Hello everyone!
I am grateful that I have been assigned as your new parochial vicar! I was ordained by Bishop Fernandes just two years ago and am so excited to be with you all. Just a few quick things about me: I grew up in Marysville, went to Ohio Wesleyan University, where I studied history, taught English in China for five years, and was engaged to be married at one point in my life.
After all these experiences, the Lord called me to become Catholic and then pursue His holy priesthood. I try to be an open book, so feel free to ask me about anything, because God has done amazing things in and through me.
The Lord is already doing something beautiful here at St. Paul the Apostle Church, and I am excited to join you on that journey. I hope to learn from you, hearing how the Holy Spirit has worked in your lives and listening to Him for how He might continue to do so.
St. Paul has been a wonderful companion on my journey of faith in Jesus Christ. Unlike many, I find the letters of St. Paul a comfortable place to spend my time—even in the run-on sentences! But his zeal for spreading the Word of God and speaking His Truth has been a great example for me. One of my favorite verses in Sacred Scripture comes from St. Paul: “For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ, and him crucified” (1 Cor 2:2). The Passion, Death, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ must be at the center of our lives, so St. Paul’s words are my daily prayer. With this at the center of our lives, I pray that we can work together to make Christ known in Westerville and beyond.
We ask the Holy Spirit to make us more like Jesus Christ so that we might be able to follow the will of God the Father for our lives. And we pray to St. Paul, asking him to help us bring hope to our community.
I look forward to meeting you and getting to know your family.
Praise be Jesus Christ, now and forever!
Father David Johnstone
