Meet transitional deacon candidate Ajani Gibson

Home parish: St. Peter Claver
Diaconate internship: St. Pius X Parish, New Orleans
 

Who will vest you and why did you select him?

I will be vested by Father Josh Johnson, a priest of the diocese of Baton Rouge. I met Father Josh when he was a young seminarian and I was in high school at St. Augustine High School. At that time, there were not many young African-American men in seminary formation.

 

I was moved by his conviction and excitement for the faith. We developed a brotherhood that was rooted in growing in holiness and celebrating the gift of black spirituality to the church. I have been blessed to watch him grow as a priest of Jesus Christ. As a priest, he has really made service to the poorest of the poor his focus in parish ministry. As a deacon, I am being called to pour myself out for the service of God’s people, for the poorest of the poor (physically, spiritually, financially, etc.). Father Josh has been a strong example of living out the call to be a servant of the servants of God. This is what I hope to do as a deacon and as a priest. 
 

What has your seminary discernment been like?

It is interesting to think that I am coming to the end of my third year in seminary. It is even more interesting that I am on the doorstep of ordination. My time in seminary has been freeing. In the midst of highs and lows, I have come to find freedom to be the instrument God has created me to be. This has been a process of growing in intimacy with the Lord by looking within.

 

Before seminary, so many people saw what the Lord was calling me to. I would ignore them and the interior movements of the Lord in my heart. Seminary forced me to look within and see the Lord’s voice and hear his voice. When you come to see him face to face within yourself, you can not help but buck up and listen. You can not help but get lost in him. When that happens, you really experience a new type of freedom. 
 

How challenging have the last two months been since the seminary went into lockdown? Do you have any thoughts about how the world may have changed?

As with anyone else, it has been challenging not being around people. I love being around people and in the middle of their lives. When you are not able to dive into the deep end of people’s lives, you go stir crazy really fast.

 

However, this time has really invited me to be more intentional about engaging in the lives of people. I think we have entered into a time when we are starting to appreciate the importance of time with others, especially the Lord. We miss things more when they are taken away from us. Hopefully, we will have a greater fervor for the sacraments. Hopefully, we have a greater fervor for caring for the other. 
 

What are you most looking forward to in your ministry as a deacon, knowing there still may be some restrictions on the size of the parish congregation for weeks or months?

I am excited to be among the people again. While congregation sizes will be reduced and spatial limits will be in place, there is an opportunity to really get to know people.

 

There is an opportunity to move beyond simply seeing faces in pews or greeting them after a Sunday Mass. The benefit of this pandemic is taking the church into the homes of people in a real and new way. I am excited about being able to be a part of a real domestic way of being church.