VOCATIONS WEEK 2020 – DEACON DAVE WULFF’S STORY

November 1-7, 2020 is Vocations Awareness Week, and to celebrate, we are highlighting a few of our parishioners who have accepted God's call in their lives, whether as priests, deacons, seminarians, religious brothers and sisters, or married couples. We hope that these stories inspire you to reflect on your own vocation!

Today we are excited to share with you our newest deacon, Deacon Wulff, and his vocation story leading to the diaconate.

"I am the most recently ordained at St. Michael’s Catholic Church, being ordained on June 27, 2020. My career was as a police officer, spending almost 40 years as a sworn officer, most of that time at the Cary Police Department. One Sunday, while at Mass, Msgr. Tim O’Connor brought a gentleman (Reverend Deacon Patrick Pelkey) up on the alter to give him a blessing as he went off to school to be a Deacon. I remember thinking, what is a Deacon? I have heard of them, but what do they actually do? My research started from there.

I quickly came to realize that this was a role that I could play on my Church, not realizing the work that went into the decision.  There is one full year of formal discernment and then five full years of education. All the while you are in discernment for God’s call, and the Church is also deciding if you are right for the church as well. I looked at this like a major criminal investigation. Trying to prove if I was guilty of being called by God to be a servant. The more time I spent trying to figure it out, the more obvious it was to me that it was the right decision.

Today, I am assigned to St. Michael’s Catholic Church as a Deacon, assisting at the Mass, baptizing babies, witnessing marriages, and celebrating funerals along with many other duties. I am also back at the Cary Police Department as a Chaplain, giving back to the women and men in uniform the comfort of the Word of God."

We are so grateful to have Deacon Wulff as a member of our clergy here at St. Michael's and thank God for the gift of his yes to his vocation!