The ultimate gift: Parents of transitional deacon received into Church

Benedictine Father Julian Peters, administrator pro-tem of SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral Parish in Indianapolis, lays his hands on the head of Russell Jenkins in a celebration of the rite of confirmation during Cathedral Parish’s Easter Vigil on March 22. Jenkins and his wife, Linda, second from left, were received into the full communion of the Church during the liturgy at which their son, transitional Deacon Aaron Jenkins, assisted Father Julian. Russell and Linda Jenkins are members of St. Mary Parish in Rushville. (Photo by Sean Gallagher)

By Sean Gallagher

RUSHVILLE—An offertory procession at Mass ordinarily isn’t an unusual event.

Members of the congregation bring gifts of bread and wine to the sanctuary. The celebrant and other ministers receive the gifts from them. Then the two groups depart—one back to the congregation, the other to the altar.

But on March 22 at SS. Peter and Paul Cathedral in Indianapolis, the offertory procession during Cathedral Parish’s Easter Vigil wasn’t so ordinary.

A husband and wife brought up the gifts and they were received by Benedictine Father Julian Peters, the parish’s administrator pro-tem, and transitional Deacon Aaron Jenkins, who will be ordained a priest for the archdiocese on June 7.

After the gifts were received, however, something different happened.

Deacon Jenkins stepped forward and embraced the man and woman who had brought forward the bread and the wine.

They were his parents, Russell and Linda Jenkins, who, just minutes earlier, were received into the full communion of the Church and were confirmed.

Minutes later, they would receive Communion for the first time from the hands of their son.

That celebration of the Easter Vigil marked the culmination of a long journey of faith for Russ and Linda, who are now members of St. Mary Parish in Rushville.

They chose to enter the Church at the cathedral instead of their home parish because their son had been asked to assist with liturgies at the cathedral during Holy Week.

At one and the same time, their journey was interrelated with their son’s faith journey, but also distinct from it as well.

An expanding family

As he was growing up, Deacon Jenkins and his family were members of Zion United Church of Christ in Shelby County.

That faith community was important to the family for many reasons, not the least of which was that some of Linda’s ancestors helped found it in the early 19th century.

When Deacon Jenkins went to Anderson University in Anderson, Ind., however, he explored other faith traditions and eventually felt called to enter the Catholic Church, which he did in the spring of his senior year of college.

While that change did not disturb his parents, his announcement to them about a year later that he was going to enter the seminary was difficult for them.

“We took it very hard,” said Linda.

So hard, in fact, that when she and Russ met with Father Joseph Moriarty, then-archdiocesan vocations director, her tears flowed throughout their conversation. (Read more about Deacon Jenkins' vocation story here)

“I cried the whole time he was talking to us,” Linda said. “I could not stop crying. He was very understanding.”

“Our marriage has always been great,” Russ said. “And so the first thing was that I looked at it and thought, ‘He’s going to miss out on that.’ ”

But over the next few years, Russ and Linda learned that while their son would make sacrifices in becoming a priest, other blessings would come his way.

They saw the camaraderie that Deacon Jenkins shared with the other seminarians at Saint Meinrad School of Theology in St. Meinrad, where he has received his priestly formation.

Over time, Russ and Linda joined in that fellowship with the seminarians and Benedictine monks on staff at the seminary.

Russ even offered his wood-working expertise to construct frames and a cross for a Stations of the Cross at the seminary, make a base for a statue of St. Thomas Aquinas in the seminary’s chapel and help renovate the Unstable, the seminary’s pub and pizza parlor.

“[The seminarians] are all just common-folk guys,” Russ said. “They’re just like my son. They’re not a different bunch of people. They’re just godly people.”

A three-year journey

Coming to feel that the seminarians were like family members helped draw Russ and Linda closer to the Catholic Church.

“That’s something that really turned me onto it …,” Linda said, “just to see those guys, their brotherhood and how they get so excited every time someone would make that next step to becoming a priest. And with us, they’re just so excited about us being in the RCIA [Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults] classes.”

Russ and Linda participated in St. Mary Parish’s RCIA during the last three years.

At first, they did it to learn more about the Catholic faith that their son had embraced.

It was only after finishing their second year of RCIA that they finally felt that God was calling them into the full communion of the Church.

Part of the delay was related to getting used to a style of worship that was very different than the one they had been used to their whole lives.

“To me, when I first walked in as a Protestant, the Catholic Church was not very welcoming,” Russ said. “You walk in and you’re just lost. I had no idea what was going on [at Mass].”

Perhaps a more significant factor was their deep ties to Zion United Church of Christ, where Linda’s family had worshiped for more than 150 years.

“It was really tough to leave my family church,” Linda said. “But I knew I wanted to. I knew from studying that the Catholic Church was a beautiful thing. We have learned so much.”

Her ultimate choice to enter the full communion of the Church made an impression on her son.

“For her to make that decision had to be pretty difficult,” said Deacon Jenkins in an interview before the Easter Vigil. “I’m kind of amazed that, with all of that, she still wants to make this decision to become Catholic.”

Making their own choice

Russ and Linda’s journey into the Church culminated just a couple of months before their son is to be ordained a priest.

This fact made Russ feel a little uncomfortable.

“It’s been good that it’s taken us this long,” he said. “But I hate that it’s coming this close to Aaron’s ordination. I just hate to take away from his experience.”

Deacon Jenkins has a different view, describing their choice to join him in the faith as “the ultimate gift.”

Russ and Linda see their son’s embrace of the Catholic faith and his call to the priesthood as being a moment providentially planned by God to invite them into the full communion of the Church.

At the same time, they are convinced that their choice was theirs alone, something that was important for Deacon Jenkins.

One of their RCIA instructors saw that they were making their own choice by

how they became involved in their parish community by organizing a trip to Saint Meinrad for their RCIA classmates.

“I think that shows that they take initiative,” said Carolyn Sorber, a member of St. Mary Parish. “They’re not just sitting on the sidelines and waiting for others to do things.

“They’re already actively doing things in our parish by providing this opportunity for their classmates to come down and experience what they found to be so enriching.”

Markus Strobl, another of the Jenkins’s RCIA instructors, knew from his experiences with them that they were on their own journey of faith.

“Russ was always interested in finding out more about it and bringing up some points where you had to discuss things a bit longer,” he said. “He wasn’t just joining the Church because his son was becoming a priest. He really wanted to know what this was all about and why he should join … .”

A little more than a week before the Easter Vigil, Russ knew why.

“I wouldn’t have thought this five years ago, but I think that this has been a good experience for me,” he said. “It has really brought me closer to the Church. I was at the point where I was lukewarm. And now this has fired me up again.”

Still aglow after the Easter Vigil at the cathedral, where she was received into the Church, Linda spoke of her happiness about becoming Catholic.

“To be part of the Catholic Church is something now that I can say that I truly wanted to do,” she said. “Now I understand the traditions and the rituals better. And I see why it all brings you to our Lord to worship every week.” †