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Deacon to be honored for service to black Catholics
By John Gleason
A deacon who has played a vital role witnessing the Catholic faith among Colorado’s black community will be the recipient of this year’s St. Josephine Bakhita-St. Katharine Drexel Award.
Deacon Clarence G. McDavid will be recognized Oct. 22 at the second annual St. Josephine Bakhita and St. Katharine Drexel Award Dinner. The event is sponsored by the archdiocesan Office of Black Catholic Ministry. Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., will be the special guest. Master of ceremonies will be author, pastor and retreat leader Father Maurice Nutt, C.Ss.R.
Mary Leisring, director for the Office of Black Catholic Ministry told the Denver Catholic Register she couldn’t be happier with this year’s award recipient.
“The Office of Black Catholic Ministry with the unanimous support of the archdiocesan Black Catholic Advisory Council decided to honor Deacon McDavid, who has excelled in service to the black Catholic community,” she said.
Deacon McDavid, who serves at Cure d’Ars Parish in Denver, told the Register he was humbled by the tribute.
“I’m very appreciative of this,” he said. “This recognition means so much, especially when it comes from people I work with.”
The event is named for two saints known for their faith, leadership and devotion to the Church. St. Josephine Bakhita went from a life of slavery in her native Africa to a saintly life in Italy, having served a half-century with the Daughters of Charity.
St. Katharine Drexel, one of two American-born saints, founded the Sisters of the Blessed Sacrament to serve African Americans and Native Americans. She established more than 60 schools, including Xavier University in New Orleans. Both women were canonized on Oct. 1, 2000.
Deacon McDavid was ordained in 1987 and has served in archdiocesan diaconal leadership for many years as a member of the diaconate personnel board, regional coordinator and associate director for the diaconate. In addition, he served three years as administrator of Cure d’Ars Church while holding down his fulltime job as director of human resources at Rose Medical Center. Despite so many claims on his time, Deacon McDavid is active in many ministries, including marriage preparation and sacrament preparation.
“I’m involved in just about everything at the parish,” he said with a chuckle. “Whatever Father (Simon) Kalonga needs me to do.”
He and his wife Wanda have been married for 37 years and have three children. In 2005, when the couple was inducted into the papal knightly Order of St. Gregory the Great, Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, O.F.M. Cap., said of Deacon McDavid, “He is highly regarded by his brother deacons…and models the best qualities of a Christian man.”
In speaking about his time in the diaconate, Deacon McDavid said he’s had the chance to meet Mother Teresa and Pope John Paul II, which are memories he’ll treasure for the rest of his life, but that service is what really drives him and his ministry.
“Working in my community is the most rewarding gift I can imagine,” he said. “It’s beyond what you can imagine. No matter what I do, I get it back ten-fold. That’s something you can’t just find anywhere.”
The second annual Sts. Bakhita and Drexel Award Dinner is set from 5:30 to 9 p.m. Oct. 22 at Park Hill Golf Course, 4141 E. 35th Ave., Denver. Tickets are $30 per person. Those wishing to attend are asked to RSVP by Sept. 30. More information is available by calling 303-715-3165.
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