Thank You!

 

                I am so grateful to the Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Perpetual Help parish community for supporting our family and me these past  nearly five years of formation.  All your prayers and encouragement mean more than you will ever know.   Thank you.

                Mary, Sean, Connor and I’ve been parishioners at Immaculate Conception and Our Lady of Perpetual Help for nearly 18 years.  Our boys are both graduates of IC-OLPH School.  Like many over the years, we’d go to whatever Mass at whatever parish fit the family schedule especially when the kids were young and playing sports.  We are blessed to have two beautiful churches here in downtown Everett.

                This long journey began for us in the late 1990s when I experienced “a call” to become a deacon.  I thought at the time, “Are you kidding me, Lord?  Why would you want me?  I’m not worthy.”  Yet, here I am.  God truly does have a sense of humor, an abundance of patience and works in mysterious ways.      

                To Archbishops Peter Sartain and Alex Brunett, thank you for opening the door to this magnificent ministry. 

                To Fathers Hersey, Robb, Petosa, Bon and Sylvain, I thank each one of you for showing me and us an example of true holiness and pastoral service.          

                To Deacon Matt, I thank you for being there every step of the way to guide, mentor and inspire me to know what being a deacon means to this community.  You are a shining example.  I look forward to sharing the role of deacon at our parish community for years to come.

                To Matt’s wife, Kay, thank you for helping my wife prepare for this new life and to know it’s OK to serve in her own unique way. 

                Where would I be without the woman who brought me back to God?  Thank you to my wife Mary Kay for being my best friend for 28 years and my wife for almost 27 years. 

                To our sons, Sean and Connor, thanks for putting up with your less than perfect dad all these years and for being the two main reasons why I experienced the Kingdom of God in my lifetime.

                To our family and friends who gathered in Everett for my first Mass as a deacon, thank you for honoring us with your presence -- especially my mother Suzanne and stepfather Joaquin.

                I wore the ordination dalmatic vestment to Mass this weekend.  You’ll probably only see it on special occasions like weddings, funerals, baptisms, maybe Christmas and Easter.  It was worn to show how honored I to be the only person ordained in a dalmatic made by a parishioner.  Thank you Judy McNamara for creating this beautiful vestment.  You and Tim inspire me every day to become a better servant by showing your loving hearts for this community. 

                For everyone else, thank you for allowing me to see the face of God in Everett.  You’re in my prayers always.  It will be my honor to serve you for the rest of my life.