Lower Burrell man moving closer to priesthood after spending year at Murrysville parish

Mark Dunmire didn’t always want to be a priest, but that didn’t stop him from thinking about it.

Now that he’s about to be ordained a deacon, he’s well past the point of accepting a calling that began years ago with a suggestion from his parish priest.

Dunmire, 35, of Lower Burrell, will be ordained a transitional deacon at 10 a.m. Saturday at Blessed Sacrament Cathedral, Greensburg. Bishop Edward C. Malesic will be the chief celebrant.

Dunmire will then return to St. Mary Seminary, Baltimore, to complete his final year of seminary formation and prepare for ordination to the priesthood.

“This is the first real step,” Dunmire told the Catholic Accent. “In the diaconate (ordination), you make all the promises to obey and serve the Lord.”

Dunmire said his main influence in his decision to pursue the priesthood was Monsignor James T. Gaston, his pastor for 16 years at St. Margaret Mary Parish, Lower Burrell.

Dunmire was reunited with Gaston last year, when he was assigned to serve a pastoral year at Mother of Sorrows Parish, Murrysville, where Gaston is now senior pastor.

As seminarian-in-residence, Dunmire has been involved with teaching seventh-grade students, assisting with the sacraments, making home visits and coordinating the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults.

The U.S. Catholic Bishops’ Program for Priestly Formation suggests the pastoral year program before the final year of seminary as a way to introduce seminarians to the daily operations of a parish, according to the Accent.