June 2018 SPECIAL EDITION December 2015 Issue | Page 6

December 2015

Dear Visitation of Our Lady Parish Family,
Thank you so much for all your prayer and support for me during my internship! With the
close of this experience at VOL, I begin my final preparations for ordination to the
priesthood of Jesus Christ. I will carry you all in my heart in these last months.
The vocation to the priesthood is a gift that no one can earn. And it is a gift to give away. I
long to give the gift away to you and to whatever parish I go. But a priest doesn’t stop
being a deacon when he is ordained a priest. “Deacon” means “servant” and Jesus was both
the Deacon who came to serve and not be served and the High Priest offering himself for
His Bride the Church. My vocation to the diaconate and the priesthood is meant for you!
I share this with you because it is an insight that I learned from my time with you. At first,
I may have thought that my time as a deacon was just a transitional phase and that my true
call was to the priesthood. My call will always be to serve following the model of the
Servant who washed feet and to provide the best of food after the model of the Priest who
provided Himself. What I am trying to say is, I love you. I will always love you. And I am
a deacon for you and I long to be a priest for you!
I could tell stories of parish parties, CYO activities, liturgical celebrations, and hanging out
with you all at various functions and ministries but this isn’t a real “goodbye”. I will still
live at the VOL rectory but during the week, I will be full time at Notre Dame Seminary.
This means that you may see me around the campus or at Sunday Mass. But if you don’t
see me at all the meetings and activities, know that it is because I am at class or doing my
homework because I want to be the best priest I can for you.
From the bottom of my heart, thank you again. Please pray for me on my journey and be
assured of my prayers for you. God bless you.
In Christ,
Deacon Paul Clark

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