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Epiphany – June 19, 2024

Fr. David Cybulski from St. Patrick in White Lake is our Parish of the Week. Jeff Kassab share his memories of Al Kresta. 

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Segment 1

Fr. David Cybulski from St. Patrick in White Lake is our Parish of the Week.

 

It was in March 2023 that the archbishop asked me to come to the West Oakland Family of Parishes. It seemed so far away. It did not seem so far away when I was not yet packed last week. God is good. I arrived, and I am glad to be here.

I am quite unfamiliar with the area. My only experience was an internship at the Milford Proving Ground. I would drive from Shelby Township each day. That is where I grew up. My dad still lives there to this day, but there is a little wrinkle to that story that I will come back to.

I went to St. Lawrence for grade school and De La Salle for high school. I think there was always a fascination and a call to the priesthood; however, I put it out of my mind. God is persistent, though. I went to Michigan to become an Electrical Engineer and then got a master’s degree in computer science and engineering. That would take me out to Arizona where I would work at Intel Corporation for six years. Through church, I met a great group of friends who loved the Lord and was challenged to pray in front of the Blessed Sacrament regularly. That changed everything. When my buddy Fr. Paul Sullivan applied to the Diocese of Phoenix, I followed. That was not my calling, and it became apparent that I was supposed to be here. A diocesan priest lives in his diocese for the rest of his life. I enjoyed Phoenix, but it was not home. The Archdiocese of Detroit is.

I was ordained on May 30, 2009. My first assignment was Our Lady of Sorrows in Farmington. Next, I went to St. Hugo in Bloomfield Hills. From there I also got an unexpected call and moved after a year to St. Joseph in Erie, Michigan. I was there five years. It was also an unexpected call to go to St. Isaac Jogues, where I have been the last five years. That brings me to here. No more unexpected calls! I do take solace in that I believe I am the same age as Fr. Tom was when he arrived here. I have talked to Fr. Tom a couple of times. He is a wonderful man. I have big shoes to fill!

I often get asked about my family. Here is the rest of the story about Dad (he and I will be traveling together in July, which is our tradition). I lost my mom in 2003, the same year and actually the same week that I entered seminary. My dad mostly lives in Shelby Township. He married a JoAnn (my mom’s name is Joann). They actually go back and forth between Shelby Township and Tecumseh because neither of them sold their home. I do have one sister who is married. They do not have children; therefore, I do not have any nieces or nephews.

In addition to being Moderator, I serve on Archbishop’s Technology Advisor Committee, and I am a spiritual director to seminarians. I was also a member of the college of consultors, but the archbishop graciously allowed me to resign so that I can be present to our Family.

Visit St. Patrick in White Lake on the website: St. Patrick White Lake

Segment 2

Jeff Kassab shares his memories of Al Kresta.

 

Jeff is a speaker with the ECRC Speaker’s Bureau Jeff Kassab is a lifelong Catholic, sub-deacon for the Diocese of St. Thomas the Apostle, and ECRC board member. He’s married (31 years) with 2 children. He received his BA is Pastoral Theology in 2018 from Sacred Heart Major Seminary and just received his Master’s degree. He founded Genesis 4:9 men’s group in 2016, is involved in marriage ministry, teaches bible study, apologetics, the CCC, and faith formation. He can speak both the Latin and Eastern Catholic Rite Churches. He blogs, ‘The Journey to Heaven’.

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