Scores of faithful process 3.5 miles through Dodge City, providing
A powerful witness to the ‘Body of Christ’
By DAVE MYERS
Southwest Kansas Catholic
Some 200 to 300 people — children, moms pushing baby carriages, youth and elderly — celebrated the Feast of Corpus Christi June 3 with a 3.5-mile procession through the streets of Dodge City.
The procession began at Sacred Heart Cathedral and concluded at the Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe.
It was at once a prayer for priestly vocations, for women and men religious, families and youth, for conversion, and a prayer for world peace.
But perhaps most importantly, it was a witness of the Body and community of Christ to a multitude of people who sat outside their homes or parked along the road to view the impressive sight.
In the lead was a pickup truck packed with singers led by Cathedral youth director and recording artist David McHugh, whose powerful voice echoed through the streets.
Another truck pulled a makeshift altar on which a different priest prayed before the Blessed Sacrament between each of five prayer services.
The five altars were set up in public view along the route, such as in front of the Dodge City Medical Center and the parking lot of a mall.
Bishop John Brungardt rode the final leg of the journey, concluding at the cathedral with a prayer service in Spanish and English.
Entre 200 y 300 personas (niños, mamás empujando sus carritos de bebé, jóvenes y ancianos) celebraron la Fiesta de Corpus Christi el 3 de junio con una procesión de 3,5 millas por las calles de Dodge City.
La procesión comenzó en la Catedral del Sagrado Corazón y concluyó en la Catedral de Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe.
Fue a la vez una oración por las vocaciones sacerdotales; por los religiosos y religiosas; las familias y los jóvenes; por la conversión; y una oración por la paz mundial.
Pero quizás lo más importante, fue un testimonio del Cuerpo y la comunidad de Cristo ante una multitud de personas que se sentaron afuera de sus casas o estacionaron a lo largo del camino para apreciar esta vista impresionante.
A la cabeza estaba una camioneta llena de cantantes dirigidos por el director juvenil de la Catedral y artista de grabación David McHugh, cuya poderosa voz resonó por las calles.
Otro camión sacó un altar improvisado en el que un sacerdote diferente rezaba ante el Santísimo Sacramento entre cada uno de los cinco servicios de oración.
Los cinco altares se colocaron a la vista del público a lo largo de la ruta, como frente al Dodge City Medical Center y el estacionamiento de un centro comercial.
El obispo, Mons. John Brungardt montó la última etapa del viaje, concluyendo en la catedral con un servicio de oración en español e inglés.
On suicide and surviving the storm
By DAVE MYERS
Southwest Kansas Catholic
This advice came from my wife, Charlene, before we were married: “Despair,” she said, “always lifts.”
I’ve had to remember this from time to time when the bluesman has come to call, taking me into that deep, dark well.
“Despair ALWAYS lifts.”
Earlier this year, two issues of the SKC contained back to back obituaries for young people who had taken their own lives. And Alex Gleason, Page 13 in this issue, a fine young man, left his family and friends agonizing as to the “Why?”.
Everyone is wired differently, affected in their own deeply personal, and totally unique way, by the world around them. It is impossible to fully comprehend the uniqueness of the depths of each person’s emotional well, which is why it is equally impossible to fully surmise why someone might choose to end their own life. It is a depth which we cannot fathom.
Sometimes, of course, the answer is apparent. It is a rash decision housed in despair that (if only they had known!) would have lifted, eventually.
The Catholic Church understands that deep depths of anguish can diminish responsibility of those who take their own lives. The Church offers Mass for the repose of the soul of a suicide victim, “invoking God’s tender love and mercy, and His healing grace for the grieving loved ones.”
The Catholic Church assures us that God alone is left to judge the state of one’s heart and mind at death.
“Despair ALWAYS lifts!”
Several years ago I found myself in the deepest depth of despair I had ever experienced before or since, due to a loved one’s illness. I prayed, but the depth didn’t decrease. Depression gave way to a panic-state. I could have and should have called a help-line. I needed help. Badly.
Fortunately, today, here I sit at my computer drinking coffee and trying to share some words of comfort with others. Time, I realize, was the gift God gave me that night. I just needed time to get through the storm. Despair lifted, just as Charlene said it would.
The storms can be unfair. They can be damaging, physically and emotionally. They can blind us to any sort of reprieve. They can be so unbelievably harsh.
In my experience, the best solution for calming the storm is to talk. If you don’t feel comfortable turning to family or friends, call 1-800-273-TALK. And in the meantime, never, ever forget:
“Despair ALWAYS lifts!”
What can we do for others? All of us must embrace the notion that many people we encounter are carrying a great burden, and that they must be treated with compassion. We must practice constant empathy, reaching out to each other in as Christ-like a way as possible. We have to fight the nationalized hate that has come to the fore. Hate for others breeds hate for oneself, and visa versa.
If you find yourself with someone deep in the depths of despair, LISTEN to them. When I was deep in that well, I called a friend who talked. And talked. And talked! I needed to talk, not to be talked to. His words were a blur. Try as he might to help, he might as well have been reciting a recipe for lasagna.
We have to laugh; we have to celebrate. We need to teach one another not to take life too seriously. We must remind each other we are all in this together, brothers and sisters—family—children of a loving God.
Eucharist as a Sacred Meal
By FATHER TED STOECKLEIN
Assistant Director, Office of Priestly Vocations
From the beginning of creation, human beings were designed to live in an easy unity and fellowship with God and all creation. Sin shatters this experience of unity. It divides and scatters us. Yet God does not want to leave us in this lonely, alienated and ultimately deadly state. God, throughout history, set forth a plan to gather us back to himself. Part of this story of reunifying us to himself takes place with the development of “Sacred Meal”.
As the story goes, in the garden, God created everything good and God intended to feed his creatures with all that was good. God offered an abundance of food to share, to enjoy and to make humans flourish. But instead of being content to receive what God offered, Adam and Eve grasped for what was not given to them. This fall from grace is described as an action of disobedience by eating “forbidden fruit.” This temptation and fall dealt death instead of life.
Throughout the Old Testament, stories illustrating hospitality and meals shared consistently accompanied God’s saving action. From Abraham and Sarah encountering the three men on their way to Sodom and Gomorrah, to the yearly celebration to the Passover, the practice of sacred meal grew up and came to fruition at the Last Supper.
In the 25th chapter of Isaiah the Lord makes this promise:
“On this mountain the Lord of hosts will provide for all peoples; a feast of rich food and choice wines, juicy, rich food and pure, choice wines… He will destroy death forever.”
Though brought about through the tribes of Israel, the promise is given to all people. God promises to gather all human beings back into right worship and right relationship with God.
The meal that is given in the event of Passover is primary in development of sacred meal. The Passover meal was a recovery (however imperfect) of the easy unity and fellowship of the Garden of Eden. It was God hosting a banquet at which his human creatures share life with him and each other. God established the Passover meal as a sign of his covenant with his people Israel and as a prefiguring of the Eucharistic feast. In the fullness of time, Jesus gathered his apostles around the Passover table and instituted the Eucharist at the Last Supper.
Not limited to, but including the feast of the Passover, in the New Testament many meals with Jesus described the elements of this restoration of life with God. From the feeding of the multitudes, to dining with Pharisees, to dining with Martha and Mary...these meals were shared with sinners and saints, sick and healthy. Those who dined with Jesus represented many of the intensely divided groups of people at that time. The meals shared with Jesus were marked with themes of abundance, healing for the sick, forgiveness and reconciliation for sinners. These meals tell the story of God gathering back to himself all who had been scattered.
I am embarrassed to admit that until recent years I had been woefully ignorant of the Eucharist as sacred meal. I’m sure they covered this stuff in seminary, but in all honesty, it did not resound with me at that time.
I remember taking part in a workshop about 15 years ago. The presenter of the workshop instructed us to draw or describe what a typical meal was like in our homes growing up. The people at my table described details such as the shape of table, who sat where, how the table was set, how the food was distributed, and what kinds of conversations were shared. I remember them having a good time reminiscing about their childhood dining experiences. I also remember looking at my blank paper. Honestly the only image that came to my mind was sitting in front of the TV after school eating Fruit Loops and watching Gilligan’s Island.
The way we live our home lives has an enormous impact on the way we experience Eucharist. One thing I have begun to encourage families to do is to commit to having at least one meal per week together. No electronics, no newspapers or other distractions…look each other in the eye and talk to each other. Explore creative ways to interact with your family. Find something that works for you and don’t forget to enjoy it. Hopefully these “sacred meals” will in some small way carry over to your celebrating The Sacred Meal, the Eucharist.
Family prayer for priestly vocations
By ANNE SHAUGHNESSY
Family Formation, Cathedral of Our Lady of Guadalupe
The priest shortage. We see the effects of it all around us —one priest serving two or three parishes, less Masses being offered, fewer times offered for confessions ....The shortage of priests definitely affects us, the laity. What can we do about it?
Vocations to the priesthood are not something that we just pray for at Sunday Mass in the Prayers of the Faithful, or that we leave up to the vocation director or bishop. Vocations to the priesthood come about because of the families and friends and teachers that our boys and young men have in their lives. If we want more priests, the laity need to take on and embrace creating a culture of vocations. And the most important place for this to happen? In my opinion, it is the family. In my family and your family, we need to create an environment where God’s call can be heard.
Here are some ideas to help create that environment in your home. Choose one or two and try it with your family.
Offering prayers for priestly vocations: Praying for priestly vocations can be as simple as praying an “Our Father”, “Hail Mary”, “Memorare”,…with the intention of offering it for priestly vocations. This can be done by your family anytime that you are together (mealtime, bedtime) and is especially easy for families to pray in the car (like on the way to babysitting/work).
Pray for our current and future priests: Each day pray this prayer as a family and insert a priest’s name and the parishes he serves in. Look for the list of the priests/seminarians in our diocese in this issue of the Southwest Kansas Catholic. You can also print a copy of this prayer and a list of the priests in our diocese and the parishes he serves at dcdiocese.org.
Pray the rosary: The rosary is a longer prayer for families to pray, especially those with small children. Begin with one decade. If you are rusty on how to pray the rosary or you never learned how to pray the rosary, go to http://joyfulcatholicfamilies.com/rosary-prayer-ring/ and print off the rosary prayer ring. It takes you step-by-step through the rosary (all the words to the prayers are included).
Fast for vocations: Join the priests in our diocese and fast on Thursdays for vocations. As a family, give up one TV show, one dessert, one social media app,…on Thursdays.
Adoration: Commit to spending time each week as a family in adoration for vocations. Begin with five, ten, or fifteen minutes and slowly work up to a longer time.
Family life can be very busy. And with that busyness comes noise. Taking a few minutes each day to pray for vocations to the priesthood as a family is a good way to give our children a few moments to reflect and listen to what God may be calling them to. Vocations are a calling from God. Let’s create an environment in our families where that call can be heard.
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Chairman of U.S. Bishops Committee on Migration Expresses Concern about Immigration Bills Before Congress, Urges Bipartisan Engagement
June 19, 2018
WASHINGTON—Most Reverend Joe S. Vásquez, of Austin, Texas, Chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB/COM) Committee on Migration, sent a letter to every Member of the U.S. House of Representatives yesterday in response to two immigration bills that are expected to be taken up later this week by the full House. Bishop Vasquez had previously written in opposition to the first of the two bills (H.R. 4760), introduced in January of this year. The Bishop's June 18 letter focuses most of its attention on a second, yet-to-be-numbered House Republican Leadership alternative bill.
In his letter to Congress, Bishop Vásquez wrote, "While we truly want a legislative solution for Dreamers, we cannot, in good faith, endorse large structural changes to the immigration system that detrimentally impact families and the vulnerable, such as those that are contained in this legislation. We welcome the opportunity to dialogue with lawmakers and to discuss possible opportunities for further compromise, particularly with respect to effects on families and the vulnerable."
Bishop Vásquez added, "My brother bishops and I appreciate the effort by Representatives to find a legislative solution for Dreamers by bringing immigration measures before the House of Representatives. We believe that any such legislation must be bipartisan, provide Dreamers with a path to citizenship, be pro-family, protect the vulnerable and be respectful of human dignity with regard to border security and enforcement." Bishop Vásquez reminded Members of the House that the Administration can end family separation without legislation through executive discretion.
PRIEST STORIES
How a priest and a team of homeless people are transforming a city
By Mary Rezac
"I thought I could save gang members. I was wrong."
By Father Greg Boyle, S.J.
By Father James Martin, S.J.
Adoption Protection Act becomes law
By Joe Bollig
The Leaven
TOPEKA — How close was it?
The Adoption Protection Act squeaked through the Kansas House by only one vote as the 2018 legislative session came to an end.
On May 3, the House passed the bill 63-58; on May 4, the Senate passed it 24-15.
“A bill must receive 63 votes in the 125-member Kansas House of Representatives to pass. So, if it had only received 62 votes, it would have failed,” said Kansas Catholic Conference executive director Michael Schuttloffel. “It was that close.”
Two identical bills, both known as the Adoption Protection Act, were introduced in February as HB 2687 and SB 401 in the House and Senate respectively.
In the course of running the legislative gauntlet, the language was placed in another bill.
“As part of the procedural maneuverings, the contents were put into SB 284, which includes some provisions beyond the Adoption Protection Act,” said Schuttloffel.
This led to a change of language in part of the Adoption Protection Act, but it was done to clarify intent, and the core substance of the bill remained the same, he said.
The Catholic bishops of Kansas strongly supported the legislation. They did so because faith-based adoption agencies in the United States have increasingly come under attack for adopting according to their faith.
“This legislation was aimed at protecting religious-based agencies like Catholic Charities from being prevented from providing adoption and foster care services,” said Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann in a May 4 column in The Leaven. The bill “simply guarantees religious adoption agencies can continue to place children in a manner consistent with their beliefs.”
Passage of this legislation provides crucial protection to a vital ministry, according to Schuttloffel.
“The [just-passed] bill prevents the government from punishing faith-based adoption and foster care providers for operating according to their religious principles,” he said.
“In Illinois, Washington, D.C., Massachusetts and elsewhere, Catholic Charities was forced to close its adoption ministry because government agencies insisted that they place children in a way that was contrary to the church’s teaching,” he added.
Thanks to this new law, the state government will not be able to shut down Catholic Charities adoption ministry because a future governor or bureaucrat disagrees with Catholic teaching.
“It also means that government agencies and contractors will not be able to discriminate against faith-based providers because they disagree with their religious beliefs,” said Schuttloffel. “Finally, it protects these faith-based providers from being sued by the ACLU.”
“As Catholics, we understand more than most that discrimination of any kind is unacceptable,” noted Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer. “Service to others and commitment to non-discrimination is the foundation of the Adoption Protection Act. There are more than 1,300 children awaiting adoption in Kansas. We need more adoptive families, not fewer. We need to protect the religious freedom rights enshrined in the First Amendment to ensure that people of faith can continue to practice their faith in the public square.”
Finding Family
Meade couple celebrate life while awaiting (a bundle of) joy
By Dave Myers
Southwest Kansas Catholic
When you meet Tyler and Rachel Bennett, there are two things you will discover right off: 1) they have a warm and welcoming spirit, and 2) they love cheese.
On their kitchen table sat a platter filled with crackers, salami, and three kinds of cheese. There was also a platter of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies and two pitchers, one with water, the other, tea.
“Are you hungry? Help yourself!” Tyler said.
The Catholic gratefully helped itself. The Catholic loves chocolate chip cookies and cheese and crackers!
The gracious young couple are another in a line of fine, Kansas couples who are awaiting good news from the Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas Adoption Program.
“We had a neighbor who had success adopting through Catholic Charities,” Tyler said. “There’s a need [for guidance in the adoption process]. People don’t realize what goes into it — the study, the patience.”
“He’s still working on that last one,” Rachel said with a grin.
In July, the couple will have been married five years, a date which also marks one year since they officially became eligible to adopt.
Unlike many small-town Kansas couples, Rachel and Tyler didn’t grow up in the same community or attend the same school. In fact, he was reared in Texas, and she in Nebraska; the road that led to their eventual introduction in Copeland, Kansas was filled with twists and turns that could only have been navigated by a Loving Lord bent on seeing these two together.
“I was a track coach and teacher in Copeland,” said Rachel, who today is a high school teacher in Kismet. Tyler, an athletic trainer, works with student-athletes and physical therapy patients. They both have earned Master’s Degrees in their various studies.
One day, duty took Tyler to Copeland Junior High School, where he met the woman who would redefine his future. They were married on July 20, 2013.
“It’s been a learning process,” Tyler said of their year-long adoption journey.
“Learning and growing,” Rachel added.
“A lot of people give up after two weeks,” Tyler explained, referring to the patience needed in the adoption process. “It will happen in God’s time.”
The Catholic Charities of Southwest Kansas Adoption Program requires each couple to pass a stringent application process that includes classes, home visits, and meeting with counselors. And it’s not cheap (although far less expensive than other adoption programs). The process is designed to ensure the child is brought into a good home.
Obviously, there are many legalities involved, especially when considering that Catholic Charities uses the Open Adoption system, which allows the birth parent(s) to continue to be part of the child’s life.
“Catholic Charities makes sure it’s all by the book,” Rachel said. “Once the child is ours, we maintain complete parental control.” In other words, they will decide how and in what capacity the birth parent is involved.
“It’s beneficial for the child,” Tyler said. “For example, if the birth family has a history of diabetes or heart issues, we would have no idea without open adoption.”
Both Rachel and Tyler were reared surrounded by extended family, and both are fully intent upon bringing those values into the life of their future child.
“When I was young,” Rachel said, “we took yearly trips to Colorado Springs, got together with extended family at either of my grandparents’ farms, went on day trips to shop or visit zoos and museums, or just hung out at the pool.”
“That’s one of the reasons why we get along,” Tyler added. “Family is huge to us.”
The child who is lucky enough to enter into the Bennett home will be introduced to the couple’s loves: the joy of cooking and baking, the peaceful rewards of gardening, love for hunting (complete with four retrievers barking excitedly from behind a closed door during the Catholic’s visit), and a yen for home construction projects. Oh — and cheese.
And they will find a couple practicing a prayerful life devoted to the Loving Lord, a backdrop to everything they do.
For more information, call 620-227-1590 or click here. See their video/slideshow presentation by clicking here.
Ulysses resident gives speech at
Newman U. Baccalaureate Mass
‘God is never truly finished with our story’
During Newman University’s annual Baccalaureate Mass — May 11 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Wichita —graduating senior and Ulysses resident Patricia Lujan shared a reflection about her experience attending the Newman University Western Kansas Center.
The western center works in cooperation with the Catholic Diocese of Dodge City to present classes through the Interactive Television program at sites throughout the diocese.
For more information, including a listing of bachelor and master degree programs, click here.
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Good evening. My name is Patricia Lujan. I am from Ulysses, Kansas and tomorrow I will be graduating with a bachelor of science and elementary education. I once read, “Man can live 40 days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only one second without hope.”
I feel as if this was me when I began my experience at Newman. They not only provided me with an education, but the staff provided me with kindness. When I began my second degree with the Western Kansas Newman program, I thought, I am going to just go and do my homework, just to get finished.
But it was truly the opposite. As I began school, I was going through a very hard process of grieving a very close friend. Two weeks into classes, and I lost another family member. I was so lost and had no motivation to do anything. It felt as if all hope was lost.
I remember asking if it was too late to withdraw from classes. ... But little did I know that God was working through my instructors.
Through their caring actions, I learned what it truly meant to be an educator. It was about giving your all at all times. It was showing your students that despite their situation, they could get through any obstacle.
These instructors pushed me to my limits. They were finally able to accomplish what I never could. That is knowing who I truly was and discovering the gift that God had given me.
The way Newman describes learning is exactly what happened to me. It describes learning as being a transformational, that guided by Christ, it can be a positive one. I walked out of the darkness and into the light. I finally found my true calling of being an educator. If I had not found this hope at Newman, I’m not sure where I would be.
I am so proud to say that I am a graduate of a Catholic university. But there is no way I could have done it without certain people.
… As I finish, I would like to remind you guys that God is never truly finished with our story. It’s never too late to have a new start. As Matthew Kelly wrote, it’s never too late to become the best version of yourself.
God wants us to be people of possibility, and people of possibility never give up. So now I commend you to go out into the world and become those people who spread hope. Congratulations on this new journey.
Why I like being a priest
By Father James Martin, S.J.
On June 12, 1999, along with five other good Jesuit friends (they’re good Jesuits and good friends), I was ordained to the priesthood during a Mass at church (called—surprise!—St. Ignatius Loyola) in Chestnut Hill, Mass., right on the campus of Boston College. I am tempted to say it was the greatest day of my life, and why not? There are other days that certainly come close—the day I was accepted into the Jesuits; the day I entered the Jesuit novitiate; the day that a little refugee-made-handicraft shop where I worked in Nairobi opened its doors for the first time; the day I met my two newborn nephews. So let’s just say it was one of the greatest.
I had been waiting for ordination for many years, having witnessed, since before entering the novitiate in 1988, many of my “older” Jesuit brothers ordained over the years, and realizing, with each group of Jesuits moving into Holy Orders, that my “class” was moving ever closer. Every year until then, I was amazed to find myself weeping during the Litany of the Saints, when the congregation calls on all the saints—from age to age—to pray for the ordinandi, the men being ordained. And I rushed to receive my friends’ “first blessing,” which they always did tentatively but confidently, if you know what I mean, as if they had never done this before but had been born for it all along—and of course they were.
Actually, I almost didn’t make it to my own ordination. The week before I caught a horrible flu, and one of the older Jesuits with whom I lived, named Vin, generously rushed me to the emergency room here in New York. I was angry! How could God do this to me the week before my ordination? What if I weren’t able to go? What about all those guests? I said to the older Jesuit, “I have to ask you this—why is God doing this to me?” Vin looked at me with mock seriousness and said, “In punishment for your sins!” And we both laughed. What a ridiculous question. God wasn’t doing anything to me. I was just sick.
But when I walked up the aisle on June 12, that scare magnified my gratitude. How good it was to be there.
After the Mass, when we walked onto the steps of the church, we were surrounded by our Jesuit brothers, who—clad in their albs or wearing their clerics or, for the younger ones, just a suit and tie—hugged us tightly and congratulated us, teased us and were happy for us. My Jesuit provincial immediately knelt down and asked for my blessing. And then—behold, as the Bible would say—a few steps down the stone staircase were my mother and father, my sister and her husband and their new baby, along the rest of family and friends, friends, friends from all parts of my life. All the people who had nudged or helped or prayed or loved me to where I was. It was like heaven.
Anyway, since that day, I’ve loved being a priest. Why? In good Jesuit fashion how about three reasons.
1) Confessions. In the first few months, when I was still learning how to celebrate the Mass—that is, learning not to (oops) forget the Creed on Sundays and remembering to pour the water in the wine, and pretty much navigating my way around the Sacramentary (which seems easy now) confessions were so simple. And beautiful. How wonderful to offer a word of forgiveness and see a weight lifted, sometimes it seemed, almost physically. How wonderful to remember during every confession since my very first one what my theology professor said to our class, “Confession is not about how bad the person is, but how good God is.” How wonderful to be able to say to someone who had been estranged or distanced from the church, or who had not been to confession for decades, “Welcome back!” I could say that!
2) The Mass. Eventually I got to know my way around the Sacramentary. But as soon as I did I wondered, Who am I, as Mary said to the angel Gabriel, that I can say these words? Who am I that I can pray these ancient prayers along with the People of God? Sometimes when priests celebrate the Mass, as most priests will tell you if you asked, they might get momentarily distracted. (“Did I consecrate the bread and wine?” said one Jesuit in a community Mass when I was living in East Africa.) Me too. But sometimes I feel overwhelmed when I reach certain phrases. “From age to age, you gather a people so that from east to west...” “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you....” “You raise up men and women outstanding in holiness...” Who am I that I am permitted to celebrate the Mass in the Room of the Conversion of St. Ignatius in Loyola, Spain? At the Grotto in Lourdes? At the parish in which I received First Holy Communion? In our community chapel? In convents, in hospital rooms, in living rooms? Who am I, Lord?
3) Baptisms. There is nothing more enjoyable for me as a priest than celebrating a baptism. Babies are miracles. You know that, right? And welcoming a beautiful little baby—silent, fussy or squalling—into the Christian community means welcoming them into something that they probably won’t understand for a while. It’s like giving them a secret gift that will be opened in many years: the gift of the Holy Spirit, the gift of the church, the gift of fellowship. But not everyone will open this gift right away. Now, like some gifts it might not be appreciated at the moment it is given. But some day it will. Maybe, I think, they’ll open that gift when they’re a child, maybe when they’re a little older, maybe when they’re college students, maybe not until they’re married or until their own children are born, or maybe not until they are facing death. But the gift is there, waiting, expectant, patient.
I wish that more people felt called to ordination. I wish that more people were invited to ordination. Many years ago, when I attended my first Jesuit ordination Mass at Holy Cross College, I remember thinking that I couldn’t imagine being a priest. Ten years later, I can’t imagine not being one. As Thomas Merton said, it seems the “one great secret” for which I was born.
(Printed with permission from America, the Jesuit Review Magazine.)