To Stand in God's Presence

In the second Eucharistic Prayer, the priest thanks God for the blessing of “standing in [his] presence and serving [him].” I was reminded of the frequency of this prayer, which Bishop Loverde quoted in his anniversary note to me on the occasion of my thirty-sixth anniversary of ordination. Looking back to June 3rd and 4th, 1972, my ordination and first Mass, I’ve been standing a long time and hopefully serving the Lord with a joyful heart.

What comes to mind is that “time goes by faster when you’re having fun.” It seems no time since the Atonement community gathered with my family to begin my priestly ministry. I had always appreciated the next day’s liturgical Feast of Corpus Christi, when I celebrated my first Mass in my home parish of St. Ann, in my home town of Phoenixville, PA. On reflecting on the homily, which I gave that day, my preaching thematic is still the same. I remember telling the community that day that I had a wonderful blessing of gathering the Body of Christ to hear his Word and to share at his Table. I still tell people that the mystery of Christ present in bread and wine enables us to become what we eat, the Body of Christ.

It's About Us
As the Church gathered first to celebrate one of its sacraments, I was always a bit uncomfortable to the attention given to me. As we gathered to celebrate one of the Holy Orders within the community, often people would ask if I had hesitation or fear of moving forward with this dimension of my life. Both before ordination and the first Mass, the hardest challenge was staying “calm and cool,” when everyone insisted that I should be nervous about assuming such an office within the Church. My response then is what I still often share about being a priest now. It’s not about me. It’s about us, the Church, the People of God, and the Body of Christ. Better put, it’s about God’s wonderful action among all of us. His saving deeds continue in Christ by the action of the Holy Spirit.

From my earliest years I had learned that there were seven sacraments, which catechism list ended with “Holy Orders and Matrimony.” What I have continued to learn through my years of priesthood is that they certainly are “vocation” sacraments. People are called by God to each. My years as a priest have taught me two things: the importance of my brother priests (and friars) and the welcoming support of many husbands and wives of me in their homes.

Often enough people asked how I knew about my vocation. Like so many other priests, my response was “retro.” I could list the people, the places, and the events with the satisfaction and blessings which were mine through the years. What is most clear is more like the confirmation of my call and the affirmation of my ministry. There is no doubt that God calls me like so many others to priesthood, but how the mystery of it all unfolds is far less clear. It really is about us and how God is with us in the Church, the community of believers.

Around the Lord's Table
The best way to explain priesthood and vocation is to look around the Lord’s Table when we gather at various times. I begin my twenty-first year at Christ the Redeemer, and each of those years I’ve gathered with the little children for their First Communion. In explaining the Eucharist to them, I urge them to speak with their parents, grandparents, and godparents about how often they have come to the Lord’s Table, with whom they have come, and how often they either laughed or cried with other believers. When we find Christ present in the breaking of the bread and sharing of the cup, we experience his presence also in the people sharing his Table with us.

My priesthood is not only about me, as much as it is about us. The connection between the Eucharist and Priesthood is at once obvious and wonderful. What joins the two is Christ present among us, who invites us to his Table. There we come to know him and one another.

These thirty-six years have been filled with all kinds of people. I have gathered in all kinds of places for all kinds of reasons to celebrate the Eucharist. Sometimes it has been with fellow friars within the community. Other times I have taught and celebrated in retreat houses and houses of prayer. I have discovered Christ in liturgical studies and theology, which has sent me forth to preaching within the Church. What a blessing other believers in the Church have been in my ministry.

It's About Parish
I jokingly share with you at Christ the Redeemer how I never wanted to come to the parish and how several at the beginning were less than hospitable. If the truth be known, parish life was not in my thought and dreams as I prepared for ordination. As a good religious priest, life in the friary, ecumenical ventures, teaching and writing about liturgy were what drove me forward. Then twenty-one years ago I discovered parish life. Better, God brought me into parish life.

As I look over the baptismal books, the marriage records, the book of funerals, and recall innumerable conversations in the confessional and office, I sure do feel and know myself to be called. As I have been welcomed to people’s home and families, God has some purpose in my life.

One of the greatest surprises for more than half of my priesthood has been my immersion in Latino ministry. I had studied Spanish in college. I had done language before like French, Latin, and Greek. From my Spanish speaking friends, I learned more than language. I learned how God calls and acts through the faith and love of other people. In the powerless days of not understanding the language or the cultures, I learned that God could still do good things in me and through others. Let me share that as a priest I am “bendicito…blessed” in the good people of Christ the Redeemer Parish.

CDH