Help others carry cross

“I spent a lot of time going to visit people who were home – not even sick – but for whatever reason, just couldn’t get to church anymore but still wanted to have that connection to the church,” said Deacon Ford, who made a point of visiting each person for an hour or more, depending on their needs.

“My rationale is, everyone else comes to church on Sunday and gets an hour with Jesus, so, that means people at home deserve at least that much time with someone who is trying to bring Christ to them through the sacraments, or just asking them how they were doing or if there was anything they needed,” Deacon Ford said. “I was able to meet people in all these different circumstances and show them that Christ is still alive, even if they can’t be in the church proper.”

Deacon Ford, who grew up altar serving in Ascension of Our Lord Parish in LaPlace, was drawn to the priesthood after hearing God’s call during a series of confirmation Masses he attended as a teenager. During his diaconate internship, he said St. Ann’s pastor, Father Billy O’Riordan, immersed him in priestly skills such as helping with marriage prep, preaching at the annual July novena to St. Ann and assisting at Vacation Bible School. At St. Ann School, Deacon Ford greeted families in the car line and blessed classrooms.

“I would go around to all the different classrooms and play games with (the students) and make sure that at least they knew who I was,” he said. “That really paid off, because the kids really loved it! I’d go to the gym and watch them play sports, and make a fool out of myself sometimes.”

Deacon Ford’s interactions with parishioners included blessing the prayer blankets made by St. Ann’s Sewing Seams of Faith ministry and creating a two-part seminar on the Mass that drew more than 100 attendees.

“I went through everything about what the priest wears, the motions the priest does, why we sit where we sit, why we stand where we stand,” he said.

He said he was touched, in his deacon’s role, to see the willingness of people of all ages to learn more about their faith. Deacon Ford experienced that openness firsthand – as a bus captain traveling with young attendees to January’s March for Life in Washington, D.C. – after giving the teenagers paper and pens so they could anonymously submit any questions that were on their hearts.

“They were very open to knowing the truth and wanting to know the truth,” Deacon Ford said. “Sometimes, you’re afraid to rock the boat when it comes to people’s faith, but you tell people what the church wants and they really want to know why. And, if they realize that maybe they were mistaken, they want to know, ‘How was I wrong about this?’ I was so happy to see that so many people were open to reevaluating even things that they thought they knew!”

His internship took an unexpected turn a couple of weeks into the school year when a scan revealed an ominous spot on his right hip. As a survivor of Stage 3 melanoma, Deacon Ford was relieved it was not a recurrence of cancer but something that could be addressed with surgery. His six weeks of recovery time included three weeks in a wheelchair, followed by the use of a walker and crutches.

“I had to completely change my ministry because I couldn’t drive anymore and I couldn’t walk,” said Deacon Ford, who found himself asking, “Of all times, why now?” He was determined to get back to his diaconate responsibilities at St. Ann.

“When you’re not doing what you love doing, it’s frustrating,” he said. “I just missed being there. I missed the people; I missed the parishioners; I missed the staff; I missed the kids.

“We had the fair a few weeks after my surgery, and I really didn’t want to go because there would be so many people – I was in a wheelchair, and I was just kind of feeling down,” he said. “But the kids made me feel so much better. I sat in a shady spot and the kids were lining up to talk to me.”

Anticipating his first priestly assignment as parochial vicar at Our Lady of the Lake in Mandeville, the fully recovered Deacon Ford said he is excited about getting involved in the parish’s many active ministries – which show how “the church is alive” – and continuing his mission to visit those “on the extremities” of parish life.

“I don’t want the first time someone meets me to be when they’re dying and they need a priest to come to give them the sacraments. I want to make sure that those people know me,” said Deacon Ford, who saw his image of the priesthood shift a bit during his transitional diaconate year.

“We always talk about ‘being Christ’ for people as priests, but I think as priests, sometimes, not only are we Christ, but we’re also the image of Simon of Cyrene,” he observed. “We’re just wandering along, and the bishop calls and says, ‘This is where you’re going, and you’re going to serve these people and make sure you carry their cross and every cross they bring you.’”

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