Celebrating the 40th anniversary of his ordination this year, Father David Russell describes his priestly ministry as one of “leading the people to holiness.”
“My job is to provide the people with the sacraments and guidance so that with God’s grace I can help them to be holy,” Father Russell said.
A native of Modesto, California, the future Father Russell joined the U.S. Navy right out of high school. Two years later, he was assigned to the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, from which he graduated as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps.
During his five-year stint in the Marines, he served a yearlong tour of duty in Vietnam, where he was an infantry company commander leading 250 men. It was his service in that war, he said, that led him to contemplate the priesthood.
“I think (serving in) Vietnam had a lot to do with it,” Father Russell said of his decision to become a priest. “I saw what happens when we don’t get along, so I thought I would do something to help us get along.”
And, while the thought of becoming a priest was on his mind, he did not immediately act on it. “I was on a Trappist retreat, and I went to Confession,” Father Russell recalled. “Halfway through, the priest started laughing and said, ‘I have never seen anyone being chased (by God) who could run so fast.’”
Father Russell eventually entered Christ the King Seminary in East Aurora, New York, and was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Washington in 1981. After his ordination, he served as parochial vicar at Little Flower Parish in Bethesda, Maryland and St. John Baptist de la Salle Parish in Chillum, Maryland.
Later, he undertook Hispanic studies in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in preparation for Hispanic ministry. Returning to the Archdiocese of Washington in 1987, Father Russell served as a parochial vicar at St. Peter Parish in Waldorf, Maryland; Mount Calvary Parish in Forestville, Maryland; and St. Gabriel Parish in Washington. In 1993, he was named pastor of Holy Name Parish in Washington. In 1998, he was appointed pastor of St. Anthony Parish in North Beach, Maryland, a post he held until his retirement in 2015.
Father Russell was serving as pastor of St. Anthony Parish in 2003 when Hurricane Isabel slammed into the east coast of the United States as a category 5 storm. The storm caused an estimated $3.6 billion worth of damage up the eastern seaboard, and flooded North Beach, which is located on the Chesapeake Bay, causing massive destruction in its wake.
Because his parish had stoves and an electric generator fueled by propane while much of North Beach was without power, telephone service or water for about one week, Father Russell opened his church hall. During that entire time, he and an army of volunteers fed many residents of the town as well as the police and out-of-area emergency workers deployed to the town. St. Anthony parishioners served food to anyone who needed it and sometimes delivered food to frontline workers who could not leave their posts. The parish hall was also used for hospitality and respite for relief workers.
For his efforts, then-Maryland Gov. Bob Ehrlich named Father Russell one of Maryland’s Citizens of the Year for 2003. “I accepted that on behalf of all the people of St. Anthony,” he said.
In addition to offering Mass, Father Russell said his favorite part of being a priest is hearing Confessions.
“After I got over being afraid of hearing Confessions, I loved it,” he said. “People are most vulnerable (in the confessional), and that is why I first feared it. I always prayed before I went in, and I realized God helps me with what to say. As long as He (God) is there, I have no fear.”
In his retirement, Father Russell has assisted priests in nearby parishes in both the Archdiocese of Washington and the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Due to health reasons, his help in local parishes has greatly decreased, but he continues to hear Confessions and participate in penance services.
“I hear what they (the faithful) have done when they think they have done their worst,” he said. “But I have also seen their joy. People seem to be happiest when they reach outside themselves to help other people, when they recognize and realize how much God loves them and gives them a certain freedom to reach out to others – that’s when they seem their happiest.”
Because of his interest in photography and newfound spare time, Father Russell became the photographer for the Naval Academy’s men’s rugby team. “As long as my health permits, this outside activity keeps me going,” he said.
As he looks back over his 40 years as a priest, Father Russell joked that the seminary did not prepare him for “the bookkeeping, cooking, paperwork and stuff – the administrative end.”
But, he added, “I have worked with a lot of really good people.”
As a priest who has served in city, suburban and rural parishes, Father Russell said that while the locations may vary, “there is great joy in being able to bring the sacraments – especially celebrating Mass and reconciliation through Confession – to the people who want to be holy.”
His advice for anyone considering the priesthood is simple: “Pray, pray, pray, pray because you cannot do this alone.”
