Danny Morrison first thought about being a priest when he was 4 years old. On June 21, Deacon Daniel Morrison, who is now 26, will be ordained by Cardinal Robert W. McElroy as one of five new priests for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Washington.
As he grew up, priests were part of the fabric of his family’s life. Dr. Eric and Dr. Grace Morrison’s family often attended daily Mass together and frequently had priests as dinner guests.
“My job growing up was setting the table,” said Deacon Morrison, the middle of seven children in his family. “I always remember setting an extra spot for the priest, just in case he’d stop by.”
He added, “We saw them (priests) around the dinner table. We’d be playing cards with them. We’d see them at family events, and I also was able to see their reverence at the altar.”
Deacon Morrison said from that early age, he was attracted to the life of a priest and came to understand they were instruments of Christ’s love and mercy.
When Father Daniel Morrison celebrates his first Mass on June 22 at his home parish, St. John Neumann in Gaithersburg, he will be joined by his two older brothers who are also priests of the Archdiocese of Washington: Father James Morrison, who was ordained in 2020 and has been appointed to serve as the administrator of Our Lady Queen of the Americas Parish in Washington; and Father Nicholas Morrison, who was ordained in 2021 and serves as a parochial vicar at St. Peter’s Parish on Capitol Hill.
In addition to his parents, the congregation at his first Mass will also include an older sister, Anna Marie Bullis who is married and has two young children; a younger sister, Sister Mary Sophia Morrison, who will be making her first vows as a member of the Dominican Sisters of St. Cecilia in Nashville in August; a younger brother Thomas Morrison, who is a student at the Franciscan University of Steubenville in Ohio; and an adopted younger sister, Isabelle, who is 12 and has Down syndrome.
The future priest said he and his siblings have been inspired by the faith and love of their parents, who have homeschooled all seven children and led them in praying a family rosary at bedtime, and taught them to put their relationship with Christ first in their lives. Dr. Eric Morrison is a dentist, and Dr. Grace Morrison, who has been active over the years in pro-life outreach, is a periodontist. They met in dental school.
“When you see your parents both living it out in unison, there’s something that moves the heart,” said Deacon Morrison, who said their sacrificial love inspired his vocation.
Deacon Morrison was also inspired by his older brothers’ example, and by the joy he witnessed in their lives when they followed God’s call in becoming seminarians and then serving as priests.
In a YouTube interview on the dcpriest.org website, he spoke about his own calling to be a priest, noting, “Through spiritual direction and prayer, I realized that over time, the Lord had put this attraction to the priesthood on my heart, like a gentle breeze or a quiet whisper.”
As a seminarian, he studied at the Saint John Paul II Seminary in Washington and at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Maryland. His summer ministry experiences included serving at St. John Francis Regis Parish in Hollywood, Maryland, and Sacred Heart Parish in La Plata which offer camps for youth; and serving at Sacred Heart Parish in Bowie; at St. Joseph’s Parish in Capitol Hill down the street from his brother, Father Nicholas Morrison’s parish; and at the Catholic Student Center at the University of Maryland.
“I feel like every assignment I’ve had, it’s been a knockout because of (serving with) priests on fire with the mission,” he said.
And at Sacred Heart Parish in Bowie, his life came full circle, as many families there invited him to join them at dinner, where he said he witnessed “the beauty of family life” and saw how it is complementary to the vocation of a priest.
As his ordination to the priesthood neared, Deacon Morrison said, “I am so excited, and with it comes the trust this is the Lord’s call, and He has a plan… I’ve been praying a lot with awe and wonder about what He’s been doing in my life.”
