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Archives A Joy That Fills the Room

Nov. 5, 2014

By Amanda Conklin
Contributing Writer

From the moment I met Tom Higman (affectionately referred to as Tom-Tom,) I knew he would be a wonderful priest.

I worked with Tom before he was “Father Tom” for several years at Camp Guggenheim. I was amazed by his faithfulness to follow his calling right out of high school.

I was so blessed to be able to watch him grow as a man through his entire formation process.

I was especially lucky to be living outside of Philadelphia while he was studying at St. Charles Seminary and my husband and I often visited or had Father Higman and Father Belina over for dinner.   Father Tom Higman has a joy that radiates and the source of this joy is so clearly Christ. I don’t think I’ve ever spent time with him that didn’t include at least one good belly laugh.

I’ve also never seen a priest quite so in love with being a young priest!

Everything Father Tom does is oriented towards his vocation as a shepherd of his flock and a representative of Christ.

Whether he is emulating a young JPII while kayaking with young people in our beautiful Adirondack lakes, or humbling himself to hear confessions at our moving Rachel’s Vineyard retreats, Father Higman is leading others to God every day.   The people of the Diocese see the love Father Higman has for the Church and they truly love him in return. This was most recently demonstrated when Father Tom was transferred from Malone to Saranac Lake on assignment. I’ve never seen so many well wishes and sad goodbyes on Facebook and so many excited parishioners who were ready and proud to claim Father Tom as their own!  Sometimes I wish that Father Tom could teach a class to all newly ordained priests on how to visibly embrace their vocation.

Father Higman recently baptized our newest edition, little John Allen. I always get excited when my child’s baptism date approaches. However, I never expected the priest who was baptizing him to be just as excited as me!

As the date approached, Father Tom reminded me several times how excited he was to welcome my son into the Church and he brought such joy to the occasion.   On the day of John's baptism, we were running very late after realizing that we had forgotten John's baptismal suit and I was very distraught. Unknowingly, Fr. Tom eased my anxiety when he sent me a text message with a picture of the baptismal font, chrism and candle all ready to go with the caption: "All I need is a baby now!"

How beautiful it would be if every priest approached the sacraments with this jubilation.   We are very blessed in the Diocese of Ogdensburg to have many devoted, faith-filled priests who go far beyond just celebrating Mass on Sundays. In a time when it is certainly not easy to be a priest, let us remember to pray for our priests and thank them for their complete service to Christ and his bride, the Church.

baptisim

Photo Provided
Father Thomas Higman, parochial vicar in Saranac Lake, baptizes John Allen Conklin, son of Seth and Amanda Conklin of Gouverneur. Here, Mrs. Conklin writes about her friend, the priest.

 

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