Bishop's Leadership Society recognizes significant donors to the Diocesan Development Drive

IC photo/Marie Mischel

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Bishop Oscar A. Solis speaks during the July 6 Bishop's Leadership Society event.

COTTONWOOD HEIGHTS — The social hall of St. Thomas More Catholic Church was the site of a joyful celebration July 6 as the Diocese of Salt Lake City hosted a dinner to thank the members of the Bishop’s Leadership Society.

Formed in 2004, the Bishop Leadership Society is intended “to properly recognize individuals who support diocesan ministries through significant annual gifts to the Diocesan Development Drive,” said Shannon Lee, director of the diocese’s Office of Stewardship and Development.

The DDD is the bishop’s annual appeal, which asks the faithful for donations to support the diocese’s ministries, programs and services.

In the 19 years since the Bishop’s Leadership Society was formed, its members have provided the diocese with more than $13.8 million, Lee said at the dinner.

Last year, “the Bishop’s Leadership Society brought in the highest amount ever in the history of our society: $1,044,227,” she added. “This is almost 45 percent of the overall Diocesan Development Drive for the year – and this during a pandemic. It was also the highest BLS donor participation of 545 members.”

In his comments, Bishop Oscar A. Solis said that members of the Bishop’s Leadership Society are instrumental in ensuring that “the Church is a part of the life of every Catholic in the Diocese of Salt Lake City. … You cannot discount your contribution to the mission of the Church. And I will never get tired of saying ‘Thank you.’ Thank you. Thank you for becoming fellow ministers of the Gospel in your special way of being good stewards in order to promote the mission of the Catholic Church in every nook and corner of the state of Utah.”  

A large portion of the DDD goes toward the education of the diocese’s seminarians and deacons, several of whom attended the event. The keynote speaker was Father Tristan Dillon, who was ordained a priest less than two weeks before the dinner.

Fr. Dillon told the story of his call to the priesthood, beginning with his mother’s conversion to the Catholic faith. When she walked into the Cathedral of the Madeleine, she “heard the music, witnessed the Mass and said, ‘God is real, and this is it,’’  he said. She went through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults and was baptized. The family then moved to Seattle, where they attended St. James Cathedral. Fr. Dillon recalls hearing the organ music, the choir singing and the bells ringing, and “I remember just being a little tyke, grabbing my mom’s sleeve and tugging it, and saying, ‘Mom, I love our church.’”

When Fr. Dillon was in his teens, the family moved to St. George, Utah, where he attended St. George Parish. In addition to attending high school, “I very much took the opportunity to be involved in the parish in St. George, especially taking the opportunity to go to Adoration, and to say, ‘God you are real, the Eucharist is true, speak to me. What do you want me to do with my life? … I am going to die to myself and give myself utterly to you.’”

He also developed a devotion to St. Joseph the Worker, and asked Christ’s earthly father how he was supposed to work in the vineyard, he said.  

At the end of his junior year in high school, as he prepared to fill out college application forms, he asked St. Joseph and the Lord what he should do, “and that still and silent voice grew louder and louder and louder: ‘Become a priest.’”

He entered Mt. Angel Seminary and, after nine years was ordained. The total cost of his seminarian education was almost half a million dollars, which he could never have afforded on his own without crippling debt, he said.  

To those at the dinner, he said, “I cannot thank you enough for giving me the last nine years of seminary formation to come and know our God, to give praise to him, to love my neighbor, so that I could come back here and share that love with all of you in the Eucharist.”      

In his closing remarks, Bishop Solis said that the Bishop’s Leadership Society stands for “the Church now and in the coming years ahead.” Without priests, there is no Mass, “and that is why it is very important that your contribution continues to come in, so that we can produce more Father Tristans,” the bishop said.