Last week I mentioned how blessed and excited we are to be getting 2 additional deacons here at Prince of Peace! This week and next, I want to share more about them. Keep reading to learn more about (newly ordained) Deacon Leon Suprenant! Congratulations on your ordination yesterday and welcome home to Prince of Peace!
In Christ,
Fr. Greg
Greetings, Prince of Peace parishioners! My name is Deacon Leon Suprenant, and I am excited to be one of the new deacons assigned to Prince of Peace parish this month!
This is very much a homecoming for me, as my family belonged to this parish 2007-16. My wife Maureen and I are very happy to be back “home” and we look forward to once again being active members of the PoP family.
And not only am I new to the parish, I am also a new deacon, having just been ordained June 22nd! (So I ask for your good-natured patience as I inevitably make my fair share of rookie mistakes!)
A few fun facts about me (at Fr. Greg’s request!):
- I am the youngest of 14 children
- Even though I was born and raised in Southern California, I am a lifelong, diehard, (and borderline fanatical) Kansas City Chiefs fan
- I graduated from UMKC Law School 40 years ago last month (in fairness, I may have been the youngest in the class!)
- I have spent time in religious life (Oblates of the Virgin Mary, Boston) and in seminary (St. John’s Seminary, Los Angeles)
- Maureen and I have six living children: Brenda (Moragues), Catherine (Cheney), Virginia (Higgs), Abigail, Samuel, and Raymond, and five grandchildren
- My unusual background has afforded me the incredible opportunity to meet some amazing Catholic leaders. At the top of the list, I had multiple private audiences and Masses with His Holiness Pope (St.) John Paul II.
Most of my adult life has been spent in lay ministry. Early in our marriage, our family moved to Steubenville, where I completed a master’s degree in theology at Franciscan University. We ended up staying in Steubenville 13 years, and with my longtime friend Curtis Martin, I assisted in the formation of Emmaus Road Publishing and the Fellowship of Catholic University Students (FOCUS). I was also blessed to be the editor and later publisher of the award-winning Catholic magazine Lay Witness, and oversaw a toll-free Catholic helpline where we would answer questions on the Catholic faith.
In 2007, we moved to the Kansas City area (Prince of Peace parish!) and shortly after the first ordination of permanent deacons in the Archdiocese in 2011, Archbishop Naumann asked me to work with Fr. Greg and also Fr. Gary Pennings to further develop our permanent diaconate program, which I have done for the past 13 years. In addition to serving Prince of Peace parish, I will continue to serve the Archdiocese as the Director of the Office of the Permanent Diaconate. (If any of you are interested in learning more about the diaconate, come talk to me!)
For those I don’t already know, I look forward to meeting you in the days, weeks, and months ahead. I am here to pray with and for you and to support you in living out our Catholic faith. I am so grateful to Fr. Greg, Fr. Andrew, Fr. Francis, the PoP deacons, and so many of the religious and lay faithful who have already been so welcoming and affirming. I love it here, and please pray that I will be a faithful steward of the graces God has given me.
Fraternally in Christ, Deacon Leon