This weekend, we bid our farewell to Father Paul Lesupati, who has served here at the Cathedral as Parochial Vicar for the past two years. We have been blessed with his ministry and we will most certainly miss him as he begins a new assignment at St. Peter Parish in Quincy, IL.
I will personally miss having Father Paul around the house as he has been an absolute delight with whom to share life and ministry. Several years ago, when Father Jeff Grant, Pastor of Blessed Sacrament, contacted me about a prospect that he had met while on sabbatical in Kenya, I was a little skeptical. Anytime you welcome somebody to the diocese who is not from the diocese, you wonder how well they will fit, if this will be a place where they can flourish, if they will be able to learn our culture in order to minister effectively or not. When I finally met Father Paul for the first time in the airport, my concerns were set at ease, as I found in him a joyful and humble man truly open to following the Lord. I had the privilege of serving as Father Paul’s Vocation Director for his four years of seminary formation, and when asked if I would welcome him as a Parochial Vicar, I did not hesitate to say yes.
Before meeting Father Paul, I knew absolutely no Swahili, a language common in East Africa. I still only know just a few words and phrases, but one I know well is Baba Paroko, which is the Swahili term for Pastor, or father of the parish. Father Paul uses this greeting almost every time he sees me, and I will certainly miss that. I have also enjoyed his infectious smile and that joyful laugh that he lets our regularly.
I told Father Paul the other day that a priest’s first assignment will be one that he will never forget. I still recall fondly my first assignment, and how I learned much of what I know about being a priest during those formative years. And I have no doubt Father Paul will look back fondly on his time here. I know for sure that he will look back with gratitude on you, the parishioners of the Cathedral, for being so welcoming to him, for loving him, and helping him to learn to be a priest, giving him valuable experience that will carry him to other places and to many more people.
In that regard, I express my gratitude to all of you for the role this parish has played, not just in helping Father Paul, but the many, many priests who have come through this parish, many of whom had their beginnings here. They have all gone on to serve in various capacities, no doubt better off for the time they spent serving here. As the mother church of the diocese, we have had the joy of helping so many “learn to walk” as priests, and equipping them for the good work they are doing in every corner of our diocese. While it is sad for us to see these beloved priests go, we can be grateful that God has placed them among us, and that we have helped not just them, but the people they now serve, and will serve, in growing closer to Jesus, and being better prepared for that great reunion where we will all be together again in the Kingdom of Heaven.
Farewell, my dear friend, Father Paul! May God bless you abundantly in your future ministry, and may you always know of our prayers for you, and we humbly ask your continued prayers for us!
Father Alford