Fr Gerald Gawronski is assigned to St Thomas the Apostle Parish starting in July 2020.
Fr Gerald has some roots and history with St Thomas the Apostle Parish. I remember being here in my first years of priesthood and getting to know Gerald as a parishioner and member of the Generation Christ Young Adult Group. Both Fr Roger Prokop, the pastor at that time, and myself thought he would make a wonderful priest. The Lord confirmed our intuition, for it was not too long afterward that Gerald entered the priesthood. I asked Fr Gerald about his history and this is what he said, “…I look forward to coming to St. Thomas and serving everyone here. In fact, while I was in college, this parish played a pivotal role in my coming back to a more active participation in my faith. I happened to wander in one day during my college years and I picked up a pamphlet in the back of the Church that explained the Eucharistic Miracle of Lanciano. That was my personal step in becoming a person who began to take responsibility in my spiritual life. So it is kind of cool that I will be coming back to the place that helped to bring my heart back to the Lord.”
Upon ordination, Fr Gerald served at St Mary’s Cathedral as the Master of Ceremonies for the Bishop. His next assignments were Holy Redeemer and Immaculate Heart of Mary before being assigned as Pastor of St Patrick’s Church in Whitmore Lake for 11 years. In the summer of 2016, upon an intuition from the Lord and a desire to help the Catholic Christians in Iraq, Fr Gerald offered his services there until last summer. He currently serves at St Matthew’s Parish in Flint. Fr Gerald is a dedicated priest who loves to serve God’s people. He has the gift to celebrate Mass in Latin, including the Extraordinary Form and we will be developing that ministry and outreach at St Thomas in the years to come. While we cannot welcome Fr Gerald in person yet, let’s welcome him with our prayers.
Some have wondered what will happen to Fr Dan Zaleski when Fr Gerald arrives. Fr Dan will continue to offer support for as long as he is able! We have plenty of work at St Thomas and with the arrival of Fr Gerald, we will be adding another Sunday Liturgy that will be in Latin. Fr Dan will be very much needed! We love Fr Dan and he has every desire to continue to offer his service to us at St Thomas.
Peace, Fr. Bill