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When the retirement of Father Tom Jennings appeared in the Sept. 27, 2018, edition, I kept a secret for the parishioners of Luverne and Ellsworth.
As Father Tom was winding down his 49 years in the priesthood, the parishioners of St. Catherine and St. Mary churches were busy finding a heart-felt thank you gift for the man who faithfully served the parish for 15 years.
Parishioners finally decided Father Tom deserved a new car. He put on lots of miles in his weekly travels between the two towns and his 2014 Ford Fusion was showing its age.
Because my story would appear in public before Father Tom’s last day on the job, I agreed not to mention their parting gift in the retirement story.
Until now, when Father Tom used the $25,000 given him to purchase an electric blue Ford EcoSport from the showroom floor at Herman Motor Company.
The transaction is one experience salesman Travis Dunn admits he won’t soon forget.
Two weeks on the job and Travis admits he wasn’t used to Father Tom’s humorous yet priestly demeanor.
The vehicle purchase was a topic Father Tom said he had in his prayers for months and when he saw the four-door crossover in the showroom he knew it was the vehicle for him.
“It spoke to me,” he said simply from his retirement home in Caledonia, Minnesota. “It said, ‘I am the one.’”
Father Tom admitted his decision was assisted by Pope Francis, who was shown in news reports riding in a similar blue vehicle during his travels in Panama.
The Pope connection was unknown to salesman Travis, whom Father Tom grilled with questions of family, faith and Fords.
“I wanted to make sure he was a Bible-believing salesman,” Father Tom said.
Travis passed the test and the sale was sealed.
Before driving off the lot, Father Tom blessed both his old and his new cars with Holy Water.
The priest admits he may have blessed Travis, a Lutheran, too.
“Now I know what a Catholic blessing is,” Travis said. “It’s like a little bath.”
Travis, who used to work in marketing, photographed the blessing and announced the vehicle purchase on social media. He was surprised at the response.
The post reached 4,000 views within days, as parishioners and friends of Father Tom posted their congratulations. Normally the business posts reach about 1,400.
“You don’t see that much engagement in a vehicle post,” Travis said.
But it’s a response you’d expect from a community who thought to buy a retired priest a car.