Reverend Malachy J. Higgiston,
Weekend Assistant
Reverend Malachy J. Higgiston was ordained to the priesthood on December 8, 1956 and joined the Salvatorian Fathers in the USA. He is a native of Northern Ireland and currently resides in Cherry Hill, NJ. He celebrates his birthday on October 28th. He received a BA from Catholic University of America, and an MA from New York University. He taught for several years at the Camden Diocesan Seminary in Blackwood, N.J. and later entered the Army as a Chaplin for over 20 years. He left the Salvatorian Order to join the Institute of Voluntas Dei.
His ministry involves serving as a weekend assistant at St. Thomas More Church in Manalapan, NJ since 1989; spiritual direction on Cursillos in the Trenton and Camden dioceses; weekend retreats and days of recollection, and is involved in puppet ministry.
The joy of the Gospel is a compelling strain in his spiritual journey. His imagination is an accompanying feature of this, since he always feels a need to tell a story, or dramatize Scripture. In contrast, this is offset by the need to be alone and away from the crowd. He feels that there is a delight in being with our Lord for no reason other than to enjoy the intimacy, to praise Him, and to hang around together.
His favorite saint is Ignatius of Loyola, and to quote him, “His world view with everything in it being ordered to the greater glory of God; and his spiritual diary which lets you look inside his heart and in his most intimate dealings with God; his imagination – This guy is a challenge.”
Some of his closest moments to God have been being a very young Altar Boy, being a member of the Young Christian Workers (see-judge-act), attending his first Cursillo, grouping in Cursillo, going to the Chapel to hang out with Jesus and visiting the Blessed Sacrament (particularly at St. Rose of Lima in Haddon Heights, NJ).
Father Malachy’s favorite biblical quotes are Philippians 4:4, Philippians 2 and Deuteronomy 30: 11-14. Books that he would recommend include; The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis, The Long Loneliness by Dorothy Day, The Year of the French by Thomas Flanagan and all of Thomas Merton.
Malachy first heard of Voluntas Dei from a fellow priest who told him about a meeting in Baltimore, with a former Paulist, about secular institutes. Several Salvatorians were invited, and he asked to be invited too, in order get information for John Campoli. During the meeting, he became very conscious of the Team and the method of sharing. Both of these took him back to his YCW days. He felt he had come full circle.
Voluntas Dei has brought together several disparate elements in his spiritual life. The YCW in his late teens and early twenties (which really propelled him into the priesthood); the Salvatorians and the Cursillo (a watershed in his spiritual journey)—all these came together for him in the charism and the three-fives of Voluntas Dei. The next step was to embrace it and begin living a consecrated life in the world.
The Voluntas Dei roots Malachy in God’s presence. He expresses himself this way; “it calls into being like the Virgin of the Assumption. It makes us aware of our critical hang-ups. It turns us away from self towards others in an attitude of peace. It summons us to the Eucharist and to sharing intimacy with Christ in the tabernacle. It encourages our perusal of the Word and prayerful reflection. It counsels us to moderation in the vows and commitments. And, to make sure we are aware of our mother, it bestows on us her rosary.
Now, what else do we need?”