Our Vocation Stories

Some of our priests and deacons have been generous enough to share the story of their calling with us. Msgr. Gervasio shared his vocation story in a homily, included on a separate page. Read on to get to know our other clergy a little better.

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From Deacon Denny Slavin

I spent seven years (age fourteen to age twenty-one), in the seminary, and left after my junior year in college.  Having drifted away from active participation in the Church, I met a beautiful young lady who was a daily communicant, and we eventually married.  Our son, Jim, was born three years later, and “for their sake” (LOL!), I gradually returned to weekly Mass.  A Marriage Encounter weekend experience on our seventh wedding anniversary propelled us into service for the Church.  There followed an invitation to be part of the Diocesan Engaged Encounter Team; then a suggestion from Father Vince Gartland that I serve as RCIA director at St. Raphael Parish; then a plea for help from a former classmate struggling to establish a shelter for children called “Anchor House”; then an expansion of our ministry at the Office of Family Life.  Gradually, a fuzzy image of ordained ministry came into focus, and, after several discernment sessions with Father Brendan Williams during breaks at one of our Engaged Encounter weekends, we decided to apply for the Order of Deacon.  I joked for years that, when I left the seminary, God went to Plan B, until some wise person pointed out that it was probably all Plan A.