Deacon Alexander Rasset, 26, began his path to priesthood — which will come to fruition on May 25 when he is ordained in the Cathedral of St. Paul — when he was in middle school and attended a youth group at his home parish, St. Francis Xavier in Buffalo.
“At the invitation of my best friend, I joined my parish youth group in middle school. This was a pivotal catalyst in my relationship with the Lord. The youth group leaders and the older students taught and witnessed to me what it was to be a disciple of Jesus,” he said.
Father Dave Hennen, now pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Hastings, led the youth group and introduced him for the first time to “a real and abiding relationship with the living God,” he said.
His subsequent relationship with God, spurred by the example of priests like Father Hennen, led him to seminary.
“Having been encountered by the living God and having great priestly witness, when I felt the Lord’s call on my heart to be a priest, it was not long before I decided to enter the seminary right after high school,” he said.
Deacon Rasset feels a special call to encourage holy marriages in his future ministry. Data shows that marriages in the Church and at large occur less frequently than in the past.
“I’m saddened by how few marriages there are each year in so many parishes. Whether people are forgoing marriage all together or getting married outside of the Church, there is a great need here. The Lord has made marriage and family an indispensable and beautiful institution where he desires to encounter his people and make present his own love in this world. I want to help proclaim this message of the goodness and dignity of the family and how important of a vocation it is.”
Some of his desire to encourage holy marriages may have come from the example of his own parents, Patrick and Rita Rasset, who have supported his vocation.
“My parents have been tremendously supportive of me throughout the journey toward priesthood,” he said. “They have been there for me every step of the way. Especially in particularly difficult moments, their love and understanding of me has truly been a grace from the Lord. Their witness to me of steadfast love has been a living image of, and place of encounter with, the steadfast love of God himself. I am so grateful for them.”
Deacon Rasset said that his father has been an example of qualities associated with God the Father, like “kindness, understanding, generosity and mercy.”
“He is a man of great kindness and integrity. I am inspired by his daily dedication to prayer and regular sacramental life. He really witnesses for me the love of God the Father.”
Deacon Rasset also looks up to St. John Paul II, who exemplifies the kind of personal attention that Deacon Rasset hopes to give to each person he encounters in his ministry.
“While living a heroic life of sanctity and holiness, he (St. John Paul II) was at the same time such a ‘normal’ person. He was a close and caring friend to very many people, and based on the countless testimonies of those who met him, encountered every person he met with an intentionality and care like they were the only person in the room. This attention to and love of other people really inspires me,” Deacon Rasset said.
As he looks ahead to his ordination, Deacon Rasset said he can only express gratitude.
“I am so excited to be a dispenser of God’s manifold grace. I am so humbled that the Lord wants to use me as his minister to encounter his people, and very grateful.”
