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Robert Delaney of The Michigan Catholic
Published September 27, 2006

St. Clair Shores – When Fr. Ronald DeHondt first came to St. Margaret of Scotland Parish as pastor in January 2003 Patrick Johnson recalls asking him whether he would be a "priest-priest or an administrator-priest."

"With me, people come first," he recalls as Fr. DeHondt's reply.

Photo by Robert Delaney | The Michigan Catholic Fr. Ronald DeHondt, pastor of St. Margaret of Scotland Parish in St. Clair Shores, plays the guitar and leads a group of religious education students in a song.

And Fr. DeHondt has proven true to his word, in Johnson's opinion: "He's just completely dedicated to the priesthood and puts people before anything else. And he has led us to be more prayerful and to be more involved in Bible study."

But Johnson also gives Fr. DeHondt high marks when it comes to administration: "He's a really knowledgeable administrator, which has been good because we've poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into improving the parish facilities. He always listens before he acts."

Rather than letting a 2004 heart health crisis, which required installation of three stents, cause him to just take it easy, Fr. DeHondt has continued his rapid pace, Johnson says, putting his difficulties to good use by starting an annual fund-raising golf outing he calls the Stent Event.

As Catholics throughout the United States prepare for the annual celebration of Priesthood Sunday, members of St. Margaret of Scotland Parish were eager to praise their pastor.

"Fr. Ron has deep, profound faith that shines forth in all that he does," says Barbara Ambrogio, adding, "I would say his spirit lifts the entire congregation to be more Christ-like in everything we do."

Ambrogio says Fr. DeHondt challenges the congregation, as with their outreach to the area's homeless. "He makes us look at what's important in our lives, and ask ourselves do we do it for ourselves or do we do it for God," she says.

St. Margaret parishioners respond because "he is such a humble man of God – we just love him as a pastor and as a dear friend," Ambrogio adds.

Another St. Margaret parishioner, Macomb County Treasurer Ted Wahby, says, "I think he's truly a man of God. He truly represents what a priest should be."

Members of the parish have developed "a great deal of love and respect" for Fr. DeHondt, and have responded to his deep concern for the homeless and hungry," he continues.

And despite all the work involved in running a parish the size of St. Margaret of Scotland, with 2200 families, "he always has time for a person," Wahby adds.

Besides the soup kitchen for the homeless, another of Fr. DeHondt's initiatives has been a comprehensive effort to see that parishioners who can no longer attend Mass are not forgotten.

With about 80 parishioners who are homebound or in nursing homes, the parish has developed a group of about 50 volunteers who visit them, and Fr. DeHondt does a lot of visiting as well, says Sr. Theresa Tembusch, IHM, coordinator of the parish nursing program.

"He's been saying Mass at the Medilodge Nursing Home on 15 Mile Road once a month, and he brings his guitar with him and plays a half an hour for them after Mass," Sr. Tenbusch says.

Parishioner Karen Van Lerberghe-Slocum has worked with Fr. DeHondt in her dual roles as both a critical care nurse and as owner of Van Lerberghe Funeral Home in St. Clair Shores.

"He's just a very considerate and compassionate man – someone who bends over backward for people. And he's an extremely faith-filled man – it's like being in the dark and he brings you into the light," she says.

Fr. DeHondt serves his parishioners "way beyond the call of duty," in Van Lergerghe-Slocum's opinion. "It's like they're his extended family," she says.

Before coming to St. Margaret of Scotland Parish Fr. DeHondt had spent 18 years in urban ministry, as pastor of St. Gregory the Great and Madonna parishes in Detroit. But while inner-city parishes face some unique challenges, he says he finds the people pretty much the same in the city and the suburbs.

"The differences, for me, are not as important as the similarities," he says.

Fr. DeHondt, 60, is the first pastor to serve at St. Margaret without another priest as associate, but he says he does not mind that: "I don't feel alone at all. We have such a collaborative staff."

And he is happy in his priesthood. "I'm continually gratified to be a priest. It's not a bad life to be a priest at all. I don't know whether you should call it a job, but I think it's one of the greatest ways of life there is," he says.

St. Margaret of Scotland Parish is at 21201 E. Thirteen Mile Road, St. Clair Shores, 48082, telephone (586) 293-2240.