Catherine's in Vallejo. My family and I plan to attend Mass on weekends and evenings that I'm not on deacon duty in Vacaville.
My joke is that while I am "on loan" I am actually "a-lone" because St. Joseph's, after 25 years of existence, has not had a permanent deacon to assist. It will be a transition for the parish...
... and for me. I'm used to having deacons around, esp. deacons around to back me up (and me backing them up) when one could not cover an event. But at St. Joseph's, I will be the only deacon in a parish of about 2,000. I think St. Catherine's falls in the 3000-3500 range.
Click HERE for parish website.
My official date to assist is Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015, but I came by the parish to help with Benediction on Friday, Sept. 25, 2015.
There, I met Carlos who helped me with Benediction. Pat and her team of ladies helped me in the sacristy with some orientation. Pat said, "I read your bio, and I expected someone older." :) She's such a helpful lady. A former parishioner from St. Catherine's who is now at St. Joseph's -- named EJ -- also helped me with the Chaplet.
In my mind, these St. Joseph's parishioners were my welcome committee. Thank you for your warm welcome, St. Joseph's!!
Fr. Brian, the parochial vicar, showed me the ropes, too.
This occasion also reminds me of another joke:
There was a parishioner that attended the Sat. 5pm Mass every week. Another parishioner attended the 12pm Mass every week. One day, they ran into each other at a parish festival. The first parishioner said to the other, "Oh, do you go to Mass at St. Catherine's?" The other parishioner replied, "Uh, yeah, I still go to Mass at St. Catherine's. Do you still go to St. Catherine's?"
I'm sure I'll get this question even with all the announcements from the ambo and bulletin about my being on loan. But that's okay.
One thing has become clear to me. I hope to encourage, inspire and recruit new deacons for this parish. In time, I suppose.
For now, I'll just be all on loan -- I mean, all alone -- as a visiting deacon until the back up shows up.
St. Joseph, pray for us.
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