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JOHN JEAN JONES, JR. (mixed race, 20) is the eldest of ANTONIA JOSEPHINA (Toni, white, 51, weathered, in wheelchair) and JOHN JEAN JONES, SR. (Big John, black, 46, towering, buzz cut).

John’s sibs are his exotically attractive fraternal twin sister SHARLA JANELLE (20, svelte) and his brother WILLIAM JAMES (Will, 16, big, mountainous Afro).

John grew up on “the wrong side of the tracks” in a rural town in the South and worked as a bagboy in a white neighborhood to help the family meet ends.  The white bagboys at the supermarket excluded him from the bagboy smoke breaks behind the meat locker, often berating him with racist names.  When he walked home late at night after his shift, the local constable often rousted John for vagrancy and for refusing to move on.

Fiercely religious, his mother Toni saw that her three children went to Confession every Saturday and attended High Mass on Sunday at St. Juthwara Parish in the well-to-do all-white Mission Hills subdivision.  His father Big John, a former semi-pro football linebacker and a union organizer, filled John’s head with stories of how the FBI had been following him for years because of his union activism.  Big John found out about the FBI’s stalking of him from an Army buddy who worked as a mimeograph repairman in the FBI building in Washington, D.C.

Big John’s pull as a stalwart union man enabled him to enroll his three children in the mostly white St. Juthwara Parochial School.  At St. Juthwara’s, John did well academically and made the debate team in the eighth grade, leading St. Juthwara’s to the state championship.  Inquisitive and articulate, John never backed down from an argument, often driving opponents to distraction with his persistence and eloquence.

John was active in scouting, participated in the Soap Box Derby, and excelled in sports, setting a state distance record for throwing a football.  Fr. Casimir, the pastor at St. Juthwara’s and a Barnabian monk from St. Mark Abbey, would tell everyone, “Johnny can throw a football a country mile into the wind.”  High school football coaches all over the state tried to recruit him, but by the eighth grade John’s interests had taken a different direction.

From the time he was 10 John served as an altar boy.  The summer after seventh grade, Fr. Casimir suggested to John that he attend summer camp at St. Mark Abbey.  John loved the outdoor activities at the abbey: swimming, hiking, canoeing, and fishing.  Every day after morning Mass, one of the monks would talk to the boys about life in the monastery and what it meant to have a calling to the priesthood.

Fr. Cosmas, the Spiritual Director of St. Mark Seminary, cornered John one day after lunch and asked him if he had ever thought about becoming a priest.  When John confessed that he was attracted to the life of a priest, Fr. Cosmas arranged for him to meet with one of the young monks, Fr. Fabian, the Infirmarian for the seminary.

John was impressed by Fr. Fabian’s dedication to his work at the seminary and spent several days working with him in the infirmary.  Fr. Fabian approached his work with care and compassion, and with a great sense of humor.  John began to feel that God was indeed calling him to the priesthood, although he did have concerns about taking a vow of chastity.  It would probably mean he would have to give up his collection of Playboy magazines, the centerfolds for sure, although he thought he might be able to keep his collection of Mad magazines.

After camp that summer, John met with his new pastor, Fr. Rudolph Stores, to discuss his vocation.  Fr. Stores told John that his soul would be at peril of eternal damnation were he to refuse his calling to the priesthood.  Inasmuch as Toni was a devout Catholic – the finest alto in the parish choir, a trusted altar lady, and the president of the Sodality – John assumed that she would be delighted to hear of his decision to enter St. Mark Seminary in the fall of 1962.

However, Toni and Big John were initially upset by his decision and asked him to reconsider.  Toni complained, “The priesthood is no life for a strong, handsome boy like you.”  Big John kept repeating, “I want grandchildren, I want grandchildren.”  John insisted that his decision was firm and asked his parents to talk with Fr. Stores about his calling and their reluctance to support him.

Fr. Stores prayed with Toni and Big John, and at their request made an appointment for them to discuss the issue of John’s sacred vocation with Msgr. John Purvis Denton, the Director of Vocations for the archdiocese.  They would never tell John the nature of their conversation with the monsignor, but after the meeting at the Chancery, they changed their minds and eagerly supported John’s vocation.

John is tall and skinny with long arms and is athletic despite his slenderness.  He knows by heart every song ever sung by Sam Cooke.  A conspiracy theorist and an incurable subversive, he is suspicious of most everybody and everything, irreverent of anything status quo, and a loyal friend.  He reads every issue of Mad and still pores over Playboy on a regular basis.  He has a salty tongue, loves photography, and enjoys everything outdoors.  Above all, John hates hypocrisy and will go to any lengths to expose it.