A Farewell

Thank you for your outpouring love for both Fr. Tim and me. We are so grateful to all of you for the privilege to share our lives with you.

In a town which has not seen many Asians, it didn’t surprise me that when people spotted me in town 8 years ago (2011), they confused me with a Chinese restaurant worker or a convenience store clerk. I’m sure it was a bit of an adjustment for the folks in Donaldsonville to have an Asian pastor. Many may have wondered, ‘how does he think,’ or ‘what does he like to eat’? I think it was a bit of surprise for all of you to learn that my parents had a Texas barbeque restaurant for 15 years, and I’m used to fixing myself a beef brisket sandwich and eating pork spare ribs. After working in that restaurant for 15 years, the last thing I wanted to eat was meat. I don’t blame y’all for thinking that I was an odd duck mixing in my blender vegetables for breakfast. But as you have seen on occasions, I do eat meat, Italian spaghetti, fig cookies, and chocolate. 

I’m so grateful to all of you for being so patient, understanding, and forgiving the past eight years. There were many changes that you had to adjust to in the past eight years. Some of the changes you accepted graciously and some changes required difficult adjustments. I thank Fr. Phil Spano for the wonderful work of shepherding the cluster parishes of Ascension and St. Francis as they shared for the first time a priest between the two. 

This parish community has a wonderful spirit about it, great leadership, talent to continue Christ’s mission on earth. The folks in these two parishes are generous with their stewardship of service, finance, and prayer. The physical improvements made to our facilities would not have been possible without your generous spirit. It’s not a coincidence that our Diocese has sent seminarians, deacons, and priests in training to our parishes. I also thank the leadership of our maintenance committees, finance councils, and parish council that has helped to guide us on our way. The spiritual mission of our parishes would not have been carried out without your care for the poor and needy in our community, those imprisoned, and those in spiritual poverty.

And now for the difficult part is saying farewell to all of you. I have shared in the joys of births, marriages; I’ve walked with sorrows of deaths, illness, and separations; we’ve worked side by side building the community of God. And while we may not have agreed along the way, we had a common goal of being the hands and feet of Jesus and continuing the building the Kingdom of God. Through all this, you have helped to make me a better man and a better priest. I’m forever grateful and indebted to you for your love and patience.  

Fr. Paul Yi