It was the first time that Mons. David L. Ricken, DD, JCL, Bishop of Green Bay Wisconsin, ordained deacons to a father and his son in the same ceremony. Not even those present remembered that something similar had occurred in the diocese.
On May 7th, Mons. Ricken ordained David J. Parker as a permanent deacon of the diocese, and also ordained a transitional deacon towards the priesthood, David J. Parker, Jr., LC. The ceremony took place at the Assumption of the Virgin Mary Parish in Pulaski, Wisconsin. Father David Parker, LC, will receive his priestly ordination in Rome next December.
The church was filled with the presence of family friends and the Parker family itself, which is quite numerous. David comes from a family of 12 children; Father David, LC, is one of seven brothers. His mother, Denise Parker, is now the wife of a deacon and mother of another. After the ceremony, she spontaneously said that “God has been very good to the family.”
Father David Parker, LC shares his vocational story: A vocation born from a vocation
In 1981, a young man entered as a postulant to religious life. After a few years, he realized that his vocation was not to the priesthood or religious life, and once out of seminary, he came to know his future wife, whom he married in 1983. As a curious note and in a joking tone, the religious community told his wife: “Now that you have taken one of ours, you have to return one of yours to the Church.” That “one” was born later, in April 1984. The family decided to entrust themselves to the protection of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. On December 8th, they and their 8-month-old baby would place themselves under the loving and maternal care of Mary, devoutly consecrating themselves to her Immaculate Heart.
I could say that this was the beginning of my vocation, an act of consecration to Mary. As I grew, my grandmother taught me to love Mary; she took me to her sanctuary from the age of 5, to kiss Mary’s head and ask her to always stay close to me. And Mary has always been close to me.
But Mary was also close to another man in the family, my father. Throughout his marriage, his devotion to the Holy Virgin led him to understand that God still had something more for him, and he lived this concern sharing it very closely with my mother. I remember my father talking to us, my brothers, sisters, and me, about his desire to serve God as a deacon. And yes, we saw that our Lord granted him the qualities for this mission, especially the grace to offer counsel; but with six young children at home, he simply could not dedicate himself to that particular mission at the moment. However, his desire to serve God greatly influenced me. Moreover, my mother constantly showed us what it meant to always look out for the good of others, seeking to meet the needs of the family and also of others, at any moment. My parents were a key piece in my vocation.
At age 12, I met Father Juan Gabriel Guerra, LC, who had gone to the house of one of my uncles to give a retreat to 20 of my cousins. My aunt “Kitty” Zeik, a member of Regnum Christi, invited Father Juan to give that retreat in Wisconsin. From that moment on, I began attending various retreats in Edgerton, WI, where the Legionaries collaborate with the international school called Oaklawn Academy. For six years, I was involved in Legionary activities. I joined ECYD, an international Catholic organization for teenagers with the charism of Regnum Christi, and there I began to grow in my friendship with Jesus; I also went with the Legionaries to St. Louis and Atlanta for youth and family gatherings, and I visited their “minor seminary,” of the Immaculate Conception, in New Hampshire on three occasions. For many years, I helped Father Matthew Van Smoorenburg, LC, and other Legionaries who provided me with spiritual formation (including one of them, my aunt Kitty’s son Mateo, who at that time was a Legionary seminarian). They taught me to love Christ in the Eucharist, to trust my life to Mary, and to value spiritual life.
But there was a stumbling block. As I advanced through high school, I was increasingly captivated by the glory of the world. Building a résumé for college became my full focus: I sought honors, sponsorships for studies, I dedicated myself to football, trained in weightlifting, practiced speed sports, played rugby, engaged in extracurricular activities, and even ran for student office. I filled my résumé but emptied the true meaning of my actions—giving the greatest honor and glory to God. My father saw how I was heading downhill. One day, I complained to my dad that nothing was going well, that nothing was going according to my plans. His response was firm: “Son, come to my room,” and he closed the door. It was similar to the day he sat me on his bed to tell me that Santa Claus… well, what adults already know; but now, 12 years later, he told me: “Son, don’t be ridiculous. When was the last time you trusted in God, or are your best efforts not enough for Him?” Shocked, I couldn’t answer him, and those words marked me like fire for the rest of my life. Our Lord had not finished with my father; his wise words would be a sign of how God would guide him to help others in their work and homes. The desire to be a deacon was still in his mind and heart.
After that talk with my father, my life changed. An immense joy filled me, and I returned to God, rekindling some good friendships I had abandoned out of selfishness. God kept knocking at my door, and this time through Father Chad Wahl, LC, who occasionally asked about me (I had ignored his calls for almost a year and a half). Father asked me to help him with a retreat in Edgerton. I went somewhat hesitant, and upon arriving, I discovered I was the only one helping him with nearly fifty children. Father Chad was there, beside me, and he asked me the question I had long neglected; he asked if I was still considering the priesthood. The question came after my conversation with my dad, so I said yes. He suggested I make a pilgrimage to Rome. My family isn’t wealthy, so it didn’t seem like a realistic option, but God has His ways.
While preparing for the possibility of the trip, I realized we had missed a very good opportunity. The flight itself isn’t cheap, but it had become much more expensive than usual. I told my father that it was no longer possible. At that moment, he went to his computer, took out his credit card, and bought my tickets. He told me: “If God doesn’t pay for this, then He simply doesn’t pay for this.” Like in many other examples, he would always trust the Holy Spirit to discern what he had to do for the good of his son. A week later, to our surprise, financial aid arrived from the Knights of Columbus and the Catholic Knights (now known as “Catholic Financial Life”), making the trip possible. Once again, I learned to trust in the Lord’s ways.
I traveled to Rome to discern my vocation, although initially it was more a trip for fun. On January 1, 2003, the Lord granted me the grace to say yes when I looked into the eyes of Saint John Paul II. With his powerful gaze, this man who could barely stand, gave me the courage to entrust everything to our Lord, just as he had done throughout his life. One day later, I found myself at the altar of Saint Francis Xavier, where Father John Bartunek, LC, gave us a reflection on the life of this missionary saint and invited us to entrust ourselves to him. While praying there, I remembered I was baptized at the Cathedral of Saint Francis Xavier in Green Bay, and the missionary zeal of this saint made me realize that God was not calling me to diocesan life, but to religious life. On January 3rd, I again entrusted my life to Mary as I officially joined the Regnum Christi Movement. I returned home with the conviction that the Lord was calling me to be a Legionary of Christ, attracted by the mission of living as a missionary of our Lord.
Two years later, I went to Monterrey, Mexico, where I professed the evangelical counsels of poverty, chastity, and obedience for the first time. Just before that, my father made the decision to enter the diaconate program for the Diocese of Green Bay, so I went with my parents to the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City to entrust everything. There, once again, we saw the hand of God. While we were in the basilica, my mother lost sensation in her legs. My father and I had to help her avoid falling. Throughout that week in Mexico, my mother’s feet swelled, and she didn’t know why (she thought it was due to the salt in Mexican food). Two weeks later, after my parents returned to Wisconsin, my mother called me from Mexico with truly shocking news… after 14 years, she was pregnant with my little sister, Ava. Because of this, my father could not continue his path to the diaconate at that time.
Five years later, while speaking with my father on the phone, he told me that two priests from the diocese had told him he could be a good deacon. During those five years, he was one of the founding members of “Esto-Vir” (Be a Man!), a group of Catholic men in the Diocese of Green Bay. He founded a ConQuest Club in Green Bay. He was also invited to be a member of the Parish’s Catholic Education Board. Then he again confronted his vocation to the diaconate, while at the same time, following a motion of the Holy Spirit, I spoke with Mons. David Ricken. Mons. Ricken had just helped Mons. Chaput during the Apostolic Visit to the Legion in the USA. Mons. Ricken told me he also thought my father had a vocation to the diaconate and that he would speak with my father about it.
At that moment, my father, with my mother’s approval, decided to resume what he had started five years earlier; he officially began his path toward the diaconate. When my dad told me that Mons. Ricken had spoken with him (and in fact, he didn’t know I had spoken first with the bishop about this) and that his formation for the diaconate would take about five years, I simply couldn’t believe it! After counting on my fingers—literally—I realized that the Lord had placed both of us on a path to be ordained deacons at the same time.
In these last five years, my father and I have been very close, not only as father and son but also sharing a vocation; both of us recognized that God was calling us to serve our brothers and sisters. And now that we are ordained deacons, I also realize that God wants us to be more united. My vocation comes from a mother and father who always trusted in the Holy Spirit and lived with great charity, caring for others. It could be said that my father’s vocation began in an innocent dialogue with his son. And now, our vocation unites us on May 7, 2016, in Pulaski, WI, where we are both configured with Christ the Servant, under the guidance and closeness of our Mother from Heaven. Our consecration to the Immaculate Conception is completed here, in the parish dedicated to the Assumption of Mary. We go with Mary to prepare ourselves to be present the next day, the Feast of the Ascension of the Lord, serving both at the altar.
The priest will lift our Lord in the offertory with his hands, while we, the deacons, will witness alongside the priest how Christ ascends to heaven, on the day of the Ascension. Here we will hear the words of the angel: “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking at the sky?” And we will be sent to testify to others what we witness every day at the altar; the love and mercy of our Lord!
———————————–
This article is a Spanish translation of “David Parker, David Parker ordained deacons“.
