HAMMOND – Regarding the breadth of 2,000 years of truth, charity, art and education brought to the world by the Catholic Church, some are rendered speechless. That’s not the case for one member of the Elect, who received his sacraments of initiation at the Easter Vigil on April 19.
Zachary Dotson, a member of St. Joseph, Hammond, has much to say about his full communion with the Church and the continued influence of the Bride of Christ in today’s world. Yet, on most days, the 24-year-old is found putting his faith into action.
“This is kind of sealing a bow on it or finishing the circle, knowing I will officially be confirmed, baptized and receive our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament as an actual Catholic,” Dotson said before the Easter Vigil Mass. “It’s one of those things where it’s a bit hard to articulate fully the grandeur of it because I can’t believe it’s actually happening.”
The year 2024 was momentous in Dotson’s rediscovery of faith. He quickly became part of the Manna for Hammond/St. Joseph Soup Kitchen, a volunteer environment and maintenance assistant, and all-around apologist for the faith.
A face for the can-do spirit of urban revitalization combined with the love of his historical family of faith, he shed the oppositional behaviour to all things traditional from his teen years for something that makes life worth living.
“In coming back to the faith – and it hasn’t even been a full year that I’ve been back at St. Joseph – it’s a completely different outlook on life; life feels complete now,” Dotson explained.
Dotson was born in the now-demolished St. Margaret Hospital in Hammond. The nurturing nature of his mother, Tiffany Simpson, has factored heavily into his life. Her Mexican-American heritage animated a devout adherence to the Catholic faith. His late father, who died when he was 10 of a drug overdose, professed anti-Catholic views.
As a child, Dotson remembers attending Mass with his mother, reading his First Holy Communion Bible and generally being “raised clandestinely Catholic.”
The religiously mixed marriage of his parents and the eventual tragic passing of his father helped foster an overall cynical outlook, according to Dotson. When the teen was invited to pray before meals he rolled his eyes. As an agnostic adult, any given weekend itinerary could include visiting nightclubs or other “worldly” pursuits. This has been replaced with his focus on being a fixture at church functions and evangelizing among friends and neighbors to gather more into the fold.
Dotson is thankful for the faith-filled marriage that his mother and stepfather Jerry Simpson now enjoy. He also appreciates the opportunity to remain close to his younger siblings, Destiny and Daniel.
“He’s a bit of a saint for dealing with three snot-nosed kids that aren’t biologically his,” Dotson said of his stepdad. “He’s really wonderful. A complete night-and-day difference to what it was … he comes from a Catholic family … my parents are able to be active in Church ministries together.”
Like many people’s plans were changed during the pandemic, the mitigation and sheltering protocols gave Dotson time to ask some serious questions about life. He recalls saying to himself, “Maybe I do believe in God.”
After studying locally, Dotson began work in Chicago in banking, dedicating time for his commute and for corporate responsibilities. But he said there was something lacking. “It wasn’t feeding my soul, but it was paying me well enough that I had a nest egg, so I was able to leave my job and dedicate myself completely to the parish and becoming Catholic.”
Dotson was not giving up on the secular world. After all, he believes that the Catholic Church’s profound contributions to arts, academics, charity, education and medicine are broadly appealing, even to those without religious faith.
“I think what helped me is that I’m a very empirical person,* that’s just kind of how my brain is wired. Prior to even looking for a parish or an RCIA program, I sat down for probably a good week and I dedicated my time to investigating the Church – what does the Church believe? Why does it believe this? How was it established?”
Dotson concluded, “That’s not what’s going to work with everyone – they may need something tangible – inviting them to come experience the Church.”
His choice among Hammond parishes, Dotson said the Holy Spirit led him to the downtown parish as St. Joseph offers everything from the “soup kitchen culture” of service to incomparable soaring architectural and sacred art, which he called “a living history.”
Most inspiring to Dotson is the family of faith he has bonded with at St. Joseph. A renewed sense of service and evangelization has drawn more people from the redeveloping downtown corridor to the historic worship space.
“There are exciting things coming down the pipeline, especially with spiritual life and professional life happening in downtown Hammond, where I’m very blessed to have my parish located, right in the heart of the city,” said Dotson, speaking about the oldest religious institution in Hammond. “St. Joseph has been the heart and soul of Hammond … What comes next is working on ways within the parish to connect it with what’s happening in the city and the new downtown residential developments.”
Caption: Zachary Dotson stands near the welcome booth of St. Joseph church in downtown Hammond on April 16. The Elect is set to formally join the Catholic Church on Easter Vigil, April 19, and said his early interest in the faith, then years of agnosticism have opened to his Holy Spirit-filled journey into the Church and a "completely different outlook" to life. (Anthony D. Alonzo photo)
