From the Pastor
June/17/2010
Happy Father’s Day to all our fathers, soon-to-be fathers, would-be fathers (except for taking on a special role in family life that precludes the normal course of events) and our Priests! While I was in Rome, wonderful things happened in the parish, especially the Vacation Bible Camp 2010, with its theme, “Spirit of the Seas.” I ask you to prayerfully thank those special women who made this possible: Julie D’Addio, Kim Weber, Carrie Socha, Marjorie Robinson, Cathy Fradkin, Noreen Kelly, Chrissy Hubiak, Amy Sexton and Sister Dorothy. God bless them!
Yes, it was a privilege to be in Rome again, this time for the closing of the “Year for Priests.” I think the highlight of my week was the celebration of Mass with Pope Benedict on the Feast of the Sacred Heart. The Eucharist was concelebrated by cardinals and bishops as well as by more than 15,000 priests from all over the world. The Holy Father consecrated the wine in the same chalice as that used by St. John Mary Vianney, the “Cure of Ars” in France. In his homily the Pope noted how the ‘Year for Priests’ was celebrated to ensure "a renewed appreciation of the grandeur and beauty of the priestly ministry.” The priest is not a mere ‘office-holder.’ Rather, he does something which no human being can do of his own power: in Christ's name, he speaks the words which absolve us of our sins,
and in this way he changes, starting with God, our entire life. Over the bread and wine, he speaks Christ's words of thanksgiving, which open the world to God and unite us to Him. Priesthood, then, is not simply 'office,' but Sacrament.
“This boldness of God who entrusts Himself to human beings (conscious of our weaknesses, He nonetheless considers men capable of acting and being present in His stead) is the true grandeur concealed in the word 'priesthood'.” This is what Pope Benedict wanted us to reflect upon and appreciate again over the course of the past year. He wanted to reawaken our joy at how close God is to us. He also wanted to demonstrate once again to young people that this vocation, this fellowship of service for God and with God, does exist. Yet, it is to be expected that this new uplifting of the Priesthood would not be pleasing to the 'enemy' (Satan), who would have rather preferred to see it disappear, so that God would ultimately be driven out of the world. And so it happened that, in this very year of joy for the Sacrament of the priesthood, the sins of priests came to light - particularly the abuse of children. The Pope insistently begged forgiveness from God and from the persons involved, while promising to do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again; and that in admitting men to priestly ministry and in their formation, he will do everything he can to see that the authenticity of each vocation will be ensured as each man continues along his journey.
Had the Year for Priests been a glorification of our individual human performance, it would have been ruined by these events. But for us what happened was precisely the opposite: we grew in gratitude for God's gift, a gift concealed in 'earthen vessels' which ever anew, even amid human weakness, makes God’s love concretely present in this world. “So let us look upon all that happened as a summons to purification, as a task which we bring to the future and which makes us acknowledge and love all the more the great gift we have received from God. In this way, His gift becomes a commitment to respond to God's courage and humility by our own courage and our own humility".
Finally, the Pope commented on the lance thrust in Jesus' side, which caused blood and water to come out. This, the Pope explained, recalls "the two fundamental Sacraments by which the Church lives: Baptism and the Eucharist. From the Lord's pierced side, from His open heart, there springs the living fountain which continues to well up over the centuries and which makes the Church. The open heart is the source of a new stream of life. "Every Christian and every priest should become, starting from Christ, a wellspring which gives life to others. We ought to be offering life-giving water to a parched and thirsty world.” The Holy Father concluded, "Lord, we thank you because for our sake you opened your heart; because in your death and in your resurrection you became the source of life.
Give us life, make us live from you as our source, and grant that we too may be sources, wellsprings capable of bestowing the water of life in our time. We thank you for the grace of the priestly ministry. Lord bless us, and bless all those who in our time are thirsty and continue to seek".
This Sunday, as we celebrate Father’s Day and honor all fathers, let us remember to pray for all of our fathers, including our own spiritual fathers: our priests. As we celebrate with the newest “Father” Christopher LeBlanc, and the ‘older’ priests of our parish, and as we conclude this Year for Priests, may we recall that the essence of all fatherhood comes from God, the Father of all creation, the source of all life. May all who are called to “fatherhood” in this life be one day united with our Father in heaven! May Father LeBlanc be filled with an abundance of grace and peace and love for his ministry.
Very Rev. Canon Tom
Yes, it was a privilege to be in Rome again, this time for the closing of the “Year for Priests.” I think the highlight of my week was the celebration of Mass with Pope Benedict on the Feast of the Sacred Heart. The Eucharist was concelebrated by cardinals and bishops as well as by more than 15,000 priests from all over the world. The Holy Father consecrated the wine in the same chalice as that used by St. John Mary Vianney, the “Cure of Ars” in France. In his homily the Pope noted how the ‘Year for Priests’ was celebrated to ensure "a renewed appreciation of the grandeur and beauty of the priestly ministry.” The priest is not a mere ‘office-holder.’ Rather, he does something which no human being can do of his own power: in Christ's name, he speaks the words which absolve us of our sins,
and in this way he changes, starting with God, our entire life. Over the bread and wine, he speaks Christ's words of thanksgiving, which open the world to God and unite us to Him. Priesthood, then, is not simply 'office,' but Sacrament.
“This boldness of God who entrusts Himself to human beings (conscious of our weaknesses, He nonetheless considers men capable of acting and being present in His stead) is the true grandeur concealed in the word 'priesthood'.” This is what Pope Benedict wanted us to reflect upon and appreciate again over the course of the past year. He wanted to reawaken our joy at how close God is to us. He also wanted to demonstrate once again to young people that this vocation, this fellowship of service for God and with God, does exist. Yet, it is to be expected that this new uplifting of the Priesthood would not be pleasing to the 'enemy' (Satan), who would have rather preferred to see it disappear, so that God would ultimately be driven out of the world. And so it happened that, in this very year of joy for the Sacrament of the priesthood, the sins of priests came to light - particularly the abuse of children. The Pope insistently begged forgiveness from God and from the persons involved, while promising to do everything possible to ensure that such abuse will never occur again; and that in admitting men to priestly ministry and in their formation, he will do everything he can to see that the authenticity of each vocation will be ensured as each man continues along his journey.
Had the Year for Priests been a glorification of our individual human performance, it would have been ruined by these events. But for us what happened was precisely the opposite: we grew in gratitude for God's gift, a gift concealed in 'earthen vessels' which ever anew, even amid human weakness, makes God’s love concretely present in this world. “So let us look upon all that happened as a summons to purification, as a task which we bring to the future and which makes us acknowledge and love all the more the great gift we have received from God. In this way, His gift becomes a commitment to respond to God's courage and humility by our own courage and our own humility".
Finally, the Pope commented on the lance thrust in Jesus' side, which caused blood and water to come out. This, the Pope explained, recalls "the two fundamental Sacraments by which the Church lives: Baptism and the Eucharist. From the Lord's pierced side, from His open heart, there springs the living fountain which continues to well up over the centuries and which makes the Church. The open heart is the source of a new stream of life. "Every Christian and every priest should become, starting from Christ, a wellspring which gives life to others. We ought to be offering life-giving water to a parched and thirsty world.” The Holy Father concluded, "Lord, we thank you because for our sake you opened your heart; because in your death and in your resurrection you became the source of life.
Give us life, make us live from you as our source, and grant that we too may be sources, wellsprings capable of bestowing the water of life in our time. We thank you for the grace of the priestly ministry. Lord bless us, and bless all those who in our time are thirsty and continue to seek".
This Sunday, as we celebrate Father’s Day and honor all fathers, let us remember to pray for all of our fathers, including our own spiritual fathers: our priests. As we celebrate with the newest “Father” Christopher LeBlanc, and the ‘older’ priests of our parish, and as we conclude this Year for Priests, may we recall that the essence of all fatherhood comes from God, the Father of all creation, the source of all life. May all who are called to “fatherhood” in this life be one day united with our Father in heaven! May Father LeBlanc be filled with an abundance of grace and peace and love for his ministry.
Very Rev. Canon Tom