When the Rev. Matthew Hood was still a seminarian, he imagined himself serving at the Church of the Divine Child in Dearborn, unaware at the time that the parish would be his first assignment after ordination.

Now Hood gives thanks and says farewell as he moves on to St. Lawrence Parish in Utica.

“When I was studying to be a priest, I often would spend time daydreaming about different aspects of priesthood,” Hood told parishioners on the church’s Facebook page. “I would imagine what it would look like to be saying Mass, preaching, hearing confessions, spending time with students and parishioners.”

Rev. Matthew Hood | Facebook

Hood wrote that it’s natural for seminarians to associate images with their thoughts as they discuss their upcoming priestly life. He had no way of knowing where his first assignment as a priest would be as the process doesn’t start until right before ordination at the end of seminary formation.

“The strange thing was, without even doing so intentionally, for all those imaginary scenarios in my mind, they always took place at Divine Child,” he wrote. “I would imagine myself preaching from the ambo here in our church, standing at the altar, sitting in the confessional and running around our beautiful schools. I could never have imagined the blessing it has been to begin my priestly life here at Divine Child these past three years.”

As he prepares for the assignment at St. Lawrence Parish, Hood said he carries Divine Child in his heart and prayers.

“I want to thank Fr. Jim Bilot and Fr. Bob McCabe for their mentorship and example; the parish and school staffs, who I have been privileged to serve alongside; the many students who have been through our doors, who have taken seriously their call to be disciples of Christ; and the whole parish community for inspiring me through their lives of holiness,” Hood's post concluded.