Arrows in His Quiver

 

Welcoming Deacon Quinton Thomas to I.C. Church

11/17/2025

Luke 18:35-43 As Jesus approached Jericho a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging, and hearing a crowd going by, he inquired what was happening. They told him, "Jesus of Nazareth is passing by." He shouted, "Jesus, Son of David, have pity on me!" The people walking in front rebuked him, telling him to be silent, but he kept calling out all the more, "Son of David, have pity on me!" Then Jesus stopped and ordered that he be brought to him; and when he came near, Jesus asked him, "What do you want me to do for you?" He replied, "Lord, please let me see." Jesus told him, "Have sight; your faith has saved you." He immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God. When they saw this, all the people gave praise to God.

In my homily this past Sunday I mentioned one of our seminarians named Joshua Osborne. Today I want to mention another seminarian, namely, Deacon Quinton Thomas. A couple of weeks ago, Bishop Anthony Taylor announced that Deacon Thomas would be assigned to our parish for his final phase of formation, called “Vocational Synthesis.”

That is, for his final six months as a seminarian he will live at the rectory and participate in the life of Immaculate Conception Church as a deacon, and "synthesize" his vocation as a priest. And I must admit I am very happy to have Deacon Thomas here next Spring. He will be here from January 2 till June 30, when he will be assigned as an associate pastor to some fortunate Arkansas parish.

We are his last stop before priestly ordination. So, if you have ever wondered in frustration: “Why don’t they teach priests certain things in the seminary?!”, well, here is your chance to have a hand in the training of a future priest. So, stop complaining. One arrow in Quinton’s rather full quiver of talents is his gift and penchant for languages.

In an interview with the Arkansas Catholic, he said: “I would say that my Spanish and French are proficient. We just got to go to Italy, so that was my first time to actually try Italian, to try really using it….I can get by in Italian pretty decently well.” So, Quinton has already mastered four languages: English, Spanish, French, and Italian.

But it gets better, Quinton continued: “I was at St. Patrick Church in North Little Rock…and a friend paid for Vietnamese lessons for me. I took a semester of Vietnamese through an online school in Saigon. And then I do classical languages – my Latin and Hebrew are OK.” I wish my Latin and Hebrew were “OK”. In other words, Deacon Quinton will be a priestly polyglot: someone who knows and uses several languages.

Quinton was born and raised in Jonesboro, Arkansas at Blessed Sacrament Church. Quinton has wanted to be a priest as long as he can remember. He wrote in an article on his vocation: “Asking why I wanted to be a priest would probably have been just as nonsensical a question as why I liked ice cream or the color red.” That is, diocesan priesthood is part of Quinton’s DNA.

And so he entered seminary right out of high school. That is another arrow in Quint’s quiver. How so? Well, in seminary we called such guys “lifers” because seminary and priesthood is all they have ever done in life. More men these days, however, are going into seminary after having lived a little, and seen what life is all about.

One benefit of being a lifer is that Quinton will be ordained at the age of 26 or 27, and be able to give his youth to the people he serves as a priest. How wonderful to have a young, energetic, intelligent priest to engage with young Catholics. I am a lifer, too, and was ordained at 26. For a long time as a pastor I was younger than most of my congregation. That is not the case anymore.

Yet another arrow in Quinton’s quiver is a joyful faith. He remembers his first Holy Communion with humor. He reminisced: “I remember from the steps of the altar back to my pew I felt an overwhelming and physical joy, an uncontrollable smile that I was embarrassed of because no one else seemed to be reacting that way. So I put my hand over my face so only God could see it.”

You might remember in Exodus 34:35 that Moses covered his face with a veil after speaking face to Face with God. That still happens today, 3,500 years later. In the gospel today we see another disciple with a joyful faith, like Dc. Quinton’s. A blind man is healed by Jesus. And how does he react? We read: “He immediately received his sight and followed him, giving glory to God.”

The blind man, however, did not cover his face with his hands but let everyone see his joyful faith. And how did the people react? Again we read: “When they saw all this, all the people gave praise to God.” In other words, joy is contagious. I suspect that is how I.C. parishioners will feel next Spring as we see the mighty works God in Dc. Quinton, and we witness his “uncontrollable smile.”

On a more practical note, Dc. Quinton will be able to preach homilies at Sunday and weekday Masses – you’ll get a break from me! – in both English and Spanish. As a deacon, he will preside at funerals and weddings outside Mass. He will be able to bless your homes and your rosaries and your cars and your cats.

I have no doubt he will be a delightful dinner guest. And you can practice your English, Spanish, French, Italian, Vietnamese, Latin and Hebrew when he comes over for dinner. And maybe he can even teach you some archery, because after all, Dc. Quinton has a lot of arrows in his quiver.

Praised be Jesus Christ!