Gulf Pine Catholic

8 Gulf Pine Catholic • July 21, 2023 Ordained as the first permanent dea- con for the Catholic Diocese of Biloxi on June 17, 1979, at the Cathedral of the Blessed Virgin Mary by Bishop Joseph Lawson Howze, he served as deacon at Sacred Heart in Pascagoula from 1979- 1988. He also was Sacred Heart School Board president; parish council presi- dent, a Boy Scout leader, and chaplain to Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts in the Diocese of Biloxi. He was chaplain at the Port of Pascagoula with the Apostleship of the Sea. He enjoyed traveling with Msgr. Gregory Johnson to Canada and Seattle to the Apostleship of the Sea international meetings, and also served on the boards of both the Cursillo of South Mississippi, and the de l’Epee Deaf Center, Inc. He was employed as a process opera- tor and later as a national certified board inspector at Chevron Refinery in Pascagoula from 1966-1985, traveling to many locations, including San Juan, Puerto Rico; El Segundo, California; and Hartford, Connecticut. He was an eager spectator at any of his children’s activities in school -- soccer, dance and cheerleading -- and even pierced his high school son’s ear when he requested to have it done. Whatever activ- ity his children were interested in became his interest as well. In 1985, he took early retirement from Chevron Refinery to teach religion at Our Lady of Victories High School (now Resurrection High School) in Pascagoula, serving as director of religious education there from 1985-1988. During that time, he and his family traveled to the diocesan mission at Saltillo, Mexico, where he assisted Father Patrick Quinn (who was their first pastor at Sacred Heart in Pascagoula) at Masses, baptisms, mar- riages, and visited the sick in the parish and barrios, as well as in the many small churches in the outlying ran- chos. He was appointed as the first deacon Director of the Diaconate by Bishop Howze in 1986. He and his wife were mentors to several diaconate classes in the dio- cese, and he helped organize the second formation class of Biloxi deacons with the Mobile diocese. On July 1, 1988, he was appointed by Bishop Howze to serve as the first deacon pastoral associate at St. Elizabeth Seton in Ocean Springs, and as Director of Religious Education and Youth. At St. Elizabeth Seton, he helped organize the Knights of Columbus Council #10499, on Nov. 6, 1990, serving as organiza- tional Grand Knight and chaplain, and served as deacon there for 35 years. Diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2011, he contin- ued to serve at St. Elizabeth Seton until his illness deemed otherwise, first, under Father George Kitchin, Father Bernard Farrell, and now Father Sergio Balderas. Father Farrell and Deacon Finnegan first worked Deacon Martin Finnegan From page 1 Bishop Kihneman greets Deacon Martin and Brenda Finnegan on the occasion of their 56th wedding anniversay on August 24, 2019, at Sacred Heart Church in Hattiesburg. Photo/Juliana Skelton together at Sacred Heart Parish in Pascagoula. “I worked with him for 20 years and they were 20 very happy years,” said Father Farrell, who is retired and living in Canton, MS. “He was very committed to his work and, even though we didn’t always agree, we never had any type of falling out.” Father Farrell said Deacon Finnegan and his wife, Brenda, were a dynamic diaconal duo. “He had a great partner in Brenda. They were a great team,” he said. “He was very committed to his family. He was there for them when it was time to receive the sacraments and was present to them in their times of problems and difficulties. Even though their family was scattered among different places, Martin and Brenda were always on the road to help them whenever they could. They were a very special family from that point of view. “I wish Brenda all my prayers and I’m sure that Martin is up there with the good Lord. If not, we’re all going to struggle.” Father Kitchin was pastor of St. Elizabeth Seton Parish from 1988 until 2002, and Deacon Finnegan was his Pastoral Associate for the majority of his pastorate. “One of the keys to the success of our relationship was my father Leon Kitchin and my mother Effie Smith Kitchin were together one weekend a month in Jackson (MS) in the Deacon training program of the Diocese of Natchez-Jackson with Martin and Brenda for about three years,” said Father Kitchin. “Another key was the Finnegans’ commitment to youth and adult religious education in living out their Catholic faith. Of course, their remarkably friendly relationships with others were key to all this success. “I asked our parish council to take on the financial support of Deacon Martin’s full-time ministry in the parish CCD program and Adult Education. and to allow him to spend one-fourth of his time overseeing the Diocese of Biloxi diaconate program after Bishop Howze appointed Deacon Martin to oversee it. The Parish Council was delighted to be able to provide financial support for all these programs. The parishioners were delighted, and our parish income increased significantly to cover all these services.” Deacon Finnegan remained active far beyond the age of 75, when permanent deacons are required to turn in their retirement letter. He continued to assist Father Balderas, who became pastor in 2014. “Deacon Martin was a man of God, and the community loved him so much,” Father Balderas said. “As pastor I was blessed to have him around. He helped with baptisms, weddings, funerals, Communion for the home-bound and benediction and adoration on Tuesdays. He was kind as a deacon, and willing to preach or celebrate communion services when he was needed. “When we built the new administrative building and the three classrooms, I wanted to give him a surprise, no one knew about it, just the person who did the signs for each office,” added Father Balderas. “We dedicated the Adult Education classroom with his name. When we had the open house and blessing of the building, he was crying tears of joy after he saw his name outside the classroom.” Pioneer Deacon Deacon Gayden Harper, who was ordained in 2002, said, “When the history is written of the Diocese of Biloxi, Deacon Martin Finnegan will have a prominent role in our first 46 years of service to the people of God.” “Martin Finnegan was one of the most remarkable men I have ever known, and the gift of our friendship is an enduring treasure that will always be a part of me,” he continued. “One of the first of four Permanent Deacons ordained in 1979, Deacon Martin lived to see our com- munity of deacons grow to 50 ordained men and 12 in diaconal formation. When I visited him a week before his passing, after discussing this growth, Martin looked at me with that twinkle in his eye and said, ‘God has been so good to us, hasn’t he Gayden?’ The goodness of God was always on the lips of Deacon Martin Finnegan. You could count on it.” Deacon Harper further noted that “As the first direc- tor of the diaconate program, Deacon Finnegan was the architect of the formation model that was widely respected and emulated by other Dioceses, and the model for diaconate classes through 2019. SEE DEACON FINNEGAN, PAGE 13