Meet our future deacons

David Bartolowits

Age: 59
Wife: Leslie
Home Parish: St. John the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis
Occupation: Director of Catechesis at St. John the Evangelist Parish in Indianapolis
 

Who are the important role models in your life of faith?

My grandparents, parents and St. John Paul II.
 

What are your favorite Scripture passage, saints, prayers and devotions?

My favorite Scripture verse is Romans 8:38-39: “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” My favorite saints are St. Monica, St. Teresa of Calcutta and St. John Paul II. My favorite prayers or devotions are eucharistic adoration, the rosary, the chaplet of Divine Mercy and Liturgy of the Hours.
 

Deacons often minister to others in the workplace. How have you experienced that already, and what do you anticipate doing in the future?

Informally, during these years of diaconal formation, I have tried to accept the challenge attributed to St. Francis of Assisi to “preach the Gospel, and if necessary, use words.” Formally, I have embraced the challenge and call to minister face to face by serving the poor and homeless of Indianapolis’s downtown community as well as ministering to the inmates incarcerated in the jails of Marion County.
 

Why do you feel that God is calling you to become a deacon?

While it has always been my desire to recognize and respond to God’s call, it has never been a matter of me choosing to become a deacon. I have just been unable to say “No” to that voice that has been leading me on this journey of faith during these past five years.
 

How will being ordained a deacon have an impact on your life and family?

God’s call to the diaconate has not been directed to me alone. He is not asking me to take less seriously my vocation as a husband, father and father-in-law. I am convinced that God has invited my wife and children to be part of this ministry. [My family] all understand that there will be times when ministry will ask each of us to be flexible in terms of schedules and family activities. †